The First Survivors of Alzheimer's: How Patients Recovered Life and Hope in Their Own Words

by Dale E. Bredesen

First person stories of patients who recovered from Alzheimer's Disease--and how they did it.It has been said that everyone knows a cancer survivor, but no one has met an Alzheimer's survivor – until now. In his first two books, Dr. Dale Bredesen outlined the revolutionary treatments that are changing what had previously seemed like the inevitable outcome of cognitive decline and dementia.  And in these moving narratives, you can hear directly from the first survivors of Alzheimer’s themselves--their own amazing stories of hope told in their own words. These first person accounts honestly detail the fear, struggle, and ultimate victory of each patient's journey. They vividly describe what it is like to have Alzheimer's. They also drill down on how each of these patients made the program work for them--the challenges, the workarounds, the encouraging results that are so motivating. Dr. Bredesen includes commentary following each story to help point readers to the tips and tricks that might help them as well.Dr. Bredesen's patients have not just survived; they have thrived to rediscover fulfilling lives, rewarding relationships, and meaningful work. This book will give unprecedented hope to patients and their families.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Medical, Science, Audiobook

270 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 17, 2021

About the author

Dale Bredesen, M.D., is internationally recognized as an expert in the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. He graduated from Caltech, then earned his M.D. from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. He served as chief resident in neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) before joining Nobel laureate Stanley Prusiner’s laboratory at UCSF as an NIH postdoctoral fellow. He held faculty positions at UCSF, UCLA, and the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Bredesen directed the Program on Aging at the Burnham Institute before coming to the Buck Institute in 1998 as its founding president and CEO. He is the chief medical officer of MPI Cognition.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title is very misleading. This book is not survivors of Alzheimer's like my friend who died of this or my mother who has dementia. There is no cure for Alzheimer's or dementia. Apparently this man, Bredeson, has developed a protocol that involves gluten-free, dairy-free, low sugar, supplements, yoga, sleep etc that helps people get rid of brain fog caused by too much screen time, two little sleep and eating poorly. His protocol is something that I think a lot of us already know.

But there's nothing about my 93-year-old mother who has dementia who did eat very healthy and exercised her whole life. This is a self-help book and he has people that have followed his "protocol" as if he is their savior tell their enthusiastic stories. As one person wrote in a review, I'm glad I didn't finish this book.

[Diane Scholten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Accessible, easy to read book further explaining Bredesen's RECODE protocol for Alzheimer's prevention/reversal. As someone with a familial propensity to late-onset dementia, I'm interested in Bredesens's research and have already begun implementing some of his suggestions. My only complaint about this book is that he used it (in places) to take swipes at his detractors. But the anecdotal evidence is easy to understand. His earlier book, An End to Alzheimers is much more comprehensive and prescriptive. Still, glad I read this one.

[Jeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thought of Alzheimers looming in our senior years is very scary. Dr. Bredesen has challenged the way it had been treated in the past. His research has led him to believer that a person may develop Alzheimers as part og aging but that there are probably underlying infections or allergies or environmental exposures that make a person more apt to become cognitively impaired. He feels that these factors actually may cause patients to actually start having problems earlier in their lives although the symptoms may not be as noticeable. By following a regimen of healthy diet, sleep and supplements the patients in this book found relief and could lead "norma" lives with our the stress of Alzheimers. The personal stories very interesting in their variety and the approaches.
The fact that people are not accepting prognosis and are actively seeking new ways is very hopeful.
I would haven liked a glossary as there are several medical terms and protocols that needed more explanation. I had to keep looking these up as I read.

[Cici · Rating 1 out of 5]

anecdotal. not actually scientific. but much of the protocol seems that it wouldn't hurt you to try, such as exercise, Mediterranean diet, etc.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and hopeful follow up to Bredesen’s previous books detailing how people can reverse cognitive decline using his RECODE protocol. This protocol, which includes steps such as improving insulin sensitivity, ensuring proper hormone levels,and minimizing inflammation, involves some lab testing and various dietary and lifestyle changes. The book has seven chapters devoted to individuals explaining how they have incorporated the RECODE protocol into their lives and how their cognition has subsequently improved. It is encouraging to hear about these positive results, and I can attest to my own improved cognitive functioning over the past few years as I have made changes in my own life. I would recommend the earlier books for those looking for a more detailed exposition on how to follow the protocol. My hope is that the medical community will begin to pay more attention to Bredesen’s research, as the standard treatment for Alzheimer’s is ineffectual, to say the least, and in some cases, actually detrimental.

[Chad Creager · Rating 4 out of 5]

The majority of the book was very good! There is hope for Alzheimer’s. I feel that the end of the book moved off topic and started using Alzheimer’s to address other topics. Overall I would recommend this read especially to people who have Alzheimer’s in their family.

[Susan Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt it was too much of a commercial for his program.

[Laura Tengzelius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting book about Alzheimers, with lots of new information and peoples own stories.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was bittersweet to read the stories of the survivors and what it took to get there. Average folks like me do not have the resources or medical practitioners who can properly get to the heart of my decline. the end of the book left little hope I could receive the same quality of care locally.

had he listed state by state practices which follow his protocol I would have given him 5 stars for pointing us in the direction of proper healing.

[Kristin Muschett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Required Reading

A very touching and compelling view of people who have actually reversed dementia using the recode protocol and the reasons why. I also liked the more philosophical chapters speaking about why Dale Bredeson's whole integrative approach is such an anathema to established western medicine. Should be required reading for all.

[Linda Cardott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting, even if Alzheimer's and/or dementia is not a concern as we age, living a healthy life is extremely important.
Highly recommend, there is something for everyone in educating ourselves on these very important topics.

[David Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent information in the continuing research into alzheimers. I recommend it to anyone doing research into alzheimers.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read on preventing and reversing cognitive decline.

[Rosemary Schuette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good info on a disability effecting so many

Good work done by the medical professionals to bring information to those who want to know how to fight off this terrible illness.

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me be clear, there is a way to reverse Alzheimer's! This is what people with a family history have been waiting for, but this is applicable to everyone because the Standard American Diet and lifestyle puts us all at risk. Dr. Dale Bredesen has spent over 30 years researching and developing a multi-faceted health program to prevent and reverse dementia. He has published the studies and has thousands of documented reversals of cognitive decline in up to 84% of his patients. He has identified 36 markers (think blood tests) to address and you can get help with testing and developing a plan to address your biggest risk factors at ApolloHealthCo.com. Diet, exercise, sleep, stress, metabolism (blood sugar!), inflammation, toxins, etc... are all playing a part that you can control, but success comes easier sooner than later. This easy-to-read book is the one (of his several) to start with to begin learning what his program is about. It includes the stories of 7 people and what worked for them; everyone is different. It explains how the billions of research dollars spent chasing amyloid plaques has been a misguided focus, and why there will never be one singular drug or solution for this complex neurodegenerative disease. Although a conventionally trained MD, he spells out the limitations of our healthcare system in favor of an integrative approach. He provides real hope for the millions who have been affected by this disease.

[Gabrielle Jarrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the fact that a chemistry degree background would've been helpful, Bredesen's book was enlightening, providing hope for those in the beginning or middle stages of Alzheimers. His protocol is ReCoDe: Reversal of Cognitive Decline. The reversal protocol is an intense, rigid, and highly successful plan. The seven true stories of the survivors become thrivers on his regime are inspiring. I did note all the seven are highly intelligent and successful, but unsure if that influenced the success. I see Bredesen's ReCoDe as entirely possible with determination and discipline.

[Anastasija Ivanova]

Disappointed by the misleading title. This is just one big ad for the Bredesen Protocol, and as someone who has worked closely with dementia patients you cannot convince me that a mediterranean diet, fasting and exercice will help you reverse the condition... Overall the author describes solutions to reverse early cognitive decline in people with brain fog/early signs of onset of Alzheimer’s but doesn’t even begin to dive into people with a evolved case of dementia. That being said the book could have been better title something like « avoiding/preventing» Alzheimer’s but not actually not « surviving » Alzheimer’s.

[Justin Tapp · Rating 2 out of 5]

The First Survivors of Alzheimer's: How Patients Recovered Life and Hope in Their Own Words

I reviewed this book as a 45 year old with elevated risk of Alzheimer’s based on genetics and family history. My mom is in early phases of the disease and following the same timeline as her older brother, who has advanced Alzheimers in a memory care facility. I’ve tested positive for one copy of the Apoe 4 allele, which I inherited from my mother.


I am skeptical of claims “reversing Alzheimer’s” for many reasons, not least of which is that other practitioners, like Drs. Dean and Ayesha Sherzai, have criticized the term but also because Bredesen acknowledges the disease is “mysterious” and “no two Alzheimer’s are alike.”. Bredesen has been both vilified as a fraud and hailed as a hero and I think the truth is somewhere in the middle.


Before reading the book, I listened to many podcast interviews from 2020-2024 with Bredesen and others who he has trained or similar practitioners in the field (the Sherzais, David Perlmutter, more) While reading the book, I listened to audio recordings from David Perlmutter’s Alzheimer’s: The Science of Prevention, where Bredesen is one in about 30 neurologists, nutritionists, and psychologists who focus on brain health and Alzheimer’s who are interviewed for the “documentary.”


What I have gleaned is that the consensus is that, just like any chronic disease, diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management go a long way to prolonging health and quality of life, even if you are genetically disposed to having Alzheimer’s or other cognitive impairments. There seems to be wide agreement on benefits of a mildly ketogenic diet, vigorous exercise, maximizing sleep (through CPAP or other means), minimizing “inflammation,” and maintaining other supports like meditation, family and friends, etc.


The greater challenge comes from identifying and mitigating other toxins in your life that may also be causing brain damage via “inflammation’ and symptoms of dementia – mold exposure, lead, glyphosate (allegedly), previous brain trauma, and a host of others. As Bredesen says “No two Alzheimer’s are alike,” and thus each requires a detailed analysis for each person with a tailored prescription of supplements, chelation, and more. This tailored analysis is what Bredesen and Apollo Health (from which he lists $10,000/month in fees on one of his research papers posted on NIH website) offer clients. It doesn’t surprise me that he could not get NIH funding for a trial because he’s proposing a program individualized to each candidate with no duplication or ability to have a control group.


The first half of this book is a series of testimonials from some of the clients he’s worked with since 2010, including “Patient Zero” who is one of several who anonymously wrote their testimonies in the book. Anonymity detracts from the credibility of the book – if people experienced great gains from Bredesen, why wouldn’t they be willing to be public about it? (One is a CIA agent according to one interview with Bredesen, another is a physician who I suspect may expose himself to liability issues by going public with his name as he had knowingly practiced with cognitive impairment.) One who is public is Julie G. who founded the ApoE-4 message board community and also helps sell Apollo Health’s subscription meal plans. Her testimony is perhaps the most detailed.


Most of these survivors had early-onset dementia or Alzheimer’s diagnoses and each had different issues which led to a variety of prescribed treatments. Examples include heavy mold exposure sometime in life, tick bites, previous head trauma from a vehicle accident, hormonal issues, and some were heavily overworked with poor sleep and nutrition. Some, such as one with lyme disease, had dementia but it’s not clear they had Alzheimer’s. The testimonials vary enough in detail and quality that I doubt they were all written by the same ghost writer, as other reviewers suspect. Each chapter ends with a brief comment by Bredesen.


The commonalities of the survivors are that they were highly-motivated individuals with and highly self-aware of their situation. Most had advanced degrees, were already athletes or physically fit eager to adopt routines of fitness. They also had the money and family support to purchase organic food and supplements that they needed, move to other locations, do the regular series of blood tests, and work really hard to see their symptoms be mitigated. While some saw cognitive improvements immediately, in all cases recovery took years of consistent work and trial-and-error with many supplements and regular blood testing. In some cases, total recovery didn’t occur but they got enough of their memory back to return to a high standard of living.


The second half is Bredesen addressing FAQs and common criticisms about his work, and some details of his KetoFlex 12/3 diet and protocol, which contains a laundry list of supplements and recommended activities. It’s not the easiest read for the layman as each chemical or supplement could be an article on its own, and his lists and answers just come across as research notes more than narrative. Just seeing lists may not be helpful, and you would need a complete blood test regularly and someone to interpret the results to modify your protocol– which you can pay Apollo Health to do on a monthly basis. As he says “The tools we need to play chess with the Alzheimer’s devil are available,” but the game will be different for each player and it may take years of trial and error to determine the winning strategy. Readers will find information about foods that are anti-inflammatory– such as turmeric– but will not find a legible recipe for their own success. It’s not simple.


Bredesen believes that the amyloid plaques that characterize Alzheimer’s are symptomatic and not the cause– they’re the brain’s response to a threat, inflammation, etc.. Drugs have been developed solely to target the plaques and studies have found they often made patients worse, if any change was recorded at all. These drugs are liking tearing down a fence that’s keeping pollution out of a lake when you haven’t stopped the source of the incoming pollution. He has two studies published that you can find online, one of 10 people in 2016 and another in 2022 with 25 patients where “84% of MCI cases were reversed,” (ie: 21 of 25 people) with the caveat that they had “very good, highly-trained physicians” working with them. He has said in interviews that his most common client now is post-menopausal women in their 50s.


My biggest concern is when Bredesen uses language that “Alzheimer’s is now an optional disease,” by which he means both preventable through diet and lifestyle and reversible at an early age with the right interventions. In this book, he writes that “the outcome can’t be guaranteed” and that the protocol doesn’t work for everyone, perhaps because their disease is too advanced or some other “mysteries” of the disease (p. 17). He claims that 5,000 patients are now on his ReCODE protocol. In one interview, he stated his clients have seen cognitive exam scores improve (if mildly) for even advanced Alzheimer’s, but not yet “reversal” in advanced cases.


To me, calling Alzheimer’s “preventable” and ‘optional rather than inevitable,” requires it to be available and provable to be reversed in all cases. The treatments and diet/lifestyle changes are difficult for the average American. You can’t go back in time to reverse an untreated tick bite or un-expose yourself to lead or mold, and you may only find out years later that these are what caused your dementia. Bredesen notes that thousands of dollars a year in paying a company like Apollo Health to test your blood and give you a prescribed supplement list costs a lot less than a nursing home stay. (Note: This is where I am more sympathetic to Dr. Sharzais’ approach to Alzheimer’s as a public health problem. Those most likely to get Alzheimer’s are the same to suffer from other chronic diseases– namely those in poverty. They can neither afford the nursing home stay nor the expensive steps to possible prevention.)


Bredesen admits that the protocol isn’t simple, people often need to be on dozens of supplements and years of effort. But the results he’s had in his studies (done jointly with other physicians) do offer a glimmer of hope that marginal results are possible, and those marginal results can mean improved quality of life and reduced nursing home costs for years. I’d be less skeptical if the patients in the book were willing to go on record with their names, particularly because a couple of them are apparently in high-profile, public-facing jobs. Also, why do I have to supply a bunch of personal information and register with his company just to find a local physician trained in his protocols? (He claims in one interview to have trained 10,000. Where are they?) Why do so many things on the website have a sales pitch when truly remarkable results should sell themselves?

2.5 stars. I recommend it to those struggling with memory problems or dementia who may want to hear people with similar stories as their own.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one book in a series written by Dale Bredesen on his research into curing Alzheimer's. As a person with Alzheimer's in my family history, I was very intrigued when I saw the title. I assumed Alzheimer's was incurable.

In the first half of the book, Dr. Bredesen presents the stories of a number of people who used his protocol to reverse the effects of Alzheimer's and regain their mental abilities. These are great stories and because they are firsthand accounts, it's hard to refute their claims. In fact, it gives me hope that if I should go down that road in the future, there are things I can do to fight back.

The second half of the book goes into more detail about his protocol, called ReCODE. At this point, it would have helped to have been familiar with some of his earlier books, because that would have helped me interact with the material better. Basically, Dr. Bredesen identified that there are about three dozen factors that determine whether a person gets Alzheimer's and then figured out how to combat each factor with a combination of diet, exercise, and supplements. The latter portion of the book discusses various aspects of his methodology and protocol.

(The TL;DR version of ReCODE, BTW, is "eat healthy, exercise, manage stress, and get enough sleep, and you're 80 percent there.")

Overall, I was excited to learn about ways to fight Alzheimer's that really work. I wish I had realized, however, that this was the middle in a series of works.

[Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting description of multiple Alzheimer's patients journeys through a multifaceted and "alternative" treatment plan for the disease. It seems that while single targeted drugs have not been able to cure Alheimer's, a multifaceted approach to increase overall brain health is able to significantly improve cognition in patients. This is somewhat surprising overall for a person used to the classical, official medical doctor treatment approach. However, this perspective makes sense - the body is complex and therefore a many-pronged treatment approach aimed at helping a particular body system via all the interactions suggested by research can be a really good way to work to heal the system.

[Ko Matsuo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it possible to slow down and potentially reverse the effects of Alzheimer's? According to Bredesen, the answer is an unequivocable "yes." The problem is that his methods have been criticized by other scientists for lacking the testing rigor needed to show something more than a placebo effect.

His approach appears to involve simple steps such as diet, exercise, and other lifestye changes. After reading this book, I have come to think that it is possible that there may be several causes of Alzheimer's with at least some versions that can be improved through Bredesen's regimen. I think rather than evanglelizing a new approach, if Bredesen focuses on what type of cases his methods tend to work better, that would be a benefit for working towards a cure.

[Regina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was so encouraging to read the stories of these people who had cognitive impairment then reversed it following Bredesen's protocol. I wish more of the book contained the stories, since the other books contain the bulk of the program. I also wish I could afford what sounds like a very expensive protocol. 4 stars

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the stories and the hope they give. They inspire self-improvement. My reason for a 3 star rating is because I didn’t love the ‘product placement’ type references and found the later chapters naming every supplement could have been better organized.

[Meghan Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to read this, you should definitely read the author’s other book - The End of Alzheimer’s- first. This book kept referring back to things from that book, and I should have just switched the order.

[Colleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book I don’t feel bad about not finishing

[Chelsea · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so full of slime I need to take a shower.

[Susanne Latour · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and hopeful read.

[Ei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye-opening book on families all across the US, and the journey they took to reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s. A bit scientifically dense though.

[Md9999 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hope

[JoMi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn’t really finish the book- it just felt like a pitch the whole time.

I am happy for the individuals in the book who reversed their early signs, but I just felt like a product was being sold.