pTau or Bust - Part 3
And Other Medical Mysteries
I hope this is not beating a dead horse. I figured that anyone who has any interest in brain health or knows someone with risk factors for dementia might be waiting for the result of the pTau 217 test I recently took. The good news is that I do not have a positive test. The bad news is that I do not have a negative test. My result is in an intermediate range with this explanation:
“An intermediate result does not establish a diagnosis of AD or other cognitive disorder and has increased uncertainty in regard to amyloid positivity. “
The specific range for normal is up to .34 ng/l and the intermediate range is from .35 ng/l to .62 ng/l. A positive test result is .63 ng/l or higher. A positive result correlates with amyloid seen on brain MRI scan. The result report also says that the test was administered due to cognitive decline, but Dr Bredeson is recommending that the test be used for screening every 5 years starting around age 40. I am sure there will be much more information coming out about this test and I will probably repeat it in a few years depending on how I am functioning. In the meantime I am focused on prevention in all the ways Dr Bredeson has suggested in his book The Ageless Brain.
Another test that I get yearly (and it is now at no charge with traditional Medicare!) is the Genova NeutraEval test. I am reviewing my current results and most things are looking a bit better. The categories it measures include the need for antioxidant support, need for mitochondrial support, need for inflammation support, need for reduced toxin exposure and need for methylation support. For the first time ever I saw my need for methylation support improve significantly. As I have shared, my genetics are very poor for being able to methylate or activate vitamin B12 and B6(folate). The one thing I had changed was to start using folinic acid as my folate supplement instead of just the folate that is in my multivitamin. This pearl of an idea was mentioned by Dr David Perlmutter in one of his podcasts as the form of folic acid that he uses for poor methylation. This got me to wondering about other nutrients I always have a high need for on the NeutraEval like alpha lipoic acid. I have been taking a controlled release form for many years – diligently twice per day. In doing a little more detective work I was reminded that R Lipoic acid is the active form and found information stating that some people do not get a good result taking the R/L forms together. Guess what I have been taking for years? The combo. So that experiment is running now too with the highest dose of R lipoic acid I could find. As we know, support for the mitochondria underpins all the areas that prevent disease risk.
I also feel inclined to attribute some of the improvement I am seeing on the NeutraEval to the introduction of the Urolithin A supplement I have written about previously. My deep sleep is up to an hour consistently and my energy is more sustained during the day. The least expensive way to purchase Urolithin A at present is using the Codeage brand that Fullscript stocks. I am working on an updated link for my website if you do not have a Fullscript account through another practitioner. It is an interesting process trying to evaluate how and why symptoms are changing – the R brain can give a gestalt, and the L brain wants data and details. Together they can be pretty powerful but hard to explain.
Also mysterious is why my husband and I finally felt the risk of covid decrease enough to restart some of our community activities. This type of intuition is not well understood. I just read a book by Malcolm Gladwell called Blink. He explores how our brains use “rapid cognition” to make a snap judgement. It involves a combination of experience and intuition. This process is often (but not always) more accurate than months of analysis.
For me this presented as a call to Yoga. The other daily data I use (perhaps more like months of analysis!) is from my Oura ring. I see a pattern of someone who is not very good at relaxing and whose body is often stressed. I spent many years focused on Pilates after a back injury and recently got the inner call to return to the mat. My friend Renee Silvus is an amazing yoga teacher and that’s where I headed. Her 1.5 hour class was hard and just what was needed. I felt strong and relaxed afterwards. Ah, the magic of the breath. The return of birds, the garden and growing things also feels pretty magical too. They remind us we are on a big ball that is turning in the middle of nowhere when we need balance for left brain processes.
I know all this supplement taking and assessing of risk sounds like torture to many people. I find that understanding my biochemical self is a very satisfying use of what I have always loved. I would even say it is part of a spiritual level of connection to the world – just micro rather than macro. I know it is not for everyone and that is why functional medicine and naturopathic practitioners are there. Hopefully you have found guides and helpers. Hopefully I shine a light on some topics of interest for you from time to time.
To the health of your body, mind and spirit,
Gail Eberharter Rankin, MD
Please feel free to visit my website for a variety of resources: fimmccall.com