Copy of article written by Denise Melton which was published in Avena Magazine, Summer 2015, Vol 15 (4),  quarterly magazine of the New Zealand Association of Medical Herbalists Introduction Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease and the fourth leading cause of death in developed countries, with the incidence set to rise dramatically over the next thirty years at huge cost due to the fact that medium to late stage AD requires full time care.  AD can be familial, caused by gene mutation with early onset or related to environmental factors, with age being one of the biggest risk factors, along with type 2 diabetes and obesity.  AD is…