Archive for the ‘medications’ Category

Alzheimers Treatment Research

Nov 7th, 11 / 0 Comments








The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association has just published a study evaluating the behavior of 686 patients after they were diagnosed with Alzheimers and put on medications to slow down the effects of the disease.

Every patient in this Alzheimer’s treatment research was tested to begin and then tested twice a year to chart the progress of the disease. Researchers were trying to determine how fast the onset of the disease was and the effects of standard of care over a 4 year period.

Over 90% of patients used standard medications over the 4 years but each lost an average of 2.4 points per year on the Mini-Mental Status Examination and gained 4.5 points on the ADAS-cog tests. In other words, they lost the healthy memory points and gained the illness points.

7.4% of patients died during the 4 years whlie 13.4% were institutionalized.

But 17% did not experience a “major event” defined as functional disability or neuropsychiatric symptoms. In other words, 17% of those diagnosed and treated did not deteriorate significantly over the 4 years of the study.

This was considered surprising (it sure as heck surprised me) and treatment teams are going to have to take another look at the deterioration rates and prognosis for patients diagnosed with this disease.

The one thing that wasn’t clear from the journal was if there were any behaviors the 17% did that they other groups did not. In other words, could exercise, music, stimulation or ?? be a factor here? In my mind (and for my peace of mind) :-) I’d surely like to know about this aspect of Alzheimer’s treatment research

diagnosis, lifestyle, medications, research, symptoms

Alzheimer’s Medication Conflict

Oct 31st, 11 / 0 Comments








If you’ve been following Alzheimers medication data or know what meds your loved ones are using, you’re likely familiar with Aricept. This is known as a cholinesterase inhibitor and works to stop the breakdown of cholinesterase – a chemical responsible for passing nerve signals around the body (you need good levels of cholinesterase and Aricept maintains it to slow down the onset on the disease)

But patients are also (quite often) given anticholinergic drugs that are used to treat gastrointestinal problems, allergies, urinay incontinence, depression and some nerve-system based problems such as Parkinson’s.

According to Dr. Denise Boudreau – the Associate Scientific Investigator at Group Health Resarch Institute in Seattle, “If someone is taking both types of drugs, cholinesterase inhibitors and anticholinergic medications, they will antagonize each other and neither will work.” The study was published online in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society finding that 37% of Alzheimer’s patients were also taking at least one other anticholinergic drug as well.

The good news in the study is that there was no rise in either death rates or the rate of hospitalization in nursing homes associated with this drug combination study.

Bottom Line

Drugs don’t work well if they’re combined but death or placement in nursing homes doesn’t increase over those not using the drugs. I suspect then it would be more a quality of life issue – incontinence or Parkinson’s symptoms for example not being treated because of the Alzheimers medication interaction.

medications, treatment

New Avenues for Alzheimers Medication Research

Dec 15th, 10 / 0 Comments







When it comes to treating Alzheimer’s patients and developing Alzheimer’s medicines, Alzheimer’s experts have long believed that the brain of Alzheimers patients somehow were producing excess amounts of the beta amyloid plaque and this “gummed up” the brain causing cell death and brain deterioration.

Research just report in Science by Dr. Randall Bateman first has shown the opposite. While it is early days yet, this research shows that it’s not the production of the plaque that’s the problem, it’s the elimination of it.

Turns out that plaque is produced by all of us but healthy individuals eliminate the plaque. Those with Alzheimers do not eliminate it. And plaque is somehow necessary for normal brain functioning. Healthy people produce the beta amyloid and it disappears in 8 hours. Those with Alzheimer’s get rid of it 30% slower than the healthy person.

The beta amyloid is necessary for electric transmission of nerve impulses but too much of it acts like a brake on the system. The buildup creates a slowing down and eventual dying of the brain cells.

So now the research and Alzheimer’s medications can investigate the disposal system for plaque – how it gets eliminated from the brain and what medications we might use to speed this up.

Again – early days in the testing and findings but an entirely new approach has been announced.

medications, research, treatment

Overdose warning on Alzheimers Patch

Jun 14th, 10 / 0 Comments







The medicine and healthcare regulatory agency (U.S.) has apparently received reports of multiple patches being applied to patients and patches not being removed in a timely manner.

The drug used in the Alzheimers patch is rivastigmine (Exelon) and is used to treat mild to moderate stages.

The overdose warning says that in all cases of suspected overdose, all patches should be immediately removed and none reapplied for 24 hours.

Bottom Line

As always follow the label on all medications.

medications

Aspirin and Alzheimers

May 31st, 10 / 0 Comments







Dr. Hanneke Thoonsen, MD, Department of Neurology, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands has reported on a study that found a higher risk for inracerebral haemorrhages (bleeding in the brain associated with hemorrhagic stroke) with Alzheimer’s patients using aspirin versus those who did not.

She reported a clinical review of 2 other studies found similar results – in the range of 4% to 2% in those using aspirin versus 0% in those not using aspirin.

This risk has been described as falling short of recommending against asprin but certainly suggesting caution, reduced use of aspirin and requiring further study.

19th European Stroke Conference (ESC) May 26/2010 Aspirin in Alzheimer’s Disease: Relatively High Risk of Intracerebral Haemorrhage. Abstract 695

medications, treatment

Alzheimers and Cancer

May 6th, 10 / 0 Comments







In an interesting reversal, it turns out that Alzheimers and cancer of the brain might be treated with the same medication.

An experimental Alzheimers medication that is undergoing clinical trials was also found to have a major impact on aggressive brain tumors (malignant gliomas).

Apparently the Alzheimerrs medication works to stop protein from being shut off in the brain and this same switch also stops the spread of the cancer (which was thriving as the proteins werebeing turned off).

While this is still in testing (and reported in the Public Library of Science Biology) if the trials prove conclusive, this kind of treatment could reduce surgery as well as chemotherapy in cancer patients.

The work is being done at the University of Calgary, Canada and funded jointly by the Province of Alberta Health Services.Stay tuned (as they say)

medications, research

Alzheimers Dementia and Anesthetics

May 6th, 10 / 0 Comments







Researchers have demonstrated that when it comes to Alzheimers dementia and anesthetics, the use of anesthetics is now one of the causes. Alzheimers and elective surgery may be related in some populations.

There are two things you need to know.The first is that the protein amyloid-beta (short form A-beta) builds up in the brain and this is thought to be the cause of Alzheimers effect.The second thing is that it has now been shown that using anesthetics in surgery causes a buildup of A-beta in the brain.

The specific anesthetic under study is the most commonly used one called soflurane. In the study, it was quite clear that experiments in petri dishes were being replicated in the
alzheimer’s-mouse population.Indeed increased brain cell death was quite pronounced in mice that had not been treated beforehand with clioquinol (a drug that reduces the producton of A-beta).

The problem with this of course is that one study doesn’t make a trend or create a change in normal hospital practice because… well, it’s only one study.

So there’s a lot more work to be done on this.

It should also be pointed out that the mice were killed fairly shortly (in stages to 12 hours) after the exposure and that there were no long term mice past that 12 hours.There are no long term tests on humans in this regard either.

In practical terms, it is commonly known that there is a short term condition in some patients (after surgery) that resembles dementia.This passes in most people with time.
Whether it will pass with seniors or those with Alzheimers dementia seems to be the question.But in practical terms, it would seem to make common sense (and one more reason) for seniors to avoid elective surgery requiring anesthetics whenever possible,







causes, medications, research

Alzheimers Vaccine

May 6th, 10 / 0 Comments







A very promising Alzheimers vaccine seems to be coming our way and it appears to have some real effects.

Work being done at the University of California, Irvine has produced a vaccine that actually clears out the beta-amyloid plaques that have damaged the brain.That’s the good news.

The bad news is that while it clears out the plaque, function is not restored. So this means that if you get diagnosed and begin treatment early enough, you might be able to arrest development but not reverse the damage.

The vaccine essentially stimulates the brain to repair itself (which is a pretty darn good trick when you think about it and could be useful in a lot of other problems)

Apparently from what I’ve been able to find, the drug has to be given every three months by IV.

It is not yet available and human testing is ongoing.

I’ll be bringing you more on this as I can find good data.

medications, treatment

Alzheimers Medicine Research Dimebon

May 6th, 10 / 0 Comments







One of the more interesting Alzheimers medicine research reports was in a July 2008 article in The Lancet, a study showed the drug “Dimebon” had a significant impact on
mild to moderate Alzheimer’s.’

In a full double-blind study (nobody knows which patient gets which medication or placebo)  the patients treated with Dimebon had a statistically significant improvement in all aspects including memory, daily living activities, and overall functioning.

This improvement showed up across the board at the 6 month mark and was more pronounced at the 12 month mark.  At the end of the 12 month study, the Dimebon-treated patients had all preserved their starting points in functioning on all measures of the disease.’

The effect on the primary caregiver in the family was also noted with those caring for the treated group reporting less stress than those in placebo groups.  The experiment points out that the caregivers in the treated group estimated they had saved one hour a day over the control group’s estimates of time spent giving care to the family member.

This drug would seem to hold a great deal of promise; so much so that the initial study was extended from 12 to 18 months and all placebo patients were switched to the drug by the end of the study.’

Research at the time of this report on Alzheimer medicine research is ongoing’

UPDATE – as of Feb 2010 – the latest trials came back indicating Dimbon wasn’t effective in the latest trials







medications, research

Alzheimers and Epilepsy

May 6th, 10 / 0 Comments








Researchers have discovered an epilepsy drug that might have positive effects for those suffering from either/both epilepsy and Alzheimers.

This encouraging study is coming out of the University of British Columbia. A common epilepsy drug (Valproic Acid) seems able to reverse the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and stops further damage to the brain.

Stage of Research

However (and it’s a big however) this data comes from the mouse-trial stage and no human studies have been reported on. There is at least one clinical trial going at this time and results are expected next year.

The Drug

Valproic acid is used as an anti-psychotic as well as epilepsy control (to treat depression and schizophrenia) and it works by blocking the plaque associated with Alzheimers.

Side Effects

But as with anything, there are side effects to consider such as: abdominal or stomach cramps (mild); change in menstrual periods; diarrhea; hair loss; indigestion; loss of appetite; nausea and vomiting; trembling of hands and arms; and unusual weight loss or gain.

Frankly probably given the choice of those, epilepsy and Alzheimers I’d pick the above.

How It Works

The current mouse-research does point out that this drug does not seem effective past a certain point in the development of the disease (use it early kind of thing, there’s no reversing the effects of Alzheimers)

Bottom line:

This Alzheimers medication looks promising in early research trials and only time will tell if it works on humans as well as it did on mice.







medications, research