Doctors Find Alzheimer's Fighting Gene

[12dn94dst]

Greetings All,

I've been charged with chairing a sub-committee of our Physical & Mental Health committee that will deal with our newest National Initiative surrounding Alzheimer's Disease. I'm in the VERY preliminary stages (I just told the P&MH Chair that I'd spearhead this yesterday) of figuring out how I want to go about this. I want to do something more interactive than having a speaker & providing a list of resources. What are your thoughts on what you'd like to see done or successful programs (they don't have to be sponsored by Delta chapters) that have been implemented.

Thanks in advance!

Kel

[SoCalGirl]

I don't know what type of things you're looking for, but if you have any Sigma Kappa chapters in your area (collegiate or alumnae) you may want to contact them for some type of joint project. It is our national philanthropy.

There is likely a local Alzheimer's Association in your area. They should have some great resources for you. Plus you may be able to be involved in their Memory Walk. It's usually held around this time of year; so there's a chance you've missed it.

Check around to see if you have any convalescent homes in your area that focus on or have a large number of Alzheimer's patients. You could visit the patients. Things as simple as singing to them or just listining to them talk about what they remember can help soooo much.

[CrimsonTide4]

Alzheimer's Cases Expected to Triple
Mon Aug 18,11:47 PM ET Add Health - HealthDay to My Yahoo!


By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter


MONDAY, Aug. 18 (HealthDayNews) -- The number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease (news - web sites) will triple by 2050, according to new predictions.


Although the projected figures come as no surprise to those familiar with the brain disorder, one expert calls the new research a "wake-up call" to prevent a crisis.


Currently, 4.5 million older Americans have Alzheimer's disease; the new study says that the figure could balloon to 13.2 million by 2050.


Unless new ways are found to prevent or treat the disease, the dramatic rise in cases is inevitable, says the study's author, although he hopes the prediction won't become reality.


"We don't want these projections to come true," says Dr. Denis A. Evans, director of the Institute for Healthy Aging at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago. His study is published in the August issue of the Archives of Neurology.


The report come on the heels of other research, also released Monday, that found that four out of five older patients experiencing early symptoms of Alzheimer's or other cognitive disorders are not getting diagnosed or treated by their primary care doctors.


That delay prevents patients from obtaining the benefits of early treatment or the chance to make their own legal and financial decisions when their mind is still able, notes Dr. Sanford Finkel of the Council for Jewish Elderly. Finkel, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Chicago Medical School, presented his study at the 11th Congress of the International Psychogeriatric Association, an organization devoted to geriatric mental health research.


To achieve his Alzheimer's forecast, Evans and his research team first looked at the incidence of Alzheimer's over a four-year period among 3,913 Chicago residents ages 65 and older. They calculated the national prevalence of Alzheimer's and then used Census Bureau (news - web sites) data to project the number of cases to the year 2050. The projections, Evans adds, assume that not much progress will be made in combating the disease, for which there is now no cure.


Evans says his estimate is higher than some previous ones partly because "the science of doing these projections has progressed a bit in the last 15 years, so we think these are more accurate." Among other factors, the new techniques take into account the longer life span of Americans as a result of modern medicine.


Sheldon Goldberg, chief executive officer of the Alzheimer's Association, calls the findings "a wake-up call. " He adds: "This is not the first study [to predict the coming increase in cases]. It really validates earlier research that says from a public health standpoint, a crisis is coming."


He quickly adds, "A crisis is actually already here."


The new research points to the need to fund more investigations of prevention and treatment methods, Goldberg says.


Finkel's study, which looked at how adept doctors are at picking up symptoms of cognitive impairment and possible first clues to the disease, was conducted at 11 sites in Chicago and downstate Illinois, evaluating the care of 2,150 patients age 65 and older.


As many as 28 percent showed cognitive impairments -- such as memory problems -- but only in about 6 percent of cases were the problems noted in the medical records.


Alzheimer's patients suffer memory problems that grow progressively worse, are often confused, and can become quite agitated.


Twenty-three percent of the patients studied also showed symptoms of depression, another common condition among the elderly, but less than one-quarter were diagnosed.


"The finding is not going to surprise anyone," says Bill Thies, the Alzheimer Association's vice president of medical and scientific affairs. Evaluating a patient for the cognitive changes that can point to Alzheimer's "takes longer than general practice physicians often have," Thies adds.

More information

For more information on Alzheimer's disease, try the National Institute on Aging or the Alzheimer's Association.

[Afrochic]

How about a round table discussion with a doctor and families that have experienced the disease firsthand? Alzheimers is a complicated disease and it really touches you when you actually meet people who have gone through this with relatives. It can be more stressful on the caregiver than the person with Alzheimers. Have a discussion on the effects on a black family and especially those with limited financial means. Nursing homes and Alzheimers, the government and Alzheimers are topics that could be discussed as well. I'm just throwing things out there because this disease has affected my life more than anyone can believe.

The report come on the heels of other research, also released Monday, that found that four out of five older patients experiencing early symptoms of Alzheimer's or other cognitive disorders are not getting diagnosed or treated by their primary care doctors.

I can relate to this. As you all know my father lost his battle with Alzheimers on June 27. I remember when he was in his early stages and his primary care doctor didn't know what was happening to him. The doctor had the nerve to ask if he drank. He actually thought maybe my dad was an alcoholic when it was the first stages of Alzheimers.

I will come back when I think of other things because this is a disease that has hit home for me.

[DELTABRAT]

I think Afrchic's suggestions are good. I realy think that Alzheimer's is a disease that is especially overlooked in the Black Comunity. I don't know the stats but I know that previously, it was estimated to affect whites more than Blacks.

My best friend's grandmother is now battling the disease and she has had to deal with the legal and financial issues associated.

[CrimsonTide4]

Doctors Find Alzheimer's Fighting Gene
Thu Dec 11, 7:28 AM ET Add Health - AP to My Yahoo!



SINGAPORE - Researchers have discovered that a special protein-producing gene can help the brain fight the onset of Alzheimer's disease (news - web sites), a member of the team behind the finding said Thursday.

The gene, called Pin 1, generates protein that can help untangle twists in the brain's nerve cells caused by one of two proteins that lead to Alzheimer's, said Dr. Liou Yih Cherng, a Singapore-based researcher who was part of the team.


"Our discovery will allow us to look in different directions in thinking about how Alzheimer's disease develops in the first place," said Liou. "In addition, this may provide a new way to treat the neuronal degenerative diseases."


Alzheimer's is a type of dementia characterized by serious memory loss and changes in personality and behavior. It affects mostly the aged — one in 10 people over 65 and nearly half of those over 85 have it.


The disease damages the brain through a protein, called tau, that forms tangles in the brain's nerve cells. Pin 1 proved in test tube experiments at Harvard Medical School (news - web sites) that it could counter the effects of tau, Liou said.


The study revealed that healthy brains contained high levels of Pin 1 protein, while brains afflicted with Alzheimer's, replete with tangles, had little of it, he said. When the Pin 1 gene was removed from mice as part of the study, they developed tangles in the brain and neurodegenerative disorders, including loss of motor functions, Liou said.


The study was co-authored by Dr. Lu Kun Ping of Harvard Medical School and Dr. Tony Hunter of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, who discovered the Pin 1 gene in 1995.