Did you know that flying increases your risk of Alzheimer’s disease? Regular air travel exposes us to extra ionizing radiation every time we fly, and this causes damage to the part of the brain that controls memory. CT scans jolt us with more than 1,000 times that amount.1,2
But, guess what? Living in a polluted urban city is an even more powerful contributor to Alzheimer’s disease risk.
The great news is that I have four ways for you to powerfully safeguard your brain and your body from Alzheimer’s disease.
More on that in a minute…
Even if you think you don’t live in a polluted area, you do. Ever since the mid-1800s, the world has been on a path to toxic overload.
According to a University of Montana researcher and her colleagues, living in polluted megacities significantly boosts risk for Alzheimer’s disease, especially in children and young people.3
Researchers in Mexico City tested a group of 57 children and 48 of their parents. Mexico City has gone through extreme urban growth recently. Growth that comes with serious pollution. Millions of children exposed to harmful levels of toxins every day.
The researchers focused on the hippocampus part of the brain. This is the region that handles higher cognitive function and memory. They measured three major brain metabolites in each child and parent pair. And tested them for the APOE gene that’s been linked to higher Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk.
What they found was pretty shocking…
Children with the risky AD gene who were exposed to more toxic air showed markers of neurodegeneration. The kind of brain damage usually seen in adults with mild cognitive impairment. You also see it in AD patients. These children also had evidence of the tau or brain tangles you see in AD. And they had high levels of brain inflammation and a build-up of metals tied to pollution.
And even though the children looked healthy, they had deficits in their attention and short-term memory. They also scored lower on verbal and IQ tests compared to children exposed to less polluted air. It’s likely they won’t do as well in school or with their social skills.
It’s not only Mexico. And not just children.
These results show that if you live in a toxic urban area you could have a higher risk of early dementia. It’s worse if you have the AD gene. In fact, AD could start as early as childhood, thanks to air pollution.
Earlier research in mice showed that exposure to minute levels of air pollution increased their development of Alzheimer’s disease-type changes by up to 129%!4
In the U.S., about two-thirds of people live in areas where pollutants soar above “recommended” levels.
Now I’m not telling you this to alarm you. I help my patients stop the build-up of these deadly toxins before they cause Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
4 Easy Ways to Detox Your Body to Safeguard Your Brain
Here are four different ways to cleanse and detox naturally.
- Intravenous Chelation: I offer safe intravenous (IV) chelation to just about every patient I see. Studies show chelation restores brain function lost from mercury poisoning.5 It’s also proven to reverse symptoms of Alzheimer’s.6
For IV chelation, I inject calcium disodium EDTA directly into your bloodstream. In no time at all, EDTA grabs toxins and drags them out — painlessly. If you would like more information about IV chelation, please contact the Sears Institute for Anti-Aging Medicine at 561-784-7852. My staff will be happy to answer your questions.
- Activated Charcoal: Like EDTA, activated charcoal locks onto toxic molecules. Then it ejects them from your body. Just a tiny amount can absorb and wash away years of toxin and heavy metal buildup.
Look for activated charcoal as a very fine, black powder in your local health food store or online. I like activated charcoal made from coconut shells.
Take 20 grams to 30 grams mixed with water once a day for one to two weeks.
- N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC): This powerful detoxifier boosts your levels of glutathione, your body’s strongest antioxidant. NAC directly elevates cells’ defenses against lead, aluminum and other heavy metals in your organs and bloodstream. When researchers bathed cells in lead, the DNA of the NAC-treated cells lived longer and had their DNA better protected from damage.7
You can buy NAC online or at health food stores. As a complement to your at-home regimen, I recommend one 500 mg tablet or capsule per day. After a couple of weeks, take 500 mg twice a day.
- Modified Citrus Pectin: The inner peel of citrus fruits contains one of the most potent detox substances I’ve ever found. In one USDA study, people taking modified citrus pectin for six days were able to excrete 150% more mercury… 230% more cadmium, and… 560% more lead.8
But make sure you get the right kind. Most pectin is made of large long-chain carbohydrate molecules. They’re too big to digest and will just pass through your body. The citrus pectin used in clinical studies is specially formulated for absorption, so it can easily find and bind to toxins.
You can find modified citrus pectin online. I recommend taking 5 grams a day.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
1. Sheldrick G. “Why frequent air travel may raise your risk of Alzheimer’s.” Express. October 28, 2016.
2. Kempf AJ, et al. “Chronic low-dose-rate ionising radiation affects the hippocampal phosphoproteome in the ApoE−/− Alzheimer’s mouse model.” Oncotarget. 2016;7(44):71817-71832.
3. Calderon-Garcidueňas L, et al. “A critical proton MR spectroscopy marker of Alzheimer’s disease early neurodegenerative change: Low hippocampal NAA/Cr ratio impacts APOE ε4 Mexico City children and their parents.” J Alzheimers Dis. 2015;48(4):1065-1075.
4. Kim SK, et al. “Rapid doubling of Alzheimer’s amyloid-β40 and 42 levels in brains of mice exposed to a nickel nanoparticle model of air pollution.” F1000Res. 2012;1:70.
5. Corsello S, et al. “The usefulness of chelation therapy for the remission of symptoms caused by previous treatment with mercury-containing pharmaceuticals: A case report.” Cases J. 2009; 2:199.
6. Fulgenzi A, et al. “Aluminium involvement in neurotoxicity.” Biomed Res Int. 2014;2014:758323.
7. Yedjou C, et al. “N-acetyl-cysteine protects against DNA damage associated with lead toxicity in HepG2 cells.” Ethn Dis. 2010;20(1 Suppl 1):S1-101-3.
8. Zhao ZY, et al. “The role of modified citrus pectin as an effective chelator of lead in children hospitalized with toxic lead levels.” Altern Ther Health Med. 2008;14(4):34-38.