Milk Shake-Medical Food, Is It the Right Way For Alzheimer’s

I have heard that medical food, like Axona, can treat Alzheimer’s.   If it is true that a milkshake, not a drug, can treat Alzheimer’s, don’t you think it deserves to be National Milk.  

Alzheimer's is thought to hinder the brain's ability to break down glucose and Axona is a prescription dietary supplement that claims to provide an alternative energy source that the brain can use instead of glucose.

According to Axona's website, medical food is intended for the dietary management of a specific disease or condition and a prescription medical food does not go through the same approval process as a traditional pharmaceutical product.  The fact is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn't approve medical foods, nor does it test medical foods for safety or effectiveness.  So, that’s why Axona just strictly regulated by the FDA.

At present, there are just five FDA-approveddrugs to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's, so it's a controversial alternative for Alzheimer's patients who have limited options when it comes to the question of the way to treat the disease.

Considering that medical foods are dietary supplements that help manage a disease or condition that causes nutritional deficiencies, the Alzheimer's Association, however, dispute the notion that Alzheimer's disease causes nutritional deficiencies and requires a medical food.  

The manufacturer give further information about Axona that Accera has conducted all of the necessary safety and efficacy studies.  A small study, funded by the manufacturers of the product, found that memory and cognition improved for people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. In 2009, a study of Accera with a small group of patients who drank one Axona milkshake per day showed that they improved 1.9 points on a 70-point cognitive testing scale than patients who drank a placebo milkshake. Unfortunately, it lasted only 45 days as opposed to the 90-day goal.

That short fall makes some scientists think that this medical food is not worth to pay and more studies are needed to determine its safety and effectiveness. 

"Getting extra fuel to the brain would provide an energy boost that could potentially lead to modest improvements," he said. "But it is very short-lived and does nothing to stop or treat the disease. I would think a low-fat frozen yogurt would achieve the same thing." said Dr. Rudolph Tanzi, a neurology professor at Harvard Medical School.

"This is just expensive coconut oil," said Dr. Roger Brumback, professor of neurology at the Creighton University School of Medicine. "It's another example of false hopes and an entrepreneur's financial gain in a disease that is clearly devastating to patients and families."

Kindly note that medical foods are given only under the supervision of a doctor. Until more is known, the Alzheimer's Association doesn't recommend the use of medical foods, including Axona, for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.