alzheimers news-taking these increases your risk

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-TAKING THESE INCREASES YOUR RISK

that is according to this article from the british medical journal

acetylcholine is used in the brain nerve cell connection to transport signals
across from cell to cell

if acetylcholine levels drop in these connections
a persons memory will be affected

in alzheimers disease the destruction from beta amyloid and tau
accumulation leads to the brain nerve cells damage and destruction
which leads to a drop in acetycholine
which leads to the short term memory loss you see in alzheimers disease
early on

the drugs like aricept (donepezil) that i have been on for almost
8 years and exelon (rivastigmine) increases the acetylcholine in the
nerve cell connections in the brain so that the nerves fire or work better
leading to an improvement in the alzheimers patients memory

eventually as alzheimers progresses there is so much destruction
in the brain that these meds lose their effects

the earlier in the disease you start these meds the better their effects
eg
i was started much earlier that most folks and its possible that the
aricept (donepezil) may be why i havent deteriorated yet

a couple of years ago a study was published that anticholinergics
which includes allergy antihistamines
increased your risk for developing dementia
this new study showed that these antihistamines many of us take
for allergies may not have that effect

however
those of us who take aricept (donepezil) or exelon (rivastigmine) are told
not to take these allergy meds since they may interfere with
the aricept or exelon by blocking their effects

they do this by interfering with the uptake of the acetylcholine
in those nerve connections
less acetylcholine less nerve firing
means less memory

so i dont take allergy antihistamines for that reason

for those not on aricept or exelon
you non dementia folks
the drugs that affect these acetycholine levels
eg are used for
bladder control or urinary incontinence eg oxybutynin ditropan
parkinsonism eg procyclidine kemadrin
depression eg amitryptylline elavil

long term use of these can lead to a 30% increase in dementia
other things
eg smoking can increase the risk well over 50%
not controlling diabetes and blood pressure and or cholesterol
and or weight and or lack of exercising  and or proper diet
increase the risk dramatically

in fact
a population as shown in european studies who stop smoking
and do all those healthy things may decrease the risk
of developing dementia by 40%

so
like with all meds
you have to way their side effects vs their benefits

the secret
take real good care of your health

i was recently contacted by someone who has short term
memory issues who is about to undergo memory testing
at a large alzheimers research center
i explained what testing was going to be done and
how it would probably feel to do the testing

after listening to their story
the best thing they can do for their memory is not meds
its
controlling their weight diabetes blood pressure cholesterol
improve their diet stop smoking control their cholesterol
fix sleep issues control their depression

uh 20 years ago would have been nice for them to have
done all that
but its never to late to start

the organicgreen doctor

whats the price

WHATS THE PRICE
in the next 2 years several alzheimers disease studies will be started with
different criteria for who gets in them
most of not all will be given a new biological infusion called
solanezumab

this will be given monthly for 3 years
it works by binding with antibodies to beta amyloid the sticky stuff
that accumulates in the brain
that  is thought to be the cause of alzheimers disease

the beta amyloid  is then removed from the brain
if it works it will slow down the disease
or
if we are all lucky cure the disease

there are several diseases now that use the same approach for
treating them
one eg is rheumatoid arthritis
patients may get an infusion of biologicals every 1-2 months
with names like infliximab or adalimubab
thats remacaide and humira

cost of getting infusions for a year are $10,000-$30,000+

note the similar sound to their generic names to the new drug
for alzhiemers disease that will be used in these studies

the drugs for alzheimers disease used now
remember they only treat the symptoms
not the disease

these prices below are for 30 days treatment
cash prices from costco pharmacy

donepezil generic aricept $11.41
aricept brand                  $417.67
aricept 23                       $388.90 this was designed after the aricept
went generic and the price plummeted for the generic
folks dont let doctors put your family on aricept 23
its the things big pharma does when their drugs go generic
it doesnt work any better
and it cost you hundreds more a year

rivistagmine generic exelon $52.64
exelon brand                       $226
exelon patch                       $352.25
its no better than donepezil
its used instead of donepezil when donepezil causes stomach issues

for me
my stomach issues improved after 30 days and i was able to tolerate
the donepezil

namenda for now its brand is only $328.08
later this year a new product will be introduced called
you got it namenda xr
sounds familiar
the patent on namenda is going out next year
then other companies can make it

it will not work any better than namenda or the new generic
namenda
you know the cost will probably be in the $300-$400 a  month price range

namenda is usually added to the donepezil when the donepezil
loses its effectiveness later on in the disease
or
some are taking it with donepezil as soon as the diagnosis of
alzheimers is made
i have opted not to do this combo yet
when it is needed i probably will not be capable of making that
decision

if you presume all patients with alzheimers disease in the united states
are on donepezil
5,000,000 people have this disease now
thats $57,000,000 a year for the generic drug
add namenda to them
thats $1,640,000,000 a year more

now
we know this new solanezumab that will be used in these new
alzheimers disease trials will be expensive
if it works all those newly early diagnosed patients will be getting it
and
those of you who are young and who are tested for alzheimers disease
will probably start this drug early in life
maybe in the 40s
and will take it for the rest of your life
if you want to slow the disease down

cost im presuming for a years treatment will be $20,000-$30,000+
a year
we are talking about 20 years of people who will be told you will get
alzhiemers disease
there will be millions of people wanting this drug

if you multiple the cost times 5,000,000 people an underestimate
thats $150,000,000,000 a year for this new drug

but can we afford as a society to spend that amount of money
each year to prevent or treat this disease

that 150 billion dollars just so happens to me the amount
that medicare and medicaid spends now each year on
alzheimers disease patients

interesting huh
and
that does not include what private health insurance pays what long term
care insurance pay and what we all pay out of our pocket

its a financially devastating as well as socially devastating disease
but
can we afford these new treatments

well
maybe we can

lets just hope that in the next 3-5 years that this new drug
works to slow down or stop this disease
so that we can answer this question

the organicgreen doctor