Alzheimer’s treatment: devoutly to be wished
Alzheimer’s is a scourge that’s so common that most of us know at least one person who has had it, and often considerably more than one. It’s a tragedy and a trial both for the afflicted and for those who love them and care for them. I don’t have to describe what it does; you all almost certainly know quite a bit about it from bitter personal experience, or from reading articles or watching documentaries and movies.
That’s why this is very heartening news. There have been reports of effective treatments before that haven’t panned out, but this one seems a bit more promising.
Remember when AIDS was an absolute death sentence? It cut a swath through the arts—I was especially aware of its effects in the dance world—that was horrific, and felled mostly the young. Now it’s not exactly a nothing—it’s still very much a something, and a something to avoid and fear—but its automatic-death-sentence aspects have been attenuated through the discovery of an effective although difficult treatment regimen.
A treatment for Alzheimer’s that actually arrests that disease would be a tremendous blessing. It would help patients, their families, and everyone who knows them, and it would also save on the costs of treating so many people who need such constant care.
Until I read the linked article, I hadn’t realized that PET scans had become so very good at diagnosing Alzheimer’s. I knew they were somewhat able to do it, but if the article is correct they are now accurate and can even predict people who will get it many many years before they have symptoms. Without a treatment, though, that’s a mixed blessing. I don’t think most people would want to know, the news is so devastating and the remedies presently so non-existent.
” I hadn’t realized that PET scans had become so very good at diagnosing Alzheimer’s. . . . they are now accurate and can even predict people who will get it many many years before they have symptoms. Without a treatment, though, that’s a mixed blessing. I don’t think most people would want to know . . . .” [Neo}
And what about long term care insurance? If we reach the point of predicting with any accuracy who will get Alzheimer’s, then it’s only a stone’s throw to having insurance companies mandate a PET scan to eliminate writing long term care policies on those who will. This will violate the prime directive of insurance (pooling of funds from many to subsidize catastrophic losses for the few on whom they are visited).
You should look into the work Michael Fossel (and others) are doing on Alzheimer’s and other age-related diseases.
http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2016/02/alzheimers_disease_can_be_cure.html
I glanced at the article and noticed a bar chart purportedly showing the breakout of costs to society of Alzheimer’s care, including the medicare portion.
Medicare portion? What medicare portion? Do they mean after all bank accounts have been drained and all assets sold? Or perhaps they only mean the portion of prescriptions paid for by insurance?
On a more positive note I recently read about a trial that had taken place involving a synergistic approach combing a number of therapies, and which – reportedly – had been remarkably successful.
It seems all one needed in order to realize the benefits of this regime was the discipline, persistence, and general health generally not usually available to the really elderly, in the first place.
Nonetheless a woman in her early sixties supposedly had good results …
I have a friend who has almost completely lost her short-term memory and can no longer read books. I don’t really know whether she has been officially diagnosed or whether her family is just not discussing it. It is extremely sad to watch, and it is hard to talk with her. I try to say things I think might interest or amuse her, but I know she can’t really process anything I say. She constantly talks about things that happened when she was young. I’ve heard the same stories dozens of times, but I try to be patient.
I’m not sure PET scan technology got better, rather our understanding of the disease did. I think they discovered that the plaques and filaments that cause it built up over decades, and could be detected years before the critical threshold had been crossed.
Translation: Send us more of your tax dollars and in twenty or thirty years we might come up with something useful.
Dave Says at 3:45 pm
“You should look into the work Michael Fossel (and others) are doing on Alzheimer’s and other age-related diseases.”
Unfortunately the link does not explain exactly what Michael Fossel proposes to do to prevent Alzheimer disease. The artice mentions telomeres which should be helpful in preserving dividing cells but wouldn’t help neurons which rarely divide in adults.
The body is already capable of preserving telomeres in immortal cells – embryonic stem cells and germ cells. When cells turn malignant they reactivate the telomerase production at least in the cancer stem cells.
My father has been on a plateau of mild dementia for several years now. I thank God he is still very much himself, humor, core personality. He has little short term memory, and can now live in the moment. I am 23 years younger than he is so I am sure as hell, doing everything I can to maintain my brain. I don’t believe there is nothing we can do. I have noticed an increase in my mental acuity recently as I started an exercise regimen. I also noticed (as does my 42 year old wife in herself) an increase of mental endurance from starting a new nutritional supplement geared specifically for the brain and nervous system (Memory Works). I don’t load my nervous system with the neurotoxins, aspartame, Flu vaccines and pesticides as my father did. I have never avoided the Fats as our FDA, AMA, Agriculture Dept brainwashed us to do. I have learned how to manage stress reactions and don’t focus on worries. Our negative thoughts CAUSE chaotic brain chemistry and lock us in constant Fight, Flight and Freeze. My Spiritual practice is very important to me. Mindfulness Meditation practice has also made a difference in my awareness ability. I don’t think we are helpless. And mind you, I am looked at as a sharp individual. I plan to stay that way, even as I age.