Archive for the ‘medications’ Category

Alzheimers and Vitamin B3

May 6th, 10 / 0 Comments








The original work on Vitamin B3 and Alzheimer’s was done at the University of California (Irvine) with mice that have been bred to develop Alzheimer’s.

Studies found the mice fed very high doses of Vitamin B3 did not exhibit memory loss when compared to a normal mouse population.The untreated Alzheimer’s strain mice developed memory loss as the experiment progressed

Several points should be noted when it comes to human trials.The first is that this isn’t “approved” yet and the human trials are just beginning.

Low doses of B3 normally associated with vitamin shops and their products are not going to work as the dosages needed are much higher.

Experimental doses run in the 2g per day rather than the milligrams in vitamins

Liver problems have been noted when doses approach 10g in humans.

The current thinking is that Vitamin B3 (Niacinimide) will “prevent” the build-up of Tau proteins inside neurons. When the proteins buildup, the nerves become less effective; continued buildups will eventually kill off the nerves.

There are also other types of protein buildup in play possibly creating other avenues for attacking neurons.

Researchers suggest that while Vitamin B3 might be effective at controlling one problem area, new developments will likely attack both inner and outer protein issues.







medications, nutrition, research, treatment

Fish Oil and Alzheimers

May 6th, 10 / 0 Comments








Combining fish oil and Alzheimers might not seem productive but one of the most promising and easily taken of supplements is high-grade fish oil.

However, studies at UCLA show that people who get enough DHA (the active ingredient in fish oil) have a reduced risk of getting Alzheimer;s Disease.<

The Details

Those affected by Alzheimers have low levels of a brain protein named LR11. It turns out that 15% of those with Alzheimers have a genetically lowered level of LR11.

LR11 and having enough of it keeps the brain free of the gumming up plaque that creates Alzheimer’s. So we want this material and lots of it.For some reason, eating enough DHA causes the brain to produce a lot of LR11.

The Bottom Line

Eating enough fish oil will likely delay the onset of Late-Onset Alzheimer;s Disease.If a loved one already has the disease in later stages, there is not much benefit to fish oil because it doesn’t repair the damage, only prevent it. The researchers said there may be some advantage in very early onset patients to help delay the full effects of the plaque.

You can get DHA in fish oils, eating oily fish themselves directly or almonds, walnuts, soy, and DHA-enriched eggs.







herbal, medications, nutrition, research

Alzheimers Patch

May 6th, 10 / 0 Comments







The Alzheimers patch is one way to deliver the medication Exelon to those suffering from mild Alzheimers disease. It is an effective Alzheimers medication and here
are some of the things you want to know.

Exelon – What It Is

Exelon is the marketing name for the drug Rivastigmine and this is an cholinesterase inhibitor type of medication (acetycholine is a chemical helping nerve transmissions and this class of medications help prevent it from being destroyed).

Preventing the destruction of nerve pathways helps prevent the progression of the Alzheimers Disease. There is also research pointing out that this kind of medication also enhances the functioning of the nerve connections in the brain.

The Alzheimer’s Patch: Does It Work?

Research trials indicate there is an improvement in functioning using this product.

For example, in one study done in 2002, the long term safety and effectiveness of Exelon was done – dose 1.5 mg/3 times a day. The effectiveness of the drug was tested by using the Mini-Mental State Examination and some items on the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale while the progression of the disease was monitored using the Global Deterioration Scale.

After 26 weeks, patients showed no deterioration (but no improvement either which is to be expected as Alzheimers damage is permanent). 11% of patients had to be withdrawn off the trial because of adverse effects of the medication.

Bottom line – it worked well if a regular dose was kept up for the full treatment regime on mild to moderate cases.

(Bilikiewicz A, Opala G, Podemski R, Puzyski J, et al. Med Sci Monit 2002; 8:PI9-15.)

Can You Combine the Alzheimers Patch With Other Medications

Yes. In a word, a combination of medications sometimes (and I emphasize the word sometimes) seems to have an effect greater than the individual medications themselves. While this is reported in the literature, there are also cautions that this can’t be standardized or counted on. There are too many individual differences between patients to say they’ll get XX or YY amount of improvement by combining medications.

And sometimes there isn’t any.

So the bottom line is that it can be done, isn’t something to overly worry about if it is done and it may help some patients.

Can You Switch to the Patch?

There is no problem switching to the patch from other medications or from oral Exelon.

The results of a trial on brain functioning done by Shua-Haim, Celeste Yap, Aleksey Kretov, and Paul Lee found that caregivers reported 20% of patients improved cognitive functioning with the patch over oral medications while 17% of patients were reported as having declined.

Things to Discuss With Your Physician

Side effects. There appear to be fewer side effects from the Alzheimers patch than taking Exelon orally. But abdominal pain, anxiety, aggression, confusion, constipation, depression, diarrhea, fatigue, headache, gas, insomnia, night sweats, loss of appetite, vomiting and weight loss are associated side-effects from Exelon.

Combinations with Other Medications. While nothing appears in the literature I could find at the time of writing, it is clearly important to discuss with your family physician for up-to-date information.

The length of time it takes to work. There is some literature that points out that patients need to be on this medication for several months for it to start working.

How often the patch needs changing. Currently, the patch needs changing every 24 hours.

Who is the Alzheimers patch good for? Mild to moderate cases seem to respond while more severe cases do not.







medications, treatment

Alzheimers Medicine for Early Stages

May 6th, 10 / 0 Comments








When it comes to Alzheimers medicine for dementia treatment, there are several different drugs registered and used by physicians. Understand that none of these will cure the problem but will slow the progression or mask the symptoms of the problem.

The other kind of treatment often prescribed has to do with alleviating the symptoms associated with the disease, so we’ll see prescriptions for things like sleeplessness, anxiety or depression.

Cholinesterase Inhibitors

If I go way back to my college physiology classes, I remember that acetylcholine is the chemical in the body that makes the nerves connect and work better.

Cholinesterase is an enzyme that breaks down the acetylcholine (summarizing about three months of lectures).

We want a normal supply of acetylcholine because this makes our nerves run properly. And when we get Alzheimers the cholinesterase is breaking too much of the good stuff down. So we want to stop this from happening.

The cholinesterase inhibitors that are registered (at the time of this writing) were donepezil (Aricept), rivastigmine (Exelon) and galantamine (Reminyl) The chemical is the first name and the drug name or trademarked name you purchase it by is the second name.

Donepezil (Aricept) – seems to work best (according to the FDA if I’m reading the data correctly) for mild cognitive problems and will delay the onset of Alzheimer’s for about a year. It is however registered for mild, moderate and severe cases.

Effectiveness

According to the research I saw, about 50% of people get a benefit from this kind of Alzheimers medicine. (which means the other 50% do not see any improvement)

There are also side effects that include diarrhea, nausea and vomiting and this causes some patients to stop taking the pills as well.

I’ve written about the other kinds of Alzheimers medicine and you can see them in the related articles.

One article that you might want to check out is this one on medication aimed at the later stages of Alzheimer’s.







medications, treatment

Antipsychotic Drugs can kill Alzheimers Patients

May 6th, 10 / 0 Comments







Here’s a troubling bit of new research. Researchers at Kings College in London UK, have shown that Alzheimer’s patients treated with anti-psychotic medications were 10% more likely to die than those untreated or treated with placebos – after one year of the test. After 3 years, the anti-psychotic drug patients were twice as likely to die than untreated patients.

So the practice of treating with anti-psychotics in a bid to more effectively manage behavior problems in some Alzheimer’s patients is effectively killing them faster.

The problem is that some Alzheimer’s patients tend to hallucinate or become aggressive as the disease progresses and this leads to management issues from the caregiver point of view.

It’s a tough call for sure and the answer to this depends on which side of the issue you find yourself. Saying glibly that it has to be done on a patient by patient basis is obvious but doesn’t deal with the realities of overstrained facilities and the fact that health care providers are human beings with all the stress and strain as the rest of us. So it’s a problem – no question about it. And there’s no easy answer here.

To illustrate, in a hospital I used to work, an 80-year old man (a former middle-weight boxer) cold-cocked an unsuspecting staff member. It came out of nowhere and the staff member never saw it coming – went straight to the floor out cold. It was one formidable right hook to the jaw. The patient wandered away afterward – blithely unaware of what he had done. Luckily, the staff member recovered fully except for the ongoing jibes at coffee break.

Bottom Line

So if you have a family member is this situation, you have to understand both sides of the issue and you have to make an informed decision with the medical people. Simply understand there may be a price to pay for both you, the staff and the patient.







medications, research

Alzheimers Disease Care

May 6th, 10 / 0 Comments







Alzheimers disease care involves using medications for the later stages (registered at time of writing) of this dementia involve treating with the chemical memantine (sold as Namenda).

Let me emphasize again that this is not an Alzheimer’s cure but rather something that masks the symptoms of the disease.

How it Works

Again, from basic physiology, let me summarize for you. Glutamate is a moderator of some chemical/electrical processes in the brain and we need it in small amounts.

What seems to happen with Alzheimers (and other dementia causes) is that too much glutamte is produced when brain cells die. The excess of glutamate speeds up the remaining brain cells – wearing them out – and this in turn causes them to die.

An excess of glutamate increases the wearing out and death of brain cells.

So memantine (Namenda) treats the symptoms of the problem by slowing down or regulating the glutamate. It actually does this at the cell membrane level and is only effective when there is excess glutamate – otherwise, it does nothing.

Combination

There is some thought that combining the shorter term Alzheimers medications with the longer term ones will improve the effectiveness of treatment.

Effects

This form of Alzheimers disease care does not repair the effects of Alzheimer’s but rather allows patients to continue on at the same level of functioning for a longer period of
time.

The easiest way to think of this is that it is a quality of life issue. The patient is going to be able to maintain themselves in a retirement facility longer (not get lost, be able to use the bathroom etc) rather than having to go into a nursing care home.








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medications, treatment