Feb 10, 2026
3 min read
Recent research by Bobby Schindler published in Cell Reports Medicine has shown that under the right conditions the brain can repair itself using a compound that restores NAD+ levels.Although conducted in animal models, this research offers a ray of hope for a one-day cure for Alzheimer's disease (AD).This serves as an important reminder that we should never
By Bobby Schindler
A recent study published in Cell Reports Medicine shows that under the right conditions, the brain can repair itself using a compound that restores NAD+ levels.
Although conducted in animal models, this research shows a bright hope for one day treating Alzheimer's disease (AD).It is a great reminder that we should never give up hope or deny grace to anyone, regardless of their poor health or condition.
For decades, AD was thought to be permanent and irreversible.Researchers at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland University Hospitals and the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland found that restoring proper levels of the critical cellular energy molecule NAD+ not only prevented AD-like pathology in mice, but also reversed advanced cognitive decline and brain injury.
The number of people with AD is growing rapidly.In the United States, more than 7 million Americans aged 65 and older live with AD, and this number is expected to nearly double by 2050. Worldwide, an estimated 55 million people live with some form of dementia, most commonly AD, and this population could grow to 139 million by 2050.
Those in need of attention are not just statistics;they are people who deserve protection, compassion, life-affirming attention.Our duty is to support and nurture them, not shorten their lives by falsely calling it charity.Millions of families and caregivers practice sacrificial love every day by caring for those who can no longer care for themselves.
In fact, for patients with advanced AD who have difficulty swallowing and require feeding tubes, the NAD+ research underscores the critical importance of providing life-sustaining nutrition and hydration. Proper nutrition provides essential nutrients to maintain brain and body function, helps prevent other complications, and maintains strength and comfort.
Most importantly, continuity of care affirms the inherent dignity and value of the patient, providing meaningful engagement, compassionate care, and the possibility of benefiting from future treatments.
In contrast, practices such as voluntary abstinence from eating and drinking (VSED) directly undermine human dignity, especially for people with AD.Deliberately depriving people of basic nutrition leads to death by starvation and dehydration, denying people comfort and any chance of recovery.With scientists and doctors making great strides in treating AD, leaving those affected is especially difficult.
This represents a profound ethical shift in our approach to end-of-life care that did not happen organically.It began in the 1980s, when the late bioethicist Daniel Callahan deliberately sought to reframe the provision of food and water via a feeding tube as treatment rather than primary care, a shift with enormous ethical, legal, and medical implications.
The Callahan Amendment has profound implications, especially for patients with brain injury, severe disability, or AD who cannot speak.It effectively legalized the termination of life for "biologically stable" patients, those who survived despite serious health problems by maintaining adequate nutrition and hydration.
The reclassification of feeding tubes as a medical treatment has reduced the legal barriers to their removal or refusal.In fact, removing or refusing a feeding tube is legal in all 50 US states, even when there is an expressed desire to have one.
Treatment decisions are no longer based on recognition of the inherent dignity of every human life, regardless of condition or prognosis.Doctors and family members can now refuse nutrition based on their subjective judgment of a patient's "quality of life."
Not surprisingly, reclassification efforts have extended to other forms of primary care.In Canada, the 2014 case of Bentley v.The Maplewood Seniors Care Society directly tested whether food offered on a spoon or tray to a person with advanced AD could be considered medical treatment rather than ordinary care.
The patient's family argued that the feeding assistance constituted health care that could have been denied to them under consent laws.Fortunately, the Supreme Court of British Columbia rejected this claim, ruling that spoon feeding is personal care, not medicine.
Similar arguments have been made in the United States.In some cases, courts have viewed assistance or nutrition as a medical intervention subject to withdrawal.These cases show how legal definitions can influence care decisions for vulnerable patients.
It is tragic that as a nation we fail to honor and care for our most vulnerable, a duty and not an option.Many blessings come from adoration for medical defense.
Caring for the elderly and the sick is not only a medical decision but very important from a moral and spiritual point of view.It is a reading from the Holy Scriptures that shows the heart of Jesus Messiah, and we must sanctify it.
Human frailty calls us to imitate Christ, even in the midst of emotional stress, injustice, or systems that prioritize results over dignity.Christ did not seek revenge or turn away from His suffering, but willingly entered into it for the sake of others, giving and sacrificing Himself in the path of love, obedience and loyalty to the Father.
He calls us to do the same - to be faithful - and teaches us how to love, even in the most difficult, uncomfortable and unfair situations.
This first appeared on LifeNews.
