I saw your post on FTD, my husband has been diagnosed with FTD. His MRI showed advanced atrophy most notable in both frontal lobes. When I took him in for evaluation he was exibiting bizarre behavior, such as giving thousands of dollars away to every scam in town. He also decided to dry a netflix video in the toaster oven and melted it, and he tried to dry a dishtowel in a microwave and of course it caught fire. That led me to believe there was something seriously wrong with him. His short term memory is good and I thought at first that he might have a frontal lobe tumor.
I saw Dr. Newport's article in the St. Pete times and I decided to give him the coconut oil. Since the diagnosis I am now giving him the amount of oil which Dr. Newport gives her husband. I have to say that his behavior is almost normal. I have noticed that he tends to forget some past experiences, but overall I am happy with his progress. This all started last May and is now a year. I started the coconut oil in November and his behavior has improved tremendously.
Fyi I had his cholesterol checked twice since I started the oil here are the results.
DEC. 2008 May 2009
Total 199 Total 186 Triglycerides 162 Triglycerides 123 HDL 44 HDL 58 LDL 83 LDL 100
He does take 20mg statin. I thought someone would be interested to note that the oil has not raised his Cholesterol My husband tolerated the oil extremely well. I usually put it in his salad which he has for lunch and dinner.
brightstar, that is great news. I only give 1 T. a day but it has helped here too. Amazing and the Cholesterol is great. So, tell us how much coconut oil and MCT oil you are giving.
I give him 2T plus 1t of oil three times a day. I put the oil in his salad two times a day and in his ceral in the morning. If you go to www.coconutketones.com you can see the combination of oil that Dr. Newport uses.
I'm about ready to try one of the oils or the macaroons for DH. Since he tends to have some bowel issues occasionally, maybe the macaroons would be a good first step. Going shopping today--will post results in a few days.
Dr Newport--Just read a little about your husband on your website--if you read this: my husband's name is Steve, dx with EOAD in 2005, given Aricept then and Namenda about a yr later, was a CPA. Sound familiar? Hoping the oil will help him as much as it did your husband.
Marilyn, my husband also has bowel issues. But I did start with the macaroons - gave him 4 a day for a week. Then he got tired of them! No bowel issues though. Then I got the coconut oil and started putting a little in different things. Thing is, I'm not consistent with it like I was with the macaroons. I did see a little improvement with the macaroons - but not so much with the coconut oil. Go figure...
I hadn't realized this until now... and wondered why no one had posted on this discussion for so long - until I discovered the continuation, listed as: MCT and Coconut Oil update, Part 2
My Dad and I started my Mom on the MCT & Coconut oils about 3 months ago (gradually increased her to Dr. Newport's percentage combo of the two) giving just over 1 TBSP, twice a day, but have not seen any noticible improvement. If anything, a bigger decline... which seems to be a yearly pattern the last 3 years, she drops off in late April into May. Maybe just a coincidence but wondering if a yearly weather or allergy type of connection. We are in Central Florida and the heat and humidity start to pick up then. Anyone else notice this type of effect?
I will copy this comment into the NEW, part 2 section, so please post any replies there, rather than here.
A St. Petersburg Times reporter contact me a few days ago, who is doing a story about Axona (the prescription MCT oil) and came across the MCT/CO discussions on the internet. He wants to do a story about the coconut oil and MCT oil along with the story about Axona and wants to talk with some other folks who have had some results with CO or MCT oil. If anyone is interested in speaking with him, his name is Steve Nohlgren and his email address is Nohlgren@sptimes.com. He told me it is okay to put his contact information in this post.
Jeanette, about the popcorn. I, personally, still prefer the microwave for popcorn. wallMart sells a plastic popcorn container to use in the microwave for under $10. I pour however much MCT oil I want in the bottom and add about 1/3 c. Orville Ret. popcorn and salt. Microwave until it quits popping and it is much preferrable over the individual packets in bags and a lot cheaper. If a person liked coconut flavor the coconut oil would also do nicely.
Thanks, lmohr, I never realized you could do it that way. Now where is Walmart when I need it? :) Actually I may have a look when we visit my mother in Ohio in October.
Okay, I've tried the oil. We took it right off the spoon. DH swallowed it, no problem. I gagged. No more of that. We had it on toast and english muffins. Terrific! Stir fried with it, wonderful. I'm hooked now. I just ordered softgels from Puritans Pride. They will be good for travel. Has anyone tried them? I asked on Coconut 2. Everyone is busy bickering on that thread. So I switched over to this one. I'm really hopeful about this. My son and I have scoured the web for info, and everything we found about the coconut oil is good. Thank you for all your tips. I really need you guys.
I saw them at GNC a few months ago and asked on her, but no one had heard or tried them. Let us know how they work out. They definitely would be easier.
I am new here and just ordered MCT Gold from Amazon... http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000UOEBNS/ref=pd_luc_mri?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A3CCNW1GE1SADW&v=glance I am hoping this will work... read this entire thread and WOW.. what a job Sunshyne did on the research. NICE! Thanks Sunshyne... I am really impressed with what everyone posted on here so I am going to give it a shot! We all know there is no cure but we all know that there has to be a way to slow it down! I will post when I get the product and am going to give a the MMSE test before starting this regiment... She takes this test every 6 months at her neuro... the last time she went to the doctor it had only been 4 months and she had lost 3 points... which is a lot for only 4 months. Her neuro said that the average point loss on the MMSE is 2 points per year. So I am worried... I am going to do this test with her once a week after starting the MCT Gold and keep you all updated on the progress. Thanks to all who have posted on this thread and I hope to get to know you all better as I go through this process with you! I am going to order the softgels for traveling too... makes sense so we don't miss a dose.
I used coconut oil + MCT yesterday as the shortening in blackberry cobber - luscious. The dumplings have never been so light and fluffy. I use the "Fresh fruit cobbler" recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook.
I just learned something new for those who are using MCT oil, or want to, that there is a powdered form of it available in bulk from a company called True Protein - https://www.trueprotein.com/Product_Details.aspx?cid=24&pid=86. This would be useful for those who don't like the idea of taking oil. It has a milk protein with it that allows it to be in powder form, and apparently can be mixed easily with water or other liquids. I am ordering some to try it out. This could also be ideal for traveling by plane or taking to restaurants.
Joan asked me what the difference is between Axoan, MCT oil and coconut oil, and if it is okay for someone with diabetes to use it, so here goes.
Axona contains mostly just one of the medium chain fatty acids (tricaprylic acid, also called C:8); MCT oil usually contains about 2/3 C:8, 1/3 C:10 and a tiny bit of C:6 and C:12, two other medium chain fatty acids. Coconut oil contains all of the above, plus several other large chain fatty acids. About 60% of the fats are medium chain fatty acids, which are partly converted to ketones in the liver. The ketones can be used by the brain cells (and other cells) as fuel when they have a problem getting glucose into them. There is also some polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and long chain saturated fats in coconut oil, so it is a very complete oil, except that it is lacking omega-3's; so these also need to be taken.
Any of these would be especially helpful to a diabetic because they have trouble getting glucose into cells of multiple organs in the body, often including parts of the brain. It could help slow down the damage to the eyes, kidneys, and other organs as well as the brain. If anything, the ketones and medium chain fatty acids have been proven to lower blood sugar and improve insulin resistance, so this should be especially helpful to your husband. Coconut oil does not increase bleeding. The C:12 in coconut oil also is anti-microbial - kills a number of bacteria, viruses and yeast, such as candida. There is some evidence now that at least some cases of Alzheimer's may be associated with a virus, yeast and/or bacteria.
We have been mixing MCT oil and coconut oil to take advantages of the properties of each; Steve gets 3 tablespoons three times a day with his meals. I personally don't see an advantage to using Axona, but some people use it for breakfast and then use coconut oil and/or MCT oil at lunch and dinner. My website is www.coconutketones.com - considerably more information on this, including some "diet guidelines" and FAQs, and some of the important ketone and MCT oil research papers.
Thank you Mary. Now I will ask Sid's neurologist and diabetes doctor which they think will benefit him. The diabetes doctor has him on Lovaza, which is a triglyceride and cholestoral lowering drug made from omega3 fish oil.
Okay, I've read thru most of these comments and am still not sure if there's any credence to this coconut oil or not. Divvi, I haven't seen anything from you for a while - I'm probably missing something really important, forgive me if I am. And, also, is the coconut oil/MCT oil a substitute or in addition to the other meds? Is this a lasting improvement or, like the other drugs, a postponement of the inevitable?
I'd really like it if this stuff would mostly eliminate all of his AD issues long enough for him to die of something else, not so devastating as AD. He's in fairly early stages of this disease and I can't hardly stand to think of the declines to come with this disease if it takes it's natural course. I haven't read all of the papers talked about in the threads above so I don't know what kind of results are expected.
This thread began in 08. A long term trial of sorts. Anyone using coconut oil lomg term care tp share their opinion as to the value to coconut oil in the treatment of AD?
My husband has used coconut oil (and MCT oil) since 2008 or 2009. He was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia in 2008 and has progressed very slowly--he can still organize a dinner with friends or participate in the conversation at his Drinking Liberals group. He still makes his own breakfast and lunch. He is actually progressing more quickly in the physical problems of Parkinson's disease than in dementia. Would he have progessed slowly anyway? No way of knowing. He has a family history of heart disease but has no problems himself and his chloresterol numbers are fairly ideal (which they were not 10 years ago). He has always problems with alternating constipation and diarrhea and with reflux. He was quite sure starting coconut oil made no difference (neither did Aricept). I use it too because I have a family history of Alzheimer's and type 2 diabetes, but I'm 20 years younger than when Alzheimer's usually hits in my family.
I just ran into a useful blog post on the science of the link between Alzheimers and diabetes and figured I would record the link here: http://www.savethesynapse.com/wp/?p=15
My husband died three weeks ago. Several days ago we were discussing how we felt coconut oil had benefitted him. I've been looking for a spot to post our coconut oil experience and this is as good as any.
I started him on the coconut oil in December, 2008, shortly after I found this site. Actually, what I used was three tablespoons a day of the MCT oil. Several weeks later when our son-in-law visited his comment was, “The vacant look is gone.” Several of my husband’s friends approached my son and commented on how much more alert he was.
In September of 2008 he had a more extensive evaluation and as part of that, he had the standard clock drawing test. He drew the circle, then started with number 1 in the correct spot but continued to number around until he ran out of room at the top with number 15. After six weeks on the MCT oil, I had him draw a clock. He drew the circle, then put number 12 at the top, number 6 at the bottom, 3 in its correct position at the right and 9 at the left, and then filled in the remaining numbers in their correct position. A remarkable improvement.
When he started on the MCT oil in December of 2008 he was at the “same question repeated 50 times” stage. This disappeared and did not return for about two years. So we really feel that we gained about two years. Whether this is an accurate assessment or not, I don’t know, but I definitely would give him the MCT oil again and would recommend it.
My son was impressed enough that he carried copies of Dr. Newport’s article in his car and gave away a few copies together with a bottle of MCT oil encouraging others to give it a try.
I thought coconut oil was benefiting my husband. But when he went in the nursing home he went off it and also off Aricept. A year later he is not much worse than when he went in.