AD

 

January 26, 2025 article Fraud Has Delayed A Cure for Alzheimer's article in the New York Times deserves a  much needed response .  This devastating disease affects nearly 7 million Americans and about one in every nine people over the age of 65.  Additionally , up to 420,000 adults in the prime of life suffer from early onset of Alzheimer's.  The annual number of new cases of dementia is expected to double by 2050. IIrrespective of this information, Trump and his crazies have curtailed an Alzheimer's and dementia research facility .  A Stanford neurologist raised concerns about the research with its present and long-term implications.Also, cutting medical research funds  affects the development of drugs and vaccines for the treatment of cancer. genome, heart disease and other biomedical  diseases.

The New York Times article found evidence of questionable findings regarding the study of A D. Eliezer Masliah who once led the National Institute on Aging was found to have "changed" photos of human tissue  in the study of Alzheimer's. His photo images showed the presence of a protein in the blood or tissue sample called amyloid.  Apparently, this finding of amyloid became a significant hypothesis in the study  of Alzheimer's. This amyloid finding influenced drug manufacturers to develop medicine based on this hypothesis. 

Information titled Understanding Dementia from the Institute for Natural Resources follows stated  Dr. Alois Alzheimer ,in 1907 found plaques and tangles in a diseased brain of one of his patients . The A, D disease is the most common cause of dementia for adults age 65 and older . It’s an irreversible life devastating progressive disease which affects brain cells. The neurons deteriorate, resulting in the loss of cognitive functions primarily memory, judgment, reasoning, movement, coordination and pattern recognition.In  advanced stages of the disease, eventually, all memory and mental functions may be lost.  The condition predominantly affects the cerebral cortex and hippocampus causing these structures to atrophy.

There are two main types of AlD. The  Early Onset Familial Type comprises 5% of all Alzheimer cases.  Symptoms usually occur in the 30s, 40s and 50s and are highly genetic with causation. The second is called Late Onset Sporadic Type which  is 95% of Alzheimer's cases.  Symptoms usually do not occur until age 65 or older. The average age for diagnosis is in the 80s - perhaps 50% genetic and 50% lifestyle factors . Specifically, the.Apolipoprotein e e4 variant is the main genetic risk factor.

The top 10 warning signs of AD include 1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life.  2 Difficulty with planning or solving problems.  3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks.  4 Confusion with time or place.  5 Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships. 6. Problems with words , speaking or writing 7. Misplacing things and losing ability to retrace steps 8 .Poor judgment.  9 . Withdrawal  from work or social activities, and 10.  Changes in mood,and  personality.

Is not surprising that independent living centenarians have almost no symptoms of AD.  Perhaps the best way to reduce AD risk is to live like a centenarian because of the biomarkers of this disease. It's no wonder that drug treatment has proved to be nonsignificant in slowing the decline of daily functioning in most patients.  In fact, Linda had two trials of meds, but found that the side effects were so bad that we immediately stopped those  drugs

Unfortunately, various supplements have no established benefit for this disease i  These supplements include vitamins A, E,C,B6, B12, folic acid, 2. Calcium 3. Celebrex and other NSAIDs 4. Ginglo's biloba 5. Coenzyme q10 , L carnitine and alpha lipoic acid 5. Statin drugs 8 Coconut water 9. Antipsychotic drugs 

A.D. is a progressive disease and has been classified into five stages, ranging from Mild Confusional State; Mild to Moderate Impairment; Moderate Impairment, Severe Impairment and finally, Very Severe Impairment.

 

Since lifestyle is estimated to be related to 50% of this disease,a few of the following risk factors include  1.  Genetic and family history 2 . Age and sex 3, High blood pressure.  4. Cardiovascular disease 5 .Insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and diabetes. 6. Traumatic brain injuries. 7.  Low educational achievement, low mental stimulation and smaller brain size 8. Poor diet ,toxins, lack of exercise and obesity  9 . Smoking and  excessive alcohol consumption.  10. Chronic inflammation, hearing loss, low social support.  11. Chronic stress, anxiety, depression and sleep disorder.  12. History of caregiving for family members with dementia.

As if AD is  not one of the most horrible progressive diseases, don't be surprised that the following information was found from a combination of studies: AD caregivers had significantly higher levels of obesity, osteoporosis, type II diabetes and muscle atrophy.  Another study found that AD caregivers had double the risk for developing heart disease,.And another reported that AD caregivers  had six times the risk of developing AD themselves compared to  a matched control group of non caregivers. For those interested, there's a caregiver stress test.

Linda's past history was associated with excellence, competitiveness, joy , happiness, pleasure and satisfaction with all her outdoor sporting events.  Unfortunately, her trail bike and horse lady experiences resulted in traumatic brain injury or TBI.  As a result, her current lifestyle is  associated with a cognitive slippage .. 

Linda’s current regime is as follows: 1.  For procedural memory. Linda drives the golf cart, ties her shoes, plays pickleball ,rides her exercise bike,and elliptical, attends an exercise class 3 times a week and has  an one-on-one Yoga session with Trula twice a week.  We continue to dance and walk . When it gets warmer, Linda intends to resume  swimming, kayaking  and fly fishing

Other strategies  and daily exercises pertaining to Linda’s cognitive issues include 1. Short and long term episodic and declarative  recall; time orientation;  receptive language  and  object naming ; reading, word finding , spelling, writing, and arithmetic exercises .It's about repetition. If you don't use it ,you lose it.

A July 9, 2023 edition of The New York Times described the " evils" of that bad word socialism in an article titled  "Safe Harbors Amid the Tempest of Dementia ,"  Socialized medicine in Amsterdam and Norway have created a treatment environment that integrates dementia patients within the communities around them.  For instance, in their settings , are townhouses, public theaters, supermarkets , a Plaza , a Café and restaurants open to everyone . They established the world's first "Dementia Village.". 

On the other hand, we are number one, we are the richest , and we have a capitalistic model healthcare system .And , we proudly have one dementia daycare  location in South Bend, Indiana.  We are number one when it comes to wealth , for a few,but we sadly are behind when it comes to our flawed healthcare system.  To make things worse the GOP  power structure wants to cut the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid , and withdraw from the WHO. and other research centers  with Kennedy Jr. and other undesirables  in charge.  The GOP's mission is based on greed,  control , discrimination and exploitation.. They are obviously not concerned about the mental and physical health of the majority  in the country.  They  do support the  capitalistic tool  of  a loneliness app to solve our loneliness crisis . Yea for GOP’s capitalism.

PS

The February 2, 2025 article in the New York Times titled "Silver Tsunami" provides insight into capitalist thinking  strategies regarding the wave of aging.  Their questions and concerns are as follows: 1.  What  about the departing workforce ?  Should investors focus on pharmacy, long-term care facilities ?  2 Will there be a collapse of the housing market.? Are the  old-timers going to stay in their homes or are they going to downsize ? What about senior living communities?