Ah, yes, another of my friends has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. And, according to the brain scans, this person has been suffering for a few years now- but only now are the memory loss issues coming to the fore.
That’s a key factor! Too many of us think that it’s the memory loss that is the first indication. But, the data indicates more than 1/5 of us (ok, that’s the senior citizens of this world) are already manifesting amyloid deposits- which means we have what may be called “Pre-Clinical Alzheimer’s Disease”.
This is why so many researchers are seeking out markers- items that will let one easily discern if a subject is developing Alzheimer’s. And, they are seeking out those markers among those who are on the distal side of 40- they’re not waiting until they are senior citizens. Because by then, the amyloid clusters may already be of significant concentration in the brain.
Except… As I’ve already written, just because we know we are developing Alzheimer’s, it doesn’t mean we have anything in our arsenal to stop it. There are neither effective treatments, drugs or processes to attenuate the symptoms- or even hope of slowing down the progression of the disease.
(We’ve tried anti-amyloid drugs on patients- to no avail. And, as I’ve written, that may be because the amyloid plaques may just be markers- and not truly related to the disease. this is akin to the research we did decades ago trying to develop adequate dialysis treatment. We used what was called the “middle molecule” clearance rate, which the world associated with those items in the blood that leave dialysis patients with less than adequate treatment. [At one time, we were spending a grand a week on vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) in our efforts to solve that middle molecule problem. Here’s a reference to the middle molecule hypothesis .] Oh, yeah, there is no recent data to further the concept of VB12 injections to alleviate Alzheimer’s. And, it looks like Dr. Gomes’ NADP research is no longer focusing on Alzheimer’s; probably because it didn’t pan out.)
Which brings up a canard. OK, it didn’t start out as a canard, but an hypothesis proved wrong. There was a supposition among some folks at the University of Florida back around 2013, which was latched on by “alternative health” site promoted by David Wolfe that our ability to detect the aroma of peanut butter through our nostrils (it claimed that peanut butter was harder to detect on the left compared to the right) would be an “early” indicator for Alzheimer’s. (This BS is still promoted by Wolfe on the web!)
Again, while I’m at it, that brain training and those “brain improvement web sites”? To quote Tony Soprano- fuhgeddaboutit!
Oh, sure, with enough training, we (again, I’m a senior citizen) can beat the youngsters at those games (I already do when it comes to crossword puzzles and Scrabble), but it doesn’t stop any progression of Alzheimer’s or dementia. (Darn it!)
We are developing non-lethal methods of discerning if we have amyloid plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles. Those PET (Positive Emission Tomography) scans let researchers discern elevated levels of the compounds. (We can also do a – very painful- spinal tap, which can afford an indication of augmented amyloid levels.)
But, now comes the million dollar question… So, if you know you are developing Alzheimer’s, what the heck are you going to do?
Sad to read, as my mother in law travels down the dementia path. Every time I have a “senior moment “ I wonder about myself. Have you seen any evidence of the theory that hearing loss increases the risk?
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Nope. I’m not saying it doesn’t; just that i have never heard same.
Wow the more i read about alzheimer’s the more terrifying it sounds.
Unfortunately, it is terrifying- because we only find out we have it AFTER we’ve had it for a while- and then, progression is quick. And,at least for now, we have no means to slow down the disease once it reaches a critical level. (Kind of Lou Gherig disease.)