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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
In Alzheimer’s Disease to improve thinking.Methylene blue is a blocker of an enzyme called cholinesterase that breaks down acetylcholine. When this enzyme is blocked, acetylcholine is not broken down as quickly leading to higher levels and improved thinking. This is how a number of drugs approved to treat Alzheimer’s Disease work. In my practice for some, raising acetylcholine with these Alzheimer's medicines can improve cognitive dysfunction. Methylene blue is not an approved drug for Alzheimer’s disease, but it raises acetylcholine levels in a similar way to these approved drugs and can improve thinking.For a comprehensive strategy to treat brain fog see Brain Fog in Lyme Disease: You Can Fix It.Role in DepressionMethylene blue blocks an enzyme called monoamine oxidase (MAO). MAO inhibitors limit the breakdown of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Increased levels of these neurotransmitters lift mood and can help with depression.MethemoglobinemiaMethylene blue is approved by the FDA to treat methemoglobinemia. Methemoglobinemia is a condition where oxygen carried by hemoglobin inside red blood cells is not released into the tissues. Methylene blue causes the hemoglobin to release the oxygen.There are two causes of methemoglobinemia. One is a genetic cause, and the other type is caused by certain medicines. In tick-borne illness treatments, treatments that use dapsone to treat Lyme or Bartonella can lead to methemoglobinemia. Treatments that use primaquine or tafenoquine to treat Babesia can also lead rarely to methemoglobinemia.Symptoms of methemoglobinemia include blue lips and shortness of breath. If you are on dapsone, primaquine, or tafenoquine and these symptoms occur, adding oral methylene blue can help hemoglobin to release oxygen so that a person can remain on these drugs. There is also blood testing that can help diagnose the condition. If the condition is severe enough, the emergency room will provide methylene blue in an IV form.Caution!Before starting methylene blue check a glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) blood test, If you have low levels of G6PD, methylene blue could break your red blood cells apart.If you are on anti-depression medicines or other medicines that raise serotonin, you should also use Methylene blue with caution. Here is a complete list of medicines that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises using with caution when using Methylene blue. In my practice, I have used Methylene blue with a number of these restricted medicines, but I always try to use them at no more than one-half the upper dose limit.
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