The Key to the Alzheimer’s Puzzle

Consequences for effective prevention and chance of cure at an early stage

Anyone can develop Alzheimer's. Former professional athletes, U.S. presidents, philosophers, top executives, housewives. At first glance, there seems to be only one common denominator: old age, which is commonly thought to be the main cause or risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. But this simplistic view has since been debunked as false, as I wrote in “The Alzheimer’s lie – The truth about a preventable disease (so far only available in German) explain.

On the contrary, humans are designed by nature to remain mentally sharp into old age. So there must be another explanation. To find it, I spent years piecing together thousands of pieces of research like a jigsaw puzzle. The spectacular picture that emerged was published internationally as the “General Explanation of Alzheimer’s Disease Etiology” (in English: Unified Theory of Alzheimer’s Disease, UTAD). This is the first time that all risk factors have been placed in a (bio)logical context. This allows us to look at Alzheimer's in a completely new way and has far-reaching consequences:

First: Alzheimer's is a Deficiency Disease

The cause of the global increase in Alzheimer's disease is not that most of us are getting older, but how. Alzheimer's disease is caused by the fact that our current way of life is less and less in tune with our needs, which have evolved over many millennia. The resulting deficiencies damage our brain's experiential knowledge center in a unique way: Instead of growing according to its natural potential throughout life, it shrinks. The disruption of natural growth leads not only to an increasing loss of memory and mental resilience, but also to an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Second: Alzheimer’s is preventable

A single deficiency, such as a lack of exercise, vitamins or trace elements, but also a lack of social contact and regeneration, is enough to stop the natural growth of our memory center and thus increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease. There are almost as many causes as there are different lifestyles. Studies that attempt to prevent Alzheimer's disease by applying only individual measures are therefore bound to fail or have only moderate success, because almost every person has his or her own individual combination of deficits (risk factors) that need to be identified and eliminated. Only such a targeted approach can effectively prevent Alzheimer's disease (as well as many other diseases of civilization).

Third: Medications cannot compensate for disease-causing deficiencies

For the same reasons, no drug is expected to cure Alzheimer's disease, which explains the failure of all clinical trials to date. After all, no drug can eliminate a fundamental deficit caused by a certain way of life. It would be like trying to make a plant that is suffering from a lack of water thrive again by using a pesticide. So simply hoping for a "brain protector," i.e., a drug, is not a good life strategy if you want to keep your brain healthy into old age.

Fourth: Curative therapy is still possible

Because of the natural growth and regeneration potential of our brain's center for experiential knowledge (where the Alzheimer's process begins), a curative therapy should be possible at least in the early stages of the disease. The derived "Alzheimer's Therapy according to Nehls (ATNN)" is described in my book "Alzheimer's is curable - Back to a healthy life in time" (so far only available in German) for laymen and doctors. The ATNN is now supported by a growing network of physicians. The fact that Alzheimer's can be successfully treated by specifically eliminating the individual causes of the disease has now been proven in the USA and Germany. In all these cases, Alzheimer's patients who had recovered in the early stages of the disease regained their ability to cope with everyday life and their ability to remember.

Fifth: Education is necessary

This medical sensation confirms my definition of Alzheimer's as a deficiency disease. In addition, these are therapeutic successes, since they can only occur after the elimination of the causal deficits through self-healing, a strategy that can also be successfully implemented in a preventive lifestyle. Through education and a fundamental rethinking, away from the mistaken belief in future drugs and towards more autonomy and self-responsibility, a great deal of suffering, both individual and social, can be prevented - and is already being prevented.