It's Alzheimer's, Not the Bloody Plague!

A friend recently said to me, "When my friends learned I had Alzheimer's, many looked at me as if I had some kind of contagious disease. Then, they just stopped calling or coming around. Don't they know it isn't the bloody plague?"

What It's Not

I've spent eight years with people who were in various stages of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. Although my hospice patients in San Francisco were all in the later stages, I heard painful stories from their families of how people reacted to them when they still could function with some help.

From others who are in the earlier stages, I heard identical stories involving relatives, long-time friends, and close colleagues who drifted away or interacted with them as if they:

-Stepped back into their childhood

-Possessed the mind of a developmentally delayed child.

-Or became psychotic

None of these are true, yet as a society, we treat those with dementia as if at least one of these misconceptions was the gospel.

The Harm We Cause

When we act out of ignorance, we may unintentionally cause immense harm to those who are struggling with the disease. One person with dementia, who held a Ph.D. in chemistry, no longer would order a meal from a fast-food chain because, according to him, "The server made me feel like a moron" when he couldn't quickly decide what to order from a board menu containing more than 50 items, with a multitude of combinations.

Changing Identities

As memories are lost and the ability to manage those that remain becomes a struggle, the identities of people with dementia change. We all view ourselves-our identity-by the roles we play, the activities we enjoy, the affiliations we have, the values that structure our lives, our abilities, and relationships. Imagine how your life would be transformed if significant parts of your identify disappeared-sometimes quickly, at other times slowly, and maybe the worse, stealthily.

And It's not only self-perceptions that create identities, but also how others perceive us. Imagine what it must have been like for that chemist who spent 8 years in graduate school and was involved in the development of life-saving drugs to be afraid of ordering a hamburger from someone who possibly never graduated high school.

Pulling the Sharp Points Close

Life is full of choices. We can run away from those with the disease, either out of ignorance or fear of what we might eventually become, or we can choose to put ourselves in the place of someone with dementia. Tibetans have a saying that if you want to get over the fears in your life-the sharp points-bring them closer, rather than running away.

But, eventually, you won't be able to run away from Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia. Statistics say that many of you reading this article will develop dementia. If you're 60, you have a 1% chance of developing some form of dementia and your risk increases every year until you reach 85 when it levels off to 35%. If you have a parent with early onset Alzheimer's your chances of developing the disease dramatically increase. And if you don't know someone who is close to you with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia, trust me, you will.

How to Help

In many ways, having dementia it's like being dropped into a strange country with customs and a language you don't understand. And just as you're learning how to maneuver your way, something changes and you have to start all over again. And nobody is there to provide you with a GPS for getting out.

So how would you react if was your spouse, your parent or a friend who had dementia? Instead of providing lists of "shouldisms" and going into the specifics of Alzheimer's and dementia (see the links above), I thought I'd just suggest some things to consider the next time you interact with a person who has or you suspect has dementia.

Be Patient. It may take longer to process information

Memories are not willingly lost. There will be things someone with dementia won't remember, both recent and distant. Not remembering has nothing to do with not trying.

Accept changes. Dementia is progressive. The person's abilities today may be different tomorrow.

Offer help to the person. There are few things more frightening then being disorientated, such as being a few blocks away from your house and not knowing how to get home. When you see someone who is obviously confused, don't be afraid to offer help. The worse that happens is they say "No thank you." The best that happens is you'll provide unimaginable comfort to another human being.

Offer Help to the Caregiver. Unless someone has been a long-term caregiver, they have no idea of the effort it takes. Offer to help. Anything will be appreciated. Knowing that people care is a blessing to the person receiving the offer, and as my mother would say a "mitzvah" to the person making the offer.

You live in different worlds. As with any chronic or terminal disease, almost everything is seen through the perceptual filters of the disease, from noises to the frustrated looks of fast food cashiers.

Be Compassionate. Imagine the person with dementia is your parent who you love dearly. How would you want other people to interact with him or her and even more importantly, what would you want them to feel after the interaction?

Leave Them With the Best You Have to Offer

Yes, the person you once knew as gregarious will eventually withdraw inward to the point where you may not be able to connect with them. But that may be years away. Enjoy their presence while you still can and offer them the support and compassion you would want if it was you who were slowly moving on a one-way road to a strange, structureless place.

We don't know what the person with dementia takes with them to that place we're not allowed to enter. But doesn't it make sense to give them memories that are pleasant rather than ones that aren't?

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Can I Catch Alzheimer's?

With an ever increasing population and the rise of the brain degenerating disease called Alzheimer's around the world, the question of whether you can catch Alzheimer's from person to person is an obvious question that will arise. The latest news has announced that the US country singer "Glen Campbell" has been diagnosed with the condition, which goes to show that the disease is one that anybody can develop. Which leads to a growing awareness amongst young people the world over that Alzheimer's disease is a serious condition.

The question of whether the condition is contagious, is one being asked by a growing trend amongst the young. The reason for this is that the disease is affecting people of a younger and younger age. The term "Early Onset Dementia" is a term that is being widely used in adverts for charities raising money for research, to show that the disease is not an "old person only" disease. There are common cases where people in their early forties are developing Alzheimer's with rare cases being reported of people of an age even younger than this developing the condition.

It's not surprising people ask the question, given that when you hear Alzheimer's is an incurable disease and the degeneration of the brain is so severe that we will eventually need constant care. Its quite understandable that we begin to tell ourselves that we don't want to catch that disease. The fear of hearing that even young people of sound and healthy mind suddenly began to forget everyday things like where they lived or remembering people's names once the condition worsens, makes you grateful of not having the disease. Memory loss is a condition of having dementia and this can be one of the many affects that Alzheimer's will have on the person. It not only effects the person but also the people around them such as family and friends because of the care needs the person will eventually need.

So, can you catch Alzheimer's from another person. In short the answer is NO. Alzheimer's disease is not a disease that you can catch from another person. The thought of someone coughing or sneezing and you being at risk of catching the disease is one of myth. The disease is yet unknown in it's true form. But it is thought widely to be a genetic disease. There is no cure as yet and no one is quite sure why one person will develop the disease and another person won't.

Millions of dollars a year is being spent trying to find a cure. It is believed that Alzheimer's disease will be one of the worlds top 10 natural killers as we approach the year 2050 and beyond. Scientists say that there are ways to help fend off the chances of developing Dementia by having a healthy lifestyle. This means eating regularly with a diet of fresh fruit and veg. Drinking plenty of water and having regular exercise. You should also try to exercise your mind as much as the rest of your body. Try doing puzzles often or talk about your past experiences to a family member as these will help your brain keep the memory neurons active in your brain.

if you would like to know more about memory loss and dementia visit my signature.

You can read more on Dementia and learn more about living with Alzheimer's at http://www.dementia.co.uk/.

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New research supports upcoming Alzheimer's disease guidelines

ScienceDaily (Aug. 1, 2011) — Two new studies published in the August issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) provide insight intothe potential of positron emission tomography (PET) to differentiate between types of dementia and to identify pharmaceuticals to slow the progress of dementia. With proposed National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the Alzheimer's Association guidelines for detecting Alzheimer's-related brain changesexpected in September, these articles give a preview of what may be to come.

Earlier this year, the NIA and the Alzheimer's Association released new criteria and guidelines for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The new proposed guidelines available this fall will offer additional information regarding the development of tests to measure biological changes in the brain, blood, or spinal fluid to diagnose Alzheimer's at an earlier stage.

Earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is the focus of the JNM article "Amyloid Imaging with 18F-Florbetaben in Alzheimer Disease and Other Dementias." In this study researchers compared cortical amyloid deposition using 18F-florbetaben and PET in 109 controls and subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), frontotemporal lobar degeneration, dementia with Lewy bodies, vascular dementia, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

The results show that 18F-florbetaben performs with the same high accuracy as previously reported with 11C-Pittsburgh Compound B -- the most specific and widely used amyloid imaging agent -- for distinguishing between certain types of neurodegenerative dementia, particularly for diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease from frontotemporal dementia.

"The difference between 11C-Pittsburgh Compound B and 18F-florbetaben is that the 18F-florbetaben has a longer half life and is more affordable, making it appropriate for clinical use," said Christopher Rowe, MD, FRACP, one of the authors of the study. "This distinction profoundly affects treatment and prognosis and has genetic implications for the family."

In addition to detecting Alzheimer's disease earlier, molecular imaging can also be used in clinical trials to help develop pharmaceuticals to prevent or delay the onset of dementia. This is particularly of importance to patients with MCI who have yet to develop Alzheimer's disease.

"We urgently need tools for conducting drug trials for MCI more efficiently," noted Karl Herholz, MD, lead author of the study "Evaluation of a Calibrated 18F-FDG PET Score as a Biomarker for Progression of Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment." He continued, "Clinical outcome parameters show large variability and little sensitivity to progression at that stage, making these trials extremely costly and cumbersome. By using imaging biomarkers as primary outcome parameters, clinical trials can be performed with smaller sample sizes or shorter trial duration without loss of study power."

The study evaluated a predefined quantitative measure -- a PET score -- that was extracted automatically from 18F-FDG PET scans using a sample of controls, patients with MCI and patients with Alzheimer's disease. The PET scores provided a much higher test-retest reliability than standard neuropsychologic test scores (Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive and Mini-Mental State Examination) and superior strength for measuring progression, as well as a valid measurement of cognitive impairment. As such, the PET scores can be considered a valid imaging biomarker to monitor the progression of MCI to Alzheimer's disease.

"Prevention of dementia by drugs applied at MCI stage would greatly improve quality of life for patients and reduce costs of dementia care and treatment. Thus, development of such drugs and efficient tools for testing them are extremely important," concluded Herholz.

Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks of daily living. Although treatment can slow the progression of the disease and help manage its symptoms, there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease. The Alzheimer's Association estimates that more five million people are currently living with the disorder.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Society of Nuclear Medicine.

Journal References:

V. L. Villemagne, K. Ong, R. S. Mulligan, G. Holl, S. Pejoska, G. Jones, G. O'Keefe, U. Ackerman, H. Tochon-Danguy, J. G. Chan, C. B. Reininger, L. Fels, B. Putz, B. Rohde, C. L. Masters, C. C. Rowe. Amyloid Imaging with 18F-Florbetaben in Alzheimer Disease and Other Dementias. Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 2011; 52 (8): 1210 DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.111.089730K. Herholz, S. Westwood, C. Haense, G. Dunn. Evaluation of a Calibrated 18F-FDG PET Score as a Biomarker for Progression in Alzheimer Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 2011; 52 (8): 1218 DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.111.090902

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Great public desire to seek early diagnosis of Alzheimer's, according to survey

ScienceDaily (July 20, 2011) — Results of an international survey reveal that over 85% of respondents in the five countries surveyed say that if they were exhibiting confusion and memory loss, they would want to see a doctor to determine if the cause of the symptoms was Alzheimer's disease. Over 94% would want the same if a family member were exhibiting the symptoms. The findings were presented July 20 at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2011 (AAIC 2011).

The survey of the U.S. and four European countries -- France, Germany, Spain and Poland -- was designed and analysed by Alzheimer Europe and the Harvard School of Public Health.

In four of the five countries, Alzheimer's disease was the second biggest health fear after cancer. The public were asked to choose which disease they were most afraid of getting from a list of seven diseases including cancer, heart disease and stroke. Around a quarter of adults in four of the five countries say they most fear getting Alzheimer's disease.

Fear of Alzheimer's gets worse with age, but even young adults are concerned, with approximately one in seven 18- to 34-year-olds reporting Alzheimer's as the disease they are most afraid of getting from the list provided.

The survey found a large proportion of the public has had some experience with Alzheimer's disease. Majorities in all five countries say that they know or have known someone with Alzheimer's disease, including about seven in ten in France (72%), Germany (73%), Spain (77%), and in the U.S. (73%), and 54% in Poland. In addition, about three in ten have personal experience with a family member with Alzheimer's disease. Experience with a family member ranges from 19% in Poland to 42% in the U.S.

This high level of contact with Alzheimer's disease is likely to have contributed to the wide recognition of common symptoms such as confusion and getting lost, which were recognised by at least 86% and 88%,respectively.

Few people recognised the severity of Alzheimer's disease with approximately 40% knowing that it is a fatal condition (33-61%). In fact, Alzheimer's is the seventh-leading cause of death in high income countries and the only cause of death among the top 10 that cannot be prevented or cured.

Many of the respondents believe there is now an effective medical or pharmaceutical treatment to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease and make the symptoms less severe (27%-63%). Also, nearly half believe there is a reliable medical test to determine if a person suffering from confusion and memory loss is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (38%-59%).

The survey also found public interest in predictive testing. Approximately two thirds of respondents said that, they would get a medical test which would tell them whether they would get Alzheimer's disease before they had symptoms.

Heike von Lützau-Hohlbein, Chairperson of Alzheimer Europe, said: "The results demonstrate the importance of being honest with patients when diagnosing Alzheimer's disease. As a former carer myself, I recognise how valuable it is for people to have first-of-all a name for all the uncertainties of their condition and then have the time to get their affairs in order. It will always be difficult to receive such a diagnosis but doctors need to empower patients and their loved ones to take the appropriate steps. The findings also show there is high awareness of Alzheimer's disease, which is a testament to the success of the many awareness campaigns coordinated by Alzheimer societies."

Dr. Robert Blendon, Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis from the Harvard School of Public Health said: "Many of the public have high expectations about the possibilities of treatment alternatives and medical testing. It is important for doctors to talk to patients about what treatment and testing options are or are not available."

Florence Lustman, Coordinator of the French Alzheimer Plan, said: "Alzheimer's is a fatal condition that affects most people's lives at some time. One of the key priorities of the French Alzheimer's Plan is early diagnosis, and the survey results support this focus. The findings demonstrate overwhelming public support for receiving diagnosis."

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Harvard School of Public Health.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

View the original article here