Diverse Approaches to Alzheimer's Therapies Continue to Show Progress at ICAD

clipped from alzheimersreadingroom.blogspot.com A lot of good and encouraging news continues to come out of this week's Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease 2008. --18-Month Data from an Extension of a Pivotal Trial of Dimebon in Alzheimer's --First U.S. Double-Blind Phase II Clinical Trial of IVIg (Immunotherapy) in Alzheimer's --Phase II Immunotherapy Trial with LY2062430 in Mild to Moderate Alzheimer's --Antidementia Drugs Contribute to Longer Life in People with Alzheimer's Read More......

Abnormal Thyroid Levels Can Increase Risk For Alzheimer’s Disease in Women

A year or so ago I first read about hyperthyroidism and its connection to Alzheimer's disease and dementia. I asked our doctor to check my mother. He termed the results as suspicious and prescribed a drug for her thyroid. After about two months my mother started smiling more and laughing. Was it the drug? I'll never know for certain. Buy, my belief is it does help. If you have a loved one suffering from an early stage of Alzheimer's or dementia I suggest you get the thyroid checked.

clipped from www.healthnews.com Thyroid disease, resulting from either low or high thyrotropin levels, has been found to be associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease in women only. Thyrotropin is a hormone that affects thyroid gland function and thyroid hormone levels. When a patient has low levels of the hormone, the condition is known as hypothyroidism, while a patient having high levels is referred to as having hyperthyroidism. Both conditions are recognized causes of reversible dementia based on previous studies. In fact, routine screening of serum thyrotropin levels is included in evaluation of patients with suspected dementia. However, the effects of a normally functioning thyroid gland on the brain's cognitive abilities have not been made clear. It is not known whether thyroid function affects Alzheimer's or if it is Alzheimer's that affects thyroid function.

New Research Shows That People With Better Physical Fitness Have Less Brain Atrophy in Alzheimer's

I have been writing about Alzheimer's and exercise on the Alzheimer's Reading Room blog for years. I believe that exercise is a key component in fighting off the devastating effects of Alzheimer's on my mother--now 92 years old.

Exercising in a gym also gives my mother an added boost by keeping her socialized. Most days my mother goes kicking and screaming to the gym. On the way out she has a smile on her face, better balance while walking, and I feel like we are fighting the good fight.

I should mention that I am also getting some obvious benefits. If you are predisposed to Alzheimer's by birth you really need to incorporate Alzheimer's into your daily return.

clipped from www.alz.org People with early Alzheimer’s disease who had better fitness ratings had less atrophy in key brain areas associated with memory, according to research reported today at the 2008 Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD 2008) in Chicago. This is the first time that MRI brain imaging has been used to demonstrate the connection between cardiorespiratory fitness and Alzheimer’s-related brain changes in the hippocampus, an area of the brain important for memory and spatial navigation. In Alzheimer's, the hippocampus is one of the first regions of the brain to suffer damage. "We found that, in early-stage Alzheimer’s, cardiorespiratory fitness is correlated with regional brain volumes in key areas affected by the disease," said Honea. "This suggests that maintaining cardiorespiratory fitness may positively modify Alzheimer’s-related brain atrophy."

Health Benefits of Pets

I know first hand how a cat can benefit a person suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. Also, see the article below from HealthCentral.com for more about the benefits of pets in assisted living facilities.

clipped from www.cdc.gov Most households in the United States have at least one pet. Why do people have pets? There are many reasons. Some of the health benefits of pets are listed below. Pets can decrease your: Blood pressure Cholesterol levels Triglyceride levels Feelings of loneliness Pets can increase your: Opportunities for exercise and outdoor activities Opportunities for socialization Health Benefits of Pet-Ownership Strengthens Human-Animal Bond The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) issued a statement supporting the health benefits of animal companionship for people. Health Benefits of Animals The Delta Society provides abstracts, articles, and bibliographies on the health benefits of animals to people. Health Benefits of Pets, NIH

Pet Doors Opening at Assisted Living Centers

This is an excellent article that I read at HealthCentral.com. I know from first hand experience about the wonderful effect a cat can have on a person suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. Just watching this effect can bring you joy and happiness.

Follow the link in the clip to read the entire article. It is a good read.

clipped from www.healthcentral.com When the elderly woman first arrived at Brooke Grove Retirement Village in Sandy Spring, Md., some of the staffers were skeptical when they saw she had brought her cat along. The woman, in the early stages of dementia, "floated in and out," according to Jackie Carson, the assisted living administrator at Brooke Grove, a center specializing in Alzheimer's care. Staffers had to help the woman remember to feed the cat, and some were initially resentful, saying their job was to care for people, not animals, she added. But slowly, the staff came around, when they saw all the benefits that the cat conferred on the residents, Carson, a registered nurse, said.

Intel Receives FDA Market Clearance on In-Home Medical Device for Management of Health Conditions

This is an important new product and brings state of the art technology to patients that are chronically ill or in need of constant care giving.

I think this could become an important tool for caregivers. For those who must work it could certainly provide some piece of mind and allow them to keep their loved one at home rather then have them institutionalized.

As time goes on this new technology will likely come down in price and overall cost. With the cost of gasoline rising it might also replace some to the doctor visits.

The potential market for this device is huge, so if it is accepted in the marketplace it will become a valuable tool.

Here is a snippet from the press release. You can read more by following the link in the clip.

clipped from www.intel.com Intel Corporation today announced the receipt of 510(k) market clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Intel's personal health system, the Intel® Health Guide, a care management tool for healthcare professionals who manage patients with chronic conditions. The Intel Health Guide enables caregivers to provide their patients with more personalized care at home, while also engaging and empowering patients to take a more active and positive role in their own care. The Intel Health Guide is a comprehensive solution, combining an in-home patient device, as well as an online interface allowing clinicians to monitor patients and remotely manage care. The solution offers interactive tools for personalized care management and integrates vital sign collection, patient reminders, multimedia educational content and feedback and communications tools such as video conferencing and e-mail.

Study points to dietary cocktail for Alzheimer's

This is the kind of science that really gets me excited.

clipped from web.mit.edu The combination of supplements, which contains three compounds normally found in the bloodstream, is now being tested in Alzheimer's patients. The cocktail has previously been shown to promote growth of new brain connections in rodents. "It may be possible to use this treatment to partially restore brain function in people with diseases that decrease the number of brain neurons, including, for example, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, strokes and brain injuries. Of course, such speculations have to be tested in double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials," said Richard Wurtman, Cecil H. Green Distinguished Professor of Neuropharmacology and senior author of a paper on the new work. clipped from web.mit.edu

What I Wish I’d Done Differently

Been there, done that. An excellent article worth reading and passing along to friend.

I found out that one of the most important decision that can ever be made is the selection of an excellent personal physician. Are they still updating their education? This is one question I would ask. And the first thing I would recommend is asking question.

I would suggest adding the New Old Age to your reader. Click the link in the clip to do it.

clipped from newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com Looking back on the last few years of my mother’s life, with 20/20 hindsight and the belated knowledge that came from four years of reporting about aging for The New York Times, my single biggest mistake was not finding a doctor with expertise in geriatrics to quarterback her care and attend to the quality of her life, not merely its length.

National Policy Discussion on Diagnosing Early-Stage Alzheimer's

This looks interesting and hopefully will lead to some real action. I'll try to post highlights of the conference as they become available.

clipped from www.newswise.com The Alzheimer Research Forum, the Web’s foremost community of AD researchers, in collaboration with the Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer’s Initiative and Alzheimer’s Study Group, has assembled a panel of thought leaders to address the challenges and solutions to early-diagnosis of AD during a 90-minute web-based “virtual town hall meeting.” The event is scheduled for Wednesday, July 9, from 2:00-3:30 p.m. (U.S. East Coast Time) and will be conducted using Webinar technology and teleconferencing. One of the key roadblocks to developing better treatments for AD is the lack of approved tests that doctors can use to screen and diagnose patients who are at the very earliest stage of the devastating brain disorder. The lack of early-stage diagnostic tools also impedes drug development. http://www.alzforum.org/res/for/journal/detail.asp?liveID=167

Worried about your memory?

You can obtain this free booklet by clicking the link in the clip.

If you prefer paste this link into your browser.

http://tinyurl.com/46r8h4

clipped from www.alzheimers.org.uk Worried about your memory? Booklet This booklet is designed to help you understand more about memory loss, so that if you are worried - either about your own or someone else's memory - you can seek advice and, if necessary, get treatment and support.

Lack of 'Good' HDL Cholesterol Linked to Memory Loss

If you are predisposed to Alzheimer's by birth you might want to take a close look at this article and vdieo.

My mother falls into this category so it does concern me.

clipped from health.usnews.com News today that low levels of the "good" HDL cholesterol raises a person's risk of memory loss and memory loss and dementia may send many folks rushing to their doctor for a cholesterol check. Indeed, the findings are pretty scary. Study participants with the lowest HDL levels—defined as less than 40 mg/dL—were 53 percent more likely to perform poorly on short-term memory tests compared to those with high HDL, defined as 60 mg/dL or greater. (These healthy participants were age 61, on average, experiencing the earliest signs of dementia that typically start in middle age.) Those whose HDL levels plunged over the six-year study also experienced a decrease in the number of words they were able to recall on the memory test, says study leader Archana Singh-Manoux, senior research fellow in epidemiology at the University College London. Video: Cholesterol: The Good and the Bad

Flurizan’s Failure Leaves Key Alzheimer’s Theory Unresolved

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Though Myriad Genetics was hoping its experimental Alzheimer’s drug Flurizan would surprise naysayers in the scientific and investment communities, the company instead announced that its Phase III clinical trial did indeed fail. The company said Monday that the 18-month, 1,684-patient study – the largest Alzheimer’s-treatment study to date – showed Flurizan failed to improve cognitive functioning or activities of daily living, and added that Myriad is abandoning further efforts to develop the drug. This leaves Elan and Wyeth’s bapineuzumab and Eli Lilly’s gamma secretase inhibitor as the two leading candidates among disease-modifying Alzheimer’s drugs in development.