The U.K.’s Alzheimer’s Research Trust paid for the study which was published in the most recent issue of The Lancet Neurology. The research was conducted by a team led by Clive Ballard of King’s College in London.

The study focused on 165 patients in Alzheimer’s care homes. All of the subjects had been taking antipsychotic drugs to battle the effects of dementia. For the research, about half the patients kept taking the antipsychotic medication while the other half began receiving a placebo.

After three years, about two-thirds of patients taking the placebo were still alive while only one-third of those taking the medication lived. Specifically, after 24 months, the survival rate for those on medication was 41 percent as opposed to 71 percent for those withdrawn from medication. After 36 months, 30 percent of those on medication survived while 59 percent on the placebo were still alive.

A report compiled for a British Member of Parliament last year showed that about 100,000 Alzheimer’s patients with dementia routinely receive antipsychotic medication. The drugs target the symptoms of dementia such as aggression and delusion.

Ballard said the lesson of the study is that the research and care-giving communities need to seek more benign treatments for dementia symptoms.

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Initially, researchers believed the shortage of donated brains was a result of people being uncomfortable with the thought of it. However, following a recent outreach program, they are now convinced the issue is one of education and awareness.

One thing is clear and that is the need. Dr. Payam Rezaie told the BBC recently that the Open University’s Neuropathology Research Lab only had 20 brains for research, where more than a hundred are needed. He labeled those numbers “drastically awful.”

Scientists need brains of disease sufferers and healthy individuals as well, and the head of England’s Human Tissue Authority, that oversees donations, said it is more difficult to find healthy donors.

Interestingly, a recent “brain bank” established in Scotland by the Tissue Authority showed that making people aware of the problem is the key to solving it. When officials approached friends or relatives of potential doners who were required to have an autopsy to verify cause of death, more than 90 percent authorized the donation.

Oddly enough, the effort has been hampered somewhat by the country’s organ donor program. The researchers say many who have signed donor cards to donate organs upon their death believe that covers the brain. It doesn’t. Donor cards cover organs donated for transplant only, not research.

For immediate action, Britain’s Medical Research Council is coordinating the data gathered by all brain banks nationally.

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Pratchett is the creator of the Discworld series with more than 60 million books in print which have been translated into more than three dozen languages. He had received the Order of the British Empire in 1998.

It was just last year that Pratchett went public with the fact that he was seeing signs in himself of Alzheimer’s in its early stages. He promised to continue writing, but he has done more than that.

In addition to raising public awareness of the disease, Pratchett has spoken to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at his Downing Street home to request more funding for research into the effects of Alzheimer’s, such as dementia. He also donated more than $700,000 to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust. Finally, he has become an official celebrity patron of the trust.

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David K. Johnson at KU said the links between healthy levels of exercise and avoiding physical disability have long been established. However, his research seems to indicate physical fitness may have benefits for cognition as well. Johnson is an assistant professor of psychology and works in gerontology as an assistant research scientist.

The university’s Medical Center in Kansas City has been conducting neuroimaging studies through its Alzheimer’s and Memory Program in Kansas City and at the Neuropsychology and Aging Laboratory in Lawrence. Johnson has been working with this effort. It was financed by the National Institute on Aging and established a positive relationship between seniors and aerobic workouts.

Scientists conducted studies with 150 elderly residents of the area between the ages of 65 and 95. The research has been under way for five years and used memory and MRI tests.

Johnson said the results indicated that physical activity may be two to three times more effective than mental exercises – such as crossword puzzles – in helping memory. He added that the exercise does not have to be vigorous, but could begin with increasing the amount of normal activity such as walking or climbing stairs.

Johnson cautioned that the research is in an early stage, and he is recruiting now for additional studies.

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Eef Hogervorst, a professor at Loughborough University, recently headed a study on the issue that will be published in Dementias and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders in January. Funding for the study came from the Alzheimer’s Research Trust in the U.K. and allowed researchers to work with colleagues in Indonesia.

Scientists studied the eating habits of 719 advanced-age citizens of Java living in both rural and city setting. The results indicated that for those 68 years old and older, deterioration of memory is linked to eating high tofu in high quantities.

Hogervorst pointed out that products made with soy are micronutrient-rich, but that the effects of these micronutrients – commonly called phytoestrogens – are not clear.

Oddly, better memory seemed linked with high consumption of a product made from fermented soy products called tempe. Hogervorst postulated that the positive side effects of tempe could be tied to the fact that the product has a high level of folate, known to lessen the risk of dementia.

Hogervorst advocates additional research to better understand how the product or a combination of it with other products can reduce the effects of memory loss in the elderly.

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Dr. Richard Hodes, who is the director of the National Institute on Aging, said that scientists have taken great strides in their knowledge of how Alzheimer’s disease works, adding that they are working diligently toward treatments for it. Despite that desire to find answers, however, he said their study showed no preventive effect by the ginkgo supplement on Alzheimer’s disease.

The study and researchers were backed financially by five organizations from the National Institutes of Health, including: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine; National Institute on Aging; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the Office of Dietary Supplements.

The study was titled the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory (GEM) study, and with eight years of work at four sites, it was the largest clinical test of the effects of ginkgo against dementia.

In the study, 3,069 participants were included. Participants had to be 75 or older and have normal cognition or only mild impairment. No patients with dementia were included in the study. After screening, two groups were randomly created with one receiving a ginkgo extract and the other a placebo twice daily.

Evaluation of the results of up to seven years of testing showed no difference in the number from each group who developed more serious cognitive impairment.

According to Dr. Stephen DeKosky, the lead researcher for GEM study, the results confirmed the value of trials and tests such as those conducted. But, he added, older patients who are using dietary supplements like ginkgo and hoping they will prevent dementia should get with their health care providers to look for the best plan of treatment.

Image: Stanford University

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“Our department is thrilled to be able to implement this vital program,” Portsmouth Fire Chief Jeffrey Lynch told the East Bay Newspapers. “Last year, we were involved in a search and rescue effort to locate a man from Prudence Island who suffered from Alzheimer’s and wandered from his home. We were able to locate him the following day, but he later succumbed to his injuries. Had he been wearing a wristband, we would have found him almost immediately and his tragic death could have been prevented.”

A benefactor from out of state donated the money for the program that funds equipment and training for using the bracelets. Portsmouth firefighters are the first officials in Rhode Island to receive the system, which is provided by the FOUND Program of the National Autism Association.

The money will provide five of the $300 tracking wristbands to families with demonstrated financial need, plus one year of the $25 annual maintenance fee.

Wendy Fournier, who is president of the National Autism Association, told the newspaper that people receiving the equipment can gain peace of mind for their loved ones who suffer from a cognitive impairment and are prone to wander.

“Many are non-verbal and do not respond to a searcher calling for them,” she said.

The bracelet’s broadcast range is about a mile, and once reported as misssing, the average wandering patient is found within 30 minutes, Fournier said.

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“Doctors should pay close attention when following these patients, as their observations could help define the precursors of diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Lewy body dementia, or multiple system atrophy,” said Dr. Jacques Montplaisir of the University of Montreal and Montreal’s Sacre-Cour Hospital, who was the lead researcher on the study.

Montplaisir worked with Dr. Rondald Postuma from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center.

While strides are being made in diagnosing such ailments before their advanced stages, there is still insufficient data concerning early warning signs, the study’s proponents said. The study showed that patients included in the research who had REM, or Rapid Eye Movement, sleep disorders had a 52.4 percent chance of developing a neurodegenerative disease within 12 years.

Their findings have been published in the Neurology, which is the official publication of the American Academy of Neurology.

Other results of the study include that patients with REM sleep disorder have a 17.7 percent chance of developing a neurodegenerative disease within five years of diagnosis and a 40.6 per cent in 10 years.

“These results establish a clear link and indicate that these sleep disorders could be a predictor of neurodegenerative disease,” Postuma said.

The study included 93 subjects. And while treatments exist for REM sleep disorders, those medications don’t delay onset of neurodegenerative disease, the study said.

Image: Memorial Regional South Hospital

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“These findings show that counseling and support of family members can be of significant benefit to Alzheimer’s caregivers even when the patients are receiving medications for the disease,” said Dr. Mary Mittelman. “Caregivers who are less depressed are better able to take care of their ill family members. Social support and counseling for family members of people with Alzheimer’s disease should be considered essential components of optimal comprehensive care.”

Mittelman is the director of the Psychosocial Research and Support Program at the New York University School of Medicine Silberstein Institute and is on the editorial advisory board for the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation.

The research into this issue concerned 158 older men and women providing home care for a spouse suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Each Alzheimer’s patient in the study was taking donepezil, which also is known as Aricept, and is used to treat the disease’s.

Scientists from institutions in three nations participated in the study, including: NYU Medical Center, the U.K.’s University of Manchester, and the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre at the University of New South Wales’s School of Psychiatry in Sydney, Australia. Under conditions of the study caregivers were split into two groups with one group receiving normal supportive care and education and the other getting enhanced counseling and support services that had been shown to be beneficial.

Those receiving the enhanced support program felt less isolated and depressed. The study could have far-reaching effects as almost 10 million people in the U.S. alone provide care for an Alzheimer’s disease patient. Estimates worldwide are that caregivers number 25 million.

The enhanced support developed at NYU covered:

• Caregiver education about Alzheimer’s effects on the patient and strategies for managing care and responding to symptoms.
• Continued support for the caregiver and family members including counseling and encouragement.
• Working to reduce family conflicts

Resutls of the study were published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

“As we search for a cure or a way of preventing Alzheimer’s disease, we cannot forget about the millions of family members who are caring for relatives who are currently ill,” Mittelman said.

Image: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

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The good news is wine is among the most effective of those items. The bad news is too much of this good thing can have the opposite effect and impair cognitive ability.

“Those overdoing it at Christmas should note that while moderate alcohol consumption is associated with better cognitive function and reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, heavy alcohol intake could be one of many causes of dementia – as well as a host of other health problems,” researchers were quoted as saying in a recent Oxford release on the subject.

Researchers found that in addition to wine, chocolate and tea are among foods with flavonoids that can improve cognition.

Studies were conducted on 2,031 people between the ages of 70 and 74 with the subjects filling out a survey on their normal eating habits. They also took cognitive tests. The research was conducted by the Oxford Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics in cooperation with colleagues from Norway.

The study showed that those who ate or drank wine, tea or chocolate scored “significantly better” on the cognitive tests. Results were published in The Journal of Nutrition.

The research follows an increased interest in the effects of micronutrients in cognitive decline typically associated with advancing age. Scientists are examining the role played by foods and drinks that are sources micronutrients – called polyphenols – in plant-derived foods.

The most effective food or drink in this study was wine. But while the results above appear to support the effectiveness of wine and other foods in improving cognition, researchers said more study is required.

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Mild impairment such as memory loss was once regarded as simply a sign of advancing age, however, now such signs are seen as a possible early warning of a more serious problems such as Alzheimer’s-related dementia.

“Some change in memory is normal as we grow older, but the warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease are more than simple lapses in memory,” according to the American Alzheimer’s Association.

For example:

• According to the Alzheimer’s Association, it’s normal for someone to forget a particular part of a memory of an occasion, but forgetting everything concerning an event is one indication.
• Anyone can forget where a car is parked in a crowded lot during the holidays. But watch for signs such as someone forgetting how to start their car or turn on devices in the car (radio, lights).
• Similarly, anyone can forget a name of someone they’ve met. Cause for concern is when someone forgets the meeting ever having taken place.
• Finally, forgetfully losing track of items such as car keys or glasses can happen to us all. What doesn’t happen to an unimpaired mind is to find the items in incorrect places such as the refridgerator of a cookie tin.

This is a sample of the signs available from the Alzheimer’s Association, for a complete list visit the organization’s web site.


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]]> http://www.alzdigest.com/alz_dementia/time-observe/feed/ 0 http://www.alzdigest.com/care/holidays-pose-challengess-care/ http://www.alzdigest.com/care/holidays-pose-challengess-care/#comments Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:42:11 +0000 paul http://www.alznews.net/?p=3
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While the holiday season is most often associated with good times – friends, family, celebrations – it can be a time of challenge both for those suffering from Alzheimer’s and their caregivers.

Three points to consider can help make your holidays all they can be.

• To enhance your experience and that of the Alzheimer’s patient, let them assist in some of the routines of the holidays, such as decorating a tree or setting out packages. (But be careful not to over-stimulate. Bright lights and large gatherings can add to an Alzheimer’s sufferer’s confusion. So keep things simple.)

• Be sure to pay attention to your needs as well. Don’t be so consumed with your loved one that you don’t make time to enjoy the season as well. “Try asking friends or family members to help watch your loved one so you can run errands or take time for you,” said Vicky Abdella, an aging services professional in Ohio.

• Finally, avoid dwelling on the past, on what was or what may have been lost because of Alzheimer’s-related dementia. “Don’t think about how much has changed,” Abdella told the Chillicothe Gazette.

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]]> http://www.alzdigest.com/care/holidays-pose-challengess-care/feed/ 0 http://www.alzdigest.com/about/ http://www.alzdigest.com/about/#comments Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:19:04 +0000 admin http://alznews.net/?page_id=2 AlzDigest.com is a website that follows and documents the latest news and updates within the Alzheimer’s Research and Care Communities. As we enter into the next wave of healthcare related issues, the number one issue facing the world is the care of the elderly and particularly the care for Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients. The funding and research for this care is ongoing but with the issue as pressing as it is, and without a clear sign for a cure on the horizon, we are all, as parents and children of Alzheimer’s patients, interested in the details concerning the concentrated effort of treating and eradicating the terrible malady.

If you have any news item or comment to add to our general posts please do so. AlzDigest wishes to become a place where related new stories and issues are discussed in an open forum. Comments and suggestions are welcomed from everyone.

We hope you find AlzDigest informative.

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