Our Story
My Dad, Dr. David E. Crandall DDS, a Minnesota dentist, was successfully able to reverse late-stage Alzheimer’s symptoms and spare critical brain structures normally destroyed by this disease. He did this by bravely experimenting on himself to see his hypothesis through – that Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is caused by bacteria from our own body, specifically from the mouth.
This theory of his, that gum disease could be causing dementia, was the result of over 60 years of practicing dentistry, where he and his staff would watch patient after patient come into the clinic with gum disease that they refused to treat. As time went on, staff noticed changes in their cognition.
Which, believe it or not, was Dr. Oscar Fischer’s first thought (he was a colleague of Alois Alzheimer’s). Fischer’s research, which far exceeded Alzheimer’s in duration and number of autopsies performed, discovered that the majority of these patients’ brains contained something very unexpected: oral bacteria. Fischer’s assessment: These patients had lost their minds as a result of previously losing teeth to chronic gum disease.
Read More
So, when Dr. Crandall began to notice his memory begin to fail, he worried he might have Alzheimer’s. Which made sense as he’d been exposed to “bad” oral bacterial daily (it can aerosolize), and for years he never wore a mask during procedures. He consulted his doctors with his theory, backed up by substantial scientific data. Together they made history by prescribing a medication protocol that could possibly kill oral bacterial within the “privileged brain.”
But because we don’t know how to effectively by-pass the blood brain barrier, Dr. Crandall died from Alzheimer’s. The degree of protein deposition throughout is brain suggested he must have been a vegetable for a very long time. Yet Dr. Crandall toasted champagne 5 days before his passing.
The University asked to study what Dr. Crandall and his doctors had done. But after two years of applying unsuccessfully for grants, I realized the world can’t wait for the government to decide if, and when they will pay to support research into learning why gum disease is one of the highest AD risk factors (age being the highest), and why so many AD patients have oral bacteria in their brains.
So, I made the decision to quit my job and start a non-profit charity (The Curing Alzheimer’s Disease Foundation) that could raise the money for the lab. And the University, who has been amazing all along, allowed us to name the lab: The Alzheimer’s Legacy Lab – in honor of my dad, in honor of Dr. Fischer and in honor of all the people who have fallen to AD.
Along the way it became clear that our community is desperately needing Alzheimer’s education and desperately wanting to learn about proven ways to help prevent this disease. As a result, our Foundation decided to create a community outreach program to address this need. Called “Keeping Your Mind – the practical guide to preventing Alzheimer’s,” this program is based on five principles of protection: oral health, diet, sleep, exercise and stress reduction.
Meet our Board
David
Dr. David E. Crandall
Anna
Anna Shelander
Weston
Weston Shelander
Victoria
Victoria Shelander
John
John Shelander
Karen
Karen Sorbo
Diane
Dr. Diane Hovey PhD
Don
Dr. Donald Erickson MD
The CAD Foundation's Scientific Board
Dr. Alisky Heads our Scientific Board
Joseph Alisky, M.D. Ph.D, is originally from Tempe, Arizona and has over twenty-five years of healthcare experience. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona and obtained both M.D. and Ph.D degrees at St. Louis University. Dr Alisky is passionate about improving and advancing treatment of dementia and supporting research into finding a cure for Alzheimer's. Outside of work, Dr Alisky enjoys hiking, traveling, and speaking Russian and Spanish.
The CAD Foundation’s Scientific Board is comprised of a broad number of medical experts who work in the fields of Periodontics, Dentistry, Neurology, Endocrinology, Urology, Gastroenterology, ENT, Dermatology, Veterinary Medicine, Microbiology, Gerontology, and Obstetrics. Our Scientific Board oversees the progress of The Alzheimer’s Legacy Lab and provides the research team with current study data about their area of medicine that overlaps with Alzheimer’s Disease. Our goal is to allow relevant data to freely flow between all disciplines in order to maintain an open-minded approach to this complex, multi-disciplined disease process. Our Scientific Board members have asked to remain anonymous, as many are treating patients or conducting their research at various educational institutions throughout the United States.
