Alzheimer's Community

Dear alexholder,

I have some information on resveratrol and phytonutrients for you. Check out Dr. Pizzorno's blog on Eating Red. He's an integrative health expert.

"Resveratrol, a flavonoid found in the skin of red and purple grapes (and therefore in red, but not white wine), improves blood flow by stimulating the production and/or release of nitric oxide (NO), a molecule made in the lining of blood vessels (the endothelium) that signals the surrounding muscle to relax, dilating the blood vessel and increasing blood flow." You can read the rest in the link above. Maybe someone else will have an experience to share, too. I couldn't find anything on Protandim.

Best wishes,

Byroney

If you go to www.protandim.com/clinical-proof/ you can access a peer reviewed published clinical study that shows Protandim is a powerful daily supplement that boosts the body's natural production of antioxidant enzymes in our own cells. These enzymes SOD & Catalase, can neutralize millions of free radicals in minutes thereby reducing free radical damage, a leading cause of oxiative stress. To understand these chemical pathways search "antioxidant enzymes" on Wikkipedia.

Protandim has also been clinically shown to boost glutathione--another type of antioxidant--by 300%. Dr. Perlmutter, who is a leading expert in glutathione, became interested in Protandim after these clinical trials were released and and has joined LifeVantage's scientific advisory board. Montel Williams interviewed Dr. Perlmutter on his website. See website for video clip.

There are alot of antioxidant products and foods containing antioxidants available. However the difference between these and Protandim is profound. Protandim is NOT an antioxidant, it is an herbal formula that switches on the production of antioxidant enzymes at the cellular level. Antioxidant molecules from food or supplements neutralize free radicals on a one to one basis and then are generally used up, while Protandim causes the production of enzymes that neutralize millions of free radicals in seconds and then regenerate to neutralize more free radicals.

Liu J, Ames BN: Nutr Neurosci: 2005 2:67-89. Reducing mitochondrial decay with mitochondrial nutrients to delay and treat cognitive dysfunction, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. "Abstract: Mitochondrial decay due to OXIDATIVE (emphasis provided) damage is a contributor to brain aging and age related neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD)...." Please read the full abstract & study.

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the 4th leading cause of death among adults. One in 10 persons over 65 yrs and nearly 50% over 85 yrs have AD. Studies have shown four risk reducers for AD: 1. Antioxidants 2. Intellectual stimulation 3. Omega-3 Fatty Acids 4. Physical Exercise At this time, there is no evidence that Protandim can treat, cure or prevent Alzheimer's. Because of the known link between between Alzheimer's and oxidative stress, one may want to begin lowering oxidative stress. Protandim is clinically proven to significantly lower oxidative stress.

From what is written above on Resveratrol it seems to have different chemical pathways and as you said less clinical data.

I hope this helps you. Sincerely, Nancy Lucas

The key to having any effect seems to be antioxidants. Lowering TBARs is the key. Human physiology as you grow older is not able to consume enough antioxidants to keep up with your own bodies production at increasing age. You have to get your own DNA to produce the proper proteins etc.. to make its own antioxidants as when young. Protandim drops all patients to lower than a 20 year old level, no exception.
You can try it out by going to lifevantage.com/store and order a single bottle.

The peer review is not independent. Joe McCord led all seven studies and is a Lifevantage board member and shareholder. In addition the journals that published the studies should be suspect. 4 of the 7 studies were published in a journal which lists McCord as an editor. One of the other two journal is an on-line journal criticized for its mass publishing. Protandim is a typical MLM product that over promises and over charges.

I'm not sure why you have such a negative take on Protandim but it deserves fair treatment. Most people consider the studies that make it to PubMed.gov to be a reputable source. You fail to mention that 5 are independent university studies conducted by institutions such as Harvard, Ohio State, Lousiana State, and Virginia Commonwealth. It's highly unlikely that research scientists at all of these universities have been duped, as well as the institutions who have put up funding including the National Institutes of Health.
Protandim has been proven to be a Nrf2 activator in more than one of those studies. If you aren't familiar with what that does, below is a link that will help explain it and you will find plenty more about it if you search at PubMed.
I have taken Protandim and had great results, life changing in fact, there is no scam here.
Joe McCord is a respected scientist, he discovered SOD in 1969 and has done research on free radical biology ever since.
Did you notice that the American Heart Association published one of the studies in their own journal Circulation? Hardly what I would call a suspect group.
This site explains more about the science behind it showing how the Nrf2 transcription factor works: www.radicalresults.net

Joe McCord submitted his research for publication and was asked for opinion on other research. It's too bad you conclude that there is mischief in that.

LifeVantage just announced another peer-reviewed article on skin cancer from Louisiana State University; this is completely independent of LifeVantage or Joe McCord. (June/2011)

It should be noted that the patented combination of the 5 herbs (all of which are on wikipedia) are 18 times more powerful in their synergy (proper combination) than they are individually. THAT is what makes Protandim so unique.

Take the peer reviews to your doctor for evaluation for your specific ailment, is that fair advice?

Yes, Protandim can help you. It helped my Grandmother.

Protandim is great I just started taking it and have received multiple benefits already..

The first two studies were paid for by the company. The ten lastest were paid for independently by universities, govt agencies, and the American Heart Association, to name a few.

Its true that Dr McCord's name does appear in the list of authors in most of these studies. What is not true is that he had any part in the studies. Dr McCord functioned as Life Vantage's representative and provided the actual samples of Protandim to the research teams.

For example, some of the first heart studies published were at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr McCord's name appears on these as he supplied the product. Subsequent studies at the same university on Protandim and heart protection do not have Dr McCord's name listed. That's because the research teams still had samples on the premises and did not need additional samples.

Dr McCord as the world expert on SOD and as the formulator of Protandim provided additional technical expertise to the teams. Do you think that its easier to go to a book to get answers rather than speaking to the expert himself?

Research studies follow very exacting guidelines and to be peer-reviewed and published means that everyone on the research team and the reviewing experts have to agree with the findings or the study doesn't get published.