Alzheimer's

[Mr.Nick]

My grandmother has had severe Alzheimer's for the past 10 years. She hasn't drank a drop over the past decade (no fluids whatsoever) she hasn't drank a drop of a liquid in 10 years and she is currently being fed through an IV tube connected to her stomach...

Apparently the other day she picked up a bottle of booze (Jack) and started drinking it and now she has a taste for booze...

It's almost like the movie "Awakening."

It's an odd bit of progress...

She loves wine..

 

[asaratis]

Good wine is good for the mind!

 

[Luissa]

How can you have severe Alzheimer's for ten years?
Do you mean she has Alzheimers and now it has gotten worse? And if she is on feeding tube is she at a nursing home? Because most of the time they put them on hospice not a feeding tube.

 

[jan]

My Mother had Altzheimers...she developed it in her mid 80's and died when she was 91. It's a very sad disease seeing your loved one's dwindle away to nothing...especially when they were so strong and vibrant at one time.

The memories you shared with that person become one sided and the Altzheimers patient lives very much in the moment. The past is gone and the future non-existent...the moment is where it's at for the Altzheimers patient.

 

[waltky]

Dat's why Uncle Ferd got Granny mowin' the lawn...

Any kind of physical activity lowers Alzheimer's risk
17 Apr.`12 - Cleaning house and doing yardwork are taking on new importance. A higher level of physical activity — not just exercising — is linked to a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease even in people over 80, suggests research published Wednesday in the journal Neurology.

Protective activities include washing dishes, cooking, cleaning, gardening — even playing cards. People who scored in the bottom 10% of physical activity were more than twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's. Study participants did not have dementia at the start of the four-year study, which is part of the ongoing Memory and Aging Project at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. "The implication of this study is really astounding," says physician Aron Buchman, the lead author. "Exercise is good, without a doubt, but this study is about more than exercise. Older people who might not be able to exercise can tailor activities that are right for them." There is no cure or drug to delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease, which affects about 5 million people in the USA; numbers are expected to triple as Baby Boomers get older. Aging is the main risk factor.

During the study, 71 of the 716 study participants developed Alzheimer's. Study authors say this is the first study to use an objective measurement of all physical activity in addition to self-reports. Participants wore an actigraph on their wrists to assess levels of activity. The mean score for participants was 3.3 hours per week. Intensity of exercise also mattered: People in the bottom 10% of intensity of physical activity were almost three times as likely to develop Alzheimer's. The study is the latest evidence that physical activity, even in later years, aids in delaying Alzheimer's. The study did not attempt to measure which activities were most helpful. "We've known that muscle activity generates neurons in the brain, but this study gives us additional motivation," says physician Gary Kennedy, director of geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, who was not associated with the study. "It shows you don't have to go to the gym. Older people very often don't want to do that."

Results did not vary by age, sex or education. The authors also looked at chronic health and genetic factors. Among the findings:

•Body mass index, depressive symptoms or vascular risk factors did not change the association between activities and risk.

•The gene APOE4, which puts people at higher risk for developing Alzheimer's, did not change the results. Alzheimer's develops for years prior to symptoms occurring, notes Kennedy. The authors tried to control for that possibility by administering baseline cognitive tests. "This is an important message for society as the largest growing segment of our population is old people," says Buchman. "We need to be encouraging physical activities even in very old individuals, even if their health doesn't allow them to take part in fitness programs." In an accompanying editorial, the authors cite physical activity as a promising, low-cost, easily accessible and side-effect-free means to prevent Alzheimer's.

Source

 

[BDBoop]

My mom got (and died) of the worst kind. They say it's a 2-5 year life expectancy, and she made it seven. She was just a shell at the end. I think the hardest thing about it was watching that steel trap of a mind erode to dust. The best part was she forgot all the rage, and spent at least a couple of years as a sweet little old lady.

 

[waltky]

possum got his lil chemistry set out, fermentin' aspirin to give Granny - he worried she gettin' awful forgetful...

Old Medicine May Have New Role in Alzheimer's
April 27, 2012 - Immune globulin shows promise in lab mice

Immune globulin - also called gamma globulin - may help restore the brain's ability to rewire itself. A new study in laboratory animals suggests a promising new avenue for treating Alzheimer's Disease. The mice in this research were given a medicine that's been around for decades. Immune globulin - also called gamma globulin - is made from purified blood plasma and is normally used to boost the immune system. Recently, scientists have been exploring its potential as a treatment for Alzheimer's Disease.

The results of these immune globulin experiments have been inconsistent. Researcher Giulio Maria Pasinetti, of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and his colleagues thought these inconsistent results were due to variations in how the immune globulin was administered. So they gave their lab mice very small doses intravenously over four weeks. Researchers say they saw a dramatic slowdown in the animals' cognitive deterioration.

Pasinetti says the treatment increases certain immune system components called anaphylotoxins, which may help restore plasticity, the ability of the brain to, in effect, rewire itself as needed. It may also have a role in reducing the beta amyloid protein deposits in the brain that are characteristic of Alzheimer's Disease. The results of Giulio Pasinetti's study were presented at a scientific meeting called Experimental Biology 2012 in San Diego, California.

Source

 

[percysunshine]

I had alzheimers once, but I forgot when that was.

 

[Mr.Nick]

How can you have severe Alzheimer's for ten years?
Do you mean she has Alzheimers and now it has gotten worse? And if she is on feeding tube is she at a nursing home? Because most of the time they put them on hospice not a feeding tube.

No she has had Alzheimers for the last 10 years and started drinking recently. She has not drank an ounce of ANY liquid for 7 years or so I suppose. Now shes drinking booze.

She has around the clock nursing care at her home (my uncle stays with her too)...

 

[Mr.Nick]

My mom got (and died) of the worst kind. They say it's a 2-5 year life expectancy, and she made it seven. She was just a shell at the end. I think the hardest thing about it was watching that steel trap of a mind erode to dust. The best part was she forgot all the rage, and spent at least a couple of years as a sweet little old lady.

It's been a decade since my grandmother started to have major symptoms....

My grandmother knows where everything in the house is tho, she walks up flights of stairs and walks around the house (almost like a zombie tho) but she knows where her room is and where to go when she wants to lay down...

She refused to drink or eat for the last 7 years and and had to be fed through a tube with "Pedia Sure" - I guess that has changed... I was shocked when I heard the news...

 

[BDBoop]

The only thing that hurts worse than the knowledge of what happened to my mother is the fear that I'm next.

 

[Mr.Nick]

The only thing that hurts worse than the knowledge of what happened to my mother is the fear that I'm next.

My mom worries about that sometimes, however there is no evidence to support that...

Just because an individual in your family gets a disease or disorder doesn't mean you're going to get it...

Hell my grandfather on my dads side died 7 years before I was born of cancer, my grandmother on the same side died of (treatable cancer, but refused treatment) a few years ago....

Now on my moms side both of my grandparents are living into their late 80's...I have one cousin (out of 70 or so) that has cancer....

Does that mean I will get cancer? no...... Because I know I have genes from both my father and my mother...

 

[waltky]

Hope for early-onset Alzheimer's patients...

Study to test antibody crenezumab for preventing Alzheimer's
15 May`12 – The government will launch a first-ever collaborative, multimillion-dollar drug trial to try to prevent a form of Alzheimer's disease, officials said during a two-day research summit at the National Institutes of Health here.

"This is the beginning of a new era of Alzheimer's research," says Eric Reiman, a researcher for Banner Alzheimer's Institute in Phoenix, which is partnering with the National Institutes of Health, drugmaker Genentech and the University of Antioquia in Medellín, Colombia. "It's so exciting to be able to conduct the first prevention trial that might be able to help families fight against this disease, which they regard as a curse, and to help the world."

Francis Collins, director of the NIH, says the government is committing $16 million to the $100 million prevention trial and an additional $7.9 million to a second trial for treating Alzheimer's disease. The trials launch the government's ambitious national plan to find a cure by 2025. Signed into law last year by President Obama, the plan went through several drafts before Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius presented a final version Tuesday. The plan calls for new research, earlier diagnosis, new training for physicians to detect the disease and help for caregivers.

At the heart of the plan are the 5.4 million people in the USA affected by the incurable brain-wasting illness, and a smaller segment of about 200,000 who have the more rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's. Those numbers are expected to triple by 2050 as Baby Boomers get older. "With the good news of living longer comes additional challenges," says Sebelius. "As we live longer, we face health challenges that weren't evident before. And one of the biggest challenges is Alzheimer's disease."

The purpose of the collaborative prevention trial is to find out if an experimental antibody called crenezumab can sustain memory and cognitive skills in people who are genetically disposed to get the disease at a young age. If it proves to be effective, Reiman says, the study could provide a faster way to test future Alzheimer's therapies. It can take 15 to 20 years to bring an experiment from trial to the consumer, and by then, Reiman says, "more generations will be lost to this devastating disease."

MORE

 

[Luissa]

The only thing that hurts worse than the knowledge of what happened to my mother is the fear that I'm next.

Did your mom have early onset?

We had an in service on all this recently, and if your family member had Alzheimer's it doesn't raise your chances of getting it by much......But if they had early on set it does.

 

[BDBoop]

The only thing that hurts worse than the knowledge of what happened to my mother is the fear that I'm next.

Did your mom have early onset?

We had an in service on all this recently, and if your family member had Alzheimer's it doesn't raise your chances of getting it by much......But if they had early on set it does.

I'm pretty sure she did not.

 

[Luissa]

The only thing that hurts worse than the knowledge of what happened to my mother is the fear that I'm next.

Did your mom have early onset?

We had an in service on all this recently, and if your family member had Alzheimer's it doesn't raise your chances of getting it by much......But if they had early on set it does.

I'm pretty sure she did not.

Did she develop it after 65?

And I feel for ya...

 

[BDBoop]

Did your mom have early onset?

We had an in service on all this recently, and if your family member had Alzheimer's it doesn't raise your chances of getting it by much......But if they had early on set it does.

I'm pretty sure she did not.

Did she develop it after 65?

And I feel for ya...

Thank you, and I believe so but since she was mentally ill, it is difficult to say. I may ask my father.

 

[Luissa]

I'm pretty sure she did not.

Did she develop it after 65?

And I feel for ya...

Thank you, and I believe so but since she was mentally ill, it is difficult to say. I may ask my father.

I still have my paperwork from that in service, I will check out the percentages and let you know.
I guess it is a good thing we have to have so many hours of continuing education a year for my job.

 

[hjmick]

I had alzheimers once, but I forgot when that was.

I have Irish Alzheimers.

I forget everything except the grudge...



On a serious note, however, it is not an easy trip guiding a loved one through the maze of this disease.

To all who are dealing with it, I offer my thoughts as I am not a praying man. To all who have dealt with it and lost a loved one, my sympathies.

 

[BDBoop]

I had alzheimers once, but I forgot when that was.

I have Irish Alzheimers.

I forget everything except the grudge...



On a serious note, however, it is not an easy trip guiding a loved one through the maze of this disease.

To all who are dealing with it, I offer my thoughts as I am not a praying man. To all who have dealt with it and lost a loved one, my sympathies.

My mom had reverse Irish. She stopped hating my dad.