Alzheimer's to get big funding from Obama administration~

[Sunshine]

Washington -- The Obama administration announced plans Tuesday to dramatically boost funding for research into Alzheimer's disease.

Administration officials said the president would propose an additional $80 million in research funding next year, up from about $450 million this year.

The president will also call for another $26 million in funding to help support families and others who care for Americans suffering from the disease.

Alzheimer's research to get big U.S. funding boost

No objections, but we really should have figured out how to extend the life of the brain before we extended the length of time the heart would continue to beat.

 

[waltky]

Aricept can help advanced cases too...

Alzheimer's drug aids more severe cases too: study
7 Mar.`12 - The most widely prescribed drug to treat mild Alzheimer's disease, Aricept (donepezil), has been shown for the first time to help patients with more severe cases too, a study said Wednesday.

The research was funded by the UK Medical Research Council and the Alzheimer's Society, and received donated pills from the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer-Eisa and Lundbeck but drugmakers were not otherwise involved. Treating patients with advanced Alzheimer's offered "significant functional benefits over the course of 12 months," said the article in the New England Journal of Medicine which included nearly 300 patients. Doctors often stop prescribing donepezil to patients with more advanced dementia because the drug's benefit is unclear and treatment may appear to have less benefit as the disease progresses.

The randomized clinical trial looked at the effects of donepezil on patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer's who scored between five and 13 on a scale of one to 30, where 30 indicates higher cognitive function. It found that taking donepezil for 52 weeks resulted in improved scores on mental tests and measures of daily activity compared to those who were assigned to discontinue the drug. "For the first time, we have robust and compelling evidence that treatment with these drugs can continue to help patients at the later, more severe stages of the disease," said lead author Robert Howard from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London.

"We observed that patients who continued taking donepezil were better able to remember, understand, communicate and perform daily tasks for at least a year longer than those who stopped taking the drugs." Howard added that since donepezil will be available soon in cheaper, generic form, the findings could "greatly increase the numbers of patients in the developed and developing world that we are able to treat." Some 18 million people around the world suffer from Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common form of dementia.

The World Health Organization has said that of the 35 million people who have Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia worldwide, 58 percent live in low- and middle-income countries. By 2050, that figure is expected to reach 71 percent. Donepezil is a type of drug known as a cholinesterase inhibitor that helps maintain memory and brain function by preserving a chemical neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, and has been on the market since 1997. The drug was initially approved on the basis of three to six month clinical trials, but its effects beyond one to two years were uncertain.

MORE

See also:

Alzheimer's patients 'should stay on drugs for longer'
7 March 2012 - Alzheimer's disease drugs raise levels of the neurotransmitter acetyl choline

Thousands of patients with advanced Alzheimer's disease could benefit from drugs, research suggests. A study in the the New England Journal of Medicine found that patients who stayed on the dementia drug Aricept had a slower decline in their memory. The drug tends not to be prescribed once sufferers progress beyond moderate symptoms. Medicines regulator NICE said its guidelines supported continuing treatment where there were benefits. The patent for the medicine Aricept, which is used to treat Alzheimer's disease, expired recently. Much cheaper versions under the generic name donepezil are already available for about £12 a month.

The researchers say their new evidence could lead to twice as many Alzheimer's sufferers worldwide being given medication. The trial involved 295 Alzheimer's patients in England and Scotland who had been taking Aricept. One set were given placebo tablets while another set stayed on Aricept. A third set were given another drug, Ebixa, or memantine, which is usually prescribed only in the later stages of Alzheimer's. The fourth batch of patients received a combination of both drugs. The researchers assessed each group for a year, looking at their cognitive scores on factors like memory, and also at how well they coped with everyday tasks such as dressing and eating.

'Robust and compelling' evidence

The drugs were unable to halt the decline of patients, but they slowed it down. The study's lead author, Professor Robert Howard from King's College London Institute of Psychiatry, said: "For the first time, we have robust and compelling evidence that treatment with these drugs can continue to help patients at the more severe stages. "Patients who continued taking donepezil were about four months ahead in how they were able to remember, communicate and perform daily tasks than those who stopped taking the drugs. "It means a lot to doctors and carers to see differences like that. These improvements were sustained throughout the year. "It's fair to say that both drugs have independent, positive effects at this stage of dementia. I'm advising hospital colleagues to continue patients on donepezil, when it's tolerated, and to add in memantine."

Controversial restrictions

 

[uscitizen]

The biggest advance is that donepezil went generic and dropped from about $3,000/yr to $100/yr.

 

[Nova78]

Is Obama pulling this funding out of his ass,You do know we are broke,fast going the way of Greece,Obama -bankrupting this Country one day at a time

 

[waltky]

It would help if the doctors would listen to the families...

Test Might Provide Early Alzheimer's Diagnosis
April 23, 2012 - Currently, only way to diagnose brain-wasting disease is after patient's death

Scientists are developing a test that could diagnose Alzheimer's disease in its earliest stages, a period when drugs can still help to improve the memories of those suffering from the fatal brain-wasting condition. Today, there are no medical tests a doctor can use to positively determine whether a person has Alzheimer's. Experts say most physicians are not trained to diagnose the condition in an office visit, and screenings to assess memory and cognition are only about 90 percent accurate. The only way to confirm a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is through a brain autopsy after the patient's death.

Scientists have been trying to develop diagnostic medical tests. Researchers in Arizona used an experimental radioactive contrast agent, called florbetaben, during a positron emission tomography or PET scan. They found it lit up the telltale protein deposits, or plaques, that are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. While there are no drugs to cure Alzheimer's or slow its progression, early detection can sustain a patient's quality of life. Marwan Sabbagh, director of the Banner Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City, Arizona, and principal investigator in the florbetaben study, notes there are pills that can help to slightly improve a patient's memory.

"Even those modest benefits might allow someone to stay independent for longer or retain what they are able to do for longer than giving them no treatments," he says. Florbetaben is just one of a number of new contrast agents that allows doctors to see Alzheimer's deadly amyloid plaques and to begin immediately treating the condition, Sabbagh says. The research team studied 200 elderly participants who were nearing death, some with Alzheimer's disease and others without any symptoms of dementia. The participants underwent PET scans with florbetaben to look for amyloid plaques.

Researchers compared the brain scans of 31 patients, who later died, with the results of their brain autopsies. The imaging with florbetaben was almost 100 percent correct in identifying people with Alzheimer's whose autopsies also revealed evidence of the amyloid plaques. This new diagnostic imaging, which could identify much younger Alzheimer's patients, comes at a time when new drug treatments for the brain disease are also becoming available. "There is in development a whole generation of drugs, what we call disease-modifying drugs which are strictly intended to slow the rate of progression," Sabbagh says. "So, the timing of this is perfect."

Source

 

[Mr. H.]

If doctors listened to families, my wife would have had me committed years ago.

 

[Sunshine]

It would help if the doctors would listen to the families...

Test Might Provide Early Alzheimer's Diagnosis
April 23, 2012 - Currently, only way to diagnose brain-wasting disease is after patient's death

Scientists are developing a test that could diagnose Alzheimer's disease in its earliest stages, a period when drugs can still help to improve the memories of those suffering from the fatal brain-wasting condition. Today, there are no medical tests a doctor can use to positively determine whether a person has Alzheimer's. Experts say most physicians are not trained to diagnose the condition in an office visit, and screenings to assess memory and cognition are only about 90 percent accurate. The only way to confirm a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is through a brain autopsy after the patient's death.

Scientists have been trying to develop diagnostic medical tests. Researchers in Arizona used an experimental radioactive contrast agent, called florbetaben, during a positron emission tomography or PET scan. They found it lit up the telltale protein deposits, or plaques, that are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. While there are no drugs to cure Alzheimer's or slow its progression, early detection can sustain a patient's quality of life. Marwan Sabbagh, director of the Banner Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City, Arizona, and principal investigator in the florbetaben study, notes there are pills that can help to slightly improve a patient's memory.

"Even those modest benefits might allow someone to stay independent for longer or retain what they are able to do for longer than giving them no treatments," he says. Florbetaben is just one of a number of new contrast agents that allows doctors to see Alzheimer's deadly amyloid plaques and to begin immediately treating the condition, Sabbagh says. The research team studied 200 elderly participants who were nearing death, some with Alzheimer's disease and others without any symptoms of dementia. The participants underwent PET scans with florbetaben to look for amyloid plaques.

Researchers compared the brain scans of 31 patients, who later died, with the results of their brain autopsies. The imaging with florbetaben was almost 100 percent correct in identifying people with Alzheimer's whose autopsies also revealed evidence of the amyloid plaques. This new diagnostic imaging, which could identify much younger Alzheimer's patients, comes at a time when new drug treatments for the brain disease are also becoming available. "There is in development a whole generation of drugs, what we call disease-modifying drugs which are strictly intended to slow the rate of progression," Sabbagh says. "So, the timing of this is perfect."

Source

I diagnose Alzheimer's early all the time. The work up involves a CT scan, labs to rule out B12 and folate deficiency, blood dyscrasias, electrolyte imbalance, and a simple 30 question memory test. The biggest clue a person has dementia is intractible depression. When a person has depression that simply doesn't respond to ANY antidepressants or combination thereof, it is most likely a symptom of dementia and does respons to an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. What they have lost doesn't ususally come back, but if you can diagnose it that early they haven't lost much. But they can notice an improvement in their level of depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance. They may have a little paranoia which goes quickly away with a very mild antipsychotic over a very short time, it is not good to give older folks those drugs as they increase the risk of stroke. But sometimes the person is just so paranoid that nothing else helps. Once the paranoia is gone, and they are on the ACH inhibitor, the antipsychotic can be stopped. (Normal CT does not necessarily mean they are not demented, but the CT scan will often show cerebral atrophy if they are.)

Many diseases are still diagnosed by the clinical work up rather than through a 'test.' If your MD or NP knows what they are doing Alzheimer's or any other dementia, and there are several, should not go undetected. Hint: Go to a specialist not your primary care provider.

 

[Stephanie]

Come on folks, Obama BELIEVES our tax dollars are his to do as he wishes and we should just sit and hail him a hero.

 

[Sunshine]

Come on folks, Obama BELIEVES our tax dollars are his to do as he wishes and we should just sit and hail him a hero.

Well, science has enabled our bodies to live much longer, but not our minds. The person who can live to be 200 is likely already born or will be born in the next 10 years. Too bad, the person will be too out of it to enjoy the longevity.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

Aricept can help advanced cases too...

it the greatest BS drug is US history. It has no effect long term whatsoever. It may slow it down for a moment but then you go back to where you would have been if you had never taken it.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Come on folks, Obama BELIEVES our tax dollars are his to do as he wishes and we should just sit and hail him a hero.

Well, science has enabled our bodies to live much longer, but not our minds. The person who can live to be 200 is likely already born or will be born in the next 10 years. Too bad, the person will be too out of it to enjoy the longevity.

Hate to tell you, but we've only started serious research on the human brain in the past 10 years or so. Why? We didn't have the ability to get images of the brain at work.

We know more about the heart because it's not as complicated as the brain.

Speaking of brains, maybe you should use yours.

 

[BDBoop]

Is Obama pulling this funding out of his ass,You do know we are broke,fast going the way of Greece,Obama -bankrupting this Country one day at a time

Do you have any idea what kind of a drain this country is going to be hit with when the babyboomers get this with this dreaded disease??

 

[Sunshine]

Is Obama pulling this funding out of his ass,You do know we are broke,fast going the way of Greece,Obama -bankrupting this Country one day at a time

Do you have any idea what kind of a drain this country is going to be hit with when the babyboomers get this with this dreaded disease??

It's already happening. I see at least 3 new cases a month.

 

[BDBoop]

Tell me to mind my own or just PM me - but have you been in practice a very long time? Is this number up from where it was a few decades ago?

 

[jillian]

Aricept can help advanced cases too...

it the greatest BS drug is US history. It has no effect long term whatsoever. It may slow it down for a moment but then you go back to where you would have been if you had never taken it.

and? the same could be said for insulin.

*shrug*

 

[Sunshine]

Tell me to mind my own or just PM me - but have you been in practice a very long time? Is this number up from where it was a few decades ago?

I have been a psych nurse 23 years 16 years of that an NP. I have had mentors who were both psychiatrists and neurologists.

We don't see the big picture because most dementia patients are cared for in the home. Many go to 'adult day care.' Only when they get end stage do they end up in nursing homes.

Honestly, I haven't checked the numbers lately. Stats, except as to the effectiveness of meds, don't really affect what I do. But as to my practice, the numbers are up. I do not, and have never practiced in child and adolescent psychiatry, only adult and geriatric. A lot of seriously and persistantly mentally ill who have been on antipsychotics for years burn out as to their psychosis, but then slip into dementia - likely from all the years of taking drugs which affect the cholinergic system. Mine aren't all Alzheimer's, though. I have a lot of vascular dementias - people who have had strokes or a series of 'mini strokes', as well as alcohol dementias. There are lots more dementias than just Alzheimer's, but over all they are age related merely because strokes happen more to older folks, and the alcohol dementias have a history of drinking over many years. We DO have humans with 'mad cow' disease. It is called Creutchfield-Jacobs (sounds like Kroychfeld Yakobs). They have been abroad and contracted the virion over seas from contaminated food.

And as to another post earlier from someone else, ACH inhibitors do not improve memory, they only slow the progression of the disease. BUT, they CAN help in advanced cases, by relieving the severe depression, anxiety, sundowning, and sleep problem. So, I do give it to my folks who have the more advance disease because they get some benefit that they wouldn't get from several other drugs put together.

 

[Sunshine]

Come on folks, Obama BELIEVES our tax dollars are his to do as he wishes and we should just sit and hail him a hero.

Well, science has enabled our bodies to live much longer, but not our minds. The person who can live to be 200 is likely already born or will be born in the next 10 years. Too bad, the person will be too out of it to enjoy the longevity.

Hate to tell you, but we've only started serious research on the human brain in the past 10 years or so. Why? We didn't have the ability to get images of the brain at work.

We know more about the heart because it's not as complicated as the brain.

Speaking of brains, maybe you should use yours.

You are wrong. 1990 - 2000 was 'The Decade of the Brain' - more money for research than in history, also so many new drugs in that decade it was hard to keep up with them all. As to imaging the 'brain at work.' Look up PET scan.

 

[waltky]

Can brain cell death be prevented in a range of diseases?...

Range of brain diseases could be treated by single drug
6 May 2012 - The tantalising prospect of treating a range of brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, all with the same drug, has been raised by UK researchers.

In a study, published in Nature, they prevented brain cells dying in mice with prion disease. It is hoped the same method for preventing brain cell death could apply in other diseases. The findings are at an early stage, but have been heralded as "fascinating". Many neuro-degenerative diseases result in the build-up of proteins which are not put together correctly - known as misfolded proteins. This happens in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's as well as in prion diseases, such as the human form of mad cow disease.

Turn off

Researchers at the University of Leicester uncovered how the build-up of proteins in mice with prion disease resulted in brain cells dying. They showed that as misfolded protein levels rise in the brain, cells respond by trying to shut down the production of all new proteins. It is the same trick cells use when infected with a virus. Stopping production of proteins stops the virus spreading. However, shutting down the factory for a long period of time ends up killing the brain cells as they do not produce the proteins they actually need to function.

The team at the Medical Research Council laboratory in Leicester then tried to manipulate the switch which turned the protein factory off. When they prevented cells from shutting down, they prevented the brain dying. The mice then lived significantly longer. Each neuro-degenerative disease results in a unique set of misfolded proteins being produced, which are then thought to lead to brain cells dying.

Prof Giovanna Mallucci told the BBC: "The novelty here is we're just targeting the protein shut-down, we're ignoring the prion protein and that's what makes it potentially relevant across the board." The idea, which has not yet been tested, is that if preventing the shut down protects the brain in prion disease - it might work in all diseases that have misfolded proteins. Prof Mallucci added: "What it gives you is an appealing concept that one pathway and therefore one treatment could have benefits across a range of disorders. "But the idea is in its early stages. We would really need to confirm this concept in other diseases."

'Fascinating'

 

[freedombecki]

Can brain cell death be prevented in a range of diseases?...

Range of brain diseases could be treated by single drug
6 May 2012 - The tantalising prospect of treating a range of brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, all with the same drug, has been raised by UK researchers.

In a study, published in Nature, they prevented brain cells dying in mice with prion disease. It is hoped the same method for preventing brain cell death could apply in other diseases. The findings are at an early stage, but have been heralded as "fascinating". Many neuro-degenerative diseases result in the build-up of proteins which are not put together correctly - known as misfolded proteins. This happens in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's as well as in prion diseases, such as the human form of mad cow disease.

Turn off

Researchers at the University of Leicester uncovered how the build-up of proteins in mice with prion disease resulted in brain cells dying. They showed that as misfolded protein levels rise in the brain, cells respond by trying to shut down the production of all new proteins. It is the same trick cells use when infected with a virus. Stopping production of proteins stops the virus spreading. However, shutting down the factory for a long period of time ends up killing the brain cells as they do not produce the proteins they actually need to function.

The team at the Medical Research Council laboratory in Leicester then tried to manipulate the switch which turned the protein factory off. When they prevented cells from shutting down, they prevented the brain dying. The mice then lived significantly longer. Each neuro-degenerative disease results in a unique set of misfolded proteins being produced, which are then thought to lead to brain cells dying.

Prof Giovanna Mallucci told the BBC: "The novelty here is we're just targeting the protein shut-down, we're ignoring the prion protein and that's what makes it potentially relevant across the board." The idea, which has not yet been tested, is that if preventing the shut down protects the brain in prion disease - it might work in all diseases that have misfolded proteins. Prof Mallucci added: "What it gives you is an appealing concept that one pathway and therefore one treatment could have benefits across a range of disorders. "But the idea is in its early stages. We would really need to confirm this concept in other diseases."

'Fascinating'

That's very heartening information, Waltky. Thanks.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Well, science has enabled our bodies to live much longer, but not our minds. The person who can live to be 200 is likely already born or will be born in the next 10 years. Too bad, the person will be too out of it to enjoy the longevity.

Hate to tell you, but we've only started serious research on the human brain in the past 10 years or so. Why? We didn't have the ability to get images of the brain at work.

We know more about the heart because it's not as complicated as the brain.

Speaking of brains, maybe you should use yours.

You are wrong. 1990 - 2000 was 'The Decade of the Brain' - more money for research than in history, also so many new drugs in that decade it was hard to keep up with them all. As to imaging the 'brain at work.' Look up PET scan.

Yo..........Spunk Slime................got news for you, heart transplants were done long before the 1990's.

Try again you ignorant bitch.