Alzheimer's thread

Everything else!

Moderators: Bakhtosh, EvilHomer3k

User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82085
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Alzheimer's thread

Post by Isgrimnur »

We already have several threads that are devoted to one or another member's struggles with dealing with it, and I really don't want to co-opt those threads.

But I needed somewhere to post something, so I'm starting a catch-all thread.

BBC
A blood test can accurately predict the onset of Alzheimer's disease, according to US researchers. They showed that testing levels of 10 fats in the blood could predict - with 90% accuracy - the risk of the disease coming on in the next three years.

Their findings, published in Nature Medicine, will now be tested in larger clinical trials.

Experts said the results needed to be confirmed, but such a test would be "a real step forward".
...
Scientists at Georgetown University in Washington DC analysed blood samples from 525 people over the age of 70 as part of a five-year study. They took 53 of them who developed Alzheimer's or mild cognitive impairment and compared their blood with 53 who stayed mentally agile. They found differences in the levels of 10 lipids, or fats, between the two groups. And when the research team looked in the other blood samples, those 10 markers of Alzheimer's could predict who was likely to enter mental decline in the following years.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
Zarathud
Posts: 16434
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:29 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Zarathud »

I prefer the term "Mad Cow." Denny Crane
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
User avatar
triggercut
Posts: 13807
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Location: Man those Samoans are a surly bunch.

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by triggercut »

Isgrimnur wrote:We already have several threads that are devoted to one or another member's struggles with dealing with it, and I really don't want to co-opt those threads.

But I needed somewhere to post something, so I'm starting a catch-all thread.

BBC
A blood test can accurately predict the onset of Alzheimer's disease, according to US researchers. They showed that testing levels of 10 fats in the blood could predict - with 90% accuracy - the risk of the disease coming on in the next three years.

Their findings, published in Nature Medicine, will now be tested in larger clinical trials.

Experts said the results needed to be confirmed, but such a test would be "a real step forward".
...
Scientists at Georgetown University in Washington DC analysed blood samples from 525 people over the age of 70 as part of a five-year study. They took 53 of them who developed Alzheimer's or mild cognitive impairment and compared their blood with 53 who stayed mentally agile. They found differences in the levels of 10 lipids, or fats, between the two groups. And when the research team looked in the other blood samples, those 10 markers of Alzheimer's could predict who was likely to enter mental decline in the following years.
Pretty amazing breakthrough...but sadly I'm still not sure what can be done to significantly alter the trajectory of the disease.

My poor brother was the primary overseer of the care given to my late mother, who died of Alzheimer's. Now his wife has been diagnosed with early-onset AD as well, at age 56. They've seen some success at holding the line for a bit with some Parkinson's drugs.
"It's my manner, sir. It looks insubordinate, but it isn't, really."
User avatar
stessier
Posts: 29816
Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2004 12:30 pm
Location: SC

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by stessier »

triggercut wrote:Pretty amazing breakthrough...but sadly I'm still not sure what can be done to significantly alter the trajectory of the disease.
Well, prediction is a small step down the road of understanding the big "why". Sure, nothing new can be done now, but it could spark new research and that's always a good thing.
I require a reminder as to why raining arcane destruction is not an appropriate response to all of life's indignities. - Vaarsuvius
Global Steam Wishmaslist Tracking
Running____2014: 1300.55 miles____2015: 2036.13 miles____2016: 1012.75 miles____2017: 1105.82 miles____2018: 1318.91 miles__2019: 2000.00 miles
dfs
Posts: 2170
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 11:48 am
Location: Top of the bass clef.

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by dfs »

triggercut wrote:Pretty amazing breakthrough...but sadly I'm still not sure what can be done to significantly alter the trajectory of the disease.
While it may not seem like much, taking away the uncertainty would be an improvement. Many seniors live in fear of Alzheimers and of course many mask Alzheimers.

Simply knowing....you're in the clear....you're in the development stage and should be on Aricept....would be a big step forward. It might not alter the trajectory of the disease, but it would improve the quality of life.

Heck, simply having an unequivocal test that would say "This person has Alzheimers" would be an improvement over the current system where you can find docs that will simply tell a court what their client wants them to say.
User avatar
J.D.
Posts: 4663
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:26 am

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by J.D. »

If this was me I wouldn't want to know. I wouldn't want a cloud hanging over my head for the next 2-4 years knowing that I'm going to start deteriorating. Some people might find that liberating, to know they have to make the best use of the time they have left, but I would find it incredibly depressing and would put a huge dark cloud over my final "healthy" years.
User avatar
Scuzz
Posts: 10899
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:31 pm
Location: The Arm Pit of California

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Scuzz »

J.D. wrote:If this was me I wouldn't want to know. I wouldn't want a cloud hanging over my head for the next 2-4 years knowing that I'm going to start deteriorating. Some people might find that liberating, to know they have to make the best use of the time they have left, but I would find it incredibly depressing and would put a huge dark cloud over my final "healthy" years.
I think this was as well. You would lead the end of your life knowing at some point you wouldn't know what was going on and you would be a burden for everyone. It would just reinforce my feelings that planned suicide would not be a bad thing.
Black Lives Matter
Madmarcus
Posts: 3609
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:18 am
Location: Just outside your peripheral vision

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Madmarcus »

I'm of two minds. Generally I would want to know so that I could plan but JD and Scuzz are right that knowing that you are going to be a burden to loved ones would be awfully hard to stand.

The flip side of the question seems to be unambiguously good though. Being able to say clearly whether things I see in my parents/in laws are just normal aging or early Alzheimer's would be a blessing.
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Grifman »

Scuzz wrote:
J.D. wrote:If this was me I wouldn't want to know. I wouldn't want a cloud hanging over my head for the next 2-4 years knowing that I'm going to start deteriorating. Some people might find that liberating, to know they have to make the best use of the time they have left, but I would find it incredibly depressing and would put a huge dark cloud over my final "healthy" years.
I think this was as well. You would lead the end of your life knowing at some point you wouldn't know what was going on and you would be a burden for everyone. It would just reinforce my feelings that planned suicide would not be a bad thing.
As one currently dealing with picking up the pieces of someone who did very little planning for this, let me say it would be a lot easier on those left to care for you if the truth were know and legal and financial steps could be taken ahead of time. You're not only impacting yourself but potentially your wife, children, etc... whoever your caregivers end up being. More people than just you will have skin in this game, and it will be harder on them than you (because you won't have a clue as to what his going on at some point).

So from my perspective, just thinking about yourself is very selfish. I'm sorry if that is blunt but I've been there on the other end, having to pick up the pieces. I've had to fight a lot of resentment and deal with forgiveness for someone who did nothing to prepare for this life event. He's sitting fat and happy in a facility where he is being cared for while I try to deal with doctors, lawyers and figure out out to pay for his care when he really has no money. So forgive me if I let my experience color my response.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
Jaymann
Posts: 19320
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 7:13 pm
Location: California

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Jaymann »

I was going to say something...but I forgot.
Jaymann
]==(:::::::::::::>
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Paingod
Posts: 13132
Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2010 8:58 am

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Paingod »

Grifman wrote:It would just reinforce my feelings that planned suicide would not be a bad thing.
Part of why I love Heinlein's books is the honest and stark reality check he gives it, and a lot of the cultures have things I wish could be true - like in Time Enough For Love, it's every person's right to die with dignity whenever they so choose (on at least one of the planets).

I watched my grandfather's slow decline into dementia until he finally lost it entirely. He wasted away to a skeleton covered with skin before he finally died. If only there was a way people could learn to be as humane for humans as they are for animals.

I wish I could set up a living will that essentially said "Should I ever reach a point where I spent every day unaware of who I am and who the people I love are, please put me out of my misery" - but I don't think I'll ever be able to. I'm terrified that I'll spend my last years as a hollowed out husk, being spoon fed applesauce at great expense to my family.

That said, I'd take that test. If it came back positive and there was no cure available, I'd make the most of my time while I was coherent - and then hope I have the courage to make things as painless as possible for everyone around me when I started to decline. I don't believe in a heaven or a hell, and I do not want to endure what my grandfather did. I'd rather find my own way, with dignity.
Black Lives Matter

2021-01-20: The first good night's sleep I had in 4 years.
User avatar
Odin
Posts: 20732
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:29 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Odin »

I think this is terrific news, and I'd get this test tomorrow. I'd rather know what's coming and plan for it, or know I'm in the clear, than wonder about it. Hell whatever's coming - cancer, heart disease, you name it - let me know.
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82085
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Isgrimnur »

The news might not be so great, once you look at the above-my-paygrade statistical analysis.
For this distinction, the 10-marker panel had an area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AU-ROC) of 0.92 (95% CI 0.87-0.99), with sensitivity and specificity each at 90%, they reported online in Nature Medicine.
...
But the data did not appear to fully support that optimism. If the study cohort's 5% rate of conversion from normal cognition to mild impairment or Alzheimer's disease is representative of a real-world screening population, then the test would have a positive predictive value of just 35%. That is, nearly two-thirds of positive screening results would be false.
...
The model actually did less well in discriminating the entire group of impaired participants from normal controls (AU-ROC 0.77) than in predicting who would convert from normal to impaired (AU-ROC 0.92).
...
Federoff and colleagues indicated that their biomarker panel's performance in picking up incipient cognitive impairment was better than blood tests for beta-amyloid and tau proteins. Levels of these classical markers of Alzheimer's disease in cerebrospinal fluid have shown better predictive and diagnostic power, but no test requiring lumbar puncture will catch on for large-scale screening of asymptomatic people.

On the other hand, at least two other blood tests for unconventional markers had shown good results for discriminating individuals with current impairment from normal controls and for predicting progression from mild impairment to overt dementia, Federoff and colleagues noted, suggesting that this is a fruitful area to explore.
But it's progress, at least.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
Scuzz
Posts: 10899
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:31 pm
Location: The Arm Pit of California

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Scuzz »

Grifman wrote:
Scuzz wrote:
J.D. wrote:If this was me I wouldn't want to know. I wouldn't want a cloud hanging over my head for the next 2-4 years knowing that I'm going to start deteriorating. Some people might find that liberating, to know they have to make the best use of the time they have left, but I would find it incredibly depressing and would put a huge dark cloud over my final "healthy" years.
I think this was as well. You would lead the end of your life knowing at some point you wouldn't know what was going on and you would be a burden for everyone. It would just reinforce my feelings that planned suicide would not be a bad thing.
As one currently dealing with picking up the pieces of someone who did very little planning for this, let me say it would be a lot easier on those left to care for you if the truth were know and legal and financial steps could be taken ahead of time. You're not only impacting yourself but potentially your wife, children, etc... whoever your caregivers end up being. More people than just you will have skin in this game, and it will be harder on them than you (because you won't have a clue as to what his going on at some point).

So from my perspective, just thinking about yourself is very selfish. I'm sorry if that is blunt but I've been there on the other end, having to pick up the pieces. I've had to fight a lot of resentment and deal with forgiveness for someone who did nothing to prepare for this life event. He's sitting fat and happy in a facility where he is being cared for while I try to deal with doctors, lawyers and figure out out to pay for his care when he really has no money. So forgive me if I let my experience color my response.
There are two ways of looking at this. The first is that all that preparing for your inevitable demise should be done regardless of your health once you reach a certain age. You don't alzheimers to kick in to have dementia or other health problems require planning.

I have dealt with a parent and with relatives who have had health problems who thankfully had some planning done. I have had a great aunt who basically went AWOL with alzhiemers in a very fast way.

If I have done my planning for any eventuality, whether it be alzheimers or a broken hip, then my caretakers should be happy. But to live the last 20 years of my life ( I am 58) thinking that any memory problems I may have could be the onset of alzheimers would be frightening beyond belief.

Over the last 30 years of my life it seems i have rarely gone more than any length of time without some relative being in a retirement home or convalescent home. I have seen some good ones, and I have seen some bad ones. I know what they cost. I have joked about it to my wife often enough but the truth is at some point in my life if it looks like I am bound for a home I do plan on killing myself. Sounds gruesome maybe, but sometimes no life is better than what that could be.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
triggercut
Posts: 13807
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Location: Man those Samoans are a surly bunch.

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by triggercut »

This seems like a pretty important breakthrough...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/healt ... D&gwt=regi
"It's my manner, sir. It looks insubordinate, but it isn't, really."
User avatar
Smoove_B
Posts: 54567
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:58 am
Location: Kaer Morhen

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Smoove_B »

Seems like the best place to share this awful news that came out last night:
Last month, drug company Genentech reported on the first clinical trials of the drug crenezumab, a drug targeting amyloid proteins that form sticky plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients. The drug had been particularly effective in animal models, and the trial results were eagerly awaited as one of the most promising treatments in years. It did not work. “Crenezumab did not slow or prevent cognitive decline” in people with a predisposition toward Alzheimer’s.

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) narrowly approved the use of Aduhelm, a new drug from Biogen that the company has priced so highly that it’s expected to drive up the price of Medicare for everyone in America, even those who never need this drug. Aduhelm was the first drug to be approved that fights the accumulation of those "amyloid plaques" in the brain. What makes the approval of the $56,000-a-dose drug so controversial is that while it does decrease plaques, it doesn’t actually slow Alzheimer’s. In fact, clinical trials were suspended in 2019 after the treatment showed “no clinical benefits.” (Which did not keep Biogen from seeking the drug’s approval or pricing it astronomically.)

Over the last two decades, Alzheimer’s drugs have been notable mostly for having a 99% failure rate in human trials. It’s not unusual for drugs that are effective in vitro and in animal models to turn out to be less than successful when used in humans, but Alzheimer’s has a record that makes the batting average in other areas look like Hall of Fame material.
Wow, I wonder what's happening?
And now we have a good idea of why. Because it looks like the original paper that established the amyloid plaque model as the foundation of Alzheimer’s research over the last 16 years might not just be wrong, but a deliberate fraud.
:shock:
Maybe next year, maybe no go
User avatar
RunningMn9
Posts: 24461
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:55 pm
Location: The Sword Coast
Contact:

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by RunningMn9 »

That would be absolutely horrendous. Not what I wanted to read today. My wife’s mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother have all suffered with this horrific disease. Wasting 16 years researching something like this, if it was based on fraudulent research. That’s unimaginable.
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
User avatar
Kraken
Posts: 43688
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:59 pm
Location: The Hub of the Universe
Contact:

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Kraken »

The amyloid hypothesis is looking like a dead end, whether fraudulent or not. Back to the ol' drawing board....
User avatar
dbt1949
Posts: 25688
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:34 am
Location: Hogeye Arkansas

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by dbt1949 »

I feel like I should be in this thread somehow. :?
Ye Olde Farte
Double Ought Forty
aka dbt1949
Freyland
Posts: 3041
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:03 pm

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Freyland »

dbt1949 wrote: Sat Jul 23, 2022 4:41 pm I feel like I should be in this thread somehow. :?
You were. You just forgot.
Sims 3 and signature unclear.
User avatar
RunningMn9
Posts: 24461
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:55 pm
Location: The Sword Coast
Contact:

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by RunningMn9 »

Are we making Alzheimer’s jokes?
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
Freyland
Posts: 3041
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:03 pm

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Freyland »

Call it a defense mechanism against personal trauma. Apologies.
Sims 3 and signature unclear.
User avatar
Sudy
Posts: 8275
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 3:11 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Sudy »

I think disease is something most of us joke about until we've had to deal with it directly. A kind of gallows humour. Which doesn't mean it's not inappropriate or insensitive.

Mental health is another common one. A lot of people bandy about "crazy", "I'm really OCD about packing my suitcase", "if they don't hire a competent manager I'm going to jump out a window", etc. And addiction. A few times I've had to stop myself from making casual heroin jokes when I remember an internet friend's father died of an overdose. (Which is the great argument for trying to avoid this type of humour; you never know what someone else is going through or has experienced.) But you don't find a lot of people brave or heartless enough to joke about cancer.

Not to provide an obvious lesson in morality. I just find the subject interesting.

I saw a commercial on late night TV. It said, "Forget everything you know about slipcovers." So I did. And it was a load off my mind. Then the commercial tried to sell me slipcovers, and I didn't know what the hell they were. -- Mitch Hedberg
User avatar
Blackhawk
Posts: 43493
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:48 pm
Location: Southwest Indiana

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Blackhawk »

I joke about cancer, but only to people I know, or in sole reference to myself.
(˙pǝsɹǝʌǝɹ uǝǝq sɐɥ ʎʇıʌɐɹƃ ʃɐuosɹǝd ʎW)
User avatar
Kraken
Posts: 43688
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:59 pm
Location: The Hub of the Universe
Contact:

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Kraken »

We find levity where we can in death and dying. We're all whistling past the graveyard. That said, one need be pretty funny to land jokes about cancer and alzheimers.
User avatar
RunningMn9
Posts: 24461
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:55 pm
Location: The Sword Coast
Contact:

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by RunningMn9 »

I guess I don’t mean to be an asshole about it, but over the years I’ve grown more annoyed at jokes, after watching it destroy so many lives. It’s horrendous, and I don’t really associate it with being forgetful anymore. It’s like watching someone’s soul die and then having to wait for the body to catch up. It’s unbelievably horrific for everyone involved.
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
User avatar
LawBeefaroni
Forum Moderator
Posts: 55316
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 3:08 pm
Location: Urbs in Horto, outrageous taxes on everything

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by LawBeefaroni »

The best "joke" about Alzheimer's/dementia is the Mitchell and Webb "Old Holmes" skit. You have to watch to the end but..well...the point is made.

" Hey OP, listen to my advice alright." -Tha General
"No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer." -Stigler's Law of Eponymy, discovered by Robert K. Merton

MYT
Freyland
Posts: 3041
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:03 pm

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Freyland »

RunningMn9 wrote: Sun Jul 24, 2022 9:24 am I guess I don’t mean to be an asshole about it, but over the years I’ve grown more annoyed at jokes, after watching it destroy so many lives. It’s horrendous, and I don’t really associate it with being forgetful anymore. It’s like watching someone’s soul die and then having to wait for the body to catch up. It’s unbelievably horrific for everyone involved.
You're not an asshole.
Sims 3 and signature unclear.
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82085
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Isgrimnur »

Well, not for that reason, anyway. :wink:
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
Sudy
Posts: 8275
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 3:11 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Sudy »

LawBeefaroni wrote: Sun Jul 24, 2022 9:45 am The best "joke" about Alzheimer's/dementia is the Mitchell and Webb "Old Holmes" skit. You have to watch to the end but..well...the point is made.
Yeah, that's hard to laugh at even before the end. (And I've seen and enjoyed most of That Mitchell and Webb Look on Youtube at this point.)

I didn't want to watch The Father, but I'm glad I did. Its portrayal of dementia is haunting, terrifying, and clever. And then there's the acting.

Then there's Everywhere at the end of time which I could only listen to a bit of as it was so sad and disturbing.


Three of my four grandparents had/have dementia, though weren't diagnosed with Alzheimer's specifically. Mind you, two of them lived into their 90s so I was grateful to have so much time with them. But that doesn't make it any less heartbreaking. You just feel so powerless. I don't know how I'll handle it if either of my parents have the same fate, which I know some folks here have experienced.

I saw a commercial on late night TV. It said, "Forget everything you know about slipcovers." So I did. And it was a load off my mind. Then the commercial tried to sell me slipcovers, and I didn't know what the hell they were. -- Mitch Hedberg
User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by rittchard »

My mom is currently in the early stages of dementia (not diagnosed but pretty clear) and it has been a progressively rough few years, particularly adding Covid to the mix. My parents are 85/86 and as of last week they have moved FIVE times in the past 10 years. Friends can’t believe it when I tell them they are moving again but each time there were specific reasons and hopes that just didn’t pan out. While I hope this last one will stick, I remain skeptical because I know how my parents are and we went in knowing there would be some hurdles to overcome.

I could go on and on about this topic but suffice to say it’s been a strange mix of emotions spending more time with my mom. She can seem perfectly “normal” during a given conversation but then suddenly say something that reminds you things aren’t always as they seem. Her dementia symptoms seem more concentrated on specifics of feel and taste. Like she will insist something feels wet when it’s clearly dry, or tastes salty when it is bland. Pretty innocuous stuff but my dad says she gets more frustrated and combative during the evenings, and currently he remains her only caregiver. We need to correct that aspect asap but they are both very resistant to help/change unless it is from myself or my sister.

Oops I just said I wasn’t going to go on and on, sorry!
User avatar
Kraken
Posts: 43688
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:59 pm
Location: The Hub of the Universe
Contact:

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Kraken »

Sorry you are dealing with declining parents. Your mom's dementia doesn't sound like alzheimers as I understand it, but that's small consolation.

My mom died of alzheimers. Because she was physically strong, her body went on for years after her mind was gone.
User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by rittchard »

Kraken wrote: Mon Jul 25, 2022 3:01 pm Sorry you are dealing with declining parents. Your mom's dementia doesn't sound like alzheimers as I understand it, but that's small consolation.

My mom died of alzheimers. Because she was physically strong, her body went on for years after her mind was gone.
Thanks Kraken, also sorry to hear about your mom. I am definitely dreading the “body going on for years after mind is gone…” which I suspect is where we are heading currently.

I tend to lump dementia/memory loss all together with Alzheimer’s, which I know is not technically correct. Here’s what Wikipedia says:
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems with language, disorientation (including easily getting lost), mood swings, loss of motivation, self-neglect, and behavioral issues.
My mom has pretty much all of these symptoms except maybe problems with language.
User avatar
Kraken
Posts: 43688
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:59 pm
Location: The Hub of the Universe
Contact:

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Kraken »

Language was the first indication my mom was losing it. First she lost command of proper nouns (esp. names), then common nouns weren't far behind. Eventually she could only speak gibberish and she gave up talking entirely. I can only imagine how frustrating that must be. When she started to have trouble with routine activities like feeding herself, and started wandering, we put her in an assisted living place that escalated to nursing home as she deteriorated. We were fortunate to find a pleasant, compassionate place that wasn't ruinously expensive. IDK if they exist outside of the Midwest, but they're called Eden Care facilities.

It sounds like your mom isn't beyond living in a private home yet as long as her husband can still look after her -- with some help. Good luck with that.
User avatar
LawBeefaroni
Forum Moderator
Posts: 55316
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 3:08 pm
Location: Urbs in Horto, outrageous taxes on everything

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by LawBeefaroni »

Some new ideas now that the beta-amyloid fraud is behind us,

We believe that beta-amyloid is not an abnormally produced protein, but rather is a normally occurring molecule that is part of the brain's immune system. It is supposed to be there.

When brain trauma occurs or when bacteria are present in the brain, beta-amyloid is a key contributor to the brain's comprehensive immune response. And this is where the problem begins.

Because of striking similarities between the fat molecules that make up both the membranes of bacteria and the membranes of brain cells, beta-amyloid cannot tell the difference between invading bacteria and host brain cells, and mistakenly attacks the very brain cells it is supposed to be protecting.

....

In addition to this autoimmune theory of Alzheimer's, many other new and varied theories are beginning to appear. For example, some scientists believe that Alzheimer's is a disease of tiny cellular structures called mitochondria – the energy factories in every brain cell.
" Hey OP, listen to my advice alright." -Tha General
"No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer." -Stigler's Law of Eponymy, discovered by Robert K. Merton

MYT
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82085
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Isgrimnur »

The power houses of the cells? Say it ain’t so, Plucky!
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
Smoove_B
Posts: 54567
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:58 am
Location: Kaer Morhen

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Smoove_B »

Happy to come back in this thread and post better news:


Biggest thing to ever come out of my little group. Pls help spread this finding!

We found clean, CAUSAL evidence that the shingles vaccine prevents a good chunk of dementia cases. So, could a virus cause Alzheimer’s->YES!
More:
There’s recently been [increased] interest in the possibility that a virus may be involved in the causal pathways of dementia. Most attention has been on herpesviruses, incl the VZV that causes chickenpox and shingles, partly because of their lifelong latency. In Wales starting in Sept 2013, the shingles vaccine was rolled out using an exact DOB cutoff. Those born on or after Sept 2 1933 were eligible, while those born earlier weren’t and remained ineligible for life. We analyzed EHR data for all of Wales with DOB exact to the week. We first show that just a one-week difference in age causes a massive (47 %-point) difference in the probability of ever getting the vaccine.

This is paradise for getting at CAUSATION rather than correlation!

After all, there’s no reason why those born one week before Sept 2 1933 should differ in anything from those born just one week later, EXCEPT for this diff in vacc receipt. This is just like a clinical trial: two exchangeable groups with only one getting the intervention.

So, no need for the usual heroic assumption of perfect info on all confounders that make those who get the vacc different from those who don’t. This is crucial, and why our study is fundamentally different to other (all correlational) analyses in this area.

What did we find?

We first tried to replicate the vaccine’s known effect from clinical trials that it prevents shingles and PHN. It does – no surprise here but nice proof of concept.

Now we test our real hypothesis: does getting vaccinated [decrease] your chance of a dementia diagnosis years later?

It does! We estimate that over a 7-year follow-up period, getting vaccinated averts one in five new dementia diagnoses. In the paper, we demonstrate through extensive robustness checks that it is essentially impossible that this finding is due to confounding.

Given how robust this finding is across a large variety of specifications and series of robustness checks, it’s also extremely unlikely to be due to pure chance.

We then show that the vaccine has no effect on any other common causes of morbidity or mortality. This is unlike correlational analyses that usually suffer from bias because healthier/more health motivated folk with better healthcare access are more likely to get vaccinated.

Shingles is more common in women + [increased] recognition that the causes of Alzheimer’s may differ by sex (http://bit.ly/3HqGh8k). We find strong protective effects of the vaccine for women but none for men, and that this diff is driven by Alzheimer’s (not vascular) dementia.
Pre-print study here.

And that's why I can't quit the hellsite that is Twitter. Because I still get good information from it that I'd likely not see otherwise.
Maybe next year, maybe no go
User avatar
em2nought
Posts: 5307
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 5:48 am

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by em2nought »

I've been meaning to get the shingles series, I guess I just got one more reason to do it.

I wonder if it can halt the progress of dementia if it's already started? :think:
Technically, he shouldn't be here.
User avatar
Kraken
Posts: 43688
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:59 pm
Location: The Hub of the Universe
Contact:

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by Kraken »

I got my Shingrex shots a year or two ago and was heartened by this news until I saw "We find strong protective effects of the vaccine for women but none for men".
User avatar
ImLawBoy
Forum Admin
Posts: 14950
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:49 pm
Location: Chicago, IL
Contact:

Re: Alzheimer's thread

Post by ImLawBoy »

Got my second Shingles dose last week. I figure it's not going to make me more likely to have dementia.
That's my purse! I don't know you!
Post Reply