Page 164 - The Memory Program How to Prevent Memory Loss and Enhance Memory Power

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Stimulation of superoxide dismutase, a powerful naturally occurring enzyme in the body that
also destroys free radicals.
This dual antioxidant action likely underlies selegiline's action in delaying functional decline in
Alzheimer's disease.
Giving selegiline to mice leads to a higher density of nerve fibers in the frontal cortex and
hippocampus.
Mice given selegiline at about twenty-four months of age can increase, even double, their life
expectancy beyond that point. In those studies, the mice demonstrated improved intelligence,
measured by the ability to negotiate complex mazes and to develop a strategy to escape from
water tanks. Experiments in dogs showed similar, but less robust, effects.

Obviously, taking selegiline will not double your life span as it can in mice, but its broad antiaging
effects are a plus. Overall, the weight of the evidence suggests that it may be useful in preventing
age-related memory loss.

Taking Selegiline to Prevent Memory Loss

Selegiline can cause insomnia, so it should be taken in the morning as a single daily dose. The usual
dose range is 5 to 15 mg daily, though it can be given up to 60 mg per day to healthy people without
any major side effects. Selegiline's action in inhibiting monoamine oxidase-B can make it toxic, but
only in very high doses. Some physicians themselves use selegiline as an antiaging treatment.
However, even among this group of people who can easily obtain medications, vitamin E is more
popular. I have included selegiline as a second-level option in the Memory Program. Unlike vitamin
E, selegiline is a prescription medication.

Vitamin E and Selegiline (Deprenyl)

My colleague Dr. Mary Sano headed a national consortium that compared four treatment conditions:
vitamin E, selegiline (also called Deprenyl), vitamin E plus selegiline, and placebo to treat three
hundred outpatients with early to midstage Alzheimer's disease. They found that both vitamin E
2,000 IUs daily (a high dose) and selegiline helped delay functional deterioration or nursing home
placement by six months to a year. The results were published in the New England Journal of
Medicine in 1997. Vitamin E alone, selegiline alone, and the combination of vitamin E and selegiline
each delayed