[Michaelangelica]

Keep them quite and manageable.(much cheaper). Similar to what happens to psychiatric Patients a la -One though over the Cooko'os Nest"

Drug-free dementia?
Alison Benjamin argues that without properly funded dementia care drugs will continued to be over used
June 20, 2008 2:08 PM

Ivan Lewis's announcement yesterday of a review to restrict the use of "chemical cosh" drugs for people with dementia inevitably grabbed the headlines at the launch of the consultation of the first ever National Dementia Strategy. With the Alzheimer's Society estimating that a staggering 100,000 dementia patients are wrongly given drugs to subdue them, usually in care homes, the move should be welcome. But we also need to ask why care home staff are heavily sedating people with dementia.

From talking to specialist providers of dementia care, it is clear that most care homes are unable to cope with the increasing number of residents who have some form of dementia. Staff aren't trained how to recognise signs of dementia, nor how to deal with the often agitated or aggressive behaviour it can unleash, and there often aren't enough staff to provide the personalised, tailored care that the residents desperately need. Unfortunately, people with dementia often annoy or even scare the other residents, who are more than happy when their noisy neighbour is shut up, whatever the method.

Drug-free dementia? | Joe Public | guardian.co.uk

Use of 'chemical cosh' drugs to be restricted

· Review of treatment of dementia patients
· Inappropriate prescribing 'cutting lives short'

* Sarah Boseley, health editor
* The Guardian,
* Friday June 20, 2008
* Article history

The use of so-called "chemical cosh" antipsychotic drugs to subdue people with dementia will be curbed as part of a government strategy to help the growing numbers of people with the condition

.
Use of 'chemical cosh' drugs to be restricted | Society | The Guardian

[Michaelangelica]

Keep them quite and manageable.(much cheaper). Similar to what happens to psychiatric Patients a la -One though over the Cooko'os Nest"

Drug-free dementia?
Alison Benjamin argues that without properly funded dementia care drugs will continued to be over used
June 20, 2008 2:08 PM

Ivan Lewis's announcement yesterday of a review to restrict the use of "chemical cosh" drugs for people with dementia inevitably grabbed the headlines at the launch of the consultation of the first ever National Dementia Strategy. With the Alzheimer's Society estimating that a staggering 100,000 dementia patients are wrongly given drugs to subdue them, usually in care homes, the move should be welcome. But we also need to ask why care home staff are heavily sedating people with dementia.

From talking to specialist providers of dementia care, it is clear that most care homes are unable to cope with the increasing number of residents who have some form of dementia. Staff aren't trained how to recognise signs of dementia, nor how to deal with the often agitated or aggressive behaviour it can unleash, and there often aren't enough staff to provide the personalised, tailored care that the residents desperately need. Unfortunately, people with dementia often annoy or even scare the other residents, who are more than happy when their noisy neighbour is shut up, whatever the method.

Drug-free dementia? | Joe Public | guardian.co.uk

Use of 'chemical cosh' drugs to be restricted

· Review of treatment of dementia patients
· Inappropriate prescribing 'cutting lives short'

* Sarah Boseley, health editor
* The Guardian,
* Friday June 20, 2008
* Article history

The use of so-called "chemical cosh" antipsychotic drugs to subdue people with dementia will be curbed as part of a government strategy to help the growing numbers of people with the condition

.
Use of 'chemical cosh' drugs to be restricted | Society | The Guardian

Embryo law 'will hit Alzheimer's cure research' - Telegraph

Embryo law 'will hit Alzheimer's cure research'

By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:01pm GMT 21/01/2008

Research into new treatments for diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's will be delayed by new laws limiting stem cell research, a group of leading scientists say.

Under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill any work involving the use of cloned embryonic stem cells will require the consent of its donor.

A group of 29 scientists including three Nobel prizewinners warned in a letter that the provision would deny them access to tissue banks which act as libraries of the genes that trigger the serious diseases they want to study.
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Much of the tissue was collected before it became possible to clone embryos, meaning patients would not have been able to consent to their genetic material being used for work of this kind.

Seeking retrospective permission will not be possible as most of the tissue was donated anonymously.

"Such stem cell lines would be of great value in understanding how diseases develop, as well in the search for therapies,"

Embryo law 'will hit Alzheimer's cure research' - Telegraph

[Monomer]

Researcher Answers Questions About the Newly Discovered Alzheimer's Genetic Risk Factor, CALHM1

Scientists have discovered a new Alzheimer's disease gene called CALHM1.

That genetic risk factor is common, and while it's not as big a risk as another genetic variant called ApoE4, it is "extremely significant" and may lead to new Alzheimer's treatments, researcher Philippe Marambaud, PhD, tells WebMD.

We have provided very strong evidence in this recent publication that this risk factor is found in a gene that represents a new calcium channel. A calcium channel is a protein that allows entry into the cells, and in this case, we believe into the neurons, of the calcium ion. Calcium ions are very important signals inside the cells to generate a mechanism related to memory formation, for instance.

But also, what we found is that these signals lead to the modulation of the so-called APP processing. The APP processing is a very important pathway that leads to the production of the amyloid peptide. The amyloid peptide is a building block of senile plaque. There is a hypothesis right now in the field that amyloid plaque, but also amyloid peptides before they aggregate into plaque, may be the toxic element in the disease.

So basically, we found a link between the genetics of the disease, with this susceptibility factor, and the production of the amyloid peptides, which is very important.

[Monomer]

'Good' cholesterol dementia risk

Too little of one type of cholesterol has been linked by research to memory loss and Alzheimer's disease.

UK and French scientists studied 3,673 civil servants, revealing low levels of "good" cholesterol were associated with poor memory.

Doctors might be able to uncover high-risk patients using blood tests, they said in a US heart journal.

But other experts said the study did not yet support larger diet trials aiming to boost levels.

The relationship between levels of HDL, or "good", and LDL, or "bad" types of cholesterol is thought to be important in the development of other serious conditions such as heart disease and stroke.

Higher levels of HDL, in particular, are believed to protect against damage to blood supply caused by the narrowing of the arteries.

There is also evidence that "good" cholesterol can influence the laying down of the beta-amyloid "plaques" that are a distinctive feature in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

[Michaelangelica]

Cold Sore Virus Might Play Role In Alzheimer's

ScienceDaily (Jan. 3, 2007) — A gene known to be a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease puts out the welcome mat for the virus that causes cold sores, allowing the virus to be more active in the brain compared to other forms of the gene. The new findings, published online in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, add some scientific heft to the idea, long suspected by some scientists, that herpes somehow plays a role in bringing about Alzheimer's disease.

Cold Sore Virus Might Play Role In Alzheimer's

Researchers Investigate (Horrors!) Nicotine's Potential Benefits

IN work that sounds a little like scientific blasphemy, medical researchers have begun paying increasing attention to some beneficial effects of nicotine that were first noticed in cigarette smokers.

After years of quiet discussion among scientists, hints that cigarettes can protect against some diseases or improve the outcome of others have led to growing interest in finding out why. This has focused attention on nicotine, tobacco's most active ingredient, as a potential treatment for several major health problems, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. MORE

Researchers Investigate (Horrors!) Nicotine's Potential Benefits - New York Times

[Monomer]

A very small study, but could be promising:

Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug May Prompt Rapid Improvement in Alzheimer's Disease Symptoms

A new study shows people with Alzheimer's disease experienced rapid improvement in language abilities after treatment with Enbrel (etanercept). In fact, researchers videotaped noticeable language skill improvements in Alzheimer's patients within minutes after receiving the drug.

The small, phase two clinical trial involved only 12 people with mild to moderate forms of Alzheimer's disease, but researchers say the results merit further study in phase three clinical trials.

Etanercept works by targeting a substance produced by the immune system known as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha).

Researchers say the findings may also offer new insight behind the development of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia and offer new avenues for treatment using immune-based therapies.

For example, researcher Edward Tobinick of the Institute for Neurological Research in Los Angeles and colleagues say elevated levels of TNF-alpha in the brain may interfere with the regulation of neural impulses controlling language in the brain. With further study, these effects may be reversible with drugs like etanercept that target TNF-alpha.

[Monomer]

Yes, another drug...

New Drug for Alzheimer's Offers Benefits to Intellectual Function

A drug called Dimebon, once marketed as an antihistamine in Russia, is showing promise for the treatment of mild-to-moderate symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, according to research published in this week's Dementia Special Edition of The Lancet.

Researchers out of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston randomly assigned nearly 200 patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease to receive treatment with Dimebon or a placebo. After six months of treatment, the participants had the option to continue treatment for another six months.

Among the 120 patients who completed one year of treatment, those on Dimebon had significantly better scores on a measure of everyday intellectual functioning than those on placebo. In addition, while scores on this measure improved during the study period for those on Dimebon, they actually worsened among those on placebo. Dry mouth and depression were the side effects most commonly linked with the drug.

Today's research suggests that a new drug for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease may be on the horizon. While other drug treatments are available for this condition, this is the first one to offer increasing benefits over a year's time.

[Michaelangelica]

Development of herbal cure for Alzheimer's claimed
Posted: 12:14a.m. IST, August 11, 2008

Lucknow, Aug 11 (IANS) India's National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) here says it has invented a herbal tonic to treat Alzheimer's disease, which leads to gradual loss of memory in the aged.

Encouraged by the satisfactory results when the herbal formulation was tested on rats, the institute has filed for a US patent.

'The herbal formulation will act as a memory enhancer in treating Alzheimer's,' C.V. Rao, a pharmacology scientist and a member of the team of scientists doing the research at the NBRI, told IANS.

'The scientists are led by Yogendra Kumar Gupta for the research on the herbal product and a process patent application has been filed,' Rao added.

Development of herbal cure for Alzheimer's claimed - news.smashits.com


A blog with an information overload unless you are Terry Pratchett
Alzheimer's News .... keeping you informed ...: Round up of the International Conference on Alzheimer’s disease

[Michaelangelica]

Necrotic ringspots on a potato tuber (cultivar Nicola) due to Potato virus Y infection. (Credit: Karine CHARLET-RAMAGE & Camille KERLAN Laurent GLAIS & Camille KERLAN INRA-ENSA, Rennes, France)
Potatoes May Hold Key To Alzheimer's Treatment

ScienceDaily (Aug. 16, 2008) — A virus that commonly infects potatoes bears a striking resemblance to one of the key proteins implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and researchers have used that to develop antibodies that may slow or prevent the onset of AD.

Potatoes May Hold Key To Alzheimer's Treatment

[Michaelangelica]

ALZHEIMER'S SUFFERER: Terry Pratchett

By best-selling author Terry Pratchett, 17/08/2008
THE NHS is seriously injured.

Alzheimer’s is a particularly unpleasant and feared disease. I don’t know anyone who’s got better from Alzheimer’s.

It strips away our humanity a little bit at a time so you hardly notice and until you end up a vegetable.

Click here to have your say

But a drug called Aricept can slow the progress of the disease, and the good news is it costs just £2.50 a day.

The bad news is there are 400,000 Alzheimer’s sufferers in the UK so Aricept has been ruled out for NHS use in the mild stages of the disease everywhere except Scotland.

In Scotland Alzheimer’s sufferers with the mild form of the disease can actually get the drugs and I think that’s a lovely way to run a health service. There is a two-tier NHS, in fact —the Scottish one and the English one. More on that later.

I’m a millionaire so I have no trouble paying, but there are people who can’t.

I think it’s a sufficiently unpleasant disease to be worth the £2.50 a day Aricept costs.

My wife and PA both noticed real changes in me after two or three months on it. I used to fumble with buttons and needed help with seatbelts. Now, I get dressed normally and seatbelts slide in first time. Mentally, it’s the difference between a sunny day and an overcast day. Ye Gods, that’s worth it!

I was diagnosed nine months ago. I’m still some way from 65, which makes me ‘early onset’.

Moderation note: cropped for fair use

Terry a million to one chances happen all the time.-TP
Terry Pratchett writes for the News of the World | News | News Of The World