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By Erin Allday
New York Times Syndicate
10-18-10
San Francisco -- If doctors are ever going to find a way to attack and even cure Alzheimer's disease, they first need to know how to diagnose it -- ideally years, maybe even decades, before patients are symptomatic and their brain has been irreparably damaged.
That's why researchers around the country are intrigued by several promising new studies that highlight techniques for identifying Alzheimer's in the body long before people show the classic signs of memory loss and confusion.
A study that was released in August to much excitement among researchers suggested that a spinal fluid test could be very effective in identifying abnormal levels of amyloid, a protein that forms plaque buildups in the brains of people with Alzheimer's.
In the Bay Area, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco and Stanford are studying drugs that would serve as biomarkers in the body, attaching themselves to proteins like amyloid and letting doctors find those proteins more easily using imaging tests.
"It's exciting that we will likely soon have new tools that will allow us to detect Alzheimer's changes very early, even in people who are cognitively normal," said Dr. Adam Boxer , director of the Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia clinical trials program at UCSF's Memory and Aging Center. "If there were a treatment that could remove amyloid from the brain, then it would really be an exciting and powerful combination."
People are currently tested for Alzheimer's using a fairly lengthy, somewhat subjective process that starts with simple memory tests and interviews with patients and their family about problems they may be having from day to day. Those tests are accompanied by a physical examination, more thorough cognitive testing, and blood analysis and a brain-imaging scan.
The process is more about ruling out other diseases with similar symptoms -- such as a stroke or a benign brain tumor -- that may be easily treated. After the testing is over, doctors can reliably diagnose Alzheimer's with about 90 percent accuracy, but it can only be confirmed after death, when brain tissue can be studied under a microscope.
For patients and the doctors treating them, it's not necessarily important to definitively diagnose Alzheimer's because for now there's no cure for the disease. But for researchers, it's essential to be able to identify test subjects who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's so that they can focus on potential treatments.
Researchers hope that if doctors can find abnormal buildup of proteins before people become symptomatic, it may be easier to find effective treatments. Most studies of potential drug treatments for Alzheimer's have had disappointing results.
"Many (researchers) believe these studies may have failed because we started treating people too late," Boxer said. "The majority of people in studies have full-blown Alzheimer's disease, and it's a tall order to get treatments to work in these people.
It's hoped that by developing biomarkers, we could find it much earlier."
Most research into early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is centered around two proteins: amyloid beta, which is distinctive for the way it clumps up in the brain like plaque, and tau, which forms tangled strands in the brain when neurons die. Buildup of these proteins is common in the brains of deceased people who had Alzheimer's.
At Stanford, a team of researchers is participating in a national study of the drug florbetaben, which would act as a marker for amyloid and allow doctors to find the protein using certain imaging techniques. UCSF researchers, meanwhile, are looking for similar drugs that might be used a biomarkers for the tau protein.
The spinal fluid test, which was studied primarily at the University of Pennsylvania, involves performing a spinal tap on patients to look for signs of both proteins.
Dr. Marci Teresi , clinical lead of the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Memory Clinic, said doctors are enthusiastic about the current research, but she doesn't expect such testing to be made widely available outside of research studies any time soon.
"It's mostly useful for investigational purposes, for finding people who want to participate in research studies," Teresi said.
"I don't think it's as practical for the large number of patients that are out there seeing their regular doctors."
In other words, patients with no Alzheimer's symptoms shouldn't start asking their doctors for advanced imaging tests any time soon. In fact, early testing could do more harm than good, some doctors say, if it causes patients anxiety and depression before they're showing signs of Alzheimer's. Some people with protein buildup in their brains never get Alzheimer's at all.
Still, there are advantages to screening older people who may be showing the first small signs of illness, said Dr. Catherine Madison , medical director of California Pacific Medical Center's Memory Clinic.
Several drugs can make life for patients more comfortable and slow down some of the worst effects of the disease, especially if the treatment is started early. Patients can also benefit from therapy and anti-depressants.
"There's no magic cure out there. Even if I could tell you that you were going to get dementia, would you want me to?" Madison said. "But we have medications that can help. We can slow the course of this and make it a whole lot better for patients and families."
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Showing posts with label anti-aging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anti-aging. Show all posts
9/22/10
2050: 1.1 Million Over 100 Years Old; Their Aging Brains
Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.
07-21-10
There was a recent article in my local paper about brain fitness and how to retain optimal brain function well into our senior years. As boomers, we are all concerned about moments of memory loss and wonder if we are experiencing dementia or other signs of cognitive impairment.
Chances are our memory loss is more about our ability to retrieve information and filter out unnecessary irrelevant material than it is about cognitive decline and illness. Because there's so much information bogging us down and distracting us, it becomes difficult to shut off the "noise" long enough to remember what we want to remember. That makes us feel forgetful and susceptible to those numerous senior moments.
However, we can't ignore that cognitive decline may happen, but we don't have to feel helpless to the aging process. Most researchers will agree that a challenged, stimulated brain will retain and regenerate brain cells and that translates into maintaining, restoring and revitalizing cognitive acuity well into the golden years of our lives.
Therefore, if you want to slow up the aging process, you may want to learn a new language, do crossword puzzles, play Sudoku or take piano lessons to reduce your risk of getting Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia.
Research is now taking aging a step further. Apparently, not only is it important to learn challenging new experiences, but it is important to do so in a social setting, connecting and interacting with others. The University of Southern California has been studying this concept with a group of seniors who are well into their 90s. The key to their brain health is their afternoon bridge game where they are required to maintain a strong focus by remembering the bidding, the dealt hands and the strategies of their partner.
These residents in Southern California are considered the most successful seniors in the world. In fact, this research is altering the way scientists are looking at the aging brain. While mental exercises and good diet can't hurt to keep you healthy and alert, it seems you need to be involved socially with others to maintain your cognitive alertness and acuity.
Successful aging is really based on lifelong choices, a good attitude and a keen sense of your life's purpose. The Census Bureau estimates that by 2050 there will be 1.1 million people 100 years old. Baby boomers who continue to train their brain on a regular basis are twice as likely to retain high cognitive function than someone who doesn't. This means that if you start now, you'll reap the rewards of a healthy, sharp, active brain for many fruitful years to come.
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- BrainActivate Brain Performance Drink for Focus, Concentration, & Memory
- BrainRestore Nutraceutical Brain Support Protect, Detox, Replenish
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*Amy Sherman is a licensed mental health counselor and trainer.
8/19/10
Prevent Colds and Flu! Why Suffer When You Don't Have To?
- Americans get one billion colds a year.
- Americans spend 1.5 billion dollars on doctor visits
- American spend 2 billion dollars on non-prescription cough and cold treatments.
- The influenza virus hospitalizes more than 200,000 Americans a year
- 36,000 die each year from the influenza virus
- The flu shot is only 44 percent effective in stopping the flu
Is there any way to decrease your chances of getting a cold or the flu?
According to a study by James R. Sabetta, MD, in the Department of medicine at Yale University, the answer is yes. The study revealed that of those studied, those who had low blood levels of vitamin D had twice as many upper respiratory tract infections. Those who consistently maintained appropriate levels were completely free of these infections. Most of the study participants that remained healthy were taking a supplement.
Vitamin D is produced most abundantly in the body when the skin is exposed to strong, direct sunlight. It doesn't take a genius to know that when there's less sun, there's more illness. It's also easy to connect that when there's less sun, supplements will help fill that gap and keep colds and flus away.
There are many studies that link vitamin D levels to the flu. Yale researchers say that blood levels should be maintained at 38 ng/ml or higher to reduce infection risk. However, according tot he Vitamin D Council, half of all Americans have blood levels below 20 ng/ml.
The Vitamin D Council recommends that you test your blood for vitamin D every 6 months. Maintain blood levels higher than 38ng/ml in order for vitamin D to be stored in muscles and fat and therefore be the most effective.
Keep in mind that studies over the past few years show vitamin D can prevent (and often treat) cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, depression, asthma, multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, and many other conditions. In fact, high levels of Vitamin D have been linked to a reduction of death from any cause.
The Vitamin D Council recommends a vitamin D supplement of 5,000 IU a day and says that anyone who takes this amount regularly shouldn't get a cold or flu or should recover much faster. They also recommend taking vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), not vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol). Vitamin D3 is the compound your skin makes naturally. And don't worry about an overdose.
A couple more notes:Spend 10 minutes each day in the sun during the summer months. Expose as much of your body as possible when the sun is highest in the sky.
HealthPro Nutrient's Youth D3 is an excellent Vitamin D supplement and in addition to providing protection against infection, is an incredibly efficient anti-aging formula that enhances the skin and combats the effects of aging from the inside out.
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Article sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-gottlieb/the-easiest-way-to-preven_b_651576.html
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/
6/9/10
Skin Care is So Much More Than Just Skin Deep
When you use facial gels and spa devices in combination with great nutritional supplementation you provide a real means of support to your skin to help postpone the visible and "invisible" effects of aging. Industry analysts report that products to postpone aging will perhaps witness very strong demand in upcoming years.
The quality of the new cells you make every day is directly linked to the condition of your immune system. Good immune function will make your beauty regimen much more effective and long-lasting.
There are simply no supplements more important to the cell-building process than products that contain Ai/E10 because of Ai/E10's totally unique support for both adaptive and innate immunity. Remember to weave the unique benefit of an Ai/E10 product into your skin's beauty and destiny every day.
Ai/E10 is the only ingredient in CELL BALANCE and the primary ingredient in CELL DESIGN. CELL BALANCE is the ONLY product on the market that contains 200 mg per capsule of Ai/E10. Cell Design is a powerful immune system supplement formulated with nine key herbal and amino acid compounds in combination with 160 mg of the refined lacteal complex Ai/E10 for immune system support. This proprietary formula is by far the most comprehensive immune formula available.
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