Book

Description

Neurodegenerative diseases currently represent one of the main health challenges of the first world. The increase in life expectancy, as well as the growing exposure to environmental factors such as air pollution, make the prevalence of this type of pathologies grow exponentially. To this must be added the fact that there is currently no cure, which, together with the great dependence and emotional impact on patients, means that both patients and their families suffer an enormous loss in their quality of life, representing a significant public expense as well. Faced with this situation, it is essential to consider new non-pharmacological alternatives that can improve the clinical condition. Among these neurodegenerative diseases, multiple sclerosis (MS) stands out as the most disabling neurodegenerative disease in young adults. Its incidence is increasing worldwide, and the efficacy of pharmacological treatments is particularly limited, producing significant side effects in many cases. This is why we have tried to improve pathologically, all the aspects that have been described as particularly severe for this disease; MS stands out for being tremendously disabling, and for showing serious alterations both emotionally (with high rates of depression and anxiety), and functionally (mainly derived from progressive muscle loss) and biochemically (with high levels of oxidative stress and inflammation). For this, given the great benefits that have been described for ketone bodies, we proposed an intervention based on the administration of large amounts of coconut oil daily as the main source of ketone bodies in the blood. In addition, given the great benefits demonstrated in human and animal models of MS, we supplemented this intervention with the potent antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).