Overview
Lifestyle and dietary factors are widely accepted as key drivers of disease among cardiologists, oncologists, and endocrinologists, however the impact of diet and lifestyle on our brain health still remains largely on the margins. And, while there are certainly other factors, creating healthy daily habits can make a significant difference.
In this episode, Dr. Hyman speaks with Dr. Marwan Sabbagh, Dr. Richard Isaacson, and Dr. Jay Lombard about the role of genetics in brain disorders, lifestyle habits you can start right now to reduce your risk or reverse symptoms, and why we need to look at bacteria as a cause of neurodegenerative disease.
Dr. Marwan Sabbagh is a board-certified neurologist and considered one of the leading experts in Alzheimer’s and dementia. He is on the editorial board for the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and BMC Neurology and is now editor in chief of Neurology and Therapy and is the author of The Alzheimer’s Answer: Reduce Your Risk and Keep Your Brain Healthy and The Alzheimer’s Prevention Cookbook: 100 Recipes to Boost Brain Health. Dr. Sabbagh’s latest book, Fighting for My Life: How to Thrive in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s, is now available.
Dr. Richard Isaacson serves as Director of the Center for Brain Health and Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic (APC) at Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine. He previously served as Director of the APC at the Weill Cornell Memory Disorders Program, Assistant Dean of Faculty Development, and Associate Professor of Neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine & New York-Presbyterian. He remains as Adjunct Associate Professor of Neurology in the Department of Neurology at Weill Cornell. Prior to that, he served as Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology, Vice-Chair of Education, and Education Director of the McKnight Brain Institute in the Department of Neurology at the University of Miami (UM) Miller School of Medicine. Prior to joining UM, he served as Associate Medical Director of the Wien Center for Alzheimer’s disease and Memory Disorders at Mount Sinai.
Dr. Jay Lombard is an internationally acclaimed neurologist, author, and keynote speaker specializing in neuroimmunological conditions and medical mysteries. Dr. Lombard integrates biological, psychological, and existential components in his holistic treatment approach. Dr. Lombard’s clinical experience revealed an interesting pattern: one patient with ALS also had small intestine bacterial overgrowth, then another who had ulcerative colitis, another had Crohn’s, and so on. He started seeing the connection between these bacterial imbalances and Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, and the link to neurological symptoms.
Full-length episodes of these interviews can be found here:
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