The, whole story. Im anderson cooper, right now, nearly 7 million americans are living with alzheimers demand sure. Chances are, you know, someone whos been affected by this disease. Its the most Common Neurodegenerati Ve condition in the world. For decades, researchers have tried and failed to come up with a way to effectively treat alzheimers leaving patients and families with few options but there are some new signs of hope groundbreaking Research Shows in some cases alzheimers can be slowed, prevented, and even reversed. And some people, and it doesnt mean using expensive or experimental drugs cnns dr. Sanjay gupta has spent the last five years investigating and documenting how to fight alzheimers. And in this next hour, theyll show us a new way to battle this disease i could use a strong cup of this is chichi urbi and her husband john, back in 2019 well, you can pay Grandma Kicker in a mall chichi is best described as the matriarch of a huge, tightknit family over, her 80 years on earth she is create a rich life filled with love and lasting memories my goodness. But an early 2018, her family began to notice something had changed she would forget things, couldnt remember what we were supposed to be doing and it slowly gotten worse until she would repeat herself about three times what drives you at first she didnt believe us that she had it, you know, no, thats no big deal. Ill just repeat myself once in a while. Who cares john being the kindest husband in the world. He said, chichi, yeah, you do, you do your paint yourself a lot. But theres something more to he said lets just go see a Doctor A Neurologist diagnosed gg with mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Du To Alzheimer and scans. Soon confirmed the worst her brain showed signs of the disease now chichi was no stranger to all timers she had had loved ones. She watched wither away slowly from it my grandmother, she would sit for ever and just twiddle her this and stare into space and wouldnt talk too much her mother they finally put her in a home because her father couldnt take care of her my greatest fears were that she would end up like her mother and grandmother, where i couldnt take care of her it was a hard word to hear all timers heavily deep. You dont lose your grandma the worst part was seen my mom being uncomfortable going to parties and not pdd herself in a person that we love and not be confident in yourself, like he thats been when the doctor told you and you got your Cognitive Testing how did they tell you . Well, i hadnt an office visit to get all the results of the tests and he said, well, there is a Memory Problem but i have the best place for you. And that was here and saw so alito and thats where i first met chichi and john five years ago id made my way to saas alito california. Im going to spend time here with this world renown doctor who believes hes figured out a way not just to prevent alzheimer but to reverse it when people get diagnosed with alzheimers, its a progressively isolating experience in 1990, dr. Dean ornish changed the medical world with his groundbreaking work on Heart Disease his randomized Clinical Trial was the first to show that coronary Heart Disease could be reversed with nothing more than stress reduction, social support diet, and exercise part of the value of sciences to increase awareness while ornish his approach has sometimes been criticized for being too strict, not practical enough some others have pointed out a lack of Research Showing the, showing that plantbased diets could definitively decreased disease but ornish turns to his decades of work as proved, really can eat more and way less if you know what to eat, that what is good for the heart is almost certainly good for the brain the same Lifestyle Changes could reverse high Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol type two diabetes, obesity, early stage Prostate Cancer can be slowed, stopped, even reversed. And now were hoping to show that these same Lifestyle Changes may reverse the progression of early stage all assignments five years heres a in the early state, betty, do you remember what youre experiencing before your diagnosis . I couldnt formulate words i spent some time with patients and their support partners for their fourhour long three de a week meetings. And i got a really detailed look at the ornish Lifestyle Intervention program. The exercise the yoga and the Meditation Regimen sitting in on their Support Groups and eating the provided plantbased meals what do you tell the participants in the trial what we tell them that we dont know if this is going to work, but we hope that it does if youre trying to give people the message that you can reverse something that you need to have really solid science randomized trials before doing that it all matters preserving even restoring the memories of a life well lived, that no matter what happens if i dont get better just know somewhere deep down outside my brain i will always love him now again, that meeting and saas alito was five years ago seemingly a lifetime has passed since then a Global Pandemic shutdown the World Driving up loneliness and disconnection but in 2024, we finally got word it really makes, it a dr. Ornish was ready to release his findings to us five years ago. One of the things that you are trying to figure out is could those Lifestyle Changes . In some people actually lead to a reversal of alzheimers disease . Yes whats the answer . The answer is in many people, it did. I mean, its extraordinary de and reversing something that seems so preordained. Its fixed. This is my life now it sounds extraordinary. Hows that feel . Good it is the first randomized controlled Clinical Trials showing that some alzheimers patients could experience cognitive improvement in just five months with intensive Lifestyle Changes alone rising up into the middle back and importantly, those who did not make any changes in the trial worsened those Peer Reviewed findings go public in the journal, alzheimer is research and therapy in june 2024 so the more you change, the more you improve. But to get reversal, you have to make really big changes which again the big changes were talking about a vegan diet. Yeah, and its not just a vegan diet, you know, twinkies are vegan. Its a healthy vegan diet fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes im so products as close to possible as they come in nature half an hour to an hour of moderate or risk activity, or three times a week and Group Support and there was yoga slash meditation. You could do it in a secular way. I could do it however you want it to do it for an hour a day, for an hour, its a big commitment a big commitment. But also doable. Gt did it and now i wanted to see how she was doing. It has been five years since chief first joined that steady hi, im good im good to see you. Here in five years i cant believe it have, you been ive been great. Ive been fine. I live with this man who has the patience of a saint and that helps that Help Teachers doing very well. She goes out in the morning, shell go for a walk almost every morning. She was for a walk. I think shes doing very well does it surprise you . Yes, after seeing her mother and grandmother, yes because i was triggered by this time shed have been a home or some. How are you doing now . Do you think as compared to five years ago . Much better. Much better. Did this help reverse some of the symptoms of alzheimers . Yes. Yes i guess the question is, why . Right . What do you attribute this to . The program the meditation, the diet, the exercise, my choice of a meal before this was branded veal cutlets i havent had one in five years and there is this other crucial element got to have a partner when piece of bread, thank you, john, did every step of the program, right alongside chichi. The food was a little bit hard to get used to. I miss my biscuits and gravy. Were just doing without for now chichi is now at five years old john 92 for chichi. She was initially randomly assigned to the Comparison Group of our study. So she didnt make changes for the first 20 weeks and she got worse and then she crossover got the program. Since then shes shown improvement in three of the four tests and no change in one of them. So for the first 20 weeks, she was living her life . Correct. And everything worsened. It also shows you how dynamic these biological mechanisms are in both directions. You can get better quickly and get worse quickly. Okay. Everybody good. I got to say this is a good luck in family here i had a chance to sit down some of the few members of the ss urbi family, titi gender. You guys have done well. We know including their daughters franny and the lesia at least i dont want to overstate the impact of this or understated. I want to be just really fair about this. For people who may be dealing with this, how would you describe the impact that this program has had on gt tremendous. Its really helped i think slowed it down. Its just amazing in my opinion. I mean, how many people five years. And did dementia get to go outside and go for a walk by themselves every day not very many moment together, your awareness in this body i can remember when we spoke back in 2019, you are very clear with me that one of your greatest fears was going through the same thing youd seen with your mom and your grandma . Do you still fear that . No, i think i pass that along time ago. Thats kind of incredible. Yeah and here i am coming up in the five years of making this documentary, the 20yearold newlyweds ive met with patients all around the country who were diagnosed or at high risk for this devastating disease. Do you remember this time in your life, my it made me really start to think about my own brain i have a Family History of alzheimers as well sometimes i feel a little rusty sometimes i worry that i make mistakes that maybe he my friends and family are too polite to tell me about your body composition. So thats why i decided to do something quite personal. Your muscle mass, your body quite revealing that wasnt quite right. I went through a battery of tests to assess my own risk, just like we get a Cholesterol Test every year and check your Blood Pressure how do the same thing for the brain . And what did i find . Lets just say it thats coming up we just want to have enough money for retirement and traveled to visit our grandchildren. I understand. Thats why fisher investments, we start by getting to know each other. So i can learn about your family lifestyle, goals and needs allowing us to tailor your portfolio. What about commissionbased products . We dont sell. Those were a fiduciary obligated to act in your best interests. So how do you management tastes work . We have a transparent fee structured, so we do better when you do better at fisher investments. Were clearly different i love it when people say that its impossible i see that as a challenge you know whats brilliant think about it. Boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. 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Theyre not set you need to sit down every style, every home so weve made our way to miami now now by the year 2050 is expected that more than 152 Million PeopleAround The World will be diagnosed with alzheimers its part of the urgency of these researchers and why theyre working so hard and so fast to try and get things done that vital work because happening at places like the university of Miami Miller School of medicine. Every brain that were seeing here. The inhibitor of these brands at one point had all times is that right . Thats correct. The majority of these brains, yes its amazing thing is, when i was in Medical School in the early 19, nine findings, the conventional wisdom was, you got a certain number of brain cells and that was it over your life. You could drain the cash, things like alcohol might speed up that process she got what you got by the time i finished it in the year 2000 everything had changed. We realized that you could continue to grow. New brain cells which was incredible our goal is to make sure that we get highquality donations that could be used by investigators All Around The World dr. David davis is the associate director of the Brain Endowment Bank all the cause of better understanding the progression of the disease and potentially hopefully finding therapies and cures i started training in neurosurgery 30 years ago. And still every time i look at the human brain, i am still filled with all everything we are is located right here. Every love, every memory, every desire all here in this enigmatic 3. 5 pounds of tissue how are you memory . My are you able to remember my for example no gets what youre watching is from 1966 in fact, is weve been talking about alzheimers disease for a long time now the first known case of the disease was reported in 1906. But before the early 2000s, there was only one way to be sure someone actually had the disease are not the only way to definitively diagnose the disease is by an autopsy after death weve come a long way since then. We can now peer into the brain. When the patient does very much alive these are pet scans that pick up the two proteins in the brain that define alzheimers disease amyloid and tau. The redness indicates that the Amyloid Protein is present. So thats the protein that makes up the plaque. One of the defining features dr. Ronald petersen is director of the mayo clinic, Alzheimers Disease Research center the Amyloid Protein that gets laid down in the brain. This can happen up to 101520 years before a person become symptomatic. So many people are out there Walking Around with some amyloid in the brain, but theyre doing fine clinically qani grumble is one of those people lots of amyloid in the brain but zero symptoms. So i know that i do have plaque in my brain. I dont understand how that affects some people and not others. Nice to meet you as well so much. We first met qani, a doctor youre petersons clinic five years ago in 2019 and at the time, 69 yearold, connie was halfway through a highly anticipated alzheimer study he called the a4 trial. It was designed for those with plaque in their brains, but so far, living a normal life. So im one of 19 children. Wow number 18. And three of my sisters have died i have two and memory care. So its personal look so beautiful. Thank you. Have a lot of pictures from wynn today. We listen in on an extraordinary visit to the memory care ward connie has come to see her sister, viera, who is 12 years older. When order of how we were born again in a family of 19 children. And this one is getting older and so is this one right here . Hey, there this is what you wrote a long time ago for your doctorate. When you read but, didnt here . Yep. This is all your work vera was once a Trailblazing Psychology Professor at the University Of Minnesota he loving mother grandmother about seven years ago though. Her memory started to fade and the decline was steep, why nightshade left the house in the middle of the night and we didnt find her until noon the next day in these girls today with berra it was one of the most special days that ive had in a long time with her looking at my Family History, my brothers are fine, my sisters or not . But some of my sisters are will i be a lucky one . I dont know those confusing on answered questions are what fuel qani and what fuels the scientists who are caring for her . Okay. Yes. Now, in 2019, she was midway through the fourandahalf years study to try and prevent what she had seen happened to her older sister . Yes. Even during the pandemic, qani would drive more than an hour each way from her home in minneapolis to the mayo clinic and rochester, minnesota she would undergo cognitive motor hap like this rough fast in general, Health Testing we are going to be giving you research irb a the length as a map and almost every month. Oh, i can feel that goh in she would receive this Iv Transfusion so this is what, about an hour . He its timeconsuming i feel like im contributing even if its not for me its for research, and it might help my kids might out my grandkids or The Greater Good when youre dealing with people who get enrolled in a Clinical Trial, its important to really be realistic, say, where hopeful that the drug that you may receive is going to help us with treating this underlying disease. But theres a possibility it could go in the other direction. You either agree to that risk or you don