Brain Pills/Supplements: Do They Work?

By Bill Craig

Ever since I saw the commercial for the product that's made from jellyfish venom, I've wondered about this, and today I want to write about it here.

A crazy thought: if you swam into a nest of jellyfish in the ocean and they all stung you at the same time, before you died - would you become the world's smartest human being for just a few seconds?

No, of course, you wouldn't and even though I've exaggerated up there I still have a point to make: Don't waste your money.

The most popular one is called Prevagen. Priced it lately? A recent check of my pharmacy lists it at $39.99. It's a supplement, so you can get it right off the shelf without a prescription. The trouble is the lack of regulation by the FDA. The FDA simply has no idea how to get a handle on the regulation of these so-called "supplements", so they are allowed to flood the market with their false claims of improved memory and hardly any warnings about interactions with other drugs you may be taking, such as blood thinners, BP meds are anti-depressants. 

So? So it's up to you to do your homework on this stuff.

"....Dietary supplements cannot cure, mitigate, treat or prevent Alzheimer's Dementia or any disease." - Statement from the Council On Responsible Nutrition. This includes mild cognitive impairment, memory lapses, or dementia.

So what does work? Maybe "what might work?" would be the better question.

"Omega-3 Fish Oil has shown promise and "may have a lower risk of dementia", but single-blind studies (in which the patients do not know which group they are in - medication or placebo) have shown that "...older adults had no more incidents of dementia or did no better on memory tests than those who got the placebo." - The March 2018 Edition of Consumer Health

What can you do to keep yourself cognitively fit?

  1. Maintain a normal blood pressure
  2. Do brain games (check online for those)
  3. Exercise

But don't go swimming in a nest of jellyfish!

Thanks for reading and remember to donate and participate in The Walk To End Alzheimer's . Just click on the link for more information.

PS: Have you been using Neuriva (another so-called "brain enhancer")? There's a class action suit happening which may interest you. Click on the link to go to "Truth In Advertising" and find out more.



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