Methylene Blue For Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s And Dementia

 • 

Methylene Blue for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Dementia

The blockbuster drug methylene blue is experimentally proven to restore brain function in people with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other forms of dementia – but big pharma says you can’t have it!

Existing ‘approved’ drugs for dementia obviously don’t work or they would be curing people and the disease would vanish. But that doesn’t mean effective treatment’s don’t exist.

In this article you’re going to learn what’s happening in the brain of a person with dementia, and how the inexpensive drug methylene blue can help rejuvenate the aging brain. Methylene blue is so effective for dementia that some might even call it a cure.

What Causes Dementia?

Mainstream medicine admits they don’t know what causes brain disorders like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

For the past 50 years, mainstream medical theory has suggested that genetic defects are the cause, but millions of dollars spent on research have resulted in no effective treatments, let alone cures.

Modern medicine’s commitment to finding a genetic causation of dementia has blinded them to the trail of scientific evidence showing the true cause of the disease.

Let’s dust off that trail now and shine a spotlight on the evidence.

A groundbreaking study from 2017 reports that as the brain ages, mitochondrial metabolism decreases and that this phenomenon is possibly the main culprit behind many neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.[i]

What this means is that if your brain cells are metabolizing properly, dementia and other neurological diseases will not exist. All the criteria associated with a healthy brain – from memory retrieval speed, concentration, and focus – are dependent on adequate energy supply in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate).

As energy production (also known as the metabolic rate) within cells of the brain decline with age, so too does your ability to think, remember, and speak clearly.

Nitric Oxide Linked to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Dementia

One of the dominant factors responsible for the curbing of energy production with age is nitric oxide.

Doctors and nurses are taught in medical training that nitric oxide is a ‘miracle molecule’ of anti-aging, brain health, athletic performance and overall health. But this theory is being increasingly disproven by evidence mounting in recent decades.

Nitric oxide is not a miracle molecule; it’s a toxic free radical found in air pollution, and its causative role in dementia-related disorders like Alzheimer’s disease is becoming increasingly clear. For example, NO was found to accumulate around the plaques inside the brain of Alzheimer’s patients,[ii] and it’s been hypothesized that NO could be responsible for brain cell death found in Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.[iii] The deleterious effects of NO suggest that nitric oxide inhibitors, like methylene blue, could be remarkably effective for treating dementia.

One fascinating and useful attribute of methylene blue for treating brain disorders is that it accumulates in the brain, making it of particular interest for dementia and all kinds of brain-related disorders.

According to Dr. Raymond Peat, “nitric oxide poisons the ability to oxidize glucose into carbon dioxide, increases lactic acid, and the cell has less energy and is more excited by the acetylcholine, so basically it becomes susceptible to dying in proportion to the overstimulation of acetylcholine.”

But what does nitric oxide have to do with methylene blue? Methylene blue happens to be one of the most potent nitric oxide inhibitors known. It is a tool that can powerfully reduce NO synthesis and scavenge existing nitric oxide from the blood and body.

Methylene Blue and The Hallmarks of Alzheimer’s Disease

Scientists studying the brains of Alzheimer’s patients have noticed commonalities among patients, including abnor­mally shaped tau proteins, or “neurofibrillary tangles” within brain cells called neurons. Let’s look at the impact of methylene blue on these hallmarks and determine if it can help resolve them.

Hallmark 1: Neurofibrillary “Tangles”

The brains of mice that’ve been genetically engineered to lack tau protein do not function properly, leading researchers to conclude the mis­shapen tau proteins found in brain cells of Alzheimer’s patients play a role in the disease.

A group of scientists from Gakushuin University and Keio University School of Medicine in Japan published a study in 2019 that reports methylene blue can repair the problem by inhibiting the formation of tau neurofibrillary tangles in the brain.[xii]

Hallmark 2: Beta Amyloid Plaques

Another hallmark of the Alzheimer’s-diseased brain is the appearance of beta amyloid plaque surrounding brain cells. Remarkably, methylene blue has been shown to prevent beta amyloid plaques from form­ing on the outside of neurons.[xiii]

Evidence suggests that methylene blue can help resolve both of the primary hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Not bad for a fabric dye!

But what about on actual Alzheimer’s patients outside the laboratory? Can methylene blue help actual patients with dementia?

Clinical Trial: Methylene Blue Boosts Brain of Dementia Patients

In a study on Alzheimer’s patients in 2019, scientists administered 8mg-16mg of methylene blue daily while monitoring their brain function. The methylene blue stopped Alzheimer’s disease dead in its tracks![x] [xi]

“Treatment with 8mg-16mg MB daily reduced cognitive decline by more than 85%! That is the perverted medical profession’s way of saying that MB effectively stopped AD in its tracks, or at least its cognitive symptoms, which is what this disease is all about. It is a type of dementia after all. Perhaps just as importantly, it found that drugs currently approved for managing symptoms of AD interfere with the therapeutic benefit of MB when administered together with it!”
– Georgi Dinkov

When a therapy stops cognitive decline by 85%, at what point do we say it cured the patient? I’m not going to make any claims here, but methylene blue is possibly as close to a cure as it gets.

Treatment Dose for Dementia

For those interested in using methylene blue for Alzheimer’s, an important finding from the study was that a dose of 200mg of methylene blue had no greater benefit than a much smaller dose of 8mg.

The study concluded that methylene blue is expected to be therapeutic in doses up to 16mg, and patients would see no additional benefit from taking higher doses.

“Treatment benefit is predicted to be maximal at 16 mg/day as monotherapy,” the scientists reported.

Photodynamic Therapy: Methylene Blue + Red Light Therapy for Dementia

To make methylene blue therapy even more effective, synergistic healing and cognitive enhancement can be achieved by combining methylene blue therapy with red light therapy.

Methylene blue and red light therapy are two widely studied approaches for improving brain mitochon­drial respiration due to their ability to act directly on cellular metabolism and correct deficiencies therein.

According to scientists in a 2020 review, red light and methylene blue “have similar beneficial effects on mitochondrial function, oxidative damage, inflammation, and subsequent behavioral symptoms.”[xxi]

Combining methylene blue with red light therapy in a treatment protocol for dementia is one of the most promising techniques for synergisti­cally maximizing therapeutic potency and accelerating recovery of meta­bolically defective brain cells.

Conclusion

Existing ‘approved’ drugs for dementia don’t work, and effective therapies for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are very much needed.

The blockbuster drug methylene blue is a powerful cognitive enhancing drug scientifically proven to restore brain function in people with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other forms of dementia.

For those who like to take their health into their own hands, methylene blue is a scientifically validated, sane and rational treatment approach.

Methylene blue is so effective at remedying the hallmarks of dementia that some might even call it a cure.


References

[i] Sonntag K-C, Ryu W-I, Amirault KM, et al. Late-onset Alzheimer’s disease is associated with inherent changes in bioenergetics profiles. Scientific Reports. 2017;7(1):14038. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-14420-x

[ii] McCann SM, Licinio J, Wong ML, Yu WH, Karanth S, Rettorri V. The nitric oxide hypothesis of aging. Exp Gerontol. 1998;33(7-8):813-826. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9951625

[iii] McCann SM. The nitric oxide hypothesis of brain aging. Exp Gerontol. 1997;32(4-5):431-440. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9315447

[iv] Gais S, Born J. Low acetylcholine during slow-wave sleep is critical for declarative memory consolidation. PNAS. 2004;101(7):2140-2144. https://www.pnas.org/content/101/7/2140.full

[v] Shytle RD, Silver AA, Lukas RJ, Newman MB, Sheehan DV, Sanberg PR. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors as targets for antidepressants. Mol Psychiatry. 2002;7(6):525-535. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12140772

[vi] Andreasen JT, Olsen GM, Wiborg O, Redrobe JP. Antidepressant-like effects of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonists, but not agonists, in the mouse forced swim and mouse tail suspension tests. J Psychopharmacol. 2009;23(7):797-804. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18583432

[vii] Sawada Y, Nakamura M, Bito T, et al. Cholinergic urticaria: studies on the muscarinic cholinergic receptor M3 in anhidrotic and hypohidrotic skin. J Invest Dermatol. 2010;130(11):2683-2686. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20613776

[viii] Sawada Y, Nakamura M, Bito T, et al. Decreased expression of acetylcholine esterase in cholinergic urticaria with hypohidrosis or anhidrosis. J Invest Dermatol. 2014;134(1):276-279. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23748235

[ix] Abdulla SAM, Dietrich EL, Syed MN, et al. Methylene blue inhibits the function of α7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. CNS & Neurological Disorders – Drug Targets. https://www.eurekaselect.com/104080/article

[x] Schelter BO, Shiells H, Baddeley TC, et al. Concentration-dependent activity of hydromethylthionine on cognitive decline and brain atrophy in mild to moderate alzheimer’s disease. J Alzheimers Dis. 2019;72(3):931-946. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31658058

[xi] New study by TauRx shows a minimum dose of hydromethylthionine could slow cognitive decline and brain atrophy in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. PRNewswire. 2019. Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-study-by-taurx-shows-a-minimum-dose-of-hydromethylthionine-could-slow-cognitive-decline-and-brain-atrophy-in-mild-to-moderate-alzheimers-disease-300965395.html

[xii] Soeda Y, Saito M, Maeda S, et al. Methylene blue inhibits formation of tau fibrils but not of granular tau oligomers: a plausible key to understanding failure of a clinical trial for alzheimer’s disease. J Alzheimers Dis. 2019;68(4):1677-1686. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30909223

[xiii] Necula M, Breydo L, Milton S, et al. Methylene blue inhibits amyloid aβ oligomerization by promoting fibrillization. Biochemistry. 2007;46(30):8850-8860.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/bi700411k

[xiv] TauRx Alzheimer’s drug ltmx fails in large study although some benefit seen. NBC News. Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/taurx-alzheimer-s-drug-lmtx-fails-large-study-although-some-n617746

[xv] Second phase II study results for anti-tau Alzheimer’s treatment released. Alzheimer’s research UK. 2017. Source: https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/second-phase-iii-study-results-anti-tau-alzheimers-treatment-released

[xvi] Wrubel KM, Riha PD, Maldonado MA, McCollum D, Gonzalez-Lima F. The brain metabolic enhancer methylene blue improves discrimination learning in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2007;86(4):712-717. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2040387

[xvii] Atamna H, Nguyen A, Schultz C, et al. Methylene blue delays cellular senescence and enhances key mitochondrial biochemical pathways. FASEB J. 2008;22(3):703-712.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17928358

[xviii] Potential alzheimer’s, parkinson’s cure found in century-old drug. ScienceDaily. Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080818101335.htm

[xix] Glucose deprivation in the brain sets stage for Alzheimer’s disease, Temple study shows. EurekAlert! Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-01/tuhs-gdi012717.php

[xx] Choudhury GR, Winters A, Rich RM, et al. Methylene blue protects astrocytes against glucose oxygen deprivation by improving cellular respiration. PLOS ONE. 2015;10(4):e0123096. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0123096

[xxi] Yang L, Youngblood H, Wu C, Zhang Q. Mitochondria as a target for neuroprotection: role of methylene blue and photobiomodulation. Translational Neurodegeneration. 2020;9(1):19.
https://translationalneurodegeneration.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40035-020-00197-z