About our project

The Problem we solve:

The problem we solve is the Alzheimer’s disease conundrum. Currently we are told that there is no treatment or any way to slow the progression of the disease. That is completely false. In the meantime, millions of Americans and millions more across the world are needlessly stricken by the most dreaded of all diseases. It is a slowly progressing and long-term disease the robs individuals of their essence and families of their financial resources due to the requirement for and high cost of Alzheimer’s nursing home care.

True, the drug companies have not come up with a new pill to “cure” Alzheimer’s but that doesn’t mean there is no solutions. We have an operating clinic in Boston and Wichita where we successfully treat Alzheimer’s patients every day. Now is the for us to come out of the closet and present a solution to the world – with your help.

Our Solution

We do not except “Alzheimer’s” as your final diagnosis. We dig much broader and deeper for more properly define your affliction. In our unique clinical approach, we are able to:

1. detect Alzheimer’s disease in people without symptoms;

2. Diagnose the underlying cause(s) of Alzheimer’s disease; and

3. Provide treatments to slow, stop, or reverse Alzheimer’s disease.

We use the vast medical literature as proof that there are bona fide solutions to Alzheimer’s. Our book, “The End of Alzheimer’s – A Differential Diagnosis Toward a Cure,” distills the medical evidence substantiating our approach. http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Alzheimers-Differential-Diagnosis/dp/0692349855. Our website also details how to end Alzheimer’s disease. http://www.realhealthclinics.com.

Why We Care

My father, my mentor, passed from Alzheimer’s disease 11 years ago. After his death, I embarked on a quest to find an answer. Through good fortune, I as introduced to Dr. Trempe. Dr. Trempe, our founder and CMO is a humble, old-fashioned doctor who just happened to have been on the Harvard Medical School staff for 41 years. Here is an excerpt from his story (found in the Preface of our book, “The End of Alzheimer’s – A Differential Diagnosis Toward a Cure,” distills the medical evidence substantiating our approach. http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Alzheimers-Differential-Diagnosis/dp/0692349855.

“I did not begin my career in medicine with the goal of helping people with Alzheimer’s. However I have been blessed with the opportunity to learn about disease from something far greater than a test tube in some laboratory. I learned from my patients. They dictated my career path. I am an Ophthalmologist and am also very curious. I also believe in the Hippocratic Oath and am true to its pledge, to do no harm and to help the body health itself.

In the 1980s I gave up a lucrative practice of treating eye diseases as diseases isolated to the eye only. Back then, surgery and laser treatment was the way to go. I soon realized that my patients with eye diseases were always sick in many ways. I’m a doctor so how could I ignore this fact? Can treating the eye with a laser or surgery “cure” the reason why my patients had the eye problems and were otherwise ill? Of course not. And, by reading the medical literature it was becoming clear at that time, that the eye disease was the symptom of a broader condition of poor general health.

When I started diagnosing and treating eye patients for systemic (whole body)diseases, back in the 1980s, their eyes did indeed get better. In fact they got much better and stayed much better compared to people who were treated as if their eyes existed in isolation from the rest of the body. Most importantly, many patients with serious disease beyond the eye reported back to me that these other conditions improved upon with whole body treatments. One of those conditions that improved was Alzheimer’s disease.”

How RealHealth Clinics Works:

At RealHealth Clinics we do not except “Alzheimer’s” as your final diagnosis. We dig much broader and deeper for more properly define your affliction. Our novel multi-step clinical approach to Alzheimer’s is captured on the following graphic found at: http://www.realhealthclinics.com/#!methods/ctzx

In summary:

Step 1: Eye screening: We “see” the disease in true Alzheimer’s sufferers and in those without symptoms but are in the early stages of the development of the disease. Those who “fail” the eye screening are advised to continue with our testing program.

Step 2: Immune status: Most people survive old age without Alzheimer’s disease. They generally have very robust immune health. Here we perform blood tests to determine your immune health status. This result helps us determine next tests and also helps us formulate a treatment strategy.

Step 3: Tissue health: The tissue in our body ages as do we. However, with this testing step we look for deterioration in tissue that is aging prematurely. The tissue we evaluate is the vascular tissue impacts brain health.

Step 4: Homeostasis: People with internal balance have much less chronic disease compared to those who are unbalanced. People with chronic disease often have imbalances including excess sugar intake, insufficient protective fish oil, low vitamin D, and low magnesium levels to name but a few. We perform tests to determine body balance deficiencies and excesses that, when corrected, will enhance the affect of our other treatments.

Step 5: Root causes: Alzheimer’s disease is now widely accepted as being a disease of inflammation. We evaluate each of our patient for inflammation but more importantly, we look for causes of inflammation. When we identify the “antecedents” or inflammation and treat our patients for those, they often improve. We do NOT treat the inflammation – we treat the causes of inflammation. This is a very important point of differentiation in our clinical methods.

Step 6: Treatment: Here we take all the information we have gathered from the previous 5 steps to develop a treatment program (for the afflicted) or a prevention program (for the unafflicted). Importantly, by periodically repeating any of the steps 1-5, we are able to objectively access the effectiveness of our program.

Please note that some of our methods are not covered by commercial insurance because we are progressive in using the best and latest that medical research has to offer. We do not limit our ability to make you better by strictly adhering to the “payer” system. We do, however, help you use your commercial insurance where it can be applied within our program.

Clinical Proof to date

The Medstartr community must recognize that the current discovery-to-treatment paradigm that drives essentially all current treatment has severe limitations. The nexus between research and medical delivery is the pharmaceutical industry and their pills. Dr. Alzheimer’s, in 1907, suggested that what happens in the clinic, with real patients, should drive research. Right now, the tail is wagging the dog. Thus we are introducing a new approach to medical research and clinical delivery that we call “translation.” In the preface of our book, we discuss the great divide between medical research and clinical delivery of medicine. The solution is for doctors to stay abreast of the latest medical research and apply that which “does not harm” to patients. This does not happen today because doctors are forced to practice within the “standard-of-care.” This is actually a legal term implying that if a doctor practices or refers outside of the accepted standards, even if they are better practices, the doctor subjects him/herself to potential and great liability. Thus innovation in the clinic is stifled.
Our clinic proof-of-concept lies within the many patient records at Dr. Trempe’s office in Boston. Dr. Seberger, in Wichita, also has important clinical records showing the efficacy of our approach. Our video provides a few, but highly representative samples of patients who performed well in our program (https://vimeo.com/134642132). Our book provides a roadmap to a treatment using existing technology, drugs, and treatments (http://www.realhealthclinics.com/#!our-alzheimers-book/cyh2). In our book we cite over 700 medical research articles that confirm our approach.

Medstartrs – you can continue to fund drug and medical device research and wait another 10+years for the next Alzheimer’s pill (read Chapter 2 of our book to see what we predict that will be) or you can join the future and help medical translation pioneers who offer to bring a solution to Alzheimer’s disease today.

FDA Status

Our approach is acceptable by FDA standards. Our difference compared to current Alzheimer’ disease approaches is that we do NOT accept “Alzheimer’s” as your final diagnosis. We recognize that the disease is multifactorial – as do most researchers in Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, we recognize that the diagnosis process must also be multifactorial. Our robust 6-Step process yields a diagnosis beyond “Alzheimer’s” and provides our staff of scientists and doctors with information on treatable root-cause(s). We use FDA approved treatments for our newly discovered root-cause(s). When we use this process, our patients often improve. And, we are able to use our entire process, iteratively, to evaluate and modify both our diagnosis and treatment approach for the betterment of positive patient outcomes.

How We Help Patients

We help two very diverse set of people:

1. People concerned about their future risk of Alzheimer’s disease. This can include people who have family members with Alzheimer’s or just health-conscious individuals concerned about disease in general and Alzheimer’s in particular since it appears to be so random. The disease most people get is even called “sporadic” Alzheimer’s disease. Our approach is not a scare tactic to entice patients. It is based on the well-published knowledge that Alzheimer’s incubates and develops over 25 years or so while the person experiences no obvious symptoms (Mass General Hospital MRI study). What we provide to people with concern are a series of objective tests to determine their current and future risk for Alzheimer’s. For patients at risk, we provide guidance, lifestyle changes, and even treatments to stave off the advance of the disease. We also provide detailed information on Alzheimer’s prevention for those with no obvious predisposition toward Alzheimer’s.

2. People with obvious or otherwise diagnosed dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Here we use the same methods described in 1. Above and described in the “How It Works” section. We manage people with and concerned with Alzheimer’s in the exact same way. We, in all cases, endeavor to determine what health factors may or are impacting their current and future health.

How We Help Doctors (or Other Care Givers):

Today, the options good doctors have to perform truly patient-centered, outcome driven medicine are dwindling. The process of medical innovation yields little but new drugs, many of which are no better compared to existing drugs. And the restrictions placed on doctors by the payer systems are stifling innovation. What doctors need for Alzheimer’s is a better process for accessing, the treating patients. That is what RealHealth Clinics provides.

We are willing to shoulder the risk for embarking on a “back-to-the-future” approach to Alzheimer’s management. Our approach essentially re-establishes the concept of “grand rounds.” Here we, with the help of doctors in a variety of specialties, confer on the patient’s condition together, to arrive at a meaningful diagnosis, without the encumbrances established by the rigid payer system.

Here is our pledge to doctors and the medical community:

1. Do no harm. We will use best-in-class diagnostic methodologies to establish both associations and causes of a patient’s neurodegenerative disease. Next, our disease management and treatment will only stem from objective diagnostic findings. When we find a root-cause, we will treat that cause, considering all drug interactions and the health of the patient. We will then iteratively assess the results of our program and determine next steps, individually, based on the patient’s response to therapy.

2. We will maintain copious and detailed clinical records that will be made available to the medical community under HIPPA compliance. Doctors who invest will be given access to records for review. In addition, we will publish our findings, including specific patient cases in peer-reviewed journals.

3. We will present our findings at conferences and proceeding wherever we can and wherever we are invited. We intend to be fully transparent about our record.

4. Finally, we will work directly with interested physicians. Alzheimer’s is a dreaded disease and I have direct and personal experience with this disease as my father passed from Alzheimer’s 11 years ago. Our goal is to enable other physicians to put into practice the RealHealth protocol for Alzheimer’s disease. We recognize that there is currently financial misalignment with good medicine at times. Thus, we have created a hybrid a-la-carte clinical menu for Alzheimer’s that gives the patient greater choices (Steps 1-6 above) and the doctor the flexibility to be compensated for performance and outcomes. We hope this becomes the model of choice in the new Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) that intend to focus on Alzheimer’s disease.

How We Help Hospitals, Institutions, and/ or Medical Facilities:

Currently the only winner in Alzheimer’s disease are nursing homes as they obtain a very high paying cohort of patients who need continued care for a relatively long time (4 years on average). Patients, families, loved-ones, doctors, and society all suffer.

Briefly:

Patients: They suffer the ravages of Alzheimer’s without any hope or real support from the medical community.

Families: This is a devastating disease for families. The anguish creating by providing care for an Alzheimer’s suffer is immeasurable. The decision to place your loved one in a care facility is equally trying. Finally, Alzheimer’s wipes up the financial resources of those families with assets above the Medicaid minimum.

Society: The impacts are many, lost time at work by caregivers, more medical visits by the afflicted and caregivers, and a tremendous drain on Medicare for those eligible for services once an individual or family financial resources have been drained.
Doctors: Patients and families are frustrated by the lack of any type of solution for Alzheimer’s. It reflects poorly on a doctor who provides the prevailing narrative to a sufferer or a new diagnosed patient of, “There is not way to reverse or even slow the disease.” The standard of medicine is to refer a presumed Alzheimer’s (or dementia) patient to a neurologist. They generally perform somewhat humiliating cognitive functioning tests that does not lead to anything more than palliative treatments.
Our approach may help medical institutions in several ways, including financial. Currently, besides an MRI or other imaging diagnostic, Alzheimer’s patients are simply an “office visit” reimbursement because so little is done for the patient. Under the RealHealth Clinics protocol, doctors are empowered to diagnose deeper and broader to find associations and causes. Next, when new findings in hand, they are able to be more active in managing and treating patients. This will lead to more billable MRIs and other diagnostics that will bring patients and revenue into the facility.

Most importantly, the RealHealth Clinics approach will bring patients (customers) hope. The medical institution, through their staff, will be able to provide a much greater understanding of the patient’s disease. This is empowering to the medical staff and rewarding to the patient. Knowledge and information often increases a patient’s (or family member’s) hope. It is cliché, but our approach is win-win for the patient and the medical facility.

How We Help Our Partners:

Alzheimer’s disease is somewhat of a lost opportunity to the medical community. The expedient “Alzheimer’s” diagnosis and treatment serves a very limit number of companies and healthcare providers. However, when properly diagnosed beyond “Alzheimer’s,” a myriad of opportunities emerge.

Here are a few simple examples:

Imaging: When doctors are able to effectively treat Alzheimer’s, they will require more imaging tests like MRI, to show structural cause/effect. This helps hospitals, imaging outpatient facilities, and equipment manufacturers along with the entire supply chain.

Treatments: The drug companies will continue to distribute existing and new therapies for Alzheimer’s. However, when a differential diagnosis is performed and “new” causes and associations are revealed, the opportunity for therapeutics expands.

Blood Tests: Performing blood tests for indications of Alzheimer’s disease is part of our protocol and not part of the standard-of-care. This opens up new opportunities for clinical laboratory work by companies like LabCorp and Quest.

New Screening Tests: We are introducing a new way to use eye pathology examinations to screen for and monitor the progression or regression of Alzheimer’s disease. Optometrists and ophthalmologists could likely benefit from a new source of patients. In addition, companies who make instruments to examine the eye may enjoy an expanded market for their instruments in a broader medical community. These companies include: Zeiss, Topcon, Optos, and many others.

Healthcare Companies – Other: Our prevention program focuses on good health as part of both a prevention and treatment program. Data for the world-famous Framingham Study is quite clear on the connection between fish oil levels in the blood and risk of future Alzheimer’s disease. There are many health-related companies and consultants who may benefit from us successfully implementing our model.

How We Will Spend Your Contributions:

All funds raised will go towards patient procurement either through marketing or public relations efforts. Specifically, funds will go toward enhancing our social media presences, local ads in newspapers, and on radio, and through direct communications with interested people at informal informational events.

Who We Are:

Please go to: http://www.realhealthclinics.com/#!about/c1enr

Founders: Thomas J. Lewis, Ph.D., and Clement L. Trempe, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer: Dr. Clement L. Trempe
Medical Director: Dr. Babar Khan – http://inscopearchive.iu.edu/spotlights-profiles/faculty-staff/2013-12-19-faculty-babar-khan-inscope.shtml; http://medicine.iupui.edu/faculty-profile/BAKHAN/Khan-Babar/
CEO: Dr. Thomas J. Lewis – https://www.linkedin.com/pub/thomas-j-lewis-ph-d/2/862/7a9
CFO: Joe Straight (consulting) – https://www.linkedin.com/pub/joe-straight/5/541/b86
Clinical Director: Dr. Linda King

How to Find Us:

Twitter – https://twitter.com/tomlewisphd
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/RealHealthClinics
Blog – http://www.realhealthclinics.com/#!alzheimers-blog/c141t
Website – http://www.realhealthclinics.com

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