Read about Alzheimer's Disease

From the Alzheimer’s Reading Room


Living Alzheimer's From the Front Row

It is Difficult to Catch the Early Signs of Alzheimer's

A Simple Three Minute Test Can Detect the Earliest Stage of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Fact Sheet

Ten Million Baby Boomers likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s during their lifetime


Can Vitamin B3 Reduce Memory Problems (Nicotinamide)

Dealing with Difficult Behavior Caused By Alzheimer's

Five Ways to Keep Alzheimer's Away

High cholesterol levels in your 40s raises Alzheimer's risk

When Alzheimer's Hits at a Young Age

Conscientious people are less prone to Alzheimer's


Exercise may improve function in dementia patients


I Missed the Early Signs of Dementia in my Mother


UCSF Memory and Aging Center

Herbal supplement Ginkgo doesn't stop Alzheimer's

'Instant' Alzheimer's Drug Claim, Enbrel (Etanercept)

Wandering

Dealing with Difficult Behavior Caused By Alzheimer's

Do you have the Silver Alert Program in your state? Probably not.

Training Helps Alzheimer's Caregivers

Exercise

Exercise may improve function in dementia patients

Exercise can prevent or slow the onset of Alzheimer's


Mom

A Wonderful Moment in Time--Mom dances for the first time in years

Alzheimer's and the Thyroid

It is Difficult to Catch the Early Signs of Alzheimer's

Husband Seeks Votes for 'Alzheimer's Disease: Early Detection Matters' Project

This is a worthy cause. I know everyone is busy but if you own an American Express card you can vote in under a minute.

Jay Smith, the man who submitted this project, has first hand experience with Alzheimer's. About ten million baby boomers can expect to suffer from Alzheimer's disease if a cure or therapy is not found. Early detection does make a big difference.

To vote go to http://www.membersproject.com/project/view/OGSSPK

clipped from alzheimersreadingroom.blogspot.com Husband Seeks Votes for 'Alzheimer's Disease: Early Detection Matters' Project Please take the time to vote. Alzheimer's Campaign Selected for Top Five in Members Project from American Express The "Alzheimer's Disease: Early Detection Matters" campaign has been selected as one of the top five campaigns in the Members Project from American Express, which will award $1.5 million to the program that receives the most votes through Monday, October 13. The submitter, Jay Smith, whose wife has early onset Alzheimer's disease, along with the Alzheimer's Association, are now asking that card members go to and vote for the Alzheimer's Disease: Early Detection Matters campaign.

Combining Alzheimer's drugs helps slow rate of decline in Alzheimer's Patients

These findings should bring hope to those suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia. Baby boomers should take note.

clipped from alzheimersreadingroom.blogspot.com My mother is currently moving into the medium stage of Alzheimer's so for us this is exciting news. I intend to send this information to our personal care physician and discuss it with him immediately. "Finding something that could actually modify the course of the disease is the Holy Grail of Alzheimer's treatment, but we really don't know if that is happening or what the mechanism behind these effects might be," Alireza Atri explains. "What we can say now is that providers should help patients understand that the benefits of these drugs are long term and may not be apparent in the first months of treatment. Even if a patient's symptoms get worse, that doesn't mean the drug isn't working, since the decline probably would have been much greater without therapy." The results raise the intriguing possibility that the drugs may be protecting the patients' brains from further deterioration, the authors said.

Alzheimer's Reading Room: Ten Million Baby Boomers likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s during their lifetime

I am a baby boomer. My mother suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. Five years ago, I left my job as the CEO of a small software company to take care of my mother. I am living the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s from the front row.

It is rare to meet baby boomers that are concerned about their own uncertain fate when it comes to Alzheimer's disease. This includes most of my close friends. Fifteen thousand baby boomers are turning 60 each day.

• Every 71 seconds someone develops Alzheimer’s disease.

• Alzheimer’s disease is now the sixth leading cause of death (recently surpassing diabetes).

• One in every eight adults over the age of 65 suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

• One out of every two adults over the age of 85 suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

• Ten million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s disease in their lifetime.

Alzheimer’s disease is certain brain death. Imagine living in a world where you can recount experiences from 1936, but can’t remember your birthday party five minutes after it ended. Meet my mother. My mother never suffered a major illness. She never had an operation. Five years after her diagnosis she is in very good health. But, her brain is dying. She doesn’t know it.

I started the Alzheimer’s Reading Room to keep track of the thousands of articles and many books I was reading. I soon realized I could help the ten million Alzheimer’s Caregivers worldwide by personalizing this information on my blog. Later on, I decided to start writing about our successes in fighting the disease, our decisions on treatments, our new life style, where to look for help, and news about the search for a cure. I stick to information I believe is useful and helpful. There is an enormous amount of new information each day; it’s difficult to identify the best and most useful information. This is my job.

I now know there are many things baby boomers can do to lower the odds of contracting Alzheimer’s disease. I do all of these things for myself each day. There are things you can do to stave off the disease. You need to start doing them now. You cannot wait. With this in mind, I am broadening my mission on the blog to include information to help baby boomers understand and take action against Alzheimer’s

Here are few things baby boomers should be doing right now:

• High blood pressure (hypertension) is a cause of cognitive decline. Hypertension causes build-up of beta-amyloid in the brain. This is a complication frequently associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Take action to get your blood pressure down now.

• High cholesterol levels in your 40s may raise the chance of developing Alzheimer's disease decades later. Failure to deal with this condition effectively could raise the odds of contracting Alzheimer’s disease by fifty percent. Get your cholesterol checked often and get it down.

• B12. A recent study found that people with higher levels of vitamin B12 were six times less likely to experience brain volume loss. A simple blood test is all that is needed to check the level of B12 in your system. You should start eating foods rich in B12 and consider getting B12 shots to raise the amount of B12 in your system.

• Big Belly. Having a large belly in middle age nearly triples the risk of developing dementia.

• Cocoa flavanols. A recent study at Harvard found that those who regularly drank a cocoa flavanol-rich beverage had an eight percent increase in brain blood flow after one week, and 10 percent increase after two weeks. I highly recommend incorporating this into your diet.

• Exercise. A new study just released shows that regular exercise is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of dementia and can help slow progression of Alzheimer's disease.

In the days ahead, I will be writing more about ways to combat Alzheimer’s disease. If you know someone currently caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease please tell them about the blog. You can subscribe to the blog via email or reader by taking the appropriate action on the blog.

They are predicting that ten million baby boomers will suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. By spreading the word and taking action we can lower the number. Let’s get together on this.

Original content the Alzheimer's Reading Room

The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems

Vitamin B12 May Protect Against Brain Shrinkage in Old Age

These findings should be of special interest to baby boomers now entering their 60s.

A study conducted by researchers at the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing (OPTIMA) found that people with higher levels of vitamin B12 were six times less likely to experience brain volume loss. Vitamin B12, a nutrient found in meat, fish and milk, may protect against brain volume loss in older people. The researchers studied 107 volunteers age 61 to 87 who did not have cognitive impairment when they volunteered. The volunteers underwent yearly MRI brain scans, cognitive and memory tests and physical exams for five years.

This study suggests that simply adjusting our diets to consume more vitamin B12 through eating meat, fish, fortified cereals or milk may be something we can easily adjust to prevent brain shrinkage and so perhaps save our memory, says Anna Vogiatzoglou of the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at Oxford University. Research shows that vitamin B12 deficiency is a public health problem, especially among the elderly, so more vitamin B12 intake could help reverse this problem. Without carrying out a clinical trial, we acknowledge that it is still not known whether B12 supplementation would actually make a difference in elderly persons at risk for brain shrinkage.

Vitamin B12 may protect the brain in old age

Vitamin B12, a nutrient found in meat, fish and milk, may protect against brain volume loss in older people, according to a University of Oxford study.

For the study, 107 people between the ages of 61 and 87 underwent brain scans, memory testing and physical exams. The researchers from the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing (OPTIMA) also collected blood samples to check vitamin B12 levels. Brain scans and memory tests were also performed again five years later.

The study, published in the journal Neurology, found that people who had higher vitamin B12 levels were six times less likely to experience brain shrinkage compared with those who had lower levels of the vitamin in their blood. None of the people in the study had vitamin B12 deficiency.

Many factors that affect brain health are thought to be out of our control, but this study suggests that simply adjusting our diets to consume more vitamin B12 through eating meat, fish, fortified cereals or milk may be something we can easily adjust to prevent brain shrinkage and so perhaps save our memory,” says Anna Vogiatzoglou of the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at Oxford University. “Research shows that vitamin B12 deficiency is a public health problem, especially among the elderly, so more vitamin B12 intake could help reverse this problem. Without carrying out a clinical trial, we acknowledge that it is still not known whether B12 supplementation would actually make a difference in elderly persons at risk for brain shrinkage.”

Previous research on the vitamin has had mixed results and few studies have been done specifically with brain scans in elderly populations. We tested for vitamin B12 levels in a unique, more accurate way by looking at two certain markers for it in the blood,” adds Ms Vogiatzoglou.

Ms Vogiatzoglou says the study did not look at whether taking vitamin B12 supplements would have the same effect on memory.

The study was supported by the UK Alzheimer’s Research Trust, the Medical Research Council, the Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust, the Norwegian Foundation for Health and Rehabilitation through the Norwegian Health Association, Axis-Shield plc and the Johan Throne Holst Foundation for Nutrition Research.

For more information please contact Professor David Smith on david.smith@pharm.ox.ac.uk

Or the Press Office, University of Oxford, 01865 280528, press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk.


* OPTIMA, the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing, is tackling one of the great medical and social challenges of our time: the diseases of the ageing brain. It aims to deepen our understanding of the changes that occur in the brain as we age, in a longitudinal study of normal volunteers and patients with memory problems. In revealing the differences between normal brain ageing and diseases like Alzheimer's disease, OPTIMA will lay the foundations for the development of new forms of prevention and treatment. http://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/optima

* Oxford University’s Medical Sciences Division is one of the largest biomedical research centres in Europe. It represents almost one-third of Oxford University’s income and expenditure, and two-thirds of its external research income. Oxford’s world-renowned global health programme is a leader in the fight against infectious diseases (such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and avian flu) and other prevalent diseases (such as cancer, stroke, heart disease and diabetes). Key to its success is a long-standing network of dedicated Wellcome Trust-funded research units in Asia (Thailand, Laos and Vietnam) and Kenya, and work at the MRC Unit in The Gambia. Long-term studies of patients around the world are supported by basic science at Oxford and have led to many exciting developments, including potential vaccines for tuberculosis, malaria and HIV, which are in clinical trials.

Original content the Alzheimer's Reading Room

The Validation Breakthrough: Simple Techniques for Communicating with People with 'Alzheimer's-Type Dementia'

TauRx Therapeutics-- New treatment halts progress of Alzheimer's disease

clipped from alzheimersreadingroom.blogspot.com The results of the Phase 2 study of TauRx's new treatment strongly suggest that it is possible to halt progression in mild and moderate Alzheimer's. TauRx is continuing to refine its treatment and hopes that restoration may be possible at least at the earlier stages with improved versions of its drug. Tangles are already destroying nerve cells in parts of the brain critical for memory in people in their fifties and upwards. The ultimate goal is to develop a product that is convenient for patients that could be widely used at the very earliest stages of the disease, long before patients experience the first symptoms of Alzheimer's.

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Assisted living costs for Alzheimer's patient is tax deductible

clipped from www.usatoday.com Q: My mother just went into an assisted living facility due to Alzheimer's. It costs over $4500 per month. Are any portion of these expenses tax deductible? Answer from AICPA member Kenneth J. Strauss: Sorry about your mother but the good news is that the entire $4,500 is fully tax deductible as a medical expense. The rules can get pretty complicated but it is clear that Alzheimer's disease is a severe cognitive impairment which is the threshold for determining if the taxpayer is entitled to a full medical deduction. Like all medical deductions the total amount of medical deductions is an itemized deduction. The medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of her adjusted gross income are deductible. Depending on how high her income is will determine the full tax benefit. This might be a year to take some extra money from her retirement account. If your mother does not have the resources and you or another family member is paying then you should see if your mom can qualify as a dependent.

Alzheimer's Reading Room: Memory And Thinking Problems Decline Among Older Americans

clipped from www.alzheimersanddementia.org clipped from www.medicalnewstoday.com A new US study suggests that brain health is improving among older Americans as demonstrated by a decline in thinking and memory problems in this group. The researchers said improved cardiovascular care, better education, and being financially better off could be the main reasons. The researchers found that: About 40 per cent of the decrease in cognitive impairment over the decade ending in 2002 was likely due to increases in education and personal wealth. They found this by comparing two groups of seniors, one at the start of the decade and one at the end. School attendance requirements, graduation rates in high school, enrollment rates in college or technical school, all went up in the period when the adults in the study were children and young adults. 72 per cent of people aged over 65 living in 2003 had a high school diploma compared with 53 per cent in 1990. The proportion of college-educated elderly also went up during that time, from 11 to 17 per cent.