Depression, Anxiety, and Dementia: What You Need to Know About Ketamine and NAD+

Wendy Williams and Bruce Willis have recently been public with their diagnoses of frontotemporal dementia. This devastating disease has no cure, but there are several known risk factors that we should all know so we can protect ourselves. Protecting our mental health may be powerful in reducing our risk of dementia. We'll also discuss the link with Ketamine at the end.

Frontotemporal Dementia vs Alzheimer's Disease

Both frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Alzheimer's involve loss of brain tissue (called brain atrophy). Alzheimer's is characterized by memory loss whereas FTD is characterized by several distinguishing symptoms:

• Changes in executive functioning: personality, disinhibition, hyperorality
• Language degradation, called aphasia

The differences stem from many reasons that cumulate in different brain regions that atrophy. In Alzheimer's, the memory parts of the brain are heavily affected. In FTD, the frontal lobe and temporal lobe are affected. These parts of the brain are heavily involved in our personality development and language processing.

Are You at Risk of Developing Dementia?

Certain conditions will further degrade cognitive function when somebody already has dementia:

• Conditions that destroy brain tissue: strokes, alcohol abuse, neuroinflammation
• Neuronal dysregulation: hearing loss, loneliness, loss of social engagement, depression

Precursor conditions to these risk factors, therefore, should be controlled:

• What can cause stroke: heart disease, diabetes
• Inflammatory conditions: auto-immune diseases, viral infections
• Mental health conditions that predispose to substance use, addiction, depression, and loneliness

Can Depression and Anxiety Cause Dementia?

There is no definitive evidence that depression and anxiety cause dementia. However, a recent study showed two important findings:

• Patients with Alzheimer's disease were more likely to have depression compared to healthy controls
• Patients with FTD were more likely to have anxiety compared to healthy controls

These findings are associations and do not confirm causality. However, given the tremendous burden depression and anxiety have on our mental and physical health, these findings support the importance of recognizing and treating depression and anxiety.

Who is at Greatest Risk of Developing FTD?

Genetics appear to play a very large role in the risk of developing FTD. The more risk factors you have, the greater the importance of further risk reduction.

That means that if you have a family member with FTD, you should be even more vigilant about further risk reduction. "Common sense" strategies that you should discuss with your doctor include:

• Adequate vitamin D intake (based off of blood tests) - this may reduce the risk of certain viral infections and subsequent inflammation
• Hearing aids
• Preventing and treating diabetes and heart disease
• Adhering to an anti-inflammatory diet, like the Mediterranean diet
• Reducing alcohol use
• Engage in social activities and live a life of conviviality
• Treating depression, anxiety, and addiction

IV Ketamine Therapy and Depression, Anxiety, and Cognition

Ketamine therapy can be a powerful treatment for depression and anxiety. This is because both depression and anxiety are rarely isolated. Both are often rooted in inwardly focused ruminations and perseverations. Of the past, we call these ruminations "depression." Of the future, we call these ruminations "anxiety."

It is well established that treating our mental health conditions can improve cognitive performance. Whether this can reduce the risk of developing dementia is not known. However, given the far-reaching impact of our mental health on our physical health, we should feel even more empowered to take control of our mental health. IV Ketamine Therapy is one way of optimizing our mental health and can be highly effective in patients who feel "stuck."

What about NAD+ and Dementia

NAD+ has far-reaching effects on our mental and physical health. While NAD+ can significantly affect our cognitive performance, it remains unclear if NAD+ can help dementia. Ongoing research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of NAD+ in dementia. Fortunately, IV NAD+ supplementation poses very few risks to patients struggling with their cognition, and it offers other benefits to the aging mind and body.

Schedule a free consultation with Clarus Health to learn if IV Ketamine or NAD+ Therapy may be effective in uncovering your healing capacity to reduce your risk of heart and brain disease.