The ReCODE Protocol developed by Dr. Dale Bredesen has had a lot of success in mitigating and, in many cases, reversing cognitive decline. There are a lot of parts of the program that require discipline from the patient in order to be successful. It can be difficult to adhere to the program when you’re at home and temptations surround you to cheat. That’s why participating in ReCODE in assisted living may be a very effective way to ensure the highest degree of success.
What Is ReCODE?
ReCODE is short for “Reversal of COgnitive DEcline”. It is a program to help people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or Subjective Cognitive Impairment (SCI) improve or reverse their symptoms through a non-pharmaceutical approach.
The program starts with a large amount of lab work and testing. Usually a local testing business like Sonora Quest or LabCorp can do these. Your insurance may cover some of the testing.
When we have run ReCODE in assisted living (we’re actually doing a form of ReCODE called the Enhance Protocol), we’ve been able to coordinate these tests to have them done in our facility.
Once the tests are run, Apollo Health will generate a ReCODE report. The report explains what is wrong with the patient and what they can do to fix it.
From there Apollo Health offers a lot of resources on their website to implement the protocol. However, they recommend that you work with a health practitioner such as a doctor, nurse and/or health coach on an ongoing basis. The Protocol lasts about six months to a year.
Why Have the ReCODE in Assisted Living?
Someone on the ReCODE protocol generally has to do seven activities known as the “Bredesen Protocol”:
- Nutrition
- Exercise
- Sleep
- Stress
- Brain stimulation
- Detox
- Supplements
You can do these activities at home. Although chances are the reason you are interested in this Protocol is that you or your loved one may have fallen short in many of these activities. Just the first activity of nutrition can be tremendously challenging.
Many people need help.
That’s why ReCODE in assisted living makes so much sense. An assisted living home such as ours will give you 24/7 care and supportive people. ReCODE in assisted living can help in all 7 areas:
- Nutrition – An assisted living home staff sets the menus and keeps bad food out of the home. They can keep temptation away from you.
- Exercise – As part of our ReCODE in assisted living program, we have a personal trainer who can work with you to stay consistent and push you.
- Sleep – An assisted living home is very quiet and night and creates an environment for restful sleep.
- Stress – When caregivers take care of a lot of tasks such as cooking, laundry, and medication management, people can feel much more relaxed.
- Brain Stimulation – It’s easy at home to skip doing exercises that challenge your brain. When doing ReCODE in assisted living, people will have caregivers or volunteers that encourage and remind people to do the exercises.
- Detox – In order to detox your body, you have to follow a specific nutrition and supplement program. If you’re at home with some form of cognitive decline, you may forget to follow the program. At an assisted living home, the caregiver will make sure you follow the ReCODE requirements.
- Supplements – Just as in Detox, ReCODE in assisted living means someone will make sure you take the supplements you need in order to improve your memory.
Conclusion
The Bredesen Protocol is amazing. Many people have been able to recover from cognitive decline enough to go back to a job. But just as anything in life, great results require a lot of hard work. Hard work becomes easier when you have other people helping you. That’s why ReCODE in assisted living makes so much sense.
Have you tried the ReCODE Protocol? I would love to hear your story. Please let us know in the comments below.
