Interview with Lisa Skinner on One American News| Talks about Dementia and Alzheimers

Our next guest, Lisa Skinner, is a behavioral expert in the field of Alzheimer's disease and the author of the book Truth, Lies, and Alzheimer's, described as an unconventional path to peace of mind for families that are facing Alzheimer's and dementia. This really hits home for me, Lisa. Um, we have been affected by dementia and Alzheimer's in my family. Um, personally, in my family professionally here at OAN. And so this is something that really hits close to the heart, and I hope it's something that we can figure out in our lifetime. So Lisa Skinner, welcome to the program. Thank you.

Thank you for coming on. Thank you, Dan. Thank you for having me. And I totally feel for what you're going through. I've had 8 of my own family members.

Oh my goodness. Okay. Yeah. So I can relate to about 3, like I said, in the family, outside side of the family, but very close to my family. So it is difficult to watch. It is difficult to talk about. But when I hear there's anything on the market that might be possibly something, anything that could be a light at the end of the tunnel for these folks, I got to grab onto it and say, let's talk about it. So tell me about this new possible wonder drug that's getting rid of that plaque. We've all seen, if anybody's dealing with this, We've all seen the images of— they'll show you the brain scan of your loved one and go, here's the dark matter, the gray matter, here's the plaque on their brain, and we don't know how to get rid of it. So what's this new drug called and why is it better than what's on the market now? Fill us in, Lisa.

It goes by Lecanemab, or it's also referred to as Leqembi, depending if it's generic or not. And it was only approved by the FDA in the past year. So it— they have started to use it. It is a drug that is administered intravenously. It's a long, long course. The patients go in and the course of the treatment is about 18 months or so.

Oh, wow.

Now, it's too early to really tell what kind of results we're going to be seeing from this new drug. But the research that I've done, unfortunately, is telling us that as of now, it's underperforming the expectations that the medical field had for it. And the main reason why, you just said it, is piercing the blood-brain barrier.

I've heard that. That's the thing that we just can't figure out. I feel like the brain is still like the ocean, right? We've only discovered 10 or 20% of it. Doctors still can't get in there and really figure out. It's not like the heart, right? It's a pump. They know all the ventricles and valves and know how to slice it up and use pig parts and can fix you. But I feel like they just don't know enough getting in there to deal with it.

So if there's an update on that—

oh yeah, go ahead.

There's a doctor who figured out how to break that blood-brain barrier by using MRI. Oh, and there's some way that you can use MRI that will temporarily release the, the protection that the blood-brain barrier provides for us and let that drug get into—

more of the drug, more of the drug by using the MRI machine. Really? Who's this, Doc? Where's this happening at?

I actually saw it. It was a 60 Minutes episode that I saw. About 6 months.

Are there studies that have been released on these findings?

Oh yes, yes, yes.

Okay, so MRI, we got this new drug. Now let me ask you this one, because a lot of folks obviously look to the drugs. There is, I don't think, any real surgery that fixes anything that I know of. Is that right? Okay, so we're talking about the drugs, there's no surgery. What about the ongoing care to keep the brain stimulated and keep it from going downhill rapidly? I know there's a lot of different therapies, and then theories on how to do that. But I want to hear from you. What should people who are diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimer's, and their family members and loved ones be doing immediately and then ongoing to try and keep that brain sharp and not let this plaque build up more?

So can I just clarify one thing?

Sure.

We still don't know if even Clearing out the plaque that tends to accumulate in the brains of people who live with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia is the cure to the problem.

Gotcha.

There have been many, many studies out there, one very famous one called the Nun Study, and then another one a couple decades later where they took about 100 sample people, and they asked permission to follow them through the duration of their life and ask permission if they could perform autopsy on their brain postmortem.

Sure.

Well, what they found, and, and this is, um, this is so intriguing, is, well, the first one was done with nuns. I 100 and something nuns, and they all lived in the same convent. And the reason why they chose them to study is because they had pretty much identical lifestyles.

Sure.

So they didn't have to factor in different lifestyles for different people, right? Well, the result of the study was, after, um, the autopsies were were done postmortem on these nuns as they started to pass away. They found plaques and tangles in the brains of nuns who showed absolutely no signs of Alzheimer's disease or dementia. They were asymptomatic.

You keep, all right, so now I'm gonna walk away from the gray matter thing and go back to the lifestyle because I've again dealt with this. I'm adding up 3 now. I forgot my friend's dad who helped raise me. 3 I've dealt with. And when all 3 of the people I'm discussing were diagnosed and then how they were leading their lives after and what they were doing to keep the brain stimulated, some declined faster and some did not. Many were sitting at home doing nothing to keep the brain stimulated. Others were out doing things and it seemed they then could prolong the more severe side effects of the dementia, Alzheimer's, and be with it longer, let's say. The ones that went home and just sat and did nothing to stimulate went downhill quicker. Is there some— okay, is there some reality in studies to what I'm saying there, where we should be doing more to help them at the initial diagnosis and throughout?

What you're saying is supported by research and medical science and has been for decades. Now, the thing is, it does help people in slowing down the progression of the disease. It doesn't work for everybody.

Right, and it doesn't get rid of it, it doesn't stop it, it just kind of slows it down.

In some people, in some people.

So even if you're doing those brain teaser games and puzzles and you're staying active and you're doing things, it doesn't mean always you'll see signs of getting, not better, but prolonging your life. It depends again on the person and what's going on in their brain. See, this is the thing that— Wow.

Yeah, every single thing that has to do with these diseases, and there's over 100 brain diseases that cause very similar symptoms, and that's what we refer to as dementia.

Sure. I'm running out of time, but I want folks to learn more about all this. Your book, behavioral expert in the field of Alzheimer's disease. The book is called Truth, Lies, and Alzheimer's. If folks pick this up, tell us just briefly what they're gonna find in this book.

They are going to find that if their lives have been touched by this, and if they dream about being able to communicate or connect emotionally with their loved ones again, that this dream is achievable. If they want to learn tools and strategies about how to go about providing that type of environment, that's another dream that's achievable. And I've spent the last 30 years being trained and actually implementing these principles and methodology, and I personally can tell you, even in my my own family, right? Plus all of the families that I've worked with.

Better quality of life.

Miracles have happened. And the increase in the quality of life— it's a different life, but it's a life that the family members, caregivers, and the folks living with dementia can, um, have the best with what they have to work with. And I have personally seen this happen.

Well, you've been personally affected, like you said, 8 times, so you would know. I love the fact that you're talking about a better quality of life for those living with it and for their loved ones and family members around them. I'm going to pick this book up. Lisa, thank you for coming on. God bless you. You take care. Gotta run.

Thanks again for having me, and good luck to you.

Yep, good luck to you and your family members.