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      Alzheimer's patient in custody          Man who hurt wife last fall questioned for senior's assault By: Carol SandersPosted: 03/26/2011 1:00 AM | 

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Joe McLeod, with his wife Rose, was questioned by police for an assault on a fellow resident of Parkview Place. (FAMILY HANDOUT / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)
"If it was me and it was my father assaulted, I'd be mortified," Faye Jashyn, McLeod's daughter, told the Free Press on Friday. "The other family must be horrified that their parent is hurt."City police confirmed officers responded to a report of an assault on an elderly man at Parkview Place at about 10 p.m. Thursday. Another elderly man who lives at the care home at 440 Edmonton St. was in police custody and being questioned Friday evening.
"The major crimes unit is investigating," said police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen.
No charges had been laid as of Friday and he wouldn't identify the man being questioned.
"Joe has no recollection of this," said Manitoba Liberal party spokesman David Shorr. "He was interviewed by police and he actually thought he worked at the home. His mental state has deteriorated quite a bit."
Last fall, the Liberals said the McLeod case pointed to the need for governments to put more resources into the special needs of seniors with Alzheimer's.
Jashyn said two of her brothers went to the Public Safety Building on Friday afternoon, but by mid-evening they hadn't been allowed to see their father. She waited anxiously for word from them, and for an update on the victim's condition.
"It is very scary," Jashyn said.
McLeod was arrested Sept. 7 and spent a month in the Winnipeg Remand Centre's medical unit after he pushed his wife Rose at their Transcona home. She received a cut that required stitches.
Rose McLeod said at the time she didn't want her husband of 48 years to be charged or to go to jail. Instead, she wanted him placed in a care home. But he couldn't get bail when his family said it was unable to provide him with the 24-hour care he needed, and they didn't have a personal care home lined up for him.
The Manitoba Liberals shone a light on his situation, and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority assessed his condition a few days later. The WRHA found him a temporary bed in Parkview Place downtown, although his family was hoping to have him moved to a home in Transcona once a bed opened up.
He demonstrated aggressive behaviour but there was no way he could've been guarded around the clock at the care home, said Jashyn, noting there is a lack of facilities for some Manitoba seniors who suffer from conditions that can lead to aggression.
"You've got special homes for children. Why can't there be one for adults?" Jashyn said.
As of late Friday night, there was a possibility McLeod would be sent back to the medical unit at the remand centre.
"We are going to do our best," Const. Michalyshen said, adding "... whether we're dealing with an elderly person or anyone, to ensure their placement is the most appropriate with regard to their health and well-being."
The province's persons-in-care watchdog is looking into what happened at Parkview Place. The care home is run by Revera, a North American provider of accommodation, care and services for seniors.
"The Protection for Persons in Care Office has been notified," said WRHA spokeswoman Heidi Graham. The office receives and investigates reports of suspected abuse.
Graham wouldn't confirm the ages or the genders of the people involved in the incident, citing the Personal Health Information Act.
It was tough for McLeod's family to get much information, said Jashyn.
Members of the man's family and the Liberals are holding a news conference today.
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 26, 2011 B1

JUST A... ❤NOTE❤

A PATH to THE 'HEART'

‎~Keep your mind and heart open to the higher aspects of your being~


Your attitude influences your world and everything you do in it. It defines the energy you send out and, in turn, takes shape and color in your circumstances. If you have a positive attitude, you are more welcoming and people are drawn to you. A positive attitude opens you to the flow of life. If you are depressed, angry, and unhappy, no one wants to be around you. You literally push people and opportunities away.

To attract positive, joyful, and prosperous situations to you, you must be that way yourself. If you have an open, loving, positive attitude, anything burdensome in life can be lightened. Therefore, it is important to be aware of your mood. It is created by your thoughts. Every day you have a choice of how you will behave, the mood you will give out to the world, and how you want people to know you.

So if you want something in your life, first you must think of it, put your intention behind it, and keep your focus on it. It is almost like baking a cake. The thought is in the oven and you have to keep it baking with belief. You have to see your thought manifesting and becoming real.

Follow your heart and be true to yourself. Never live the life of another. You have to create your own road. You have a responsibility to be the best you can possibly be, so keep your mind and heart open to the higher aspects of your being. And you will harness the power to have a loving and fulfilling life with attitude.
~James Van Praagh~


☼ (◠‿◠)☼¸¸.•*¨ ¸¸.•*¨☼
Posted by AnetteVictoriaღ

UNexamined ♥ Notes: Clinical Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease

UNexamined ♥ Notes: Clinical Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease: "Image by opensourceway via Flickr - Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation - http://www.alzinfo.org - Clinical Stages of Al..."

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Alzheimer Musica y Memoria Emocional

La idea de que las canciones y melodías pueden evocar memorias de personas, lugares y momentos de nuestro pasado no es nueva, pero Petr Janata, profesor asociado de la Universidad de California, Davis ha averiguado el por qué. De acuerdo con ScienceDaily, las investigaciones de Janata se basan en descubrimientos anteriores de que los pacientes de Alzheimer que tienen dificultades con su memoria aun responden a la música. Luego de trazar las coordenadas de la actividad cerebral de un grupo de individuos mientras escuchaban música, Janata notó actividad en la corteza medial prefrontal, un área ubicada justo tras la frente. De acuerdo con WiseGeek, la corteza prefrontal es el centro del cerebro más fuertemente implicado con cualidades como la sensibilidad, la inteligencia humana general y la personalidad. Y el término medial simplemente significa cercano al medio del cuerpo, de acuerdo con Medicine.net. MSNBC reportó los descubrimientos de Janata, que sugieren que a medida que el Alzheimer progresa, esta área del cerebro permanece intacta por más tiempo, mientras las otras partes del cerebro se deterioran con más rapidez. Cuando una canción despierta un recuerdo, explica Janata, La música sirve como banda sonora para una película mental que comienza a rodar en nuestra mente. En sus investigaciones tempranas, Janata creó mapas tonales de la actividad cerebral de un individuo a medida que tocaba varios acordes. Las áreas activas en el estudio tonal corresponden a las mismas zonas de donde los individuos parecían extraer sus memorias la corteza medial prefrontal y las regiones vecinas. ScienceDaily informó que mientras más significativa era la memoria autobiográfica de un paciente, más activo seria el monitoreo de su actividad cerebral.

Rap-Himno Alzheimer Ivan Noiret - By Heiji

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Alzheimer's Disease: Molecular Imaging For Early Detection May Be Available In Hospitals Within 1 Year

Alzheimer's Disease: Molecular Imaging For Early Detection May Be Available In Hospitals Within 1 Year 07 Jun 2011    Researchers the world over are advancing positron emission tomography (PET) as an effective method of early detection for Alzheimer's disease, a currently incurable and deadly neurological disorder. Three studies presented at SNM's 58th Annual Meeting are providing new insights into the development of Alzheimer's disease while opening the door to future clinical screening and treatments. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 18 million people worldwide are currently living with Alzheimer's disease - a number projected to almost double by 2025. "The aging population around the world is escalating exponentially. From a macro perspective, amyloid imaging with PET scans can help to ascertain the likelihood that individuals will deteriorate cognitively within a few years, thereby enabling more efficient channeling of health care resources," says Kevin Ong, MD, lead author of a presented study and a research scientist at Austin Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. "From a micro perspective, planning and lifestyle modifications are possible for individuals who seek screening for Alzheimer's disease." Molecular imaging of Alzheimer's disease is focused on detecting and analyzing the formation of a naturally occurring protein in the brain called beta-amyloid, which researchers now say is directly involved in the pathology of Alzheimer's. "It turns out that increased amyloid is bad for cognition even in the healthy elderly," says Michael Devous, Sr., PhD, director of neuroimaging for the Alzheimer's Disease Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. "If you look at working memory, processing speed or fluent reasoning, three critical general domains of cognition, the more amyloid you have the worse your performance, and that's after correcting for age." Not only is this important for imaging the disease, but it may also prove to be the key to amyloid-associated therapies and vaccines. Investigators warn that the beginning stages of the disease can precede symptoms of dementia as much as a decade or more. Imaging patients when they first show signs of mild cognitive impairment could be essential to determining their risk of future disease. "For individuals who have already developed a measurable memory decline, a positive scan for amyloid is the most accurate predictor of progression to Alzheimer's disease," said Christopher Rowe, MD, a lead investigator for the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) study of aging and professor of nuclear medicine at Austin Hospital, Victoria, Australia. "Amyloid imaging with PET scans is expected to be widely available soon for clinical practice. It will be an important new tool in the assessment of cognitive decline." Beta-amyloid accumulates as neurotoxic plaque in individuals preceding the onset of Alzheimer's disease, and as a result, extensive neural tissues that control major mental and physical functioning - including memory, language and motor function - are decimated. In time the disease becomes debilitating and has a devastating impact on individuals' quality of life. Three ongoing studies presented at this year's meeting involve several years of research based on hundreds of participants ranging widely in age, cognitive ability and stage of disease. Results of these studies show that amyloid plaques build up very slowly, by an estimated two to three percent per year, and that they are often already present in healthy older individuals -12 percent of those in their 60s, 30 percent of those in their 70s and 55 percent in those over the age of 80. In one study, about 25 percent of subjects over the age of 60 had amyloid plaques. The presence of significant amyloid buildup is linked to quicker memory decline and brain atrophy. One of the major questions in Alzheimer's imaging has been which imaging agent is best for amyloid plaque screening. Several studies have been conducted using 11C Pittsburgh Compound-B (11C-PIB), a PET imaging agent that binds to beta-amyloid in neural tissues, but two of the current studies are gauging the benefit of using F-18 labeled tracers (F-18 Florbetaben and F-18 Florbetapir), designed for routine clinical use. Both F-18 Florbetaben and F-18 Florbetapir are proving to be good predictors of progression to Alzheimer's disease, and F-18 amyloid imaging agents are the likeliest agents to move forward into clinical practice in the near future. Researchers estimate that amyloid imaging agents will be available for clinical use in fewer than 12 months. These and further studies will continue to amass data about the development of Alzheimer's disease, and potential treatments could eventually stop and perhaps even prevent or reverse damage in the brain caused by Alzheimer's disease. Notes:  Scientific Paper 119: K. Rodrigue, K. Kennedy, M. Devous, D. Park, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX; "Beta-amyloid in healthy aging: Regional distribution and cognitive consequences," SNM's 58th Annual Meeting, June 4-8, 2011, San Antonio, TX. Scientific Paper 121: C. Rowe, K. Ellis, B. Brown, P. Bourgeat, R. Head, R. Martins, O. Salvado, C. Masters, D. Ames, V. Villemagne, Austin Hospital, Melbourne, Australia; University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia; Australian e-Health Research Centre, CSIRO, Brisbane, Australia; National Ageing Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; Mental Health Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; "The consequences of Aβ deposition in ageing and Alzheimer's disease: Results from 366 elderly subjects," SNM's 58th Annual Meeting, June 4-8, 2011, San Antonio, TX. Scientific Paper 170: K. Ong, V. Villemagne, A. Bahar-Fuchs, F. Lamb, G. Chételat, C. Reininger, B. Putz, B. Rohde, C. Masters, C. Rowe. Austin Hospital, Melbourne, Australia; Bayer Schering Pharma, Berlin, Germany; Mental Health Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; "Conversion from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease over 12 months: Predictive value of Aβ imaging with 18F-Florbetaben," SNM's 58th Annual Meeting, June 4-8, 2011, San Antonio, TX. Source: Susan Martonik Society of Nuclear Medicine Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/227706.php Main News Category: Alzheimer's / Dementia Also Appears In:  Radiology / Nuclear Medicine,   Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions. Save time! Get the latest medical news headlines for your specialist area, in a weekly newsletter e-mail. See http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsletters.php for details.

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Dementia Community Roadshow Provides Lifeline To 100,000 Families, UK10 Jun 2011

On 14 June Alzheimer's Society, Alzheimer Scotland and Tesco will launch the UK's first ever Dementia Community Roadshow.

With more than a million people predicted to be living with undiagnosed dementia in 2021, the Roadshow is an essential first step in providing much needed information and advice about the condition.

The Charity of the Year partnership launched in March this year and published a joint Mapping the Dementia Gap study that revealed huge variations in the numbers of people with dementia receiving a diagnosis around the UK. Overall, 60% of people with dementia in the UK currently don't have a diagnosis. Many people delay seeking help because of low awareness of symptoms and treatments or fear they will lose their independence. But a formal diagnosis is vital for people with dementia so they can access drugs, support and advice to enable them to live well with the condition.

The Dementia Community Roadshow aims to reach 100,000 people over three years and will visit Tesco car parks across the UK spending two days at every store it visits. The Roadshow will help raise awareness, provide vital information and advice on dementia, direct people to essential, local services and help bring people concerned about their memory one step closer to achieving a diagnosis.

Britt Ekland, film star, former Bond girl and Patron of Alzheimer's Society will launch the first Roadshow event in Belfast on 14 June. She says:

'My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in her early 50s and in those days it wasn't so understood as it is today. I hope this Roadshow continues to lift the taboos around dementia and I'd really encourage anyone with questions about the condition to visit the website and find out when a Roadshow is visiting them.'

Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive, Alzheimer's Society says:

'It's really worrying that sixty per cent of people with dementia in the UK don't have access to the help and support they need. Thanks to our partnership with Tesco, we are starting a Roadshow that really is pioneering. It will help us reach out to communities, tackle stigma by raising awareness of the condition and encourage people who are worried about their memory to visit their GP.'

David Reid, Chairman, Tesco said:

'We're very proud to help Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer Scotland raise awareness of dementia in the communities our stores serve across the UK. Almost half of our staff and customers have a loved one or friend with dementia. We hope that customers take the opportunity to visit the Roadshow and together we hope to build a better future for people with dementia.'

People can find out when the Dementia Community Roadshow will be in their area or can request the Roadshow visits a Tesco store near them at www.alzheimers-tesco.org.uk. If people are worried about their memory, or are affected by dementia, and the Dementia Community Roadshow isn't coming to their area soon, they can visit www.alzheimers.org.ukfor further information and advice.

Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer Scotland are Tesco Charity of the Year 2011. Together they aim to raise £5million and for each day of the partnership, aim to help 300 people live better with dementia. As well as the Roadshow, the partnership will fund new research and dementia support professionals to help those living with the condition.

Notes

- Together Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer Scotland are Tesco Charity of the Year 2011 and hope to raise £5 million to fund Dementia Community Roadshows, Dementia Support and research.
- The partnership with Tesco presents a three step approach to help build a better future for people with dementia:

- The Dementia Community Roadshows will visit Tesco car parks all around the UK from June 2011. It will help bring people worried about their memory one step closer to achieving a diagnosis by encouraging them to visit their GP and arming them with the information they need to help them achieve a diagnosis

- After diagnosis, the Dementia Support Services will help isolated families get the specialist care and advice they need

- Two vital dementia scientists will conduct groundbreaking research into the disease and increase our understanding of possible life-changing treatments and support

- The partnership will be supported throughout the year by a range of product promotions in Tesco stores which will donate a proportion of their sales to the charities. A donation of 0.0125p will also be made by Tesco Personal Finance PLC every time a cash machine is used at Tesco until 29 February 2012. Clubcard customers can now donate their points to Alzheimer's Society.

Source:
Alzheimer's Society
Alzheimer Scotland
Tesco
Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/228115.php
Main News Category: Alzheimer's / Dementia



Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.
Save time! Get the latest medical news headlines for your specialist area, in a weekly newsletter e-mail. See http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsletters.php for details.

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Breathing 4 Life's Memory: TACKING ACTION UR COMMUNITY

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Breathing 4 Life's Memory: Forget yesterday, forget tomorrow

Breathing 4 Life's Memory: Forget yesterday, forget tomorrow: " M u s t - Read - A r t i c l e s Seven stages of Alzheimer's disease (act2endalzno..."

c-Abl Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

c-Abl Linked to Alzheimer's Disease\

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

c-Abl Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

After decades of studying the pathological process that wipes out large volumes of memory, scientists at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research discovered a molecule called c-Abl that has a known role in leukemia also has a hand in Alzheimer's disease...

Alzheimer's Reading Room

After decades of studying the pathological process that wipes out large volumes of memory, scientists at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research discovered a molecule called c-Abl that has a known role in leukemia also has a hand in Alzheimer's disease. The finding, reported in the June 14th issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, offers a new target for drug development that could stave off the pathological disease process.



New protein linked to Alzheimer's disease

Peter Davies, PhD, head of the Feinstein Institute's Litwin-Zucker Center for Research in Alzheimer's Disease, became interested in c-Abl when he found that the protein was part of the plaques and tangles that crowd the brains of Alzheimer's patients. The protein c-Abl is a tyrosine kinase involved in cell differentiation, cell division and cell adhesion. In patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), c-Abl is turned up in B cells. Inhibiting c-Abl with the cancer drug Gleevec prevents cell division. There was quite a lot known about c-Abl when Dr. Davies began thinking about its possible role in Alzheimer's. He was looking at kinases that phosphorylate tau, the protein that accumulates inside of the neurons during the disease process.

Dr. Davies questioned whether activated c-Abl turned on the cell cycle and could kill adult cells. He designed the study to test this idea and found that turning on the cell cycle in adult brain damages the cells. In their current study, the investigators devised a clever way to activate c-Abl in neurons of normal adult mice. They turned on human c-Abl genes in two different regions – the hippocampus and the neocortex – in adult mice and discovered abundant cell death, especially in the hippocampus. "You don't even need to count, you can just look and see holes in the cell layers of the hippocampus," said Dr. Davies. "It is stunning. Even before the neurons die, there is florid inflammation."

He said that the animal model is ideal for testing the benefit of drugs that turn off c-Abl. While Gleevec works in CML, it does not cross the blood-brain barrier so it would not be useful. Dr. Davies and his colleagues are looking for other drugs that inhibit c-Abl and can get into the brain. "We have a great model to test compounds for Alzheimer's disease. Will regulating c-Abl make a difference for patients? We won't know unless we try it in double blind clinical trials."

The researchers are now working to understand the mechanism of cell death. They are also investigating why males die considerably sooner than females – 12 to 15 weeks compared to 24 to 26 weeks. "It is an incredibly interesting model," said Dr. Davies. "If c-Abl is important we can learn how it works."

___________________________________
The paper detailing the findings has been published in an early online version. It is scheduled for publication in the June 14th issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (http://www.j-alz.com).

About The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research

Headquartered in Manhasset, NY, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research is home to international scientific leaders in Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, psychiatric disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, sepsis, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, human genetics, leukemia, lymphoma, neuroimmunology, and medicinal chemistry. The Feinstein Institute, part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, ranks in the top 6th percentile of all National Institutes of Health grants awarded to research centers. For more information: www.FeinsteinInstitute.org

A Heart-Healthy Diet That’s Good for the Brain...

 

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May 24, 2011 Nutrition scientists continue to extol the virtues of a Mediterranean diet, the traditional diet from Italy, Greece and other countries that border the Mediterranean Sea. The diet, high in fruits and vegetables and healthy fats like olive oil, along with modest amounts of red wine and little red meat, may curb heart disease and prolong life – and keep your mind sharp and free of Alzheimer’s disease in old age, studies suggest.
Now a large new study from Rush Medical College in Chicago provides the strongest evidence to date that a Mediterranean style diet may be good for the brain. Researchers studied 3,790 men and women ages 65 and older, tracking them over many years beginning in 1993. They were given regular questionnaires about the foods they ate, along with tests of memory and thinking skills every three years.
Those seniors who adhered to a Mediterranean diet most strictly scored higher on mental acuity and memory tests than those who didn’t eat much of the heart-healthy foods. Overall, those who stuck most closely to a Mediterranean diet were two years younger in “brain age” than their peers who didn’t follow such a diet. The findings held even after adjusting for risk factors like age, sex, race, years of education and participation in mentally stimulating activities.
The researchers caution that they could not account for all the many factors that may contribute to cognitive decline in old age. Food surveys, in which people fill out what they eat, can be unreliable, though the researchers used scientifically validated methods to analyze the results, and the study involved a large number of people.
The findings, which appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, bolster a growing body of evidence that a heart-healthy Mediterranean diet is good for the brain. Earlier, smaller studies have reported that healthy people who follow a Mediterranean diet lower their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. And those with Alzheimer’s who followed such a diet lived longer than their peers who did not. Earlier research has also shown that a Mediterranean diet may cut the risk of strokes, cancer, diabetes and possibly other illnesses as well.
Doctors are not sure why a Mediterranean diet may be good for the brain. One possibility is that such a diet reduces a risk for blood vessel disease, which may contribute to the risk for Alzheimer’s disease. A Mediterranean diet helps cut down on inflammatory substances in the body, too, and inflammation has increasingly been tied to heart disease and possibly Alzheimer’s as well. Fruits, vegetables and red wine are also high in cell-protecting antioxidants.
Key components of the Mediterranean diet include:

• An abundance of fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, cereals, nuts and beans;
• Choosing “good” fats like olive or canola oil, rather than butter or lard, and limiting dairy products like high-fat cheese and milk;
• Eating moderate amounts of fish and poultry, rather than red meat; and
• Drinking a glass or two of red wine a day.

Many other factors besides diet, including the genes you inherit and advancing age, play an important role in who ultimately develops Alzheimer’s. Still, the findings suggest that lifestyle factors can have an impact on Alzheimer’s risk. Eating a heart-healthy diet, along with getting regular exercise and keeping weight down, may help keep the brain young.
By ALZinfo.org, The Alzheimer’s Information Site. Reviewed by William J. Netzer, Ph.D., Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University.
Source: Tangney CC, Kwasny MJ, Li H, Wilson RS, Evans DA, Morris MC: “Adherence to a Mediterranean-type dietary pattern and cognitive decline in a community population.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Dec. 22, 2010.

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May 24, 2011

Having a thick middle, high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease may increase your risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia as well, a new study reports.

The findings come from France, where researchers studied more than 7,000 men and women ages 65 and older living in three French cities. Those who had a constellation of symptoms called “metabolic syndrome” – including hypertension, a large waistline, high levels of a type of blood fat called triglycerides, low levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, and poor control of blood sugar, a sign of impending diabetes – tended to perform worse on memory and thinking skills tests than those without these issues. Performing poorly on such tests is often an indicator of an increased risk of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. The findings appeared in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Metabolic syndrome has long been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks. It is not an actual disease but rather a group of symptoms. The findings support a growing body of evidence that factors like a large waistline and high blood pressure – whether in midlife or beyond — may be linked to diminishing thinking skills and possibly even Alzheimer’s disease.

“Our study sheds new light on how metabolic syndrome and the individual factors of the disease may affect cognitive health,” said study author Christelle Raffaitin, M.D., of the French National Institute of Health Research in Bordeaux. “Our results suggest that management of metabolic syndrome may help slow down age-related memory loss, or delay the onset of dementia.”

At the start of the study, researchers evaluated the 4,323 women and 2,764 men and found that 16 percent had metabolic syndrome. All the participants were given memory tests two and four years later.

Those with metabolic syndrome were 20 percent more likely to have a decline in thinking and memory skills than those without the syndrome. Two factors in particular were linked to declining memory: higher triglycerides and low HDL, or “good” cholesterol. Having diabetes was also linked to memory problems, although high blood sugar levels were not.

The authors propose that taking steps to reduce metabolic syndrome may help to ward off or slow down mental decline in old age. Increasingly, Alzheimer’s is seen as a disease that may take years or even decades to develop. Taking measures to slow cognitive decline could, potentially help to keep thinking sharp and postpone the onset of full-blown Alzheimer’s by many years.

By ALZinfo.org, The Alzheimer’s Information Site. Reviewed by William J. Netzer, Ph.D., Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University.

Source: C. Raffaitin, MD, C. Feart, PhD, M. Le Goff, MSc, et al: “Metabolic Syndrome and Cognitive Decline in French Elders: The Three-City Study.” Neurology, Feb 2, 2011, Vol. 76, pages 518-525.

Brain Scans Lead to Earlier Alzheimer’s Diagnosis | Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation

May 24, 2011

Scientists are moving closer to diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease at an earlier stage using special brain scans. The scans, which are not routinely available in doctors’ offices, should make it easier to know for sure whether someone has Alzheimer’s earlier in its course, when treatments may be more effective and patients can better plan for the future. Currently, the only way to get a definitive diagnosis is to examine the brain after death during an autopsy.

The imaging technique picks up the presence in the brain of plaques, which are made up of clumps of beta-amyloid protein fragments. Plaques are a telltale sign that someone has Alzheimer’s, though their role in the disease is not well understood. Someone may have dementia, but if they do not have plaques, their dementia is due to a condition other than Alzheimer’s.

Between 10 and 20 percent of people who are given a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s turn out not to have the disease when their brains are examined at autopsy. And doctors miss the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in about a third of patients with early disease and only mild memory loss and other symptoms. Someone who comes to the doctor’s office complaining of depression, for example, may actually be in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

The imaging techniques involve the use of positron emission tomographic, or PET, scans. They use various dyes that latch on to particles of beta-amyloid in the brain, making it possible to see plaques on the brain scans in living people.

Most recently, an advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration recommended approval of an imaging technique developed by Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, pending further study of the technique. The company has developed a brain dye called florbetapir F 18 that attaches to beta-amyloid, which then lights up on PET scans.

In a recent study, florbetapir-PET imaging was performed on the brains of 35 men and women who were in hospice or long-term care facilities and nearing the end of their lives, about half of whom were thought to have Alzheimer’s. Their brains were then examined after they died, to see if the PET scans in the living people were consistent with the findings on autopsy.

In almost all the cases, the living brain scans matched the autopsy findings. One patient who was thought to have Alzheimer’s actually had dementia of other causes. Two others turned out to have Alzheimer’s, though they were given other diagnoses while alive.

Similar scans were performed on 74 young and healthy individuals under age 50. Presumably, their brains would be relatively free of plaque, which turned out to be the case. The study appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The findings give new weight that such scanning techniques will prove effective in diagnosing Alzheimer’s definitively at earlier stages. Scientists need to do further study to determine how much plaque defines a diagnosis, and doctors need to be trained in carrying out and interpreting test results.

The technique is also being used to assess the effects of various Alzheimer’s drugs in development. By monitoring brain plaques, researchers can determine whether an experimental drug is working by preventing the buildup of beta-amyloid in the brain. Current medications for Alzheimer’s may ease symptoms for a time but do not stop the downward progression of disease.

Additional work needs to be done to evaluate the accuracy of the technique. And doing PET scans with brain dyes is an expensive procedure that cannot be routinely performed in a doctor’s office. Still, the findings add another piece of the puzzle to diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease at earlier stages, potentially allowing patients, family members and doctors to plan for the future more effectively.

By ALZinfo.org, The Alzheimer’s Information Site. Reviewed by William J. Netzer, Ph.D., Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University.
Christopher M. Clark, MD; Julie A. Schneider, MD; Barry J. Bedell, MD, PhD; et al: “Use of Florbetapir-PET for Imaging Beta-Amyloid Pathology.” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 305 (No. 3), January 19, 2011, pages 275-283.
Brain Scans Lead to Earlier Alzheimer’s Diagnosis | Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation

Stop selling higher dose Alzheimer's drug, group says – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs

Stop selling higher dose Alzheimer's drug, group says – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs

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Breathing 4 Life's Memory: Walk With Us To End Alzheimer's Oct9 LA,CA

Join the Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer's™ and unite in a movement to reclaim the future for millions. Together, we can end Alzheimer's disease the nation's sixth-leading cause of death.

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Walk To End Alzheimer's Promotional Video

JOIN OUR TEAM & TAKE ACTION WITH US ON OCT 9th LOS ANGELES CA !!!!
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Breathing 4 Life's Memory:: "Recognizing the Contributions of those with Alzheimer’s May is Older American ’s Month and a good time to t..."