Two Alzheimer’s sufferers are publicly claiming to have beaten back the deadly disease — merely by adopting simple but strict changes in lifestyle.
A new CNN documentary, “The Last Alzheimer’s Patient,” features Cici Zerbe, who reported feeling “much better” after switching to a plant-based diet and adopting a serious exercise and wellness routine.
Zerbe, who confessed to missing her beloved veal cutlets — she hasn’t eaten her favorite food in five years, she said — credited meditation, exercise and diet specifically for the “reverse” of her symptoms.
Zerbe is a participant in a clinical trial led by Dr. Dean Ornish, which has been exploring the impacts of significant lifestyle change on early dementia and mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s Disease. The findings are set to be published next month, the Daily Mail reported.
Gupta also interviewed another study participant, Simon Nicholls, who shared his own, similar experience.
In possession of two copies of the APOE4 gene, known to dramatically increase Alzheimer’s risk — Avengers star Chris Hemsworth is famously affected — the 55-year-old saw dramatic improvements after making the lifestyle changes.
“I was very worried,” Nicholls told Dr. Sanjay Gupta on camera. “I have a three-year-old son and an eight-year-old son. It’s really important for me, as I get older, to try and be there for them in the future.”
“There are many [changes] in lifestyle you can do to hopefully push the disease backwards and give yourself more time, which is all we need until we find a cure,” he said.
Nicholls appeared to have found considerable motivation from previous experience with dementia in his family — his mother passed away from what was assumed to be Alzheimer’s in her 70s.
“For the last 10 years of her life, she just sat in a chair, rocking, while on about 14 medications. I’d much rather have a longer health span and then just go quickly,” he said.
“Simon was on a mission, as if the Grim Reaper was peering over his shoulder. He was going to kick ass and take names,” preventative neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson, who oversaw Nicholls’ case, told CNN.
Isaacson said he was surprised to see Nicholls’ biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disappear in just a little over a year.
The regimen began with a prescription for tirzepatide, found in the trendy medications Mounjaro and Zepbound, approved by the FDA for Type 2 diabetes and weight loss, respectively.
Besides taking the shots and submitting to new dietary restrictions — elimination of sugar and ultra-processed foods, switching to a plant-based diet — Nicholls also adopted a serious exercise routine, including strength training. His mornings began with a combination of walking, jogging and cycling.
‘When I first saw Simon, he had a bit of a middle, like most guys in their 50s. When I saw him at nine weeks, I did a double take. He was totally buff, ripped even,” Dr. Isaacson said.
“I love going for a walk every morning at sunrise for an hour and a half with a podcast. I get in 10,000 steps or more every day. I’m very consistent,” Nicholls revealed. “I also do a very slow full-body workout with weights three times a week for an hour’s time.”
“Within those nine weeks, he had lost 21 pounds, about 80 percent of that fat, and put on muscle, which was excellent,” Isaacson recalled. “I almost didn’t recognize him.”
Isaacson said he refrains from using the term “reverse” but emphasized the excitement surrounding the promising results observed in Nicholls and other patients.
“I don’t use the term ‘reverse.’ I don’t know what reverse means when it comes to the field of Alzheimer’s,” Isaacson said.
“But the results we’ve seen with Simon and some other patients in our research are extremely exciting.”
