Warning: file_put_contents(): Only 0 of 143 bytes written, possibly out of free disk space in /var/www/fulltextrssfeed.com/libs/ftrf/functions.php on line 454 Warning: file_put_contents(): Only 0 of 244 bytes written, possibly out of free disk space in /var/www/fulltextrssfeed.com/libs/ftrf/functions.php on line 454 Warning: file_put_contents(): Only 0 of 269 bytes written, possibly out of free disk space in /var/www/fulltextrssfeed.com/libs/ftrf/functions.php on line 454 Warning: file_put_contents(): Only 0 of 256 bytes written, possibly out of free disk space in /var/www/fulltextrssfeed.com/libs/ftrf/functions.php on line 454 Warning: file_put_contents(): Only 0 of 237 bytes written, possibly out of free disk space in /var/www/fulltextrssfeed.com/libs/ftrf/functions.php on line 454 Warning: file_put_contents(): Only 0 of 247 bytes written, possibly out of free disk space in /var/www/fulltextrssfeed.com/libs/ftrf/functions.php on line 454 Warning: file_put_contents(): Only 0 of 277 bytes written, possibly out of free disk space in /var/www/fulltextrssfeed.com/libs/ftrf/functions.php on line 454 http://news.google.com/news?pz=1&ned=us&hl=en&q=Alzheimers Google News // via fulltextrssfeed.com http://news.google.com/news?pz=1&ned=us&hl=en&q=Alzheimers http://www.gstatic.com/news-static/img/logo/en_us/news.gif http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNF1e0ezR3RPvdcd1q8xitz6X8coNA&url=http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/nov/17/ucsd-alzheimer-trial-solanezumab/ http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNF1e0ezR3RPvdcd1q8xitz6X8coNA&url=http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/nov/17/ucsd-alzheimer-trial-solanezumab/ Sun, 17 Nov 2013 20:29:56 +0000 <div id="article-copy"> <p id="h993154-p1" class="permalinkable">Alzheimer’s disease has thwarted the best of modern medicine. No treatment can halt the brain-destroying illness. It’s the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and third in San Diego, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.</p> <p id="h993154-p2" class="permalinkable">In January, researchers will start the most ambitious effort yet to find the causes of Alzheimer’s, stop the disease, and ultimately prevent it. About 6,000 volunteers will examined to find 1,000 to take part in the study. It will take place at at 60 locations across the United States, including UC San Diego, one of the study’s main centers.</p> <p id="h993154-p3" class="permalinkable">For the first time, an Alzheimer’s drug will be tested exclusively on people who show no symptoms, said UC San Diego Alzheimer’s researcher Dr. Paul Aisen, a leader in the trial. Those wishing to take part in the trial should email brainlink@ucsd.edu to contact the study.</p> <p id="h993154-p4" class="permalinkable">The volunteers will be brain-scanned for a kind of protein believed to help cause the disease. Those with the protein will be placed in the trial. The drug, solanezumab, attacks the protein, called amyloid beta.</p> <p id="h993154-p5" class="permalinkable">Aisen likens it to giving cholesterol-lowering medicines called statins to prevent heart attacks. Symptoms of Alzheimer’s may indicate that the brain is irreversibly damaged, so treatment has to begin earlier.</p> <a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.utsandiego.com%2Fnews%2F2013%2Fnov%2F17%2Fucsd-alzheimer-trial-solanezumab%2F%23lb-photo1152293" class="lightbox" data-type="inlineImage"><img src="http://media.utsandiego.com/img/photos/2013/11/17/paulaisen01_t180.JPG?6ec45598a0efd272cf6d6631efc8bbae7a2ee918" alt="photo"/></a> Dr. Paul Aisen, a UC San Diego Alzheimer's researcher, discusses a mammoth new clinical trial of an Alzheimer's drug. The trial is to be launched in January. <em>Bradley J. Fikes</em> <div id="lb-photo1152293" class="photo_lrg c3"> <div class="article-image"> <div class="caption static"> <p id="h993154-p7" class="permalinkable">Dr. Paul Aisen, a UC San Diego Alzheimer's researcher, discusses a mammoth new clinical trial of an Alzheimer's drug. The trial is to be launched in January.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p id="h993154-p8" class="permalinkable">Volunteers 65 and older will be given the drug or a placebo, for three years. Researchers will track the thinking ability of participants, along with measuring them for biological markers associated with the disease. After three years, all will be offered the drug.</p> <p id="h993154-p9" class="permalinkable">Aisen unveiled the plan to hundreds of the world’s top Alzheimer’s researchers Thursday morning at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease conference in downtown San Diego.</p> <p id="h993154-p10" class="permalinkable">About 300 people already have indicated interest in what is called the Anti-Amyloid in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease study, or A4. Amyloid is a protein tangle found in brain cells of Alzheimer’s patients. It’s believed to interfere with their functioning and eventually lead to their death. Solanezumab, developed by Eli Lilly, targets the amyloid.</p> <p id="h993154-p11" class="permalinkable">But the “amyloid hypothesis,” as it is called, has been called into question by the repeated failures of treatments to show efficacy. In a trial that ended last year, solanezumab showed some signs of effectiveness against early stages of the disease, but the effect was far less than hoped for.</p> <p id="h993154-p12" class="permalinkable">Moreover, the effect was detected in an after-the-fact analysis; federal regulators want the desired effect to be specified in advance. And solanezumab failed to reach any of those previously specified endpoints when the trial ended in 2012.</p> <p id="h993154-p13" class="permalinkable">After the 2012 letdown, medicinal chemist Derek Lowe said on his blog In The Pipeline that continued testing of solanezumab was “grasping at straws.”</p> <p id="h993154-p14" class="permalinkable">Lowe was slightly less negative this summer, after Lilly said it would use improved technology to determine whether patients actually had amyloid deposits to begin with. Patients without amyloid presumably developed dementia through another route, so removing amyloid wouldn’t have helped.</p> <p id="h993154-p15" class="permalinkable">“I’ll say this for them: this trial, you’d think, is going to be the answer. It’s going to cost hundreds of millions by the time it’s all over, but by gosh, Lilly (and the rest of us) should know if solanezumab is of any use in Alzheimer’s,” Lowe wrote.</p> </div><img src="http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFSWv_OrdPZxWdnQwa2wW-cGwbGKw&url=http://www.npr.org/2013/11/16/245467522/despite-early-stages-alzheimer-s-affects-couple-s-big-picture http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFSWv_OrdPZxWdnQwa2wW-cGwbGKw&url=http://www.npr.org/2013/11/16/245467522/despite-early-stages-alzheimer-s-affects-couple-s-big-picture Sat, 16 Nov 2013 13:12:56 +0000 <div id="storytext"> <div id="res245474148" class="bucketwrap image large" previewtitle="Pansy Greene, 73, is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. She and her husband, Winston, have been married for 57 years. She says her secret to maintaining a normal life is to stay active and positive."> <div class="imagewrap"><img src="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/11/15/greenes_part2_wide-db43c3ffd69fa30ed7f7b43f05b9ca38b06f9265-s6-c30.jpg" data-original="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/11/15/greenes_part2_wide-db43c3ffd69fa30ed7f7b43f05b9ca38b06f9265.jpg" class="img lazyOnLoad" title="Pansy Greene, 73, is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. She and her husband, Winston, have been married for 57 years. She says her secret to maintaining a normal life is to stay active and positive." alt="Pansy Greene, 73, is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. She and her husband, Winston, have been married for 57 years. She says her secret to maintaining a normal life is to stay active and positive."/><a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2013%2F11%2F16%2F245467522%2Fdespite-early-stages-alzheimer-s-affects-couple-s-big-picture" class="enlargebtn" title="Enlarge">Enlarge image</a> <a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2013%2F11%2F16%2F245467522%2Fdespite-early-stages-alzheimer-s-affects-couple-s-big-picture" class="enlargebtn enlarge-smallscreen" title="Enlarge">i</a></div> <div class="captionwrap caption"> <p>Pansy Greene, 73, is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. She and her husband, Winston, have been married for 57 years. She says her secret to maintaining a normal life is to stay active and positive.</p> </div> <span class="creditwrap"><span class="credit">David P. Gilkey</span>/<span class="rightsnotice">NPR</span></span> <p><img data-original="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/11/15/greenes_part2_wide-db43c3ffd69fa30ed7f7b43f05b9ca38b06f9265-s40.jpg" title="Pansy Greene, 73, is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. She and her husband, Winston, have been married for 57 years. She says her secret to maintaining a normal life is to stay active and positive." alt="Pansy Greene, 73, is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. She and her husband, Winston, have been married for 57 years. She says her secret to maintaining a normal life is to stay active and positive."/></p> <div class="enlarge_html image_data"> <p class="caption">Pansy Greene, 73, is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. She and her husband, Winston, have been married for 57 years. She says her secret to maintaining a normal life is to stay active and positive.</p> <span class="creditwrap"><span class="credit">David P. Gilkey</span>/<span class="rightsnotice">NPR</span></span></div> </div> <p><em>NPR has been following Pansy and Winston Greene, a California couple struggling with an Alzheimer's diagnosis.</em> <em>Three years ago, Pansy learned she had Alzheimer's disease, and over this past summer, the couple told NPR that their day-to-day lives haven't changed much. That's still true. But on this second visit, they each seem to be looking at the future a bit differently.</em></p> <p>Pansy Greene says her secret to maintaining a normal life is to keep active. She's almost never without a book of crossword puzzles; she reads her Bible daily, babysits her grandkids and goes for walks. She's also become passionate about raising awareness of Alzheimer's disease.</p> <p>So on a recent morning, she and Winston were at the Los Angeles office of the Alzheimer's Association. They're on the planning committee for a forum on the early stages of the illness. The committee includes both staff members and people who, like Pansy, are in the early stages of Alzheimer's.</p> <p>African-Americans are roughly twice as likely to get the disease as whites, so Pansy wanted to make sure the organization was reaching out to her community.</p> <p>"They don't know where to go. They don't have the money to get all that testing and stuff," she says. "That's in our neighborhood. That's what the black people do. They can't afford [testing], so they just say 'I can't do it.' "</p> <p>Winston adds that this may not be just an African-American problem. "It's probably in other ethnic groups also. We're just so close to it and see so many in our [extended] family."</p> <p>There are moments when this meeting feels as much like a support group as a planning committee. Pansy slides seamlessly from discussions of how to persuade Alzheimer's patients around Los Angeles to come to the forum to how to get her own relatives who have the disease to follow her example and take action.</p> <div class="container con2col medium" id="con245473500" previewtitle="Read More About The Greenes"> <div id="res245473485" class="bucketwrap internallink insettwocolumn inset2col bucket img"><a id="featuredStackSquareImage196250975" href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2013%2F06%2F29%2F196250975%2Fdespite-alzheimer-s-couple-holds-tight-to-old-memories" data-metrics="{"category":"Story to Story","action":"Click Internal Link","label":"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2013\/06\/29\/196250975\/despite-alzheimer-s-couple-holds-tight-to-old-memories"}"><img src="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/06/28/greene_02_sq-1b78dee9fd80b66d22e0e1319c1020a116c4b9fa-s11.jpg" class="img90" title="The Greenes say they take it a day at a time and relish the many long-term memories they've shared for nearly 60 years." alt="The Greenes say they take it a day at a time and relish the many long-term memories they've shared for nearly 60 years."/></a> <div class="bucketblock"> <h3 class="slug"><a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Fsections%2Fhealth%2F">Health</a></h3> <h3><a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2013%2F06%2F29%2F196250975%2Fdespite-alzheimer-s-couple-holds-tight-to-old-memories" data-metrics="{"category":"Story to Story","action":"Click Internal Link","label":"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2013\/06\/29\/196250975\/despite-alzheimer-s-couple-holds-tight-to-old-memories"}">Despite Alzheimer's, Couple Holds Tight To Old Memories</a></h3> </div> </div> </div> <p>"I gotta reach out more," she says. "They're not listening." She says they need to know what she's done to keep herself active and take charge of her life. "I'm not letting this other thing take control. I'm in control."</p> <p>Everyone in the room laughs in appreciation of Pansy's fierce determination. But across the table from Pansy and Winston is living proof of how little control of this disease there is.</p> <p>Jonathan Blumberg, another member of the committee who has Alzheimer's, wants to offer his own suggestions on outreach but the words don't come. There are long pauses between phrases, lots of ums and ahs. He apologizes. Everyone tells him to just take his time and waits patiently while he completes his thought.</p> <p><strong>'There Is Still Fear'</strong></p> <p>That's the thing about Alzheimer's. There's nothing that really stops its relentless progression. And if you're with a group of fellow sufferers, someone will be further down that path. Winston sees this at the support groups he attends. It gets to him.</p> <p>"There is still fear," he says. "Not so much denial, but fear. ... You're with people that are that much advanced, and you're thinking, oh my gosh, this could be our journey."</p> <p>Winston and Pansy Greene have been on a journey together for 57 years. She was 16 when they married; he was 18. They have three daughters, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, most of whom live nearby.</p> <p>Pansy may be having trouble with short-term memory, but she and Winston have plenty of long-term memories to share — of family and travel and decades when they both worked in the aerospace industry.</p> <p>"I think it's a blessing for me being where I was," says Pansy. While she was working on the space shuttle, she met astronauts and even Queen Elizabeth. "I got all those wonderful memories. God brings those things to me," she says. "So that's why I stay positive. I don't like being negative."</p> <p>And she thinks Winston is — just a little bit. A few months earlier, he said he didn't look ahead. It would make him crazy. Now, he says he's gotta be realistic.</p> <p>"I can't be unrealistic about where this journey goes [because] there's no cure!" Winston says. "How could I be unrealistic to think that tomorrow things are going to change and she's gonna be back like she was before the diagnosis. That would be really unrealistic."</p> <p>That's just the way Winston is, Pansy says. "But ... I'm not giving into it. He's thinking that way, I'm thinking positive, and that's who I am."</p> <p>The Greenes have spent 57 years accepting each other for who they are. They have no plans to stop now.</p> </div><img src="http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFoSY2jm8j8mAiZAwI0dE33GMAG7A&url=http://www.jpost.com/Health-and-Science/Health-Scan-Untangling-Alzheimers-disease-331960 http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFoSY2jm8j8mAiZAwI0dE33GMAG7A&url=http://www.jpost.com/Health-and-Science/Health-Scan-Untangling-Alzheimers-disease-331960 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 00:56:51 +0000 <div> As the world’s population ages, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease rises, threatening to cause an even heavier burden on families and health systems for treating and caring for victims of this major cause of dementia.<p>Plaques and tangles made of proteins are believed to contribute to the debilitating progression of Alzheimer’s, but proteins also play a positive role in important brain functions such as cell-to-cell communication and immunological response. Molecules called microRNAs regulate both “good” and “bad” protein levels in the brain, binding to messenger RNAs to prevent them from developing into proteins.</p><p>Now, Dr. Boaz Barak and a team of researchers in the lab of Prof. Uri Ashery of Tel Aviv University’s neurobiology department have identified a specific set of microRNAs that harmfully regulate protein levels in the brains of mice with Alzheimer’s disease and beneficially regulate protein levels in the brains of other mice living in a stimulating environment.</p><p>“We were able to create two lists of microRNAs – those that contribute to brain performance and those that detract – depending on their levels in the brain,” said Barak.</p><p>“By targeting these molecules, we hope to move closer toward earlier detection and better treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.”</p><p>Prof. Daniel Michaelson of TAU’s Department of Neurobiology, Dr. Noam Shomron of TAU’s cell and developmental biology department, Dr. Eitan Okun of Bar-Ilan University and Dr. Mark Mattson of the US National Institute on Aging collaborated on the study, published recently in Translational Psychiatry.</p><p>Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. Currently incurable, it increasingly impairs brain function over time, ultimately leading to death. The TAU researchers became interested in the disease while studying the brains of mice living in an “enriched environment” – an enlarged cage with running wheels, bedding and nesting material, a house, and frequently changing toys.</p><p>Such environments have been shown to improve and maintain brain function in animals much as intellectual activity and physical fitness do in people.</p><p>The researchers ran a series of tests on a part of the mice’s brains called the hippocampus, which plays a major role in memory and spatial navigation and is one of the earliest targets of Alzheimer’s in humans.</p><p>They found that, compared to mice in normal cages, the mice from the enriched environment developed higher levels of good proteins and lower levels of bad proteins. Then, for the first time, they identified the microRNAs responsible for regulating the expression of both good and bad proteins. Armed with this new information, the researchers analyzed changes in the levels of microRNAs in the hippocampi of young, middle-aged and old mice with an Alzheimer’s-like condition. They found that some of the microRNAs were expressed in exactly inverse amounts in mice with Alzheimer’s disease as they were in mice from the enriched environment.</p><p>The results were higher levels of bad proteins and lower levels of good proteins in the hippocampi of old mice with Alzheimer’s disease. The microRNAs the researchers identified had already been shown or predicted to regulate the expression of proteins in ways that contributed to the dementia.</p><p>Two findings appear to have particular potential for treating people with Alzheimer’s, the authors said. In the brains of old mice with the disease, microRNA- 325 was diminished, leading to higher levels of tomosyn, a protein that is well known to inhibit cellular communication in the brain. The researchers hope that eventually microRNA-325 can be used to create a drug to help Alzheimer’s patients maintain low levels of tomosyn and preserve brain function.</p><p>Additionally, the researchers found several important microRNAs at low levels starting in the brains of young mice. If the same can be found in humans, these microRNAs could be used as biomarker to detect Alzheimer’s at a much earlier age than is now possible – at 30 years of age, for example, instead of 60. “Our biggest hope is to be able to one day use microRNAs to detect Alzheimer’s in people at a young age and begin a tailor- made treatment based on our findings, right away,” concluded Barak.</p><p><span class="c17">MONEY FOR MARKS?</span></p><p>Paying your kids for getting good grades may not be the most effective way to motive them to do well in school, according to a Kansas State University study. Prof. Jared Durtschi, who teaches marriage and family therapy, said that while monetary compensation for grades may be effective in some cases, parents should also be aware that the practice could actually decrease their child’s motivation to perform well in school.</p><p>Paying children for good grades may cause their motivation to work hard in school to shift from an internal motivation – being motivated by how it will make them feel – to an external one that is driven by the reward they will receive.</p><p>“If a student’s motivation to apply himself or herself to academics is solely external, then the child will often stop working hard in school once he or she stops getting paid for their grades,” Durtschi said. “The practice has the potential to be especially harmful to pupils who are already internally motivated to get good grades. By paying these children for their achievements, parents risk making an activity they enjoy in its own right into something they feel they have to do in order to obtain some other end.”</p><p>In some cases, paying for good grades can be an effective method to motivate students who don’t feel driven to succeed on their own, Durtschi said. “Parents should work to transition the external motivation that comes with being paid to do something into an internal one, so that pupils will eventually become motivated to achieve in school on their own,” he said.</p><p>Many parents believe that motivating their children to get high grades pays off, because they are a significant factor in determining who will get into a top college or eventually secure a high-paying job. But Durtschi said money may not be the most meaningful reward to all. “The most powerful motivator is unique to each child,” he said. “For some kids, a trip to see grandma or not being required to do chores for a week might be more motivating than $20.”</p><p>He also believes that, especially for younger children, parental praise and affection often remain the most powerful motivator. In fact, he said, parents and teachers have the ability to significantly affect a child’s performance in the classroom merely by improving their perceptions of that child. “Even if a kid is just average, they can rise to so much more if expectations and treatment are adjusted. It limits our kids if we stop believing they are capable of great things.”</p><p><a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2FLandedPages%2FJPostNewsletterAndJPostAlert.aspx">Stay on top of the news - get the Jerusalem Post headlines direct to your inbox!</a></p></div><img src="http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNF4uGogI6XohBgytSSZdPYb7d3qsA&url=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/alzheimer-537414-team-disease.html http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNF4uGogI6XohBgytSSZdPYb7d3qsA&url=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/alzheimer-537414-team-disease.html Sat, 16 Nov 2013 23:56:47 +0000 <div id="article-read"> <p>ANAHEIM – About 6,000 people joined the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s at Angel Stadium in Anaheim Saturday.</p> <p>The crowd included Mike Skelton, a Garden Grove man who carried a blue flower-shaped pinwheel, a symbol to other walkers that he is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.</p> <div class="articleExtras"> <div class="articleImg c11"> <div class="c1"><a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ocregister.com%2Farticles%2Falzheimer-537414-team-disease.html%3Fpic%3D2"><img src="http://images.onset.freedom.com/ocregister/article/mwdria-b781214671z.120131116154226000gr01h1i9e.1.jpg" alt="Article Tab: Los Amigos High club volunteers cheer on walkers as they approach the Big A during the Walk to End Alzheimer's at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on Saturday. The Santa Ana resident volunteers are, Joseph Tran, 17, not shown or being blocked by Tina Le, 15 and Kelly Nguyen, 17. " title=""/></a></div> <p>Los Amigos High club volunteers cheer on walkers as they approach the Big A during the Walk to End Alzheimer's at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on Saturday. The Santa Ana resident volunteers are, Joseph Tran, 17, not shown or being blocked by Tina Le, 15 and Kelly Nguyen, 17.</p> <p>KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER</p> </div> <div class="moreInfoBox roundedBox"> <div class="roundedBoxBorder"> <h3>About Alzheimer's Disease</h3> <p>Alzheimer's Disease is the most common form of dementia among older adults. The disease involves parts of the brain that control thought, memory and language and can seriously affect a person's ability to carry out daily activities. Scientists still do not know what causes Alzheimer's disease.</p> <p>As many as five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease, the sixth leading cause of death among American adults and the fifth leading cause of death for adults 65 and older. It is the fifth leading cause of death in California.</p> <p>Deaths from Alzheimer's increased 68 percent between 2000 and 2010, while deaths from other major diseases, including the number one cause of death, heart disease, decreased.</p> <p>Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alzheimer's Association Orange County</p> </div> </div> <div class="moreInfoBox roundedBox"> <div class="roundedBoxBorder"> <h3>How to help</h3> <p>Donations to Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer's Orange County events will be accepted until mid-December. Visit alz.org/oc/.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>Skelton, who was diagnosed 10 years ago, says his memory is good for now, but he also knows the disease within him is progressing slowly.</p> <p>“Day by day, it’s hard,” said Skelton, 60. “I get angry when I ... </p> <a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ocregister.com%2Fsections%2Flogin%2F">Click Here to login and see more!</a><br/> </div><img src="http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNE2lGJpZ1k9ylq3tRMFor-hwZgyaQ&url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-steinberg/alzheimers-disease_b_4261891.html http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNE2lGJpZ1k9ylq3tRMFor-hwZgyaQ&url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-steinberg/alzheimers-disease_b_4261891.html Fri, 15 Nov 2013 17:46:21 +0000 <div class="entry_body_text"> <div class="float_left"> <div class="ad_share_box hidden"> <style><![CDATA[#news_entries #ad_sharebox_260x60 img {padding:0px;margin:0px}]]></style></div> </div> <p>Why bother? This is one of the most commonly-heard questions regarding the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Countless people raise it, from symptomatic individuals and family members, to clinicians and managed care companies -- and the list goes on.</p> <p>The question seemingly stems from the harsh reality that there are no effective treatments to prevent, reverse or cure Alzheimer's disease -- a disorder notoriously labeled as the most feared, most costly, and fastest-growing health threat in the United States. </p> <p>This apathy converges with fear, denial and insufficient knowledge about dementia among clinicians and the public to influence the current state of diagnosis, or lack thereof. Research indicates <a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org%2Fdraftrec.htm" target="_hplink">29 percent to 76 percent of people with dementia</a> or probable dementia have not been diagnosed by a primary care physician. The Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA), in a survey of participants in its National Memory Screening Day, held each November, found that only 17 percent had spoken to a health care provider about memory concerns (Alzheimer's Foundation of America, 2010 Survey of National Memory Screening Day Participants). </p> <p>So why diagnose? First, because we can. Clinicians can diagnose Alzheimer's disease with <a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncdhhs.gov%2Faging%2Fiatoolkit.pdf" target="_hplink">80-90 percent accuracy</a>. The federal government pinpoints early detection as a key objective in its historic "National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease." The new Medicare Annual Wellness Visit includes detection of cognitive impairment. </p> <p>In early November, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued a draft recommendation on screening for dementia. The <a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org%2Fdraftrec.htm" target="_hplink">task force stated </a>it was unable "to estimate the balance of benefits and harms of screening for cognitive impairment." But, unlike its last review in 2003, the USPSTF concluded that there is now adequate evidence that some screening tools can accurately identify dementia. </p><p>Why bother? Not every memory problem equals Alzheimer's disease. Memory loss, confusion, personality changes, and other symptoms can indicate other conditions, such as thyroid problems, vitamin deficiency or depression. Here, burying one's head in the sand could prevent detection of a reversible condition. </p> <p>And why bother if the symptoms are related to Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia? For one, proper diagnosis provides closure. A spouse, whose husband is being assessed for possible frontotemporal dementia, notes she wants "to be able to call his disease something." Similarly,<a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.workingmother.com%2Fbest-companies%2Fnewly-released-report-women-and-alzheimers-disease-caregivers-crisis" target="_hplink"> a poll by the Working Mother Research Institute</a> found that nearly half of female caregivers wished their parent with Alzheimer's disease had been diagnosed sooner. </p> <p>For people with Alzheimer's disease, a diagnosis can mean improved quality of life. Clinicians can optimize medical management and prescribe available drugs that may slow progression of symptoms. Individuals can enroll in clinical trials, with the hope of helping themselves and advancing research. Nonpharmacologic interventions, healthy lifestyles like physical exercise, socialization and mental activities, environmental modifications, and supportive services can help maintain dignity, and offset negative behaviors and other challenges of the disease.</p> <p>Moreover, when diagnosed in the earlier stages, individuals can undertake care planning, including handling legal and financial affairs, voicing end-of-life wishes, and making other decisions.</p> <p>In 2005, at age 57, Mary Kay Baum was told she had young-onset Alzheimer's disease. She has no regrets about seeking a diagnosis. As a result, she participates in research studies as a "gift" to her children and others. Moreover, she has made dramatic lifestyle changes to try to keep symptoms at bay; among them, she left her stressful job in the ministry and moved to rural Dodgeville, Wis. -- a "healing place" -- where she spends several hours a day outdoors doing physical and creative activities.</p> <p>Without an actual diagnosis, "I don't think I would have had the passion to focus on my cognitive health as well as I do," said Baum, chair of forMemory, Inc., a nonprofit organization that connects people affected by young-onset dementia. </p> <p>For family caregivers, a diagnosis enables them to set wheels in motion as well. Getting educated about the disease and what to expect as it progresses, developing a care team, embracing resources for themselves and their loved ones, adjusting work schedules, and modifying future plans are among the to-do's that can help relieve the weight of this terminal disease. Increasing evidence supports the value of care management, especially in reducing caregiver stress and morbidity, delaying nursing home placement, and improving health outcomes for caregivers and care recipients. </p> <p>Susan Poulos, of Greensboro, N.C., said her mother showed symptoms for several years before she finally went to a neurologist. "It was the elephant in the room," Poulos said. </p> <p>"[Alzheimer's disease] is a hard diagnosis to swallow, but knowing it gave us permission to take action," said Poulos, who subsequently researched the disease and joined a caregiver support group. "I gathered as much information as I could so we as caregivers could be stable, solid and grounded to provide her with the best possible care given the diagnosis."</p><p>Just like we "bother" to diagnosis cancer, heart disease, HIV/AIDS and other illnesses with or without effective treatments, it's time to "bother" with Alzheimer's disease.</p> <!-- amazon items --> <!-- amazon items --> <!-- /amazon items --> <!-- /amazon items --> </div><img src="http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGVpL1jVB_q7MPmANUX9ZjnnIJNVw&url=http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/11/17/high-blood-pressure-in-middle-age-tied-to-alzheimers-signs/62127.html http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGVpL1jVB_q7MPmANUX9ZjnnIJNVw&url=http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/11/17/high-blood-pressure-in-middle-age-tied-to-alzheimers-signs/62127.html Sun, 17 Nov 2013 14:31:12 +0000 <div> <div id="bcs"><a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2F">Home</a> » <a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fnews%2F">News</a> » <a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fnews%2Fcategory%2FResearch%2F">Research News</a> » High Blood Pressure in Middle Age Tied to Alzheimer’s Signs</div> <div id="top_review"><span class="author">By <span class="authorb"><a rel="author" class="c3" onclick="return popitup(this.href);" href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fnews%2Fauthor%2Fjwood%2F">Janice Wood</a></span> <em>Associate News Editor</em></span><br/><span class="reviewer">Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on November 16, 2013 </span></div> <p><a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fi2.pcimg.org%2Fnews%2Fu%2F2013%2F11%2Fblood-pressure-elderly-patient-SS.jpg"><img src="http://i2.pcimg.org/news/u/2013/11/blood-pressure-elderly-patient-SS.jpg" alt="High Blood Pressure in Middle Age Tied to Alzheimer's Signs " width="199" height="298" class="" id="newsimg"/></a>Middle-aged people who have high blood pressure are more likely to have the biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study.</p> <p>The study found that a high pulse pressure, which is the systolic pressure or the top number in a blood pressing reading minus the diastolic or bottom number, was linked to biomarkers of Alzheimer’s in a patient’s spinal fluid.</p> <p>Researchers noted that pulse pressure, which increases with age, is a sign of the aging of the vascular system.</p> <p>The study included 177 people between the ages of 55 to 100 with no symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The participants had their pulse pressure taken, followed by lumbar punctures to obtain spinal fluid.</p> <p>The researchers found that people who have higher pulse pressure are more likely to have the Alzheimer’s biomarkers amyloid beta, also known as plaques, p-tau protein or tangles, in their cerebral spinal fluid than those with a lower pulse pressure.</p> <p>For every 10 point rise in pulse pressure, the average level of p-tau protein in the spinal fluid rose by 1.5 picograms per millileter. A picogram is one trillionth of a gram, researchers explained.</p> <p>“These results suggest that the forces involved in blood circulation may be related to the development of the hallmark Alzheimer’s disease signs that cause loss of brain cells,” said study author Daniel A. Nation, Ph.D., of the VA San Diego Healthcare System.</p> <p>The researcher noted that the link was found in people between the ages of 55 to 70, but not in people age 70 to 100.</p> <p>“This is consistent with findings indicating that high blood pressure in middle age is a better predictor of later problems with memory and thinking skills and loss of brain cells than high blood pressure in old age,” concluded Nation.</p> <p>The study was published in <em>Neurology</em>, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.</p> <p>Source: <a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aan.com" target="_blank">American Academy of Neurology</a></p> <p><small><a href="http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shutterstock.com">Elderly patient having his blood pressure taken photo by shutterstock</a>.</small></p> <p><strong>APA Reference</strong><br/>Wood, J. (2013). High Blood Pressure in Middle Age Tied to Alzheimer’s Signs. <em>Psych Central</em>. Retrieved on November 17, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/11/17/high-blood-pressure-in-middle-age-tied-to-alzheimers-signs/62127.html</p> </div><img src="http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> Warning: file_put_contents(): Only 0 of 53 bytes written, possibly out of free disk space in /var/www/fulltextrssfeed.com/libs/ftrf/functions.php on line 454
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment