Prevent High Blood Pressure and Dementia Without Medication: 3Rd Edition 2023

By Ken Casey

This book shows how to prevent high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis and dementia without medication. The book shows how to lower blood pressure by the use of potassium and garlic supplements. The book then demonstrates how to reduce diabetes using the 8-hour maintenance diet, which effectively reduces insulin resistance by unclogging fat from the cell’s receptors.

The book next shows how to reduce osteoporosis by reducing blood acidity using alkaline supplements as a buffer. The book then points out the benefits of exercise in preventing arthritis by removing waste products from the joints. The book lastly points out the benefits of NAD and PQQ in preventing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease by improving the health and number of brain cell mitochondria.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669865957

Ken Casey

Ken served as a Russian interpreter during the Vietnam War and then spent over 30 years practicing as a tax attorney. Ken also has an MBA in accounting and a CPA.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

TREATMENT OF PRE-HEART DISEASE

Heart disease is the leading killer of adults over 65, accounting for over 500,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2020. As a chronic disease, heart disease affects 37% of men and 26% of women over 65. Heart disease is the state where the blood is not pumped in adequate amounts to satisfy the needs of the body. There are a number of underlying causes for this illness, including high blood pressure, obesity, valve problems and heart attacks. They all tend to weaken the heart muscle and make it less efficient. The major cause of heart disease is atherosclerosis (or narrowing of the arteries).

Keeping atherosclerosis under control is the single most important aspect of an optimal lifestyle. Arteriosclerosis is often used synonymously with atherosclerosis but it is actually a broader term that includes any hardening of the arteries whether or not due to narrowing of the arteries. Atherosclerosis (also known as coronary artery disease or CAD) is caused by high blood pressure, high blood glucose and high cholesterol levels. Keeping all these elements in check through medication will not stop the advance of atherosclerosis. The key is to get at the root of the problem, which is the ingestion of saturated fat. Saturated fat is laid down in the arteries as plaque, especially if blood glucose levels are high.

Nathan Pritikin, an engineer, was one of the first to realize that very low-fat diets could stop atherosclerosis by lowering blood pressure and blood glucose (sugar) levels. Numerous doctors, such as Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Neal Barnard and Dr. Calwell Esselstyn have taken up the cudgels of this battle to treat atherosclerosis through diet.

The Calorie Restriction Lifestyle (CRAN or CRON) has demonstrated that average caloric restriction for a 170-pound man of 1750 calories per day (30% below normal standards of 2500 calories) reduces high blood pressure, high blood glucose and high cholesterol. The CR lifestyle has also proven to extend life expectancy as much as 30% of one’s remaining life expectancy. For example, a 70-year old who starts on this lifestyle can expect to extend his life expectancy from 85 to 89.5 years (i.e. 30% of the actuarially computed 15-year life expectancy).

The CR lifestyle is almost impossible for most Americans to adopt. As a consequence, many nutritionists have suggested semi-vegetarian diets that try to emulate the CR lifestyle, such as the Ornish diet, the DASH diet, and the South Beach diet. This book presents the Casey diet. This diet is derived from monkey studies of the CR diet that showed that the CR benefits could be obtained from having the monkeys eat all they want but only once every two days. The Casey diet allows a person to eat all they want but only once a day. Although this diet will not reverse atherosclerosis, it will bring its progression to a stop. If you cannot follow the Casey diet, follow the 8-hour maintenance diet, discussed in Chapter 1.

TREATMENT OF PRE-HYPERTENSION

Although the American Heart Association (AHA) does not use this term anymore, it used to be defined as systolic blood pressure (the top number) of 120 to 139 mm HG and diastolic (the bottom number) of 80 to 89 mm HG. Guidelines from the AHA, updated in 2017, have reclassified blood pressure of 120 to 129 over 80 mm Hg as elevated and 130 to 139 over 80 to 89 mm Hg as Stage 1 hypertension.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), one in three Americans has an elevated or Stage 1 hypertension. For older adults in that category, the rate of progression to Stage 2 hypertension (140/90 mm Hg or greater) may be as high as 50% over four years. Your doctor will tell you to exercise regularly, lose weight, quit smoking, reduce alcohol consumption and adopt the DASH (dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet, which calls for high fruit and veggie consumption along with reduced saturated fat and sodium consumption.

Doctors will also prescribe 4 categories of drugs to combat high blood pressure. These are as follows: (1) diuretics, (2) beta-blockers, (3) ACE inhibitors and (4) calcium channel blockers. These drugs treat the symptom of high blood pressure but do not get down to the root of the cause, which is atherosclerosis.

Many people end up quitting these drugs due to side effects. Diuretics cause frequent urination, weakness, leg cramps and fatigue. The latter symptoms are often due to the fact that diuretics decrease the body’s levels of potassium; this can often be offset by taking potassium-sparing diuretics. Beta-blockers make your heart beat less forcefully and more slowly. Beta-blockers can cause asthma symptoms, cold hands and feet, depression and insomnia. ACE inhibitors block formation of a hormone that causes blood vessels to narrow. The major side effect of these drugs is a dry, hacking cough that won’t go away. Skin rash and a loss of taste are two other side effects of Ace inhibitors. Calcium channel blockers keep calcium from entering heart muscle cells, which allows the blood vessels to relax. The typical side effects are constipation, dizziness, headache and rapid heart palpitations.

If you can handle the side effects of these drugs, well and good. Aside from atherosclerosis (plaque in the arteries), the main cause of high blood pressure is too much salt intake. Many doctors recommend an intake below 1600 mg per day. Most young people have well-functioning kidneys that can get rid of the salt. In contrast, most seniors have kidneys that do not function so well; they are called salt sensitive. If salt restriction does not work for you, you need to increase your potassium uptake. The more potassium in your diet, the more sodium you lose through your urine. Potassium also helps to ease tension in your blood vessel walls, which further helps to lower blood pressure.

The recommended potassium intake for an average adult is 4,700 milligrams (mg) per day. Most adults consume half the recommended amount. Men average 3,000 mg while women average 2,300 mg daily. Less than 3% of the population consumes the adequate intake of 4.7 g (or 4,700 mg) daily. Results show that a diet with 8.5 daily servings of fruits, which provides 4,100 mg of potassium, lowered blood pressure by 7.2 mm HG for systolic and 2.8 mm HG for diastolic blood pressure in hypertensive patients compared to a diet providing 3.5 servings of fruits and vegetables, which provided only 1,700 mg of potassium.

The degree of blood pressure lowering appears to be dose dependent, with the largest decrease in blood pressure occurring at the high end of the dosage range, namely 4,700 mg of potassium. In fact, the optimal level of potassium may be higher. After getting your yearly physical, check to see whether your potassium level is at high normal. If not, feel free to add some potassium tablets to your diet.

TREATMENT OF PRE-DIABETES

Pre-diabetes means your blood sugar levels are higher than normal, i.e., between 100 mg/dl and 125 mg/dl (the level for a full-blown diabetic). The CDC says that about 100 million Americans have pre-diabetes, about a third of the country. More men (36.6%) have pre-diabetes than women (29.3%). Studies vary widely on how many go on to develop diabetes. About 11% of people with pre-diabetes develop full-blown diabetes each year.

People with pre-diabetes generally have no symptoms of the disease. Only 11.6% of people with pre-diabetes know they have it. It is estimated that 1 in 4 adults with full-blown diabetes do not know they have the disease. Rates of diagnosed diabetes increase with age. Among adults 18-44, 4% have diabetes. Among those 45-64, 17% have diabetes and among those older than 65, 25% have diabetes.

Research has shown that some of the long-term effects of diabetes on the body, such as damage to the heart and blood vessels, can begin even when a person has pre-diabetes. Having pre-diabetes increases your risk of developing cardiovascular disease by about 50%, compared to people with normal blood sugar levels.

Diabetes is a serious disease that can often be managed through physical activity, diet, and the appropriate use of insulin and other medications to control blood sugar levels. People with diabetes are at increased risk of serious health complications including premature death, vision loss, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and amputation of toes, feet or legs.

The most common medications for treating type 2 diabetes are metformin and the sulfonylureas. Metformin reduces the amount of glucose produced by the body. The side effects of metformin include diarrhea and feeling unwell, especially if metformin is not taken together with a meal. The sulfonylureas help the body to produce more insulin. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) is a bit more common when using sulfonylureas than when using metformin. Some people also gain weight when they start the treatment. Others may have allergic reactions to sulfonylureas.

Incretin mimetics are hormone-like drugs that can be injected in addition to taking metformin and/or sulfonylurea tablets. They are not supposed to replace antidiabetic tablets. Incretin mimetics can be used instead of, or in addition to, insulin. The drug is injected under the skin with a pre-fill pen. It stimulates the pancreas to make more insulin. The side effects include nausea and vomiting.

While medications can be an option for people with pre-diabetes, it is advisable to avoid them if possible. They are not harmless. Metformin is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for pre-diabetes. The best solution is to either adopt the Casey diet or the 8-hour diet.

According to Dr. Neal Barnard, each cell of the body in a diabetic patient is like a gummed-up lock. When insulin attaches to insulin receptors on a cell, it activates a series of enzymes that escort the glucose into the cell. When fat attaches to the insulin receptors, the insulin has no way to enter the cell. Without insulin, blood glucose is stuck out in the bloodstream, banging on your cells’ insulin receptors, unable to enter. Insulin production is not the problem with type 2 diabetes; fat has gummed up the delivery of the insulin to the cells.

The advantage of the Casey diet (or the 8-hour diet) is that the fat in the cells is consumed on a daily basis. Normally, the mitochondria (the power factories in the cells) prefer to first consume glucose for energy and finally fat. Fat is the least preferred since it take the most effort to consume. If you eat breakfast on a daily basis, you will end up consuming a large amount of sugar. Just when the cells are ready to consume the fat in the cells, a large dose of breakfast sugar will present itself to the cell and the mitochondria will continue to consume the sugar as opposed to the fat in the cell. In addition to diet, one should also increase the level of exercise and lose weight. You can lose weight on the Casey diet more easily than on any other diet.

TREATMENT OF PRE-OSTEOPOROSIS (OSTEOPENIA)

Pre-osteoporosis (also known as osteopenia) is defined as bone density below normal but not so low as to constitute osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones become weaker due to their porosity (low bone density) and are at greater risk of breaking. More than 64 million adults in the United States have osteoporosis. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends a baseline bone density scan (DEXA scan) for women 65 and older.

Osteoporosis-related fractures most commonly occur in the hip, wrist or spine. For the year 2000, there were an estimated 9 million osteoporotic fractures, of which 1.6 million were at the hip, 1.7 million were at the forearm and 1.4 million were vertebral fractures. One in 3 woman over age 50 will experience an osteoporotic fracture and 1 in 4 men over age 50 will suffer from an osteoporotic fracture. By the time women reach age 70, about 20% of them have had at least one wrist fracture.

The most widely used osteoporosis medications are the bisphosphonates. Fosamax is frequently prescribed for men; it decreases fractures of the spine but does not have any effect on other types of fractures. Women are often prescribed Actonel, Boniva or Reclast. Half of all patients stop taking their medications within a year. Bisphosphonates can cause stomach upset and esophageal ulcers as well as kidney damage and jaw necrosis, not to mention atrial fibrillation.

Bisphosphonates suppress the action of osteoclasts, which break down old bone. By killing the osteoclasts, there is more bone (albeit older bone). Over time, there are fewer osteoclasts and therefore suppression of the activity of osteoclasts is less. Most doctors assume that bisphosphonates will work for about 3-4 years. After that period, the medication is ineffective. Some doctors believe that a drug holiday may be helpful. There is considerable controversy regarding the optimal duration of bisphosphonate therapy and the length of the holiday. The bottomline is that bisphosphonates do not work over the long term.

The question is what to do over the long term if you have pre-osteoporosis. The answer is to take alkaline supplements. One of the connections that researchers are unveiling is the link between osteoporosis and excess acidity. According to Dr. Joy Lanou, people who eat a high-protein Western diet have blood that is too acidic for the body to function properly. The result is that the excess acid must be neutralized quickly; otherwise the body will begin to break down bone (demineralize the bone), using the calcium in the bone to buffer the acidity. In other words, a high-protein diet sucks (or resorbes) calcium from the bone and eventually causes osteoporosis. One solution is to eat more plant foods as opposed to animal products.

The best solution is to take an alkaline supplement, such as bicarbonate of soda (a buffer to the acidity). In one study, those receiving the bicarbonate of soda, in an amount equivalent to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, experienced much lower levels of calcium loss in the urine. Another study showed that potassium bicarbonate worked just as well. The women taking potassium bicarbonate had 27% less calcium in their urine than the control group, meaning less bone was being broken down to balance the acid in their diets.

My recommendation is to take 3 tablets of Alkalife after dinner to neutralize the acidic spike that comes after eating a large meat-based meal. I go to amazon.com to buy the Alkalife; a single bottle contains 90 tablets.

Below is a picture of the bottle.

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TREATMENT OF PRE-HYPERCHOLESTEROLIMIA (BORDERLINE HIGH CHOLESTEROL)

If your LDL (the bad) cholesterol is between 100-130 mg/dl, that is called pre-hypercholesterolimia (also known as dyslipidemia), an abnormal amount of fats in the blood. For LDL cholesterol, the optimal level is less than 100 mg/dl. Borderline high LDL levels are 100-129 and high LDL levels are 130-159 mg/dl. Although cholesterol-lowering drugs can help reduce your risk of heart disease, if your risk is low, then exercise, weight control and an improved diet are your best bet.

At one point, the AMA (the American Heart Association) strove to bring the total cholesterol down to 150 mg/dl by using statins. It was found that this actually caused worse health results. The ideal range for total cholesterol is between 160 and 180 mg/dl.

Dietary cholesterol is not considered as dangerous as was once thought in the 1970s. Only some of the cholesterol in food ends up as cholesterol in the bloodstream. The AMA now permits you to eat an egg or two a few times per week. Yale researchers gave 49 adults two eggs a day for 6 weeks and found this had no effect on total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol or triglycerides.

Cholesterol content in the bloodstream is regulated by the liver. After a meal, cholesterol in the diet is absorbed from the small intestine and stored in the liver. As the body requires cholesterol (for such things as cell membranes and for hormones like estrogen and testosterone), the liver secretes the cholesterol. When too much LDL cholesterol is present in the bloodstream, especially with high levels of blood glucose, it can build up in deposits called plaque along the inside walls of the arteries, causing the blood vessels to narrow. A diet that is high in saturated fat will cause the liver to secrete more cholesterol than normal.

Statins block a substance your liver needs to make cholesterol. Multiple studies have shown a decrease in subsequent heart attacks and mortality in people who receive a statin (such as Lipitor, Zocor, Mevacor and Crestor). There are many drugs that may interact with statins, so be sure your doctor is aware of all the medicines you take when being prescribed with statins.

While statins lower cardiovascular events, they also have side effects. In about 12 to 20% of patients, statins cause muscle problems. The muscle problems include aches, tenderness or weakness and often deter patients from exercising. About 2% of patients will develop problems with blood sugar levels or develop diabetes. One study found that 11.2% of statin users went on to develop diabetes, compared to 5.8% of statin non-users. Another 1% will develop dementia or mental confusion. An additional 1% will develop inflammation of the liver. The risks of very serious side effects is low but important enough that the FDA has issued a black-box warning on statin labels.

The fact remains that many people with high cholesterol do not get heart disease. In an analysis of 22 major clinical studies, the number of studies that showed a benefit from statins was about the same as the number of studies showing no benefit whatsoever. The authors concluded that lowering cholesterol does not reduce mortality and is unlikely to prevent coronary heart disease.

The best solution for lowering cholesterol without medication is to reduce your intake of saturated (and trans) fat. Monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil and canola oil, are healthy fats and can be ingested without limit. Reduce the amount of meat in your diet; meat contains saturated fat. Try to keep your meals at around 3 oz. of meat. A liver with low levels of dietary saturated fat will release normal levels of cholesterol whereas a liver with high levels of saturated fat will release high levels of cholesterol. Other dietary measures include eating tree nuts, such as walnuts and pecans as well as pistachios. Increasing your intake of oatmeal, fish, and avocados may also help.

If dietary measures fail to produce a normal cholesterol level, it can often be lowered by high-dose niacin (vitamin B3), rather than using statins. The effective dosages of niacin can range from 500 mg to as high as 6,000 mg per day. In some people, these does of niacin can produce a flushing of the skin. This is completely harmless and temporary and can be minimized by taking an aspirin tablet.

TREATMENT OF PRE-DEMENTIA

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) can sometimes signal the beginning stages of dementia. Screening is covered by Medicare on the theory that being forewarned could help people prepare. However, many people with MCI never develop dementia. Also a diagnosis of dementia could simply cause you anxiety in exchange for no benefit.

There are two main types of dementia: (1) vascular dementia related to mini strokes and (2) Alzheimer’s disease. Both of these diseases display similar symptoms in the brain neurons, namely amyloid beta plaques and tau tangles. In Japan, over 50% of dementia is attributed to vascular dementia. It is impossible to know the exact percentages since both vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease have the same tell-tale characteristics. Many mini strokes occur without the patient even realizing the event. You can suffer from hundreds of mini strokes without ever knowing it.

Traditionally, most of the funds for scientific research of Alzheimer’s disease have gone into studying what is called the amyloid beta cascade hypothesis. Under that model, amyloid beta plaque is considered the cause of dementia, along with the tangling of tau proteins in the neurons themselves.

A newer model, called the mitochondria cascade hypothesis, suggests that the mitochondria in the brain neurons are damaged by free radicals and, over time, the mitochondria lose their ability to properly nourish the neurons. When the mitochondria function in a neuron falls below 40%, the neurons begins to die due to the energy deficit. A brain neuron may have 1,000 or more mitochondria organelles. If 60% of these organelles are dysfunctional or dead, you have reached the tipping point. The death of the brain neuron leaves behind amyloid beta plaque as the by-product of its death.

According to Cathe Friedrick, the way to keep your mitochondria healthy is to take antioxidants and to exercise. With respect to antioxidants, vitamins A, C and E are important. However, use of vitamins A and E, the fat-soluble vitamins, have been found to be deleterious due to the overdose possibilities. Other antioxidants include resveratrol, Coenzyme Q10 and alpha-lipoic acid (often used along with L-Carnitine). One way your body adapts to aerobic exercise is to increase the number of mitochondria within the cells, a process called mitochondrial biogenesis.

Another way to improve the health of your mitochondria in the brain cells is to take supplements, called NAD. The manufacturer of NAD, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, claims that NAD is a crucial co-enzyme for mitochondrial health and biogenesis. NAD apparently activates sirtuins, which help in the manufacture of additional mitochondria. As a person ages, the level of NAD in the brain neurons decline; taking supplements helps reverse this process. A major benefit to taking NAD supplements is that there are no proven side effects since NAD is a precursor to niacin (i.e. vitamin B3).

Dr. Leonardi claims NAD is the next big breakthrough in anti-aging technology. According to the manufacturer of Niagen (an early form of NAD), tests on mice show a clear increase in the number of mitochondria in the brain neurons. The mice show a greater vitality and a longer life. Whether NAD is actually a breakthrough has yet to be proven scientifically. For the moment, there seems to be no other supplement which will increase the number of mitochondria in brain neurons. Since Alzheimer’s disease is so debilitating, it may be worthwhile to take supplements of NAD. At this point, the FDA has not approved of NAD as a treatment for dementia. Below is a picture of the bottle, taken from amazon.com. One should take 2 tablets per day to improve the health and biogenesis of the mitochondria. Below is a copy of the bottle, which can be obtained on the Amazon website.

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TREATMENT OF PRE-CANCER

If you have ever had a cervical lesion (discovered through a Pap test) or a colon polyp (discovered through a colonoscopy) removed as a result of a routine cancer screening, then you have been treated for a potential pre-cancer. For these two diseases, robust evidence shows that treating the pre-cancer has substantial benefits. With other cancers, such as ductal carcinoma, the benefit of removing lesions while they are still small is not so clear. Pre-cancer of the breast (ductal carcinoma in situ) progresses to invasive cancer in only about 20 to 25% of cases. Therefore, removal of small lesions may not make any difference.

The advantage of a Pap test is that it tests for the presence of precancerous or cancerous cells on the cervix (the opening of the uterus). During this routine procedure, cells from the cervix are scraped away and then examined for abnormal growth. Cells that are mildly dysplastic rarely become cancerous. Severe dysplasias, on the other hand, will progress to cancer 30-50% of the time. If a Pap smear is interpreted as abnormal, treatment will normally consist of colposcopy (biopsy), cryotherapy (freezing with liquid nitrogen), laser therapy or large-loop excision of the zone.

Since introduction of the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine in 2006, rates of cervical cancer have plummeted. In a Swedish study on 1.7 million women, there was a 90% reduction in cervical cancer for girls vaccinated before age 17. The HPV vaccine protects against cancer-causing forms of this sexually-transmitted infection. The HPV vaccine reduces one’s risk of genital warts which are caused by HPV. HPV was estimated to cause over 36,500 cases of cancer in men and woman every year in the U.S. before 2006. All girls and boys should get the HPV vaccine with general recommendations for routine vaccination at age 11-12.

Precancerous cells may occur in nearly any region of the body, including the bronchi, the skin, the breasts, the colon, the throat and more. While pre-cancer that goes unchecked may ultimately become cancerous, there is no guarantee that the lesion will progress to cancer. For example, in one study looking at 115 patients with dysplasia of the vocal cords, only 15 patients went on to develop invasive cancer.

The progression of precancerous changes may be altered by our environment, namely the foods we