By the year 2030, the number of people with Alzheimer's in this country is expected t

BOSTON -- By the year 2030, the number of people with Alzheimer's in this country is expected to increase by 70 percent.

NewsCenter 5's Liz Brunner reported that a new poll shows baby boomers know very little about the devastating condition -- including things that may actually delay the disease.

"We get along very well, so long as he lets me be the boss," Cathleen and Owen McBride still have fun, even after 31 years of marriage, and Cathleen McBride's recent Alzheimer's diagnosis.

"All of a sudden, something like an illness like this hits you when you're going along at cruising speed and suddenly realize time may be running out," Owen McBride said.

While Alzheimer's is devastating to those who get it, a new poll released Thursday shows most Americans are misinformed about the progress made in fighting the disease. Fewer than half know there are treatments now available to ease symptoms. Just 29 percent said that they feel scientists are on the brink of an important discovery.

"They feel there's no hope. They feel there's nothing they can do," Alzheimer's Association spokesman Jim Wessler said.

A campaign released by the Alzheimer's Association, aims to heighten excitement over recent advances. Research has shown that lifestyle changes, like exercise and keeping blood pressure and cholesterol in check can also delay the onset of Alzheimer's.

"If we could delay the onset of symptoms by five years, almost half of the people in this country who have Alzheimer's would never actually develop the ravaging impact of the disease," Wessler said.

There are also newer medications and ongoing studies -- one involving cholesterol-lowering statins.

Cathleen McBride no longer can drive or cook. She hopes newer medicines become available soon so she can better cope with what lies ahead.

"I'm a one day at a time person. I don't really focus on coping. I focus on living," she said.

The poll also showed that only 25 percent of adults are personally concerned about Alzheimer's disease, despite the fact that nearly half of them know of someone who has the disease.

The association hopes the media campaign will raise awareness and funding to continue research efforts.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/2843247/detail.html

My perspective people who have Alzheimer Disease, (AD). President Regan, my grandmother, and several they who are extremely intelligence. It has been bother me lot because I have notice people who studied very hard rest of their lives. When their ages become 60’s years old and their memories loss every year. I could be wrong. My grandmother toured around the Universities to show about the Mathematics art works. After, her husband passed away. Few months later, her cat was passed away. She kept talking about someone took her husband away at the parking a lot. I said,” No it was not true”. She made some lunch for my children then she made another lunch for them about one hour later. My children told great-grandmother, they just had their lunch. My grandmother was surprised and puzzled. I was shocked to see her loss memory in few hours later. She called her cat Morris several time outside. My children told her that her cat is gone. My grandmother said, “what happen?” My children told her that cat passed away last week. She cried, as she did not realize that cat was passed away. She got all confuse. It was very hottest outside in Florida 100 degree. My grandmother put heater on. My children and I were all sweat and turn the air condition on. I had to put scotch tape around on the thermostat. I wrote a note on it, said,”it is hot outside.” We need air conditioner during this season. It will help my grandmother see that note.

She took a shower and walked around naked in the kitchen. I grabbed a towel around her. I said, go to your bedroom to put the clothes on. She did not realize that she was naked. Oh my gosh. She left the stove on all the night. I had to pull the stove plug off. We had to use microwave to avoid using the stove. She becomes worse every year. She sold her house and car and resident at Alzheimer Center. It is very sad to see her health condition becomes worse. She does not know who I am when I visited her. I had to British Sign Language to her, she was a little recognizing who I was.
Now, she talked about her little children are out of school. She has gone home now to make them the dinner. She wears fingernail polish and ponytail. Wait for a man to pick her up for a dating and go out for a dance. I am very surprised, she thinks about her younger age. She said, she is 38 years old. She will be 89 years old on Dec 18th, 1999. She loves to dance and wear a nice dress. She used to be Square Dance when she was younger for many years. She won the awards. My cousin told her that she has three children are outgrown now. She has six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She did not realize this.

The Neurologist doctor told me that my grandmother can’t have cure from her disease in her brain. She has only taken the medication to control her brain. My grandmother has death of brain cells in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) to the unexpected occurrence of the cell division process. I asked the Neurologist doctor if I will get Alzheimer disease when I become older due to genetic and molecular levels. He said, it is very hard to evidence as accurately. He recommends me to have a neurology test when I become fifty years old. The doctor said, “ take Vitamin E, estrogen, ginkgo biloba and other substances that might prevent against Alzheimer disease but not completely sure if that will help me or anyone. It is not a cure for Alzheimer’s disease or appears to stop the progression of the disease. It can help with cognition and symptoms. The supply cost $120 dollars per month. The researchers still struggle to find out how they can resolve or prevent for Alzheimer Disease people. That medication will effect the Alzheimer’s disease people like nausea, loss of appetite, loose stools, or diarrhea. They might occur when the medicine is first started, and will reduce as time passes. However, very few people discontinue the drug because of them. There really are not a lot of ways to reduce those particular side effects. Now, they sell anti histamine type drug over the counter, it will effect some people will develop runny nose or hyper salivation.

I heard about the women, who have menopause, they need to take estrogen to prevent Alzheimer disease. Estrogen is a hormone in the female system. Men also produce this hormone by converting testosterone into estrogen. In the brain, this hormone increases the amount of acetylcholine, enhances antioxidant properties, and increase nerve cell growth. In some studies, estrogen has been shown to improve cognition in those with Alzheimer’s and may have a protective effect individual. It is still no prove if those will be helpful for women and men’s hormones. No one knows.

Absolutely! Those can be very dangerous drugs. It causes intestinal bleeding at high doses; they can interact with other medicines. It will also affect other illness such as kidney disease. Now my grandmother has a kidney disease, she has to stop taken those medications. Her bone becomes weaker as she frequently fell down. She has broken her hips and walker supportive now. The doctor still keeps on his eyes on grandmother’s kidney disease. She does not communicate much. Just jibber-jabber most of the time. Alzheimer’s disease is so difficult for the family to deal with. But I am thankful that she is not in pain, and is well cared for. Actually her health is very good for 90 years old. No real medical problems thought she cannot walk anymore without assistance, and is in a wheelchair all the times. Actually, she FORGOT how to walk. As a part of the physical therapy department, a nurse’s aid has her on walking therapy, where she is walked every morning. She also has to be fed her pureed meals, since she has also forgotten how to chew and feed herself. But, the best part of her life now is she NEVER gets agitated, is ALWAYS smiling, and she ALWAYS says “thank you”. She is definitely happy in her own little world, and is well cared for.

I must admit that I miss my Grandma because she never knows, who I am.

http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/conditions/04/03/alzheimers.report/index.html?s=10

Is not that scary ? It could happen to you or anyone in family generation of alzheimer disease. I always forgot *sigh *

Progressive symptoms of the disease include:

• Mild forgetfulness
• Trouble with math problems
• Personal hygiene
• Trouble thinking, reading, speaking, etc.
• Personality changes
• Disorientation
• Some are more at risk of developing the disease than others. Recognized risk factors include:

My great-grandmother had this. She would be sitting in the chair calling me "George". That's not even my name. I'd then remind her that my name wasn't "George", then she would apologize then continue calling me "George".

VamPyroX said:

My great-grandmother had this. She would be sitting in the chair calling me "George". That's not even my name. I'd then remind her that my name wasn't "George", then she would apologize then continue calling me "George".

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Because you have been naughty since you were little. You are Curious George as monkey.

Test May Detect Alzheimer's At Earliest Stages

WASHINGTON -- A highly sensitive new test could lead to a different way to diagnose people with Alzheimer's disease, possibly helping find the illness in its early stages when there might be time for treatment.

While as many as 4 million Americans are thought to suffer from the memory-destroying illness, the only way to diagnose it definitively is by studying brain tissue during an autopsy.

It is important to have some way to diagnose the disease while the patient is still alive, especially during its early stages, so experimental treatments can be evaluated, and to catch it at a time when the disease might be treatable.

"If you can't diagnose it, you're not going to have a therapy for it," said Chad A. Mirkin of Northwestern University.

Many companies have experimental therapies, he said, "But those therapeutics aren't very good if you can't definitively diagnose and follow a disease," explained Mirkin, a lead researcher -- along with William L. Klein -- on a team that developed the new test, which can detect small amounts of proteins in spinal fluid.

The team's findings are reported in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

The new test, called a bio-barcode assay, is 100,000 times to 1 million times more sensitive than other available tests, Mirkin said in a telephone interview.

It was first used last year in testing for a marker for prostate cancer, and Mirkin said he invited other investigators to suggest subjects for further testing

Klein, also at Northwestern, had done research associating Alzheimer's with a protein in the brain called amyloid-beta-derived diffusable ligand, or ADDL, Mirkin said.

So the research team set out to try and detect ADDL in spinal fluid.

They got samples of the spinal fluid of 30 people, 15 who had Alzheimer's disease and 15 who did not.

The researchers found at least some ADDL in all the patients, which Mirkin said is an indication that everyone may have a baseline level of the protein.

"What was really encouraging," he said, is that the concentration of ADDL increases as the disease gets worse, so the progression of the illness could be followed.

"Do we have a new diagnostic for Alzheimer's?" Mirkin said. "That's a bit premature."

The method needs to be repeated and tested on more patients, he said. Also tests need to be done to see if high levels of ADDL occur in other memory loss diseases.

But, the researchers said in their paper, the work provides a "potential reliable detection method for diagnosing" Alzheimer's Disease.

In addition, Mirkin said, the researchers are hoping to use the new test to search for proteins and other chemicals that can offer early diagnoses of other diseases, ranging from cancers to AIDS to mad cow.

ADDLs are small soluble proteins. To detect them the researchers used nanoscale particles that had antibodies specific to ADDL. Some particles were magnetic and some of gold with strings of DNA attached.

The antibodies bind to the ADDL, sandwiching the protein between the two particles. They are then removed from the solution magnetically and the hundreds to thousands of DNA strands attached to the gold particles serve as a barcode because they can be used to label the specific target with standard detection methods.

Dr. Samuel Gandy, who was not part of the research team, said the report is impressive but needs to be repeated with larger numbers of subjects.

If the test can, in fact, correlate the presence of ADDLs with brain function, "this is good news indeed for identifying who is at risk for Alzheimer's and potentially for following the effectiveness of many new anti-amyloid medicines that are now in clinical trials," said Gandy, vice chair of the National Medical and Scientific Advisory Council of the Alzheimer's Association and director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Stephen Snyder, who directs the National Institute on Aging program studying the causes of Alzheimer's, said the finding has future implications for both diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

"For many years the ADDLs have been thought to be involved in diminishing aspects of cognition and this is proof of principle that they exist and can be found" in spinal fluid, said Snyder, who was not part of the research team.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center and the National Institutes of Health.

10 Warning Signs Of Alzheimer's

Do you suspect that you or someone you know has Alzheimer's?

This list of warning signs from the Alzheimer's Association includes common symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (some also apply to other dementias). If you have several of these symptoms, you should see a physician for a complete examination.


Memory loss that affects job skills.

It's normal to occasionally forget an assignment, deadline, or colleague's name, but frequent forgetfulness or unexplainable confusion at home or in the workplace may signal that something's wrong.

Difficulty performing familiar tasks.

Busy people get distracted from time to time. For example, you might leave something on the stove too long or not remember to serve part of a meal. People with Alzheimer's might prepare a meal and not only forget to serve it, but also forget that they made it.

Problems with language.

Everyone has trouble finding the right word sometimes, but a person with Alzheimer's disease may forget simple words or substitute inappropriate words, making his or her sentences difficult to understand.

Disorientation to time and place.

It's normal to momentarily forget the day of the week or what you need from the store. But people with Alzheimer's disease can become lost on their own street, not knowing where they are, how they got there, or how to get back home.

Poor or decreased judgment.

Choosing not to bring a sweater or coat along on a chilly night is a common mistake. A person with Alzheimer's, however, may dress inappropriately in more noticeable ways, wearing a bathrobe to the store or several blouses on a hot day.

Problems with abstract thinking.

Balancing a checkbook can be challenging for many people, but for someone with Alzheimer's, recognizing numbers or performing basic calculation may be impossible.

Misplacing things.

Everyone temporarily misplaces a wallet or keys from time to time. A person with Alzheimer's disease may put these and other items in inappropriate places -- such as an iron in the freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl -- and then not recall how they got there.

Changes in mood or behavior.

Everyone experiences a broad range of emotions -- it's part of being human. People with Alzheimer's tend to exhibit more rapid mood swings for no apparent reason.

Changes in personality.

People's personalities may change somewhat as they age. But a person with Alzheimer's can change dramatically, either suddenly or over a period of time. Someone who is generally easygoing may become angry, suspicious or fearful.

Loss of initiative.

It's normal to tire of housework, business activities or social obligations, but most people retain or eventually regain their interest. The person with Alzheimer's disease may remain uninterested and uninvolved in many or all of his usual pursuits.

Sabrina,

I am so sorry about your Grandmother.

Thank you for posting the warning signals.

AD is a very serious, scary problem. I hope they soon find a cure and prevention.

Thanks for posting this, Sabrina.

My patnernal grandmother, grandfather and all of their siblings all died from consquences of Alzheimers so it has been a major issue in back of my head that I have very high odds of getting Alzheimers myself one day.

I remember my biological father saying that he will kill himself once he is diagnosed with AD. Sure enough, he took his life in 2001 at age 54. I will never know if he was diagnosed with early stage of AD or not but he told me that it was unbearable for him to see his parents and all uncles/aunts suffer from AD.

My maternal grandfather is in early stages of AD and it is already devastating for me. I miss my old Papa but this Papa is not someone I know

Truly heartbreaking.

Meg,

I am so sorry about your dad and grandparents. That is awful.

Reba said:

Meg,

I am so sorry about your dad and grandparents. That is awful.

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Thanks ...it is really devastating.

My Papa disappeared for a day last Sunday and my Nana was deathly worried about him. He ended up in Bakersfield, 2 hours away from their home in Ventura and managed to find his way back home.

I feel helpless that I cannot be down there to protect Papa from getting lost or disoriented My fear is that he will not return home one day.

Vampy, Meg and Sabrina, sorry to hear about your relatives... My grandmother had one too before she passed away one year ago. She seem couldn't remember who I am when I met her for her b-day party three years ago. She thought that I am other brother (our faces look different).

I am going to post this link to one article.. it may not cure but it is good start to with. Link: New test might help detect Alzheimer's in early stages.

I have my own opinion on how to 'heal' AD condition but I am not a doctor (not yet anyway) so it is not quite safe for me to voice my opinion since AD issue is very sensitive. Anyway check that link out and see for yourself. Cheers.

Magatsu said:

Vampy, Meg and Sabrina, sorry to hear about your relatives... My grandmother had one too before she passed away one year ago. She seem couldn't remember who I am when I met her for her b-day party three years ago. She thought that I am other brother (our faces look different).

I am going to post this link to one article.. it may not cure but it is good start to with. Link: New test might help detect Alzheimer's in early stages.

I have my own opinion on how to 'heal' AD condition but I am not a doctor (not yet anyway) so it is not quite safe for me to voice my opinion since AD issue is very sensitive. Anyway check that link out and see for yourself. Cheers.

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I would be very interested to hear yuor opinion on how to heal AD. I deal with a lot of residents with AD at my work. Last night, one wandered off and was found by the police.

I am intrigued that you would think you could " cure " AD...but I wanted to make sure that you said cure, not prevent?

Surely, AD prevention would be a lot easier than curing it. Not necessarily exactly preventing but possibly delaying it or reducing symptoms, etc.

Meg said:

I would be very interested to hear yuor opinion on how to heal AD. I deal with a lot of residents with AD at my work. Last night, one wandered off and was found by the police.

I am intrigued that you would think you could " cure " AD...but I wanted to make sure that you said cure, not prevent?

Surely, AD prevention would be a lot easier than curing it. Not necessarily exactly preventing but possibly delaying it or reducing symptoms, etc.

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Notice what I said in my post that I didn't say 'cure'. It is 'heal'. My opinion on 'cure' issue is very controversial subject. Cure literally means rectify the diseases within one second, one minute or one hour. That's not realistic and impractical to use 'cure' word if discuss about different methods to relieve the diseases. I realized that I did use that word in few of my posts which I shouldn't.

You have a very good point, it can be either 'heal' or preventable. I am bit uneasy to share my opinion because it does sound like too radical for general population. You see, I believe all of diseases included AIDS are healable. Now does that makes me sound like I am insane at this moment right?

Well, I probably better say 'preventable' rather than 'heal' in the public. If you still want me to intrigue you about AD, I can do that thru PM or AIM to secure my 'sanity' in this topic

Magatsu said:

Notice what I said in my post that I didn't say 'cure'. It is 'heal'. My opinion on 'cure' issue is very controversial subject. Cure literally means rectify the diseases within one second, one minute or one hour. That's not realistic and impractical to use 'cure' word if discuss about different methods to relieve the diseases. I realized that I did use that word in few of my posts which I shouldn't.

You have a very good point, it can be either 'heal' or preventable. I am bit uneasy to share my opinion because it does sound like too radical for general population. You see, I believe all of diseases included AIDS are healable. Now does that makes me sound like I am insane at this moment right?

Well, I probably better say 'preventable' rather than 'heal' in the public. If you still want me to intrigue you about AD, I can do that thru PM or AIM to secure my 'sanity' in this topic

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Yes itis very controversial but I am still intrigued nonethless No you are not insane because it shows that you dare to even believe in such things and that is good for our future to have doctors like you who is so willing to explore outside the Box, so to speak.

We can take this elsewhere and discuss this but I wanted to ask you what is exact difference between HEAL and CURE?

I automatically assumed you meant cure when you said heal but you are saying these two words are different?

Meg said:

Yes itis very controversial but I am still intrigued nonethless No you are not insane because it shows that you dare to even believe in such things and that is good for our future to have doctors like you who is so willing to explore outside the Box, so to speak.

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Thanks for nice compliment!

Meg said:

We can take this elsewhere and discuss this but I wanted to ask you what is exact difference between HEAL and CURE?

I automatically assumed you meant cure when you said heal but you are saying these two words are different?

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As of right now, I have this nasty headache due to sleep deprived but I will try my best to sum up what I mean by that.

- Heal: In my opinion, it means that we have to consume the 'right' foods and natural medicines to feed the necessary nutritions for our bodies to repair, restore, relieve (pains) and other things. I feel that 'heal' means that it require us to work with our bodies to rectify the diseases. It can be one week up to years.

- Cure: In my opinion, it means 'magic bullet' pill or treatment to 'nuke' the diseases into oblivion regardless of our diets. For examples, doctors used the chemotherapy to 'cure' the cancer with one strong burst of radiation. When the cancer is gone (actually remission, not gone.. it is extremely rare for cancer to be 'gone' with chemotherapy) then doctors can claim that it is 'cure' because it is literally gone in few minutes or so. I use this as example, I know it is not just few minutes.

At this moment, I seem couldn't think of any better examples to provide but tomorrow, I will add more. Sorry about it.

I wish, they do have medical technology like laser to cure on AD people at earlier stage.

I felt bad because I had seen my grandmother was all curly up and lost alot of weight. She was only 90 lbs in the wheelchair. She could not eat, bathroom, talk, walk, etc... I did rather die than sit or lay down in the bed for 9 years.

Just the brain DEAD !! Heart and phsycial are healthy !! Brain is very IMPORTANT for rest of your body.

God - Why would the people do have their alzheimer diease for years ? My grandmother talked about her children were at school. She was hurry to get home to cook a dinner. We prompted her that her children are in Massachusetts and California. She said, oh... she got all confuse. Few years later, she became worse and worse. She did not know who I was. It was very painful because we usually signed in BSL fingerspell. I signed her. She smiled at me. She had no idea what I was talking about.

She passed away on New Year's Eve at 94 years old !! Strange end of year 2004 ???

Meg, I reread my post.. seem that I made good examples in my post? Please tell me if I don't.

Sabrina, I know what you mean... My heart goes out to your grandmother as well. One thing about AD, it is extremely rare for any old people to be suffer by AD in old civilizations until post-industrial revolution, AD is nearly everything these days.

New article about this AD and drug-related issue:

No "Magic Pill" Lessens Alzheimer's Devastating Effects

Pharmacological Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Dementia (scientific babbles)

Meg said:

Like you, I was also sleep deprived last night too so didn't want to read while I was tired. *smile*

Yes, it does make perfect sense to me.

I will be anxious to hear how what you think will " heal " AD elsewhere.

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I will do that asap, I promise. I am glad that I did made sense in my post LOL.

Meg said:

Changing subjects: Do you also have any information that you think could "heal" Fibromyalgia? I suffer from it severely and noticed that many deaf women have FMS. I have thought of doing a research study on it to see why a large number of deaf women have FMS. Yup, its another topic but wanted to throw that here while we are discussing " healing" .

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You asked the right person. My mom have or had (I don't remember) that condition, I will see her in few minutes for 'family dinner' (yeah, late..) and I can ask her about that to find out. About deaf women and FMS, well... From what I understand, nine out of ten fibromyalgia patients are female. Yep. I honestly don't have enough information to provide the solutions but what I actually do know that if you or any fibromyalgia patient eliminate common foods from your/their diet such as dairy, wheat, corn, citrus, soy and nuts. Common symptoms such as headaches, pains, bloating, tiredness and others will be significant reduce in few days up to two weeks.

I got that from one of medical journals, I couldn't remember... I am going to look for it right now to find out. Once I find this article or information, I will add more in my next post for you to explore and such.

Naturally that conventional drugs will not aid any, just minimize the pains but again, I am not a doctor yet so I have no place to say that.

Edit: I honestly am very interested in this fibromyalgia condition. I can help you with researches and providing the facts, studies and the informations that will help you with this issue. That if... I am welcome to do so.

Reminder: Meg, I pm'ed you last night and I await for your respond about FMS topic.