Light And Sound Therapy
Light and sound may slow Alzheimer's decline
Aug 18, 2026 · 57 min · 15 segments
For so many people, the thought of memory loss or cognitive decline feels frightening. But today's guest shares an empowering message: there is so much we can do through our daily choices to support…
David PerlmutterGuestMargie BissingerHost
I mean, since the late 1980s, the messaging has been that the brain accumulates this sticky protein, misfolded protein called beta amyloid, and that is the end all cause of Alzheimer's.

Guess what? That is, it's not a medical term, but I'm going to use it anyway, bogus.

And therefore, this is where all the medications were developed to target this beta amyloid, get rid of beta amyloid, problem solved.

Earlier this year, several months ago, a Cochrane analysis was performed, which a Cochrane analysis is the most sophisticated global approach to trying to understand medical research in a particular area.

And they evaluated 17 studies that looked at the efficacy of amyloid-related drugs.

Next thing you know, they're in an infusion center getting this intravenous medication every couple of weeks at great cost, which is ostensibly designed to help them with their Alzheimer's because it targets beta amyloid.

What the Cochrane analysis of 17 huge studies encompassing 20,342 people demonstrated was that the drugs are essentially, the effectiveness of these drugs, their words, was trivial.

In other words, the drugs do not have any meaningful effect on slowing the rate of cognitive decline and at the same time are associated with pretty significant risk.

About 20 to 28% of people taking these drugs develop micro hemorrhages in their brain and or swelling called ARIA, amyloid related imaging abnormalities.

So always in medicine, we want to look at what's called risk benefit ratio.

In this case, these drugs have high risk and virtually no benefit whatsoever.

So that risk benefit ratio is a very high number, which means we should steer clear.

So the reason I raise this is because it really solidifies our understanding that Alzheimer's is not a disease caused by beta amyloid.

These drugs are incredibly effective in terms of ridding the brain of beta amyloid.

I mean, since the late 1980s, the messaging has been that the brain accumulates this sticky protein, misfolded protein called beta amyloid, and that is the end all cause of Alzheimer's.

Guess what? That is, it's not a medical term, but I'm going to use it anyway, bogus.

And therefore, this is where all the medications were developed to target this beta amyloid, get rid of beta amyloid, problem solved.

Earlier this year, several months ago, a Cochrane analysis was performed, which a Cochrane analysis is the most sophisticated global approach to trying to understand medical research in a particular area.

And they evaluated 17 studies that looked at the efficacy of amyloid-related drugs.

Next thing you know, they're in an infusion center getting this intravenous medication every couple of weeks at great cost, which is ostensibly designed to help them with their Alzheimer's because it targets beta amyloid.

What the Cochrane analysis of 17 huge studies encompassing 20,342 people demonstrated was that the drugs are essentially, the effectiveness of these drugs, their words, was trivial.

In other words, the drugs do not have any meaningful effect on slowing the rate of cognitive decline and at the same time are associated with pretty significant risk.

About 20 to 28% of people taking these drugs develop micro hemorrhages in their brain and or swelling called ARIA, amyloid related imaging abnormalities.

So always in medicine, we want to look at what's called risk benefit ratio.

In this case, these drugs have high risk and virtually no benefit whatsoever.

So that risk benefit ratio is a very high number, which means we should steer clear.

So the reason I raise this is because it really solidifies our understanding that Alzheimer's is not a disease caused by beta amyloid.

These drugs are incredibly effective in terms of ridding the brain of beta amyloid.
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3 of 13
Light And Sound Therapy
Light and sound may slow Alzheimer's decline
The Amyloid Myth Challenged
Doctors may have misunderstood Alzheimer's for decades
Dementia Risk Can Be Reduced
Prevention may cut dementia risk by half
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