A New Way Forward in Dementia Care
Caring for patients with dementia is never easy. It is a diagnosis that profoundly alters lives—devastating not only for the individual affected, but also for the families who love them.
One patient, in particular, has stayed with me. He shuffled into my office and stared at me with vacant eyes. His wife of 35 years stood beside him, quietly explaining that she never imagined she would one day become his caregiver. The vibrant, outgoing man she had built a life with was gone, replaced by someone she barely recognized. A neurologist had already delivered the verdict: there was nothing left to do but prepare for placement in a memory care unit.
It was devastating. Soul-crushing. And unfortunately, all too common. As a physician, my heart ached to do more.
According to research from Columbia University, approximately 10% of Americans over the age of 65 have dementia, while an additional 22% experience mild cognitive decline. These numbers continue to rise, and with them, the urgency to rethink how we approach this disease.
Alex Schauss, an FDA researcher, conducted a landmark study revealing that patients who took certain classes of medications daily for 3.5 years experienced a 54% increased risk of developing dementia. These medications included antihistamines (such as Benadryl), seizure medications, SSRIs like Prozac, and benzodiazepine derivatives such as Xanax. His research highlighted an important reality: when we alter brain chemistry, there is often a long-term price to pay.
Polypharmacy—taking multiple medications simultaneously—further compounds the problem. When several drugs affect neurotransmitters at the same time, they can interfere with memory formation and disrupt the brain’s electrical signaling. Over time, this unintended consequence may contribute to cognitive decline.
Statin medications may also play a role. While effective at lowering cholesterol, they can leave the brain deficient in the cholesterol it needs to maintain the protective insulation around nerve fibers. Without this insulation, nerve signaling becomes compromised.
So, does this mean we should stop taking medications altogether to prevent dementia? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple—and for many patients, doing so would be unsafe. That left me asking a difficult question: Is institutional care truly the inevitable end point for dementia patients, or is there another way?
Driven by that question, I began searching for answers in medical journals from around the world. Publications such as The Journal of Cellular and Molecular Biochemistry helped shift my perspective. Instead of approaching neurodegenerative disease solely through a pharmaceutical lens, I realized it needed to be addressed at the biochemical level.
Three key proteins play a central role in cognitive decline: amyloid, tau, and synuclein. When these proteins become misfolded, they accumulate within brain cells and interfere with nerve function. Specifically, they disrupt potassium channels, causing them to remain open and destabilizing the brain’s electrical circuitry.
The solution, interestingly, lies in first-year medical school biochemistry.
Potassium itself is not the problem—the issue is the structure and function of the potassium channels that regulate cellular voltage. When these channels are repaired, the brain’s electrical integrity can be restored.
The encouraging news is that a combination of targeted therapies can help reduce amyloid, tau, and synuclein proteins, clear them from brain cells, calm neurological inflammation, and support neuronal repair.
We applied this approach to patients with significant dementia—individuals who had already been advised to enter memory care facilities.
Within 8 to 12 weeks, 50–70% of participants showed measurable improvement, with many maintaining these gains for at least a year. Improvements included better speech, improved mobility, and increased independence. Some patients were even able to resume driving.
Sometimes, progress requires a shift in perspective.
While this approach is not the answer for every patient, for some it may offer something invaluable: more independence, more clarity, and more meaningful time with the people they love—time to create a few more memories.
– John Young, M.D.
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