alzheimers news-it works on mice

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-IT WORKS ON MICE

yesterday i stood and answered questions from several folks
for about an hour and a half
this is the favorite presentation that i do
no slides
no handouts
no board to write on
just
me standing up there
telling briefly my story
getting the folks in the audience to ask me questions

i am surprised that folks arent aware more of
what causes alzheimers disease
what you can do to prevent or slow it down in your family
what exciting research is out there
that may bring us that treatment drug
finally

usually at these events there is usually a lot of wet eyes
as they talk or ask questions about alzheimers
and their loved ones

there just needs to be an education class
for folks when their family member gets diagnosed
you know like
when you get diagnosed with diabetes
you go to all those classes
explaining diabetes
esplaining what to eat how to exercise etc

well so should that be with alzheimers
an education class for alzheimers

maybe
ill start one

usually in the audience there is always at least one person
usually there are more
that is or is becoming an
isolated caregiver
looking sort of overwhelmed

there was one yesterday
she was linked up with caregiver groups
she was linked with the research center where i go
her husband probably qualifies for the study i am
trying to get into

yes
like my wife she says
education is a good thing

so we need it for alzheimers

i saw an article recently on this
can a cancer drug reverse parkinsons and dementia


there is a cancer drug that is used for leukemia
its approved by the fda already for it use

researchers at georgetown university gave it to mice who had alzheimers
yes mice get alzheimers
they the scientists put the alzheimers gene in the mices brains
it makes beta amyloid which accumulates
they all get alzheimers disease

the drug works by turning on the garbage cells in the brain
to clean up any rogue proteins in the brain
like beta amyloid thought to be the culprit in alzheimers disease

eg
the study i am trying to get in with the adu drug
aducanumab
was given to these mice
the beta amyloid a lot of it got cleared from the brain
the mice got better
next step
humans
it seemed to work in those first studied
next step
hopefully me

so these mice studies are important
the cancer drug is called
nilotinib

when given to parkinson patients they got better

now the georgetown researchers plan to give it to alzheimers patients
in a study

if it really works its already available legally
all will need to happen is to have a doctor order it

maybe hopefully it will work
im game

the organicgreen doctor

is it, whats the difference

IS IT, WHATS THE DIFFERENCE
to those who were at my alzheimers presentation yesterday
here are the links to the online quizes i mentioned

21 question questionnaire

five best online quizzes




i got asked this question twice yesterday
is alzheimers disease dementia
or
is dementia alzheimers disease

the answer is yes and no

dementia is a general term that is loss of memory that interfers
with your daily life
it has several causes

one of them is alzhiemers disease
the most common type of dementia
it makes up 60-80% of all cases of dementia
inside the brain beta amyloid and tau protein accumulation occurs
that results in brain cell damage and death

vascular dementia
is the second most common cause of dementia
it represents 10% of all cases
commonly its caused by strokes or ministrokes
also on brain imaging vascular changes can be seen
sometimes these are silent changes
the symptoms can vary based on the area of the brain affected

dementia with lewy bodies
not as common as the other two above
its is caused by an accumulation of proteins in the cortex of the brain
called alphasynuclein
the diagnosis is made  by an experienced doctor like a neurologist
who puts the patients history together to make the diagnosis
final true diagnosis can only be made by autopsy

mixed dementia
it represents a mixture of more than one type of dementia
usually a mixture of alzheimers disease and vascular dementia
lewy body dementia can also be mixed with alzheimers disease
and or vascular dementia
mixed is more common than we realized before

parkinsons disease
it can lead to a progressive dementia
there can be changes caused by the protein alphasynuclein
like in lewy body dementia

frontotemporal dementia
the front lobes and temporal lobes are affected
think front of brain and over temples
they get changes in personality and behavior at a earlier age
they tend to progress faster than alzheimers disease
theres not the microscopic changes you see in the dementias above

creuztfeldt jakobs disease cjd
a very rare disease
a variant found in cattle called mad cow disease can be transferred
to humans
its a rapid progressive disease

normal pressure hydrocephalus
a rare one but its an important one since if its diagnosed
and treated with shunting a person might show marked improvement
there is increased fluid buildup in the brain which can be relieved for
some by removing the fluid by placing a shunt to the brain to drain
the fluid or ny removing the fluid by spinal tap

huntingtons disease
a genetic progressive disease

wernicke-korksakoff syndrome
is caused by a severe lack of vitamin b12 or thiamine
commonly caused by alcohol abuse
thiamine is needed by the nerve cells to provide sugar for energy
no thiamine no energy production so brain cells dont work

so in summary
yes alzheimers is the most common cause of dementia
but a patients dementia can be caused by many causes as above

an excellent online reference on dementia is
the alzheimers associations website
www.alz.org/what-is-dementia.asp

also
the organicgreendoctor team in the williamson county walk to end alzheimers
has its
online silent auction in progress now and will end on september 21th
www.32auctions.com/ogd

click here to donate or join
our team organicgreendoctor at the williamson county walk on september 27th

the organicgreen doctor

wtea, resveratrol etc, a break

WTEA

the walks to end alzheimers are starting across the nation
soon
go to the walk to end alzheimers page to find
the site nearest you

in central texas go to the
central texas chapter of the alzheimers association link
to see the four walks for this area this fall

if you would like to donate to my team
the organicgreendoctor.com team 
click the above link

feel free to donate or join the team
or start your own team

this last year my younger brother was placed in a long
term facility because of his alzheimers disease
it was not safe for him to remain at home
as he would want to wander off and had become
a potential risk to himself

one of my team members dad was diagnosed this year
with alzheimers and has already met her goal even
though its 4 months till our walk
she has now increased her goal for $$ raised
and is rapidly approaching that new goal

my egg laying country n girls are taking the proceeds
from donations for their eggs
today they are making a $50 donation and
plan to increase production to raise more

our team goal is $5000 which we met this last year
help support the alzheimers association in their fight
against this terrible disease
that will affect us all in some way eventually

RESVERATROL

am sure you heard that if you drink red wine every day that
you will live longer
well resveratrol is the supposed magic ingredient in there that
may be the reason that people live longer who drink red wine

i in fact drink at least a glass of red wine every night as it
appears to help raise you good cholesterol (hdl) levels
as mine are too low
along with niacin i keep ny levels in the normal levels

there is a theory that using resveratrol at high levels may
slow down alzheimers
the test dose that is used is equal to the resveratrol thats in
1000 bottles of wine
(sorry cant drink that much a day much less in several years)

you can actually be in the study if you qualify
read it about it at the alzheimers disease cooperative study website

two other studies that are ongoing involve deep brain electrical
stimulation
(this is already used in parkinson patients)
that may help slow things down and
looking at nasal insulin to increase glucose metabolism in the brain
which is decreased in alzheimers disease

(if youve read this blog you know that ive had the glucose metabolism
pet scan which shows decreased glucose metabolism in the brain
if alzheimers has progressed
so far my test has been normal-this pet scan can be normal in early mild
cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease)

A BREAK
i will be taking a weeks break from blogging
starting next monday
i will be posting five of my favorite blogs
this next week

the organicgreen doctor