Battle The Spread Alzheimer’s Blog

Story from Science Daily about research on drugs that reduce aggression, wandering, and paranoia associated with Alzheimer’s.  Link here and excerpt below:

Investigators from the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Regenstrief Institute and Wishard Health Services reviewed nine randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of three popular cholinesterase inhibitors in managing behavioral and psychological symptoms displayed by patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers report that the trial results indicate cholinesterase inhibitors led to a statistically significant reduction in behavioral and psychological symptoms such as aggression, wandering or paranoia when using the same dosage as administered for improving cognitive impairment.

My interest was really piqued in this article for two reasons:

1) 9 out of 10 Alzheimer’s patients exhibit one of these 3 symptons

2) My father exhibits all 3 of them

This post might be more for caretakers, as it becomes especially hard to take care of a loved one when they get mad at you for no reason, accuse you of trying to hurt them, and exhibit other aggressive/paranoid behavior.  I know that I’ve often been concerned for my mom’s safety and well-being because of my dad’s outbursts.  Its even sadder when I remember my dad as one of the gentlest people I knew before he got sick…

As always, consult with your doctor about any of the advice presented in the news articles.  I’m not a medical professional, just the messenger passing on news I hear…

Article in VoaNews today about a church that started a program to keep elder’s minds active to help ward off Alzheimer’s.  Link here and excerpt and thoughts below:

Researchers don’t know what causes Alzheimer’s in most people, and there is no cure for the disease. Hospitals and laboratories are doing research to find ways to treat and prevent Alzheimer’s. Now a church in the United States has a program to help fight the disease.

At the First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, North Carolina, older members are singing and playing instruments to stimulate their minds to keep the disease at bay. This may also help delay or limit the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

Some parishioners are learning Spanish to keep their minds active. Others, like 72-year-old Fredrick Hill have learned to ride a horse. “Every chance I get, I come out here,” Hill said.

I really liked the idea of members learning to play musical instruments or speak new languages.  These are the types of activities that really require a lot of cognition and “exercise” of the brain.  I’ve read many stories/reports elsewhere (sorry I don’t have the links) about instruments and languages.  Maybe something to keep in mind for caretakers who have loved ones still capable of learning?

The researchers say the church program appears to be working. But they say they will know more in five years, when they have more proof about whether they’ve put Alzheimer’s on hold.

“We’ve noticed that people seem to be more spry and engaged and happy,” said Kathleen Welsh-Bohmer of Duke University.

Although they say that it will take 5 years for more proof, I think these programs are a good idea even if they don’t help as much as orginially thought because at the very least, it seems to improve the quality of life of the seniors.  Alzheimer’s patients are people who really literally live “in the moment”.  Although some people may question why they should take their loved ones on trips or other social event if they don’t remember what happens, don’t you think its worth it to see the joy on their faces as they indulge in living in “those moments”?  Also, even though current treatments cannot cure or halt this disease, we still need to make sure the lives of our loved ones are as full of joy as possible.  No drugs can do that, it can only come from people expressing their capacity to love…

This will be a very quick post today because I’ve been very busy at work.  Read an interesting article today in MedicalNewsToday about new research on the links between genetic markers and Alzheimer’s.  The link is here, and there’s a good amount of technical jargon in there.  A summation of the article is found here in this excerpt of two paragraphs from the article:

Although this type of study cannot establish causal associations, the results strongly suggest that the CSF levels of apoE may explain a significant proportion of the levels of APP- and tau-related biological markers in the healthy human brain, indicating a strong physiological link between apoE, APP and tau. In other words, the study points to a possibility that modulation of the levels of apoE may affect the levels of APP and tau in the brain.

Furthermore, the study has shown that people who have a “beneficial” genetic form of apoE (so-called APOE2), which is associated with lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, have lower CSF levels of beta-amyloid peptide 42, a molecule implicated in development of Alzheimer’s disease plaques. This finding may explain some of the basis for the known protective effects of the APOE2 observed in large population studies.

In short, levels of a certain protein (APOE) indicate a causal relationship with the beta amyloid proteins causing the plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer’s.   Hopefully this new information will help scientists understand how the disease develops, leading to new methods to combat the disease.  Thoughts?

Note that this is not conclusive evidence, but a recent article on Scientific America seems to bolster the evidence to support that consistent exercise (in this study via walking) seems to have a beneficial effect on brain health.  Link here and excerpt below:

Studies in animal models of aging show that exercise can increase blood flow, stimulate nerve cell growth in regions associated with memory and reduce the pathologic changes characteristic of Alzheimer’s. Studies of exercise and memory in humans have been promising but not yet definitive. For example, some, but not all, observational studies of older adults time found that those who were more physically active (for example, in such activities as swimming, walking, ballroom dancing) or who exercised at least three times a week had a lower risk for dementia. Likewise some short-term clinical trials found that aerobic exercise improved certain cognitive abilities.

What was exciting about this research?  First, it was a clinical trial test under a controlled environment, which carries more weight than previous observational studies.  In this case, there was a control group which only received basic health education and the other group whom exercised consistently (either walking or more strenuous exercise).    The results conclusively showed the group with exercise did some improvement cognitively as well as a sustained slower rate of decline.

So please, as we’ve encouraged on this blog, take your loved one for a walk as often as you can for exercise and also the opportunity to spend quality time together.

Hope everybody had a great thanksgiving!

Story recently on Reuter’s highlighted some recent research indicating a link between fast food and an accelerated development of the brain tangles found in Alzheimer’s disease in mice.  Story here and excerpt below:

Mice fed junk food for nine months showed signs of developing the abnormal brain tangles strongly associated with Alzheimer’s disease, a Swedish researcher said on Friday.

The findings, which come from a series of published papers by a researcher at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet, show how a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol could increase the risk of the most common type of dementia.

…

In her research, Akterin focused on a gene variant called apoE4, found in 15 to 20 percent of people and which is a known risk factor for Alzheimer’s. The gene is involved in the transport of cholesterol.

More reasons not to eat fast food, which has a much higher content of fat and cholestorol than is regarded as healthy.  Obviously, take this with a grain of salt as the research has only been performed on mice, but I think its pretty clear that the consumption of fast food, even without these recent revelations, is something that should not be a regular part of anybody’s diet.