A Scary Piece about Alz
February 19, 2009
This is not an easy piece to read, but I think we need to arm ourselves with information. Unfortunately, this story will hit home for many of you. I think for all of us, our greatest fear is succumbing to our parent’s disease. I know for myself, and this is not exactly what one should say openly, but I would consider taking my own life IF I am diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the future. Not exactly kitchen table talk, but again, it is the pure, simple truth and that is my goal with My Demented Mom.
Let’s face it, Alzheimer’s/dementia is a disgusting disease and there’s simply no way of getting around that or being kind or PC when talking about it.
Middle age memory loss seen in Alzheimer’s offspring
Children of parents with Alzheimer’s disease can develop memory problems in their 50s or even younger — much earlier than previously thought — according to a large study that Boston researchers released today.
The adults, who also carried a gene strongly linked to Alzheimer’s, performed significantly worse in memory tests, on average, than other middle-agers who had the same gene but did not a have a parent diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, according to the study by the Boston University School of Medicine. The difference in memory between the two groups was equivalent to approximately 15 years of brain aging, according to the study.
“How big an effect we saw was surprising,” said Dr. Sudha Seshadri, a BU associate professor of neurology and senior author of the study. “It was like you were comparing two groups, 55 year olds to 70 year olds.”
Researchers not involved with the study say the findings have broad implications because they are the first to demonstrate changes in cognitive abilities years before the degenerative brain disease is typically diagnosed. By the time the most common form of Alzheimer’s is confirmed, usually around age 75, it has irreparably damaged large sections of the brain’s memory center.
The BU findings do not suggest that everyone with the gene, known as APOE -e4, will develop Alzehimer’s, said Seshadri. People with APOE-e4 have an increased risk — but not a certainty — of developing Alzheimer’s. The gene is believed to play a role in about 50 percent of Alzheimer’s cases. Other genes are also suspected triggers for the disease.
The study did not address whether the subjects showing memory impairment were necessarily destined to develop Alzheimers.
Drink Your Morning Joe
January 18, 2009
A new study shows that drinking your morning cup of joe—rather three-to-five cups—in your midlife (like in your 50’s, but I’m starting now in my early 30’s) may prevent or delay the onset of dementia/AD.
Researchers in Finland and Sweden examined the records of 1,409 people whose coffee drinking habits had been recorded when they were at midlife.
Those who drank three to five cups of coffee per day in midlife were much less likely to have developed dementia or Alzheimer’s in follow-up checks two decades or more later, the researchers say in the January issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
“Given the large amount of coffee consumption globally, the results might have important implications for the prevention of or delaying the onset of dementia/Alzheimer’s disease,” Miia Kivipelto, a researcher from the University of Kuopio, Finland, and the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, says in a news release. “The finding needs to be confirmed by other studies, but it opens the possibility that dietary interventions could modify the risk of dementia/AD. [And it] might help in the development of new therapies for these diseases.”
Participants were divided into three groups: low, moderate, and high coffee drinkers. Turns out, those who fell in the moderate range had a 65%-70% decreased risk of developing dementia and a 62%-64% decreased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Screw green tea. I am going to enjoy another cup of java.
Study Alert: Recruiting from Alz Prone Families…
December 1, 2008
FRIDAY, Nov. 28 (HealthDay News)—The adult children of people with the rarer, inherited form of Alzheimer’s disease are being sought for a new study to better understand the biology of the brain disorder.
Three hundred adults with a biological parent diagnosed with a known genetic mutation causing the rare, early-onset form of Alzheimer’s are needed for the six-year, $16 million study being funded by the U.S. National Institute on Aging. The Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Disease Network (DIAN) study aims to identify the sequence of brain changes that occur even before symptoms begin to appear. By understanding this process, researchers hope to also gain insight into the more common late-onset form of Alzheimer’s.
People interested in participating in the DIAN study should visit www.dian-info.org. Study participants must be aged 18 or older.
