Alzheimer's & dementia

waltky · Mar 17, 2016

Lost memories may be recoverable...

Dementias lost memories may be recoverable: study
Fri, Mar 18, 2016 - People with Alzheimers disease may not have lost their memories, but could simply have difficulty accessing them, say researchers, who on Wednesday unveiled a possible treatment that could one day offer a cure to the ravages of dementia.

Nobel Prize-winner Susumu Tonegawa said studies on mice showed that by stimulating specific areas of the brain with blue light, scientists could make the creatures recall thoughts that were otherwise unavailable to them. The results offer some of the first evidence that Alzheimers disease does not destroy specific memories, but rather makes them inaccessible. As humans and mice tend to have a common principle in terms of memory, our findings suggest that Alzheimers disease patients, at least in their early stages, may also keep memories in their brains, which means there may be a possibility of a cure, Tonegawa said.

Tonegawas team used mice that had been genetically modified to exhibit symptoms similar to those of humans suffering from Alzheimers disease a degenerative brain condition that affects millions of adults around the world. The animals were put in a box which had a low-level electrical current passing through the floor giving an unpleasant, but not dangerous, shock to their feet. An unaffected mouse that is returned to the same box 24 hours later freezes in fear, anticipating the same nasty sensation. Mice with Alzheimers do not, suggesting they have no recollection of the experience.

However, when researchers stimulated targeted areas of the animals brains the engram cells associated with memory using a blue light, they appeared to recall the shock. The same result was noted even when placing the creatures in a different box during stimulation, suggesting the memory had been retained and was being reactivated. By examining the physical structure of the mices brains, researchers found that those affected with Alzheimers-like conditions had fewer spines conduits through which synaptic connections are formed.

Via repeated light stimulation they were able to increase the number of spines to levels indistinguishable from those in normal mice, resulting in their exhibiting the freezing behavior seen in the original box. The mices memories were retrieved through a natural cue, Tonegawa said, referring to the box that initially triggered the freezing behavior. This means that symptoms of Alzheimers disease in mice were cured, at least in their early stages.

The research, carried out by the RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics, is among the first to prove that recall rather than memory is the problem, Japan-based RIKEN said. Its good news for Alzheimers disease patients, center director Tonegawa, who won the 1987 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine, said by telephone from his office in Massachusetts. The optical stimulation of brain cells a technique called optogenetics involves inserting a special gene into neurons to make them sensitive to blue light, and then stimulating specific parts of the brain. The research was published in the Britain-based science journal Nature.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2016/03/18/2003641883
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waltky · Jul 1, 2016

Who are you again?...

Prosopagnosia: How face blindness means I can't recognise my mum
Fri, 01 Jul 2016 - Evie Prichard writes about living with prosopagnosia, a condition which means she can't recognise faces - even her own family's.

When you see someone you know, the easiest way to identify them is by their face - but not everyone can do this. It's thought that one in 50 people may have prosopagnosia, or face blindness. Twenty-four-year-old Evie Prichard, who has the condition, explains what life is like when you struggle to recognise your friends and family. I was 19 when I bumped into a nondescript guy at a party and asked him if he knew an ex-boyfriend who I'd broken up with a couple of months earlier.

Evie Prichard (l) and her mother Mary Ann Sieghart (r)

The familiar loud shirt and stench of CK One should have been enough to warn me who I was talking to, but instead for some reason they made me think that this stranger was a friend of my ex, who had perhaps borrowed his shirt and cologne. Unfortunately, on this as on many occasions, the sleuthing which accompanies most of my social interactions had let me down - inevitably, that guy was my ex. All he'd done was cut his hair and shave his stubble, but because I was in high heels our height differential was also off. My face blindness means that I rely on cues such as hairstyle and height to tell people apart, and without these I am completely adrift.

In a sense this was a triumph. It certainly deflated his ego a little. But it was also one of many instances in which my face blindness has conspired to make me look like an idiot. To me, a face is like a dream. It's incredibly vivid in the moment, but it drifts apart seconds after I look away until all that's left are the disjointed features and a vague memory of how it made me feel. Living with a brain that lacks this one crucial function can be extremely debilitating, but most of the time it is merely inconvenient and gut-wrenchingly embarrassing.

What is prosopagnosia?
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waltky · Dec 8, 2016

Would be good fer when Granny wonders around an' mumbles to herself...

Japan tracks dementia patients with QR codes attached to fingernails
Thu, 08 Dec 2016 - A Japanese city is tracking elderly dementia patients by attaching barcodes to their fingernails.

A Japanese city is keeping track of elderly dementia sufferers by attaching barcodes containing personal information to their fingers and toes, officials say. A company in Iruma, near Tokyo, has developed a tagging system for members of the public at risk of getting lost. The 1cm (0.4in) square stickers hold an address, telephone number and unique identity number for each user. The free service, launched this month, is a first for Japan. The initiative, which uses a system of QR codes, was set up to help reunite family members with their elderly loved ones in the event that they go missing, according to the Iruma welfare office.

A sticker displaying a QR code is seen attached to a fingernail in the city of Iruma, a western suburb of Tokyo

The technology allows police to obtain details of a person's local city hall, along with contact telephone numbers and personal details, simply by scanning the code. An official told the AFP news agency that this new method was a "great advantage". "There are already ID stickers for clothes or shoes but dementia patients are not always wearing those items."

The water-resistant stickers, which remain attached for an average of two weeks, can be more discreet than other items such as badges as they can be attached to toenails and worn beneath socks. Japan is facing an ageing population, with more than a quarter of its citizens aged 65 or over. This is set to increase to 40% by 2055, with the population expected to shrink from the current 127 million to 90 million.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38247437
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waltky · Jun 21, 2017

When Granny gets cranky, Uncle Ferd shows her ol' folks home brochures...

What It's Like Being the Long-Distance Caregiver of a Parent with Dementia
June 20, 2017 - I am my mom's primary caregiver, but I cannot be with her all the time, which adds a lot of responsibility and stress to my life. My mom has dementia. She lives in her own apartment in Hilton Head, SC, within a complex for seniors where aides come to check on her between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

They make sure she is taking her medication, showering, and eating properly. I live with my husband in Massachusetts and my daughter and her family live near my mom. My daughter visits her often-sometimes to check on her but mostly to take her out to dinner or the park so her kids can spend quality time with their GiGi. Fully trusting and relying on someone else to take care of my mom, even someone in the family, is tough. Each month I make it a point to write or talk to the head nurse of the complex to set up my mom's doctors' appointments, review her grocery bills, and plan her weekly activities. But once I hang up, I have to trust that someone else is taking care of things and that my mom is safe because when I call and ask my mom if she ate lunch or went to the dentist when she was supposed to, her response is always "I don't know," or worse, "no."

Caregiving from 1,000 miles away has its challenges.

About two years ago, I had to have a heartfelt conversation with my mom to tell her she couldn't go to her singing group anymore and needed an aide to help her on a daily basis. It was a challenging conversation to say the least. My mother loves to sing. For years, she sang with a choir in Hilton Head. But one day, she went to the wrong place for practice. Then I got a call from another singer in the group saying my mom's hygiene was bad, as if she hadn't showered in days. I was miles away at home, but I knew I needed to fly down to South Carolina and check on my mom. This is when I realized that she was beginning to struggle with signs of dementia. We sat in the car to have this conversation like I used to do with my daughter-they can't walk away, they have to listen. I put my hand on her shoulder and I didn't cry. I'm a crier but I was determined to have her understand why she needed the help a senior facility would provide. Since I was only visiting for a brief time during a break from my job as a junior high school teacher, I had to accomplish so much. My life as well as my mother's was becoming a little more complex.

We have journeyed through the adjustment period. Since then she's settled into her life in her new apartment with the help of her aides. We talk regularly, but the changes I notice in her tend to upset me. When I was a kid, my mom was president of the PTO and now it can be too difficult for her to go to activities in her senior complex-she wouldn't remember what time, where to go, or what to wear. It's hard to see her less vibrant than I'm used to. She spends a lot of time sitting alone in her apartment. By going to caregiver meetings, talking with other caregivers, and reading articles, I learned how to have a relationship with my mom on a far different level than it had ever been. Before I call her, I write down a list of what we could talk about since she never has much to say. I also like to zone in on her lucid moments-if she tells me a story about her uncle or why she likes a certain tomato salad, I try to write it down. The good news is that I have the chance to build a new type of relationship with her, when so many of my friends don't have their mom around anymore. I feel happier and relieved since I altered the way I deal with my mom and think about the shift in our relationship.

Now that I'm 58 and retired, I bought a condo in Hilton Head and stay down there for longer periods of time, a month or more. That's part of the reason why I decided to retire. I can spend more than a few days in South Carolina and take my mom to appointments as well as spend some quality fun time with her. On my most recent visit, we went out to dinner twice, saw a show, and went to the movies. An aide curled my mom's hair, helped her pick out a skirt, and even put a spritz of perfume on. Being there makes it easier for us both. I can see that she has good days when she'll tell me about my grandson's visit and a concert she saw. And when I leave, I can't think about how she's possibly sitting in her apartment all alone, like I tend to imagine. I know she is safe and that I have to let go of my guilt for not being there and trust the people who care for her.

The most important thing I've learned is that my mom just wants to be treated with respect and dignity; just like she always did. Nothing had changed really, except how I act and react to her. I still need to be the strong-handed, in-charge person many times. I have also changed my tone of voice and the way I word what needs to be said when speaking important themes to her. In a few years, my husband and I hope to move down to South Carolina full time, which I'm sure will create new obstacles and teach me new lessons. My mom and I have both come to an understanding of what our roles are to be. I am the daughter but caregiver who makes decisions that keep her safe and presumably happy. When I am down there, she likes it because "I can do the thinking for her." She is the person who is trying to grasp this new way of having to think, act, and, react to her life.

I have learned to recognize when I need to step away, have some alone time, and especially reach out to others for support. I need to give myself permission to be me in order to be there for her.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/apos-being-long-distance-caregiver-170147236.html
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waltky · Jun 23, 2017

Granny gonna start usin' olive oil to fry chicken...

Study: Olive Oil Protects Brain From Alzheimer’s
June 22, 2017 - The benefits of a Mediterranean diet are widely chronicled, but new research shows extra-virgin olive oil, a key part of the diet, may protect “against cognitive decline.”

Specifically, researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia say extra-virgin olive oil “protects memory and learning ability and reduces the formation of amyloid-beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain – classic markers of Alzheimer's disease.” Researcher say olive oil reduced inflammation and triggers a process called autophagy, which helps broken down cells to flush intracellular debris and toxins. This includes amyloid plaques and tau tangles, the latter of which is associated with memory loss in Alzheimer’s. “Brain cells from mice fed diets enriched with extra-virgin olive oil had higher levels of autophagy and reduced levels of amyloid plaques and phosphorylated tau,” said senior investigator Domenico Praticò.

For their study, the researchers looked at mice with three traits of Alzheimer’s: memory impairment, amyloid plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles. The mice were put into two groups, one group got a diet enriched with extra-virgin olive oil, while the other group received a normal diet. The olive oil was given to the mice when they were only six months old and before any symptoms of Alzheimer’s set in. While there was no difference in the appearance of the mice, at age 9 months and 12 months, the mice in the olive oil group “performed significantly better on tests designed to evaluate working memory, spatial memory, and learning abilities.”

Olive oil, according to a new study, could help stave off Alzheimer's disease.

An analysis of the brain tissue of the mice revealed more differences. “One thing that stood out immediately was synaptic integrity,” Praticò said. The integrity of the connections between neurons, known as synapses, were preserved in animals on the extra-virgin olive oil diet. In addition, compared to mice on a regular diet, brain cells from animals in the olive oil group showed a dramatic increase in nerve-cell autophagy activation, which ultimately was responsible for the reduction in levels of amyloid plaques and phosphorylated tau.”

Next, researchers plan to see what happens to mice who are given olive oil at 12 months, when they are already showing symptoms. “Usually when a patient sees a doctor for suspected symptoms of dementia, the disease is already present,” Praticò added. “We want to know whether olive oil added at a later time point in the diet can stop or reverse the disease.” The study was published online June 21 in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.

https://www.voanews.com/a/mht-olive-oil-protects-brain-from-alzheimers-study/3911487.html
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waltky · Dec 20, 2017

Granny likes playin' hula-hoops...

Study: There's No Fail-safe Way to Prevent Dementia
December 19, 2017 - A new study has dashed hopes that people may be able to protect themselves from dementia through medicine, diet or exercise. "To put it simply, all evidence indicates that there is no magic bullet," Dr. Eric Larson wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study outlined in the medical journal looked at four types of intervention to try to prevent dementia — prescription drugs, exercise, cognitive training, and nonprescription vitamins and supplements. Researchers found none worked.

Patients with Alzheimer's disease and dementia are seen during a therapy session in Mexico City.

The Lancet, a British medical journal, reported earlier this year that about one-third of dementia cases could be linked to such conditions as cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, a lack of exercise and depression.

While Larson said there was no simple answer to the prevention of dementia, he highly recommended a commonsense, healthful lifestyle that may help delay the disease. It would involve exercising regularly, refraining from smoking, eating a healthful diet and taking part in activities that stimulate the brain.

https://www.voanews.com/a/study-says-there-is-no-fail-safe-way-prevent-dementia/4171278.html
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waltky · Jul 27, 2018

Lowering Blood Pressure Cut Risk of Memory Decline...

Lowering Blood Pressure Cut Risk of Memory Decline: US Study
July 25, 2018 — Aggressively lowering blood pressure significantly reduced the risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia among hypertension patients in a large government-backed clinical trial, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

The results, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Chicago, offer some of the first tangible steps individuals can take to reduce their risk for dementia, experts said. The results come from a landmark 2015 trial dubbed SPRINT involving of more than 9,300 hypertension patients which showed significant cardiovascular benefits in people whose systolic blood pressure - the top number in a blood pressure reading - was lowered aggressively to below 120, compared to a higher target of under 140. The Sprint MIND study looked specifically at the implications of aggressive blood pressure lowering on symptoms of dementia from any cause, and mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, a precursor to dementia.

It found that people whose blood pressure was lowered to below 120 had a 19 percent lower rate of new cases of mild cognitive impairment and a 15 percent reduction in MCI and dementia combined. The takeaway of the study, said Dr. Keith Fargo, director of scientific and outreach programs at the Alzheimer’s Association, is “see your doctor and know your numbers,” and if individuals have hypertension, get it treated. “Not only do we already know that it reduces the risk for death due to stroke and heart attacks but we now know it supports healthy brain aging,” he said in an interview.

A man has his blood pressure checked at the Remote Area Medical Clinic in Wise, Virginia

Although the study showed effects on MCI and combined dementia plus MCI, it did not show an overall reduction in dementia alone, at least not yet. Fargo said it takes longer for people to develop dementia, but as the study continues, he expects more people treated to the higher target of 140 will develop dementia. “Since it’s too early, too few people have developed dementia,” he said.

The study looked at all causes of dementia, including Alzheimer’s, the most common form marked by clumps of amyloid in the brain, and vascular dementia, which is caused by blocked blood flow to the brain. Fargo said the result most likely affects the impact of blood pressure lowering on vascular dementia but noted that many people with Alzheimer’s also have some degree of vascular disease, and reducing the total dementia risk could delay the onset of memory problems.

https://www.voanews.com/a/lowering-blood-pressure-cut-risk-of-memory-decline-us-study/4499144.html
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reallybigjohnson · Jul 27, 2018

I hope I never get alzheimer's.

reallybigjohnson · Jul 27, 2018

I hope I never get alzheimer's...wait.

yasureoktoo · Jul 28, 2018

Alzheimer's is a group discriminated against, because they'll forget to come to the protest.

I'm jealous of Regan, His last ten years, he slept with a different woman every night.

Liberty Monkey · Jul 29, 2018

Shooterman said: ↑

My Mom had Alzheimers and on December 4, 1994, it killed her. It had taken her mind long before and living was just a rote for her. It is a insidious disease that I would never wish off on my worst enemy.
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My nan died of it it was appalling she lived 10 years with it in a home, the nurses told us that every evening the patients who leave the rooms and roam the hallways like zombies barely muttering it was horrific.

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