Dr. Richard Isaacson

[NF52]

Hello - new to the group. Does anyone know where Dr Richard Isaacson is practicing? I thought he had joined Florida Atlantic but when I search for him, it seems he’s no longer there. Thanks!

This is my first time posting as well but I saw this post and was interested because I am also looking for Dr. Isaacson! I saw him at the Weill Cornell Alzheimer's prevention clinic for 5 years (I was one of the subjects in one of the studies he published!) and when he left I also tried to follow him to FAU but was initially told he's not accepting patients yet and now he no longer seems to be there. I thought he was great and I would have traveled to see him once or twice a year (I live near NYC) if that had been an option.

As an earlier poster indicated, Dr. Isaacson is now the director of brain health at the Atria Institute in New York. I inquired about seeing him, and learned that in order to become a patient at the institute, one must pay $60,000 (plus a $30,000 one-time initiation fee).

Thank you for sharing that information, Friday55!

I'm copying in others who had been wondering where he was, and Tincup, one of our Moderators, who sleuthed his new location a few months ago.

At his current price, I imagine Dr. Isaaacson will have a very motivated clientele. The rest of us may have to rely on his 2016book: The Alzheimer's Prevention & Treatment Diet: Using Nutrition to Combat the Effects of Alzheimer’s Disease or this 2021 article on which he was a co-author: Precision Nutrition for Alzheimer’s Prevention in ApoE4 Carriers

Welcome to the forum!

Nancy

[Friday55]

Thank you for this update. I guess I’ll just watch his videos .
Would anyone know of a doctor in the lower NY area that follows his prevention protocols? I am currently on the waitlist at the Weil Cornell prevention clinic. Thank you!

My wife and I have been searching without success for someone who follows his protocols. Dr. Isaacson and Dr. Kellyann Niotis (his successor at Weill-Cornell, who eventually left to join Peter Attia's medical team) have sometimes referred patients to a preventive cardiologist in NJ named Randy Cohen, who is mentioned in the acknowledgments of one of Dr. Isaacson's books. To the extent that cardiovascular health is a key component of Dr. Isaacson's approach to AD prevention, Dr. Cohen might be a valuable resource for those who wish to follow Dr. Isaacson's protocols.

[chris]

I saw him at the Weill Cornell Alzheimer's prevention clinic for 5 years (I was one of the subjects in one of the studies he published!)

I'm wondering if you (or anyone else) would be able to share documentation for the interventions he developed for you. For example, dietary recommendations, and especially the target values for any/all biomarkers (lipids, vitamins, inflammation markers etc.). I'm not looking for your own health info, but rather the variables measured, and target values for those variables.

I know this is a lot to ask. Given that it seems like Dr. Isaacson is now only catering to the very wealthy, it would be great if someone could "open source" the clinical recommendations for the 99%.

His paper, "The clinical practice of risk reduction for Alzheimer's disease: A precision medicine approach" describes the general approach, but sadly not the specifics.

[NF52]

I saw him at the Weill Cornell Alzheimer's prevention clinic for 5 years (I was one of the subjects in one of the studies he published!)

I'm wondering if you (or anyone else) would be able to share documentation for the interventions he developed for you. For example, dietary recommendations, and especially the target values for any/all biomarkers (lipids, vitamins, inflammation markers etc.). I'm not looking for your own health info, but rather the variables measured, and target values for those variables.

I know this is a lot to ask. Given that it seems like Dr. Isaacson is now only catering to the very wealthy, it would be great if someone could "open source" the clinical recommendations for the 99%.

His paper, "The clinical practice of risk reduction for Alzheimer's disease: A precision medicine approach" describes the general approach, but sadly not the specifics.

Hi chris,

This isn't exactly what you're looking for with target values, but this 2019 article suggests it's the overall approach, versus specific targets for all values, that he supported and may have some helpful information.
Individualized clinical management of patients at risk for Alzheimer's dementia Dr. Bredesen includes recommended biomarker values in his books, which you may find helpful.

[hopingforthebest]

Hi,
I'm happy to give an idea of what was involved for me - I don't think it's proprietary information or anything and I have shared this info with relatives and friends who are also worried about/have a family history of Alzheimer's but were unable to get to see Dr. Isaacson. He really stresses that this is a very individualized process so I'm not sure how much what I did applies to anyone else but it may give some guidance or just be interesting.

Every 6 months I had labs sent to Boston Heart that included a lipid panel (cholesterol, ApoB etc). The exact tests were classified as: Lipid Tests, Lipid Ratios, Boston Heart HDL Map Test, and Boston Heart Cholesterol Balance Test. The main thing I was working towards was Apo B less than 80 and LDL-P less than 1000, which I could usually achieve (generally if I am good about taking my fish oil I can just get my LDL-P or Apo B in that range, sometimes they're just above). My other lipids are mostly in the normal range (I run TG<50 and HDL>60 which is fine so I'm not sure what he's aiming for if you're not in that range). My "absorption markers" tend to be a little off (high) but we didn't really discuss this much.

Other Boston Heart tests were: Metabolic panel (A1C, insulin, C-Peptide etc) all were in range so there was nothing to do there. He also did Inflammatory Tests (CRP, fibrinogen etc) - again, in range for me so I'm not sure what the goal is beyond that.
He also did Boston Heart Fatty Acid Balance Test and would work on getting DHA and EPA in range (whatever the Boston Heart criteria were)
Vitamin D goal was above 50
Homocysteine we didn't discuss much - it was always under 10, sometimes as low as 6. He seemed fine with that.

At my last few visits he suggested doing the Omega Quant test which I ordered online and did. My Omega 3 index was about 10 and he was fine with that (not sure if there's an advantage to any higher than that).

They would also do body composition testing, and occasionally tweak something (mainly emphasizing more strength training and muscle mass, I do a lot of cardio already). My BMI runs about 21 so weight is not an issue.

And there there was about 2 hours of cognitive testing! Nerve-wracking but I guess I'm young enough I would always do fine. I asked once if normal tests in someone my age were actually meaningful since at the time I was about 25 years younger than my mom when she was diagnosed and he said yes, even this far out there can be changes in cognitive testing that signal problems but he didn't see any of this in my testing (it's been a few years now so who knows!)

For supplements he only recommended Omega 3s (Nordic Naturals DHA extra, 4 pills/day which is almost 2000mg DHA/day), Vitamin D 5000IU/day. Sometimes my B12 would be a little low and I would take a B12 supplement. He recommended trying CocoaVia pills or powder but they upset my stomach. Most recently he recommended Theracumin which I take sometimes but again if I take it too often it upsets my stomach. So it's mainly the Omega 3s and Vit D.

I will say I love to exercise and I'm very active (I'm in my 50s and I hike, run, swim, bike, dance and try to do some weight training. I get 12-13,000+ steps every day), and I really try to limit carbs and sugar (only Ezekiel bread, Banza pasta etc), almost no processed food, always take a salad to work for lunch every day, plus I aim for 7-8 cups of vegetables/day. I don't drink any alcohol.
We discussed intermittent fasting - for me he felt 12 hours fasting overnight was fine (thank goodness, because I get grumpy with more fasting).

Oh, at one point when my ApoB/LDL-P crept up a bit we talked about considering Zetia if it didn't come down. But I do find when I am good about taking my fish oil my cholesterol stays in range.

That's pretty much it. Hope it's helpful to someone here!

[chris]

Hope it's helpful to someone here!

Thank you so much, this is genuinely incredibly helpful to me. This gives me far more actionable info than I've been able to get from my doctor. I told my primary care doctor I was homozygous for APOE4 and at high risk for AD. His exact words, "Everyone is at risk for Alzheimer's", and changed the topic.

I definitely agree w/ Dr. Isaacson that personalized medicine is important for AD prevention. Sadly the whole field of medicine is moving hard in the opposite direction.

[hopingforthebest]

That's frustrating about your doctor. I think my Primary thinks I'm a little crazy but I just tell her I'm following Isaacson's protocol.
I forgot to mention one other thing I found very useful was wearing a continuous glucose monitor. Can't remember exactly what numbers I was aiming for but it was very helpful and sometimes surprising to see what foods made my sugar jump and which foods did not (for example I completely stopped eating brown rice because it always made my sugar spike but realized greek yogurt with a little maple syrup was fine, or even the occasional small bowl of ice cream at the end of a meal that had a lot of protein, healthy fats, and fiber). My primary doc wrote the prescription for me and I filled it at Costco pharmacy for about $60. Insurance won't cover it if you don't have diabetes but I paid for a few out of pocket and got the information I needed, then stopped using one.