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sally
Joined: 08 Sep 2007
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 Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:52 am Post subject: Alzheimer's |
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New article in the Archives of General Psychiatry states that conscientious people are less likely to develop Alzheimer's.
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN01413474
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| People who lead a good clean life -- those who are conscientious, self-disciplined and scrupulous -- appear to be less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers said on Monday. |
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seafsee
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| Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:12 am Post subject: |
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Hmmm 
I spent four plus years as a Nursing Assistant, working in a state facility that cared for War Veterans. A (very) rough estimate of the population with Alzheimer's was about 12%.
One individual in my care was a Reverend with four Master's degrees. I happened to have a good rapport with this gentleman, and we got along well. One day his lovely wife commented that what she saw was some sort of display I put on for her benefit. I assured her that what she witnessed was a common occurrence when working with her husband and not an act; that what was best for her husband was best for me when providing his care.
I would have to assume that this person led a good, clean, "conscientious" life given his status as Reverend and the fact that he was still married to the same woman for I believe fifty plus years. Four Masters Degrees complete an amazing picture of this dedicated man.
Another individual, a relative newcomer during my four years at this facility, appeared fairly young (in contrast with the majority of those with this disease {being only a handful of years older than me!}) seemed "normal". He played guitar and would play some very old songs - from the 40's and maybe 50's.
His family would come on the weekends and spend time with him. Sadly, five minutes after they left, he'd have no recollection of seeing them! He'd remember fifty year old songs and forget about seeing his wife not five minutes ago.
Alzheimer's is maybe the cruelest of dis-ease(s). It robs human dignity and strips your quality of life.
Though I have seen the pain and anguish in loved ones eyes, I cannot imagine what it would be like, if one of my own weren't able to recognize me or remember my name or who I was.
Though I haven't read that report, in my opinion, there is more to Alzheimer's than the simplified title suggests. I can see that lifestyle would impact the chances of getting the disease, if one almost totally neglects their health.
I suppose I should read the article now.
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seafsee
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| Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 11:13 am Post subject: |
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I've been somewhat lax about posting from my ArcaMax newsletters as of late (for a variety of reasons), but remembered a recent one that specifically dealt with Alzheimer's. An excerpt of this appears here:
http://www.phpbb88.com/across50kc/viewtopic.php?p=170&mforum=across50kc#170
These science articles appearing under the section entitled "Distributed Computing Efforts", generally deal with issues concerning one or more of the different projects we have a team contributing resources to.
For those unaware, one of the diseases being studied by Folding@Home is Alzheimer's among others. So, since sally contributes to F@H (as it is commonly called) it is little surprise to me that she would post an article about Alzheimer's.
For those reading here that have been touched by this disease (usually with a family member), my heart and blessings go out to you.
For those of you reading here unfamiliar with Folding@Home, you can learn more about the program by visiting the home page:
http://folding.stanford.edu/
or by stopping in our forums:
http://www.phpbb88.com/across50kc/viewforum.php?f=6&mforum=across50kc
Thanks.
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sally
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| Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks, seafsee. My father has this disease. |
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seafsee
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sally
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seafsee
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| Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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I was moving some file around and doing some cleanup in preparation of setting up another machine (which Microsoft will not permit me to migrate XP to without jumping through hoops - but that's another story!) when I came across this item saved from a year ago.
More Evidence Suggests Marijuana Slows Alzheimer's
By  Robert Roy Britt, LiveScience Managing Editor
posted: 18 October 2006 01:05 pm ET
http://www.livescience.com/health/061018_marijuana_benefits.html
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Marijuana might contain compounds that slow memory loss in Alzheimer's patients, according to a new study that bolsters other research suggesting potential brain benefits of pot.[*]
Old rats treated with a synthetic compound similar to marijuana got smarter, said Gary Wenk, study co-author and a professor of psychology at Ohio State University.
<snip>
The key seems to be in marijuana's anti-inflammatory effects.
<snip>
The findings were presented today in Atlanta at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting.
A separate study earlier this month found that the active ingredient of marijuana[*] could be considerably better at suppressing abnormal clumping of malformed proteins in the brain that is a hallmark of Alzheimer's. |
[*] both of these links within the original article point to the same other article:
Gov't Finds Highest, Lowest Marijuana Use
By Kevin Freking, Associated Press
posted: 17 June, 2005 1:45pm ET
http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/050617_ap_pot_use.html
The first "link" points to an article on memory, at the end of which in an related articles spot lists:
Brain and Body Shrink Before Alzheimer's Sets In
By Ker Than, LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 11 September 2006 04:21 pm ET
http://www.livescience.com/health/060911_dementia_brain.html
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The body, and not the mind, might be the first thing to go in people with Alzheimer's and related dementias.
New studies show that brain tissue and body weight are lost before memories begin fading in elderly people who go on to have the diseases.
The findings could lead to new types of early-warning tests for dementia before the diseases cause lasting damage. |
Though I can't seem to find it now, amidst all of this there was another article claiming about marijuana leading to memory loss!!!
Then there is the link within the article about the so-called "benefits of pot" - somewhat misleading as the article doesn't seem to talk about any benefits but rather "Gov't Finds Highest, Lowest Marijuana Use" which not surprisingly list a couple of college campuses as regions with the highest use.
This brings to mind a conversation I was once involved in about accredited sources.
An administrator had posted in the old Folding Forum that an article had been removed because of erroneous information contained within it. As former host, I had posted many of the earlier articles and became concerned that this might have been my doing. Luckily, in an effort to index all the science articles, I had a handy list in my journal with which to check these articles. It turned out that all the ones I had indexed were still there.
More than a few of us were concerned as to the source of this article for several reasons; as a former staff, and as a member of this site, I had a responsibility to post solid material; as a reader, I wanted to know which site or source was publishing bogus material. We never received a firm answer to the inquiries which led some to speculate that the science adviser had posted the article in another of the "science" forums related to the various projects there were teams for. Since the majority of articles now posted were either by the science adviser or the committee in charge, it was easy to make this assumption.
The science adviser was fond of several sources, and though these were generally seen as recognized, respected, and accredited, on more than one occasion I felt strongly that the information presented was done so in a particularly biased way.
LiveScience, Space.com and others would be included in my list.
Why have a link to the "benefits of pot", then not list any 
Pressure? Political Correctness?
Perhaps Bias?
Being recognized, respected or accredited does not necessarily equate to being unbiased.
Especially when pot is involved it would seem. |
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seafsee
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seafsee
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:48 am Post subject: |
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On Thursday, the 10th I caught a medical piece on CNN about Alzheimer's that caught my attention. You can see the ~ three minute video here: Reversing Alzheimer's?
I decided to search for more/other information as this would seem to be a significant discovery. You can find more by putting "Reversing Alzheimer's?" (without the quotes) into your favorite search engine.
Specific to the CNN video and related "study" see: "Injection helps reverse Alzheimer's"
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23033121-1702,00.html
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By staff writers
January 10, 2008 03:39pm
A PATIENT with Alzheimer's disease had their condition improve hugely just minutes after receiving a special injection, according to a breakthrough study.
The drug Etanercept, which has been approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration to treat arthritis patients, dramatically reversed symptoms of an Alzheimer’s disease sufferer’ minutes after it was injected into their spines, researchers in the US discovered.
A report on the study, Rapid cognitive improvement in Alzheimer’s disease following perispinal etanercept administration, appeared in the Journal of Neuroinflammation yesterday. |
"Drug 'can reverse Alzheimer's symptoms in minutes'"
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23431610-details/Drug%20'can%20reverse%20Alzheimer's%20symptoms%20in%20minutes'/article.do
NOTE: Due to the nature of the link, it will not display properly.
You'll have to "Copy and Paste" it into your browser to see the article.
| Quote: |
Last updated at 23:52pm on 10.01.08
A drug (used for arthritis .... appears to tackle one of the main features of the disease - inflammation in the brain.) Called Enbrel, (it) is injected into the spine where it blocks a chemical responsible for damaging the brain and other organs.
[snip]
The study of 15 patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer's has just been published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation by online publishers Biomed Central. |
Please note that this "study" (in the video) involved just one patient, and was not performed with normal double-blind standards. If anything it is the start of a more normal (longer) study which will satisfy scientific standards of evaluation. Here's hoping some new treatments can be achieved - certainly much recent activity has involved studies with mice of all things which I have paid little attention to in the past, having seen several newsletters allude to these.
Some other related articles of interest:
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<center>Scottish scientists are one step further to finding a cure
for Alzheimer's, thanks to the development of a
compound which reverses signs of the disease.
 </center>
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In Alzheimer's the protein ABAD (pictured) is targeted by the toxic substance amyloid which leads to the death of nerve cells.
(Credit: Image courtesy of University of St Andrews) |
Science Video News<br><br> |
"Researchers Seek To Reverse Alzheimer’s"
By: Rick Nauert, Ph.D.
Senior News Editor
Reviewed by: John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on July 27, 2007
http://psychcentral.com/news/2007/07/25/researchers-seek-to-reverse-alzheimers/
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Dr Gunn-Moore, a senior lecturer at the University’s {ED: of St Andrews} School of Biology said, “Alzheimer’s sufferers produce too much amyloid and ABAD in their brains. Based on our knowledge of ABAD, we produced an inhibitor that can prevent amyloid attaching to it in a living model. We have shown that it is possible to reverse some of the signs associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
“The work is now being continued to try and refine the inhibitor into a potential drug. Our research holds a possible key for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, particularly in its early stages.” |
"Cholesterol Drug May Help Reverse Alzheimer's Disease?"
06-07-2004
http://www.alzheimersupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/id/2123
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"We found that over half of the patients' memory tests were either stable or improved over a period of one year. And they tended to get better the longer they were on the treatment," says Larry Sparks, the lead study investigator and a senior scientist at Sun Health Research, a non-profit research institute in Sun City, Ariz.
He says the findings may open the way to a cocktail approach to treating Alzheimer's disease, in which people would take a combination of several drugs that act in different ways.
[snip]
The researchers are now looking at whether the statin reduced levels of damaging deposits called beta-amyloid plaques in the brains of study participants. This would indicate the drug is actually treating the disease itself rather than just the symptoms.
Source: © 2004 The Medical Posting, online at www.medicalposting.ca |
" Alzheimer's Researchers Begin Unique Study of Tangles"
01-22-2004
http://www.alzheimersupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/ID/2061/t/Alzheimers
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The University Memory and Aging Center (UMAC) of University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University is one of 30 institutions participating in a $10 million National Institutes of Health study to determine if the medication valproate can reduce the occurrences of problem behaviors and affect the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's disease. Valproate has been successfully used for about 40 years to treat epilepsy, migraines and bipolar disorder, and may provide new hope for the more than four million Americans suffering with Alzheimer's disease.
This study is the first of its kind to research a medication that may have the potential to block "tangles," one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease linked with memory loss and other symptoms of dementia. Tangles are abnormal brain tissue structures formed by unusual processing of a protein called "tau." Normally, tau is crucial for intracellular functioning and structure, but in Alzheimer's patients, a stringy cluster of tau and phosphate molecules form, leading to dysfunction that impairs the cell's ability to communicate with neighboring cells. This eventually leads to cell death, contributing to the confusion, disorientation and forgetfulness associated with Alzheimer's disease.
This study is funded primarily by a grant by the National Institutes of Health. In addition, Abbott Laboratories is donating the drug and the placebo medication, as well as the funds to finance the two ancillary studies.
For more information, please contact Elaine Ziol, clinical trials coordinator, at 216-844-6328 or 800-252-5048.
The University Memory and Aging Center is Ohio's only Alzheimer Disease Research Center, as designated by the National Institute on Aging. UMAC is located at 12200 Fairhill Road. For information on its registry and other studies, please call the recruitment manager at 216-844-6400 or 800-252-5048. All research activities are voluntary, confidential and have no fee. |
Alzheimer Support . com
Alzheimers Info.
One other article which talks about the aforementioned study involving mice:
"Reversing Alzheimer's Memory Loss May be Possible"
NewsMax.com Wires - Monday, April 30, 2007
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/4/30/101635.shtml?s=he
You Can Help Make a Difference.
I've been using a variation of this statement for some time now.
It started out simply enough: "Make a Difference". Later I added the "YOU" into the equation. You can break it down, add emphasis to different parts, switch some words around. Or you can simply use the first two words; "YOU CAN" 
YOU can help research "cures" for Alzheimer's and Cancer. You can dust off that old PC or Mac sitting in the closet, or in the basement or up in the attic and add it into your home network and run some calculations for any number of projects that can use YOUR contributions with other's calculations like a Supercomputer; together we can produce results that would otherwise take years to calculate.
Probably, the best part is; it is no harder than installing a sceensaver on your computer.
If YOU can do that then YOU can do this.
Also see:
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sally
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:41 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks so much, Seafsee, for bringing this to our attention. I hadn't seen it.
I guess there's always hope.  |
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sally
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seafsee
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| Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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As I checked the last entry, these were the Ads by Google at the bottom of the page. I wonder how appropriate they are? (Iremoved the first one.)
Alzheimer's Disease
Learn everything you need to know about Alzheimer's Disease.
all-Alzheimers.info ( http://all-alzheimers.info )
About Alzheimer's Disease
Symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
http://www.nypneuro.org |
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seafsee
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