Information on Alzheimer's Disease, History, Symptoms and Nutritional Supplements that Help
Now if you think that Alzheimer's is only about old people, you had better guess again. This story was written around a victim who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at age 52 and Alzheimer's can start much earlier or much later in life.
It is estimated that by the year 2050, there will be 11 to 16 million victims which doesn't speak much for the hopefulness of conquering this terrible disease according to our federal government.
Just dealing with today's victims, it costs at least 100 billion dollars a year in direct and indirect expenses, by federal estimates. With the number of victims growing every year, picture the impact in dollars this will have on our already overburdened health system, let alone the emotional cost.
Look at what Dr. Richard Caselli, head of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale has to say about the emotional effects:
"Everyone pays attention to the intellectual element of Alzheimer's, the loss of memory. While that is troubling, the other part of the disease is often the behavioral change: the paranoia, the belligerence, the mood swings, where you may have a mother looking at her own kids and thinking they're trying to poison her."
We know how devastating this can be, but according to the article, help is on the way.
The article talks about the World-Class Research that has been going on since 1998, in Phoenix, Arizona, for the cure and prevention of Alzheimer's and Vascular Dementia. Unfortunately, although they have learned a lot, there is no prospect of a cure yet.
Dr. Sabbagh who is the director of the Cleo Roberts Center for Clinical Research at Sun Health in Phoenix, AZ, has been joined by researchers to form a consortium of experts who have become one of the nation's leading centers for the study and treatment of Alzheimer's.
The consortium, known as the Arizona Alzheimer's Disease Consortium brings together eight institutions across the state:
- Sun Health
- The Barrow Neurological Institute
- Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center
- Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale
- Arizona State University
- The University of Arizona
- Northern Arizona University
- The New Translational Gonomics Research Institute.
The consortium claims to have 20 of the top researchers in the country, if not the world, working for them.
We must have hope for people living under these conditions, because of how slow this disease develops, wouldn't anyone find living with Alzheimer's a total emotional disaster.
What troubles me though, is that there is no talk about preventing dementia using the guidelines already established and proven by scientific double blind scientific studies that have been proven and reported in the various medical journals.
It is unfortunate that medical science thinks in terms of cure via drugs and vaccines encouraged by pharmaceutical companies who, in addition, fund most of these research programs.
It is hard to find researchers who work for prevention through nutritional means. Monetary rewards and world wide recognition come from the invention of drugs. Look at the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Do they have one for Vitamins? Not on your life.
You are the best one to take care of yourself. According research studies that have already been done, it appears that Alzheimer's can be prevented in the majority of cases through nutritional means.
Integrate a holistic health lifestyle for beneficial results - Learn to eat healthy, exercise and take the right nutritional supplements and laugh at our so called "health" providers while they cry because we don't take their "healthy" drugs.
This holistic health article is courtesy of Ira Marxe at Good Health Supplements.
To a healthy mind and body and no drugs to Your Good Health and Longevity! Ira Marxe
Click Here to Read Part One of the Above Article
You can read on to learn about a powerful daily nutritional supplement plan created by Good Health Supplements.
Research Reveals How Fish Oil Deters Alzheimer's Disease
The brain uses marine omega-3 to protect cells against toxic protein plaque by Craig Weatherby and Randy Hartnell,
Scientists at Louisiana State University have long been in the forefront of brain research. Thanks to studies led by LSU researchers-which were completed before hurricane Katrina arrived, and published just last week on the Web - We now know how one of the two omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil exert the protective effects against Alzheimer's Disease (AD) seen in the many studies that have examined various population's incidence of AD, relative to their characteristic omega-3 intake levels.
The results of many previous studies indicate that low dietary intake of DHA correlates with poor cognitive health, especially with regard to mood, attention, and memory. As the authors of a recent review article put it, "decreased blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids have been associated with several neuropsychiatric conditions, including Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder, Alzheimer's Disease, Schizophrenia and Depression."
DHA is a physiologically essential omega-3 found only in fish oil (fat), and concentrated in the fat of cold water species such as sardines, tuna, sablefish, and salmon. Researchers report that DHA constitutes a large and physiologically essential portion of the cell membranes in key parts of our brains and eyes.
Dr. Nicolas G. Bazan, leader of the recent DHA-Alzheimer's studies, described the role of DHA in a related scientific article published in April of 2005 (we've added term definitions in brackets []): "Synaptic membranes [envelopes covering the communication junctions between brain cells] and photoreceptors [light sensors in the eye] share the highest content of DHA of all cell membranes. DHA is involved in memory formation, excitable membrane function, photoreceptor cell biogenesis and function, and neuronal signaling, and has been implicated in neuropath [protecting threatened brain cells]."
In other words, DHA is critical to both visual and brain function, and the NPD1 the body makes from this marine omega-3 promotes survival of brain cells
Study illuminates how DHA protects against AD
The new results reported by LSU scientists show that DHA lowers levels of beta-amyloid: a protein that produces the damaging plaque characteristic of Alzheimer's patients brains.
In a breakthrough for the understanding of how DHA protects against Alzheimer's, the researchers discovered neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1): a previously unknown anti-inflammatory compound that the body makes from DHA. The new results show that NPD1 plays a key role in protecting the brain from the relentless brain-cell die-off caused by accumulation of the inflammatory beta amyloid protein plaques that characterize Alzheimer's disease.
Dr. Bazan, the director of LSU's Neuroscience Center of Excellence, led the team that conducted studies there and at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston. They examined human brain samples from six patients who had died with Alzheimer's disease, and six age-matched control samples from people free of AD at the time of their deaths.
The researchers also looked for any changes within the brain cells of AD sufferers, and examined the area of their brains key to memory and thought function (hippocampal cornu ammonis region 1). Dr. Bazan reported that the area showed 20 - to 25-fold decreases in NPD1, compared with other areas in the same brain.
And, when the team conducted cell studies designed to mimic the effects of aging, they found that adding DHA to cell cultures cut production of toxic beta amyloid proteins and raised production of NPD1. In turn, NPD1 was seen to suppress the damaging inflammation caused by Abeta42 while switching on the "Anti-Apoptotic" genes that help keep AD-afflicted brain cells alive.
Article courtesy of Vital Choice Quality Seafood - Superior Nutrition
Feeding The Brain's Own Self-Protective Power
The New York Times Syndicate interviewed Greg M. Cole, M.D., associate director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, concerning the meaning of the joint LSU-B&WH studies.
Dr. Cole was quoted as saying the studies show that NPD1 offers "several important protective contributions. This study also shows that both DHA and its NPD1 product are effective in treating human brain cells and reducing the inflammation and toxicity from a toxin called beta amyloid that is widely believed to cause Alzheimer's."
In other words, if you want to reduce the risk and severity of Alzheimer's and more common forms of senile dementia, it makes good sense to eat plenty of fatty fish, or take a quality fish oil.
National Institute on Aging on Alzheimers Disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is progressive brain disorder that occurs gradually and results in memory loss, unusual behavior, personality changes, and a decline in thinking abilities. These losses are related to the death of brain cells and the breakdown of the connections between them. The course of this disease varies from person to person, as does the rate of decline. On average, AD patients live for 8 to 10 years after they are diagnosed; however, the disease can last for up to 20 years.
Alzheimers Disease (AD) advances by stages, from early, mild forgetfulness to severe dementia. Dementia is the loss of mental function. In most people with AD, symptoms first appear after age 60. The earliest symptoms often include loss of recent memory, faulty judgment, and changes in personality. Often, people in the initial stages of AD think less clearly and forget the names of familiar people and common objects. Later in the disease, they may forget how to do simple tasks like washing their hands. Eventually, people with AD lose all reasoning abilities and become dependent on other people for their everyday care. Finally, the disease becomes so debilitating that patients are bedridden and likely to develop coexisting illnesses. Most commonly, people with AD die from pneumonia.
The risk of developing AD increases with age, but AD and dementia symptoms are not a part of normal aging. AD and other dementing disorders in old age are caused by diseases. In the absence of a disease, the human brain often can function well into the tenth decade of life and beyond.
Information obtained from National Institute on Aging.
Natural Supplements Helpful for Alzheimer's Disease
Phosphatidyl Serine (PS): PS complex aids brain cell function and reduces age-related mental decline. With age normal brain and nerve cell activity may decline due to diminished neurotransmitter and brain cell function. PS can provide relatively quick benefits especially to mature adults who are experiencing age related mental decline and may be effective for the early onset of alzheimers, dimentia, memory loss, and cognitive function.
DMAE: DMAE is a memory enhancing substance common to a number of drugs that are known to stabilize cell membranes. In Europe, the drug Centrophenoxine, which combines DMAE with a synergistic chemical called p-chlorophenoxyacetate, is prescribed to boost cognitive function in the aged. Used to assist with Anxiety, Alertness and Neuromotor Control, Behavior and Learning Problems, ADD and Hyperactivity.
Heart/Brain Energizer: To soften and cleanse blood vessel, improve blood circulation and to protect the heart and brain. Ginkgold improves mental sharpness, concentration, memory and cognitive activity. It also supports healthy circulation to the brain as well as the extremities. And, it maintains healthy blood vessel tone and reduces blood viscosity.
D & L - Phenylalanine: Used by the brain to produce Norepinephrine, a chemical that transmits signals between nerve cells and the brain; keeps you awake and alert; reduces hunger pains; functions as an antidepressant and helps improve memory.
Click here > Find Suggestions for Natural Supplements and Nutrition to Help Prevent Alzheimer's Disease
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