Posted on 06/12/2004 5:58:43 PM PDT by Coleus
Stem Cells Not the Priority for Alzheimer'sNewsMax.com Wires
NEW YORK – Despite the high profile that Nancy Reagan and others have given the idea of using embryonic stem cells to treat Alzheimer's disease, advances are likely to come faster from other approaches.
Friday, June 11, 2004
Experts cite other more promising efforts that in five to 10 years may be used to fight the disease that led to President Reagan's death.
"I just think everybody feels there are higher priorities for seeking effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease and for identifying preventive strategies," said Marilyn Albert, a Johns Hopkins University researcher who chairs the Medical and Scientific Advisory Council of the Alzheimer's Association.
Stem cells from human embryos can form all types of cells, and the hope is that they one day could be used to replace cells damaged from such conditions as diabetes, spinal cord injury or Parkinson's disease. But experts say Alzheimer's, by the very nature of how it attacks the brain, would pose a far more daunting challenge to that approach.
"There's an awful lot going on right now that perhaps holds a little bit more immediate promise for trying to slow the disease, or even cut off its development," said Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, associate director of the National Institute on Aging's neuroscience and neuropsychology-of-aging program.
She and Albert cited, for example, efforts to attack the buildup of clumps of protein called amyloid in the brain, and methods for spotting the disease early. That research will probably pay off in five or 10 years, earlier than any expected advances from stem cells, Albert said, because so much has to be learned about how to make stem cells useful against the disease.
"All the more reason we should start [stem cell efforts] now, because it's going to take a long time," she said.
About 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's, a progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys memory and ability to learn, reason, communicate and do everyday activities. Patients die on average eight years after symptoms appear, although the disease can linger for 20 years.
"What you're dealing with here is a mind in disarray," Morrison-Bogorad said. Connections between brain cells are being lost, neurons are dying and becoming dysfunctional, the amyloid plaques are building up between brain cells and protein tangles are showing up within cells. And there's inflammation.
"It's just a mess in there," she said. "But the mess means there are so many targets for intervention."
The amyloid plaques have emerged as a favorite target, and scientists and drug companies around the world are studying ways to prevent or destroy them.
One high-profile approach is a vaccine that primes the body to attack amyloid. Studies on animals were encouraging, but in 2002 a study on people was halted when several vaccine recipients developed brain inflammation. Last year, researchers reported that the vaccine did appear to reduce the accumulation of plaques in one study participant.
Work is continuing now on a safer vaccine, because the available evidence suggests "this is an important avenue to pursue," Albert said.
Another popular approach seeks to keep the brain from making the abnormal form of amyloid that creates the plaques. It's a high priority at "every major drug company," Albert said.
The overall focus on amyloid makes her optimistic.
"Everybody's working on it," she said. "What we've learned from the past is that if everybody works really hard at something that is sensible, they're likely to make a lot of progress. So there's just enormous optimism that in five years, or certainly 10 years, we'll have much more effective treatments."
Another key research area is finding a way to predict who will get Alzheimer's before symptoms appear. Because the disease develops over many years, much damage has been done by the time it's diagnosed. So scientists want to identify people at an earlier stage for the day when more effective treatments become available.
In the same vein, scientists want to find ways to track the progress of the disease in people being treated, so they can quickly tell if the treatment is helping.
So researchers are doing long-term studies to see if different kinds of brain scans, mental tests and spinal or blood tests can predict development or progression of the disease.
Lifestyle factors too, such as taking anti-inflammatory drugs and vitamins like E and C, are being studied to see if they can help prevent Alzheimer's or delay it.
Researchers are also exploring the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs. A relatively recent idea, Albert said, is that things like keeping cholesterol and blood pressure low and staying physically active may help. Those steps are well-known for countering heart disease, she noted.
But it's becoming clearer, she said, that "if you do things that are good for your heart, they'll be good for your brain."
Carlton Fredericks talked about a link between Alzheimer's and aluminum about 30 yrs. ago and cautioned cooking in aluminum pots and using deodorant.
Is this disease like cancer, where there are more people employed as a result of its existence than there are people who have it? Therefore it would unhinge the nation to find a cure.
We all are gonna die from something, right?
I would rather spend our hard earned dollars on taking care of babies than finding cures for the illnesses of old age.
Life has a beginning and an end. The beginning, to my mind, is more important than the end. I can say that, since i am nearer the end than the start of life.
Every baby deserves the very best start, with two parents who love him/her, and who will meet his/her needs as best they can.
At the end of life, we should rejoice. For we have done our duty, and however the end comes, it really doesn't matter that much. It is fair to hope that we do not suffer unbearable pain in our elder years, but we cannot expect endless tax dollars to be spent on the ills of age.
As an elderly one with all the aches and pains, I would rather the research money be spent on helping the babies, and let us older folk just endure, for there is wisdom to be learned from the viccisitudes of ageing.
Too bad so many want to avoid the twilight of life. Too bad so many want to avoid acquiring wisdom, and would rather have a lift and tuck, so they can pretend to be younger and dumber.
Your gettin' to global for me, but continued research beats finding the cure and turning over the residual profit to a manufacturer everytime.
Thanks for posting those links on this article. I knew I had read this someplace! What a travesty and fraud that the scientific community has committed on people like Nancy Reagan and others to give them the idea that stem cells from embryo's was the best thing to use for this disease.
It seems obvious that the media and the Democrats have raised this issue at this time not only because they favor abortion, but because they saw an opportunity to pit Bush against Nancy Reagan and put more distance between Bush and Reagan. So far it has failed, but it's absolutely typical of the relentless scheming by the leftist perverts who control the press.
Coleus,I heard this,my daughter was fired from a job because she refused to support a group that supported fetal stem cell research.
"A" patients can be in the best of health physically - however, as the disease progresses, the part of the brain that tells the body to partake of nutrition offered stops. Then begins starvation. Another part of the brain stops telling the body to swallow. Thus, even saliva can aspirate into the lungs causing pneumonia. There are few things more hurtful than having your spouse or parent look at you and have no idea who you are. But you continue your caretaking because you remember who they are.
Being forgetful, unable to speak clearly, falling down, being bedridden, and contracting pneumonia, all clear signs of Alzheimers.
Ten years is quite a long time. I've read articles on the web that say some Alzheimers patients can live 20 to 50 years with Alzheimers.
Yep. In the advancing stages of Alzheimers, those who have the disease cannot feed, drive, clothe, or bathe themselves, they become dependant upon others to do menial tasks such as brushing their teeth, coordinating their outfits, running errands, they even reach the point that they can get lost in their own home, or think the caretaker is someone who broke into their home and lash out at the caretaker. For a caretaker, they're doing the job of two people, the one they're caring for, and running their own personal life. Caretaking can become so stressful. It's been a two year "learning experience" for me as a caretaker to my grandmother.
ping
Not to mention the fact that he lived well beyond the normal life span.
I just wonder when we have a cure for all these elder conditions who is going to take care of and support all these people who live well into their hundreds? Its not going to be like they can still run around and or even walk.
With the amount of people in nursing homes already I can only imagine how it will be. It is very hard to take care of an elder in their 90's late 90's even with minor dementia. Grandchildren are often very lax in doing so as well when their parents now in their 70's also need care.
Are elders going to stop breaking their hips in there 90's also after we find this cure? I think not.
I commend you for taking care of your grandmother. I took care of my great grandmother from 95 to 98. She fell and broke both hips in 98 and spent one year in nursing home before she passed on.
Not many grandchildren are going to take care of their grandparents nor do many now.
My gram lived longer then 2 of her 3 children and her surviving son lived in another state and we felt it best to keep her with me. Also I knew she preferred to be with me because she never had a good relationship with her daughter in law.
After she went to home I suffered through depression because I could not believe I didnt have to worry about her anymore. Her passing while sad was not tragic. I knew her heart would stop beating someday as will all of ours.
Was the pneumonia related to the Alzheimers, or was Reagan just more susceptible to it because he was 93-years old?
"Ten years is quite a long time. I've read articles on the web that say some Alzheimers patients can live 20 to 50 years with Alzheimers."
Twenty years I could believe - I think 10 years was the average - and this was 5 or 6 years ago. However, I find it hard to believe someone could live 50 years with it. If they did, the last 20 or 30 years of their lives would be spent in a vegetative state. That assumes no drugs which retard the progression of the disease.
"Was the pneumonia related to the Alzheimers, or was Reagan just more susceptible to it because he was 93-years old?"
See post #29 - it contains an excellent explanation as to why Alzheimer's patients are more susceptible to pneumonia, and other illnesses.
Please don't confuse the liberals with facts........they've already made up their minds.
| Alzheimer Drugs Don't Work |
| The modest benefits received from the drugs used to treat Alzheimer’s disease are causing doctors to second-guess prescribing them to patients to treat memory and cognitive problems. While advocates of the drug remain hopeful, others have expressed their doubts on the effectiveness of these drugs. Conflicting opinions from the experts ranged from prescribing the patients the drugs for six to eight weeks, then quit if there was no sign of improvement, to prescribing the drugs for a six-month period. Startling statistics on Alzheimer’s disease:
Researchers are continuing to search for new treatments, however there doesn’t appear to be a cure in the near future. Even though some research has shown improvements after taking the drug, the changes aren’t significant enough for the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval. Presently the four drugs being used to treat Alzheimer’s disease include Aricept, Exelon, Reminyl and Tacrine. Each of these drugs was found to raise levels of acetylcholine, a chemical that sends nerve signals to the brain. A fifth drug, Namenda, targets a different neurotransmitter and was approved for moderate to severe cases. Several doctors expressed their concerns that hundreds of millions of dollars are being wasted on these drugs. Families continue to rely on medications for their family members, out of fear that if they stop the medication, their family member might experience a sharp decline in the disease. New York Times April 7, 2004 |
May God bless you a thousand times over for what you are doing for your grandmother. I salute you and all other caretakers. It is a unique bittersweet hell in the end days.
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