Decoding Alzheimer's Disease
Broadcast Retirement Network's Jeffrey Snyder discusses the latest approaches to Alzheimer's research with clinical psychologist Thomas R. Verny, MD.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Joining me now is Dr. Thomas Verny. He is a clinical psychiatrist.
Dr. Verny, it's so great to see you. Thanks for joining us in the program this morning. Thank you.
Totally my pleasure. Oh, no, it's my pleasure.
Thomas R. Verny, MD, Clinical Psychologist
And we're talking about- No, it's my pleasure.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Okay, well, you're the guest, so you win that battle. Let's talk about Alzheimer's, because you wrote a piece called Decoding Alzheimer's Disease. But let's talk about how prevalent these diagnoses are in North American society.
How prevalent is it for a loved one that you and I may know to get the disease?
Thomas R. Verny, MD, Clinical Psychologist
It's quite prevalent. Not only is it prevalent, but it's growing. And I think at the moment, it's about 6 to 7 million Americans who have Alzheimer's.
By the year 2050, it will double to about 12 million Americans. It is the third cause of death in the world. And so it is really a very serious disease.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And just as a follow-up to that, doctor, how does one get diagnosed? We're talking about decoding this morning, but how do you get diagnosed? How would I know that I have Alzheimer's?
I may be forgetful, or a loved one may see that I'm having some difficulties. But how does the clinician diagnose this dreaded disease?
Thomas R. Verny, MD, Clinical Psychologist
It's a combination. It's a combination of diagnosis based on history. In other words, forgetfulness is certainly one of them.
But as a person develops more and more dementia, they become not only forgetful, but their behavior changes. Very often, they become paranoid, or they may become violent, or they become much more sexualized than they used to be. When they go out onto the street, they get lost.
So, as the disease progresses, the symptoms get more and more severe. So, you go by the symptoms. That is one way.
And then, of course, you can do MRIs and PET scans. So, magnetic resonance imaging, that's a fairly inexpensive and simple procedure that will tell you about what's going on in the in terms of the amyloid disease. And then, you can also PET scans, positron emission topography, much more expensive, much more complicated, and that will tell you even more accurately what's wrong.
And then, you can also do spinal taps, and nobody wants that if you can possibly prevent it because it's painful. So, those are sort of the two ways in which, at the moment, a very good, reliable diagnosis can be made. But artificial intelligence is coming now into the picture.
And there are reports, I just read about it the other day, from MIT, where they have a new artificial intelligence tool that supposedly will put all of the things that I've just said to you in terms of behavior and also findings in terms of PET scans and MRI, it puts it all together. And the claim is, it just came out last week, I think, the claim is that they can predict 10 years in advance whether a person is going to develop Alzheimer's or not. So, that would be very helpful.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, it would be very helpful from a planning perspective, if you knew sooner rather than later. Doctor, do we yet know the causation, what causes Alzheimer's? Or, you know, I know there's, we're going to get into the research a little bit later, but there's been a lot of research conducted.
Do we know, you know, is it a hit on the head? Is it hereditary? Do we know the cause?
Thomas R. Verny, MD, Clinical Psychologist
Well, certainly genetics is involved. People who have genes that will set them up more, set them at a higher risk for Alzheimer's will definitely are more likely to get it. But what actually causes the accumulation of the amyloid plaques and the tau tangles in the brain, nobody really knows.
And there's a great deal of research going on. The way I read the research at the moment is that I think that too much science has focused on the brain and all the amyloids that are collecting in the brain, and not enough research has really focused on other possible causes of the amyloid. For example, the liver produces amyloid proteins and, excuse me, and then they are through the blood system, through the blood system, they are carried to the brain.
So, if we could stop the amyloid from ever entering the brain, for example, that would be one way. But so far, no one has paid much attention to that. And there are all kinds of, you know, other possible ways of trying to prevent this disease from happening.
But most of the research has been so focused on the proteins in the brain that it has not been paying attention to other possibilities.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And, you know, it would seem to me as a layperson, I'm clearly not a clinician, I'm not a doctor, I don't do any research. But, you know, I guess I understand the rationales in looking at the brain, because that's where it is the most impacted. Of course.
But what I think what we've learned about health, though, doctor, is that, for example, you can go to the dentist and have an oral health check and find out that there are circumstances that might lead to getting cancer. So, it would seem to me that if you treat the body as a system, as opposed to just isolating a particular area, this would be another area of success.
Thomas R. Verny, MD, Clinical Psychologist
Absolutely. Absolutely. There's got to be a more holistic approach to health, whether it is Alzheimer's or anything else.
And, you know, before we started, I think we were talking a little bit about how sort of scientists, doctors have become focused on one small area, and they really forget about everything else that's going on in the body, or even in the world. You mentioned oral hygiene, for example, incredibly important. A lot of research is showing that if you have bad teeth, you are prone to inflammations.
The inflammations produce stress in the system. Also, many of the bad bacteria in your mouth will travel to the brain, set up inflammation, and inflammation then brings about much of the amyloid that prevents the cells from working normally. So, paying attention to everything else that's happening in the body is just so important.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And let's talk about that, you know, kind of shifting the research, if I may, for a second. And I do apologize, we're going to have to bring you back. I know you're writing a follow-up piece.
So, we've got a couple more minutes left, but is it maybe that the grants that come from organizations like the NIH, other foundations, when they're written and they're accepted, they're really focused on, hey, where am I going to get the best bank for my buck or Canadian dollar? Maybe we need to kind of rethink that from a research perspective and someone needs to say, okay, well, everyone else is looking at the brain, let's look at the liver, let's look at the other organs, let's look at the other parts of the body.
Thomas R. Verny, MD, Clinical Psychologist
Well, like you say, there's a huge problem in terms of getting research grants, okay? All of these scientists always make demands, put in requisitions, put in proposals for research grants, and that's how they function. And they are very well aware in research, just like in fashion, you know, certain things are in fashion, certain things are not.
And the brain has been in fashion now for the last 20 or 30 years, whatever it is, and the rest of the body has been more or less neglected. And the scientists who are applying for these research awards, they know where the buck comes from. And so, you know, their chances of getting money from whatever agencies, you know, they're applying for is much better if they are going for areas that have been already accepted as perhaps being in fashion, you know, being perhaps rewarded with all kinds of awards and also recognition.
So, moving into, for example, mitochondria, which is, you know, a small apparatus within cells that is similar to our lungs. It produces energy. So, paying attention to the mitochondria, paying attention to cells in our bodies is just not fashionable, but that's where the energy is produced.
And, you know, for example, there is research from the Sorbonne University in Paris, which suggests that enhancing mitochondrial energy production can improve memory. So, how about paying attention to that? How about coming up with drugs that are going to improve mitochondrial energy?
Very, very few people, A, think about it, and B, make the requisitions and write the proposals.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Well, Doctor, that sounds like the tyranny of the status quo. And I think that's what's going on here. We're going to have to leave it there.
Before I go, do you want to tease out the article you're going to be coming out with at the end of the month? Yes, thank you.
Thomas R. Verny, MD, Clinical Psychologist
Thank you for that. And thank you for your questions. They're just wonderful, right on the money.
Well, at the end of this month, I will write another article, and that will be sort of the practical steps that everybody can take in order to improve their chances of not developing dementia. And Alzheimer's, of course, is a large part of dementia.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Well, we're going to look forward to it. And look, when you get ready to release it, let us know. We'll bring it back.
We'll cover it. And I think, you know, we like to do two-parters, kind of set up the issue, and then maybe how to solve the issue, or in this case, how to handle it. Doctor Bernie, we're going to leave it there.
Thanks for joining us, and we look forward to having you back again at the end of the month.
Thomas R. Verny, MD, Clinical Psychologist
My pleasure, and thank you.
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This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 7:30 AM.