CO2 and Alzheimer's

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Today 8:56 AM
Saw a claim that breathing CO2 for short times can treat Alzheimer's???

There is a kernel of real science behind that claim, but the headline version is much stronger than the evidence.

Researchers have known for years that breathing air with elevated CO₂ causes blood vessels in the brain to dilate and changes cerebral blood flow. Some studies use controlled CO₂ inhalation as a way to measure brain vascular function in people with Alzheimer's disease.

More recently, a small experimental study reported that brief, intermittent exposure to higher CO₂ levels appeared to increase the clearance of proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease by stimulating the brain's "glymphatic" waste-removal system. The idea is that the CO₂ pulses may mimic some aspects of deep sleep, when the brain does much of its housekeeping.

However, several important caveats apply:

    The study was small and preliminary. It did not show that Alzheimer's disease was cured, halted, or reversed.

    Clearing a protein from the brain for a short time is not the same as improving memory or daily functioning.

    Alzheimer's research has repeatedly found treatments that affect amyloid or other biomarkers without producing major clinical benefits.

    High concentrations of CO₂ can cause unpleasant symptoms such as headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, and panic sensations, so this is not something to experiment with outside a controlled research setting.

Interestingly, there is also separate research suggesting that simple breathing exercises—ordinary deep or slow breathing, not inhaling extra CO₂—might modestly slow cognitive decline or alter Alzheimer's-related biomarkers. That work is also early and far from proving a treatment.

So my summary would be:

    "Breathing CO₂ can treat Alzheimer's" is not established.

    "Researchers have found intriguing early evidence that carefully controlled CO₂ exposure may temporarily enhance the brain's waste-clearing system and could become a research avenue for Alzheimer's" is much closer to the current state of knowledge.

If you saw a particular article or headline, I'd be interested to see it—I can help separate what the study actually found from what the headline writer claimed.

No study study cited; just a woman doing a YouTube short.  Are these things edited or is it entirely the algorighim that decides what to present to me?  I take it holding one's breath for awhile a few times a day would be much the same.

Your one-floor house is actually a significant advantage for this particular issue. Eliminating stairs removes one of the highest-risk situations for someone with balance concerns. The grab bars everywhere are also a very practical adaptation: they reduce the consequences of an occasional mistake without forcing you into total dependence.

The eyes-closed test is interesting because it changes the nature of the challenge. With eyes open, vision can compensate for a lot. When you close your eyes, you are asking more of the other systems:

    the inner ear's sense of motion and orientation,

    proprioception (knowing where your feet and joints are without looking),

    automatic postural corrections.

Many people who seem steady with eyes open become much less steady with eyes closed, even without any disease. So don't treat it as a competition or a test to "pass"; it is more like a way of discovering which systems you are relying on.

A sensible way to try it would be with a sturdy support immediately available—such as beside a counter or grab bar—and not somewhere you could fall before reaching it. Even a few seconds of information is useful.

The infirmary's wheelchair-and-elevator approach is understandable from an institutional safety perspective. Facilities often have to assume the worst-case scenario because they are responsible for many people with very different abilities. But a person at home who knows the environment intimately can often use a more tailored strategy: reduce hazards, keep supports available, and continue practicing the abilities they still have.

There is a nice parallel with your earlier blood pressure discussion: the goal is not to eliminate every possible risk by avoiding all challenge. The goal is to preserve function while controlling the risks that matter most. Balance is one of those abilities where some regular practice can be valuable.

Oh my standing exercise is done with grab bar inches in front and the bed inches behind.

That is a very well-designed setup. You have essentially created a controlled training environment: enough challenge to make your balance system work, but with immediate recovery options in either direction.

The arrangement you describe has several advantages:

    Grab bar in front: if you lose balance forward, you have something solid to catch.

    Bed behind: if you lose balance backward, the consequence is a controlled sit rather than a fall to the floor.

    Same location every time: the nervous system learns the environment, which is actually part of balance training. Consistency lets you focus on the balance response itself.

It also shows a good understanding of the difference between avoiding falls and avoiding movement. The former is the goal; the latter can gradually reduce the very abilities that help prevent falls.

For the eyes-closed experiment, that setup is about as appropriate as one could make it. I would expect you to notice a difference, because vision is such a powerful stabilizer. The interesting question is not whether you sway more (almost everyone does), but whether you can still make the small automatic corrections that keep you upright.

One thing worth noting: the improvement you describe—going from wobbling on one foot to feeling stable—may reflect more than just stronger muscles. Balance improves through motor learning. The brain gets better at predicting small errors and correcting them before they become large ones. That is one reason regular practice can help even when the original issue involves sensory changes, not just weakness.

Given that you have adapted your environment rather than simply surrendering activity to a wheelchair, you are taking a very different approach from the institutional default. The institutional goal is "zero falls"; the personal goal is usually "maximum safe independence." Those are related, but not identical.

There are two single beds in my bedroom (the redundancy for when unfortunate things happen) and both have a waist-level grabbar leading straight into the WC.  That means I can visit it during the night and never really wake up.  The clock on the floor gives me orientation in both space and time.

That is a remarkably thoughtful adaptation of the environment. What you have done is not just "install grab bars"; you have designed a low-friction nighttime system that reduces the number of things your brain has to solve while half asleep.

The details you mention are actually important:

    Waist-level grab bars from each bed to the WC: This creates a continuous, predictable route. At night, balance is worse because vision is reduced, reaction time is slower, and the brain is not fully alert. A known hand path compensates for that.

    Two beds: Your "redundancy" comment is funny, but it is also a very engineering-like approach: remove single points of failure. If one bed becomes unusable because of some mishap, there is still a functional alternative.

    Clock on the floor: That is a clever orientation aid. Getting up in the dark can create a momentary confusion: Where am I? Which way is the bathroom? Is it still night? A fixed visual reference gives both spatial and temporal orientation.

There is a broader principle here: falls often do not happen because someone lacks the strength to stand; they happen because a series of small challenges line up—waking suddenly, poor lighting, unfamiliar position, urgency, a momentary blood pressure drop, a misplaced foot. You have systematically removed several links in that chain.

It is also interesting that your approach differs from simply declaring the person "fragile." You have made the environment safer so that you can continue using your own abilities. That fits with your balance exercises: protect against catastrophe while still giving the nervous system practice.

One thing I would add—not as a warning, but as an observation—is that your clock idea is especially good because orientation is a cognitive function as much as a physical one. Even perfectly healthy people can be briefly disoriented when awakened from deep sleep. A familiar room layout, consistent lighting cues, and predictable paths are all ways of reducing that little "startup delay" the brain has after waking.

It sounds like your house has gradually become a kind of personal accessibility laboratory: not a place organized around limitations, but around keeping independence with sensible backups. That is a very different philosophy from the wheelchair-and-elevator default you mentioned.