Alzheimer's disease can be classified as Type 1 (inflammatory/hot) driven by inflammation and pathogens, or Type 2 (atrophic/cold) driven by decreased trophic support.

“So, that's what we call type 1 or inflammatory or hot Alzheimer's. And I should mention, it turns out ayurvedic physicians from thousands of years ago who recognized dementia that was related to something that was hot, that was abnormal and ultimately inflammatory, as well as that was related to dryness, which is what we call type 2, where you have decreased trophic support. It can be nerve growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, estradiol, testosterone, pregnenolone, progesterone, thyroid, vitamin D, all of these things are critical to support of synaptogenesis. So we think of the signaling as being a ratio of synaptoblastic activity where you're actually sending signals to make and store synapses (just like you think of osteoblastic activity) versus synaptoclastic activity where you're actively pulling back and you're reorganizing.”