Doctor Bobby

The Plan to End Alzheimer's Disease by 2020 (Podcast)

2010-11-24T13:05:00.000-05:00

At the most recent TEDMED conference Rudy Tanzi spoke about the plan to end Alzheimer's disease by 2020.

Rudy Tanzi is one the world's leading Alzheimer's disease research scientist.

Click above to Listen. Please share this podcast with family, friends, support groups, and the Alzheimer's community.

If you don't see the podcast go here.

Original content Rudy Tanzi the Plan to End Alzheimer's Disease by 2020 (Podcast)

Does the Combination of Aricept and Namenda Slow Alzheimer's

2010-05-17T11:28:00.000-04:00

"The results of this study should change the way we treat patients with Alzheimer's disease. Cholinesterase inhibitors are approved for use in mild to moderate dementia, while memantine has been approved for advanced dementia. But it looks like there is an advantage in prescribing both drugs as initial treatment."--John Growdon, MD

Read the full article here -- The Combination of Aricept and Namenda Helps Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients

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The Metamorphosis of This Alzheimer's Caregiver (Part One)
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Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room.

Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's (5 Best Self Assessment Tests)

2010-05-03T11:33:00.000-04:00

The five tests listed below are self assessment tests for Alzheimer's, dementia, and mild cognitive impairment.

If you decide to administer one or more of these tests and the results of the tests seem suspicious you should consult with your personal care physician or a neurologist for a more thorough memory examination and diagnosis.

#1 Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's Dementia in 15 Minutes (SAGE)

This is my number one recommendation for testing memory.

The latest weapon in the war against Alzheimer’s disease is not a fancy new brain scanner or a computer device. Instead, it’s a it a 15 question written exam that could have a dramatic impact on a major problem -- the early detection of Alzheimer's disease.

This handwritten self-assessment test can be taken in less than 15 minutes. SAGE is a reliable tool for evaluating memory and cognitive ability. Findings confirming the validity of the tool were reported in the journal Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders.

Go here to learn more about the Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (SAGE) including instructions, the test, and scoring system.

Also see:

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#2 Alzheimer's Clock Draw Test

Drawing a clock by hand is one of several useful screening tools that can help to detect mild cognitive impairment, dementia, or Alzheimer's. This test can help you, or your doctor, differentiate between normal aging and possible dementia.

If you administer the test on your own and find the results either disconcerting or suspicious, schedule an appointment with your personal care physician. Take the copy of the clock test with you to the doctor appointment, and show the test to the doctor.

Go here for more on the clock draw test including scoring.
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#3Test Your Memory (TYM) for Alzheimer's or Dementia in Five Minutes

This test is designed for people that live in England. Results were published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The TYM is a series of 10 tasks including ability to copy a sentence, semantic knowledge, calculation, verbal fluency and recall ability. The ability to do the test is also scored. Each task carries a score with a maximum score of 50 points available. The test is designed to use minimal operator time and to be suitable for non-specialist use.

Go here for the information and follow the links for the test, scoring and scientific study.
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#4 The Mini-Cog Test for Alzheimer's and Dementia

The Mini-Cog is a simple three minute test that is useful in detecting mild cognitive impairment, dementia, or an early stage of Alzheimer's. The research study, included below, showed that the test has a high degree of accuracy (83 percent).

Go here for more information.
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#5 Dr Oz Alzheimer's Memory Quiz (Test)

This memory quiz is based of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VAMC) St. Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) examination and is an assessment tool for informational and entertainment purposes only.

Go here to take the test.

More About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

The Combination of Aricept and Namenda Help Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients

2010-01-27T11:59:00.000-05:00

"The results of this study should change the way we treat patients with Alzheimer's disease. Cholinesterase inhibitors are approved for use in mild to moderate dementia, while memantine has been approved for advanced dementia. But it looks like there is an advantage in prescribing both drugs as initial treatment."--John Growdon, MD

My name is Bob DeMarco, I am an Alzheimer's caregiver. My mother Dorothy, now 93 years old, suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

By Bob DeMarco

To continue reading go here -- Alzheimer's Reading Room: The Combination of Aricept and Namenda Helps Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients

H1N1 Flu Virus Everything You Need to Know

2009-11-01T09:23:00.003-05:00

clipped from www.alzheimersreadingroom.com

H1N1 Flu virus activity is now widespread in 46 states. Nationwide, visits to doctors for influenza-like-illness are increasing sharply, and are now higher than what is usually seen at the peak of the flu seasons.......

The 2009 H1N1 (Swine Flu) is a new influenza virus causing illness in people. This new virus was first detected in the United States in April 2009. This virus is spreading from person-to-person worldwide, probably in much the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread. On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) signaled that a pandemic of 2009 H1N1 flu was underway.

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Bob DeMarco is the editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. The Alzheimer's Reading Room is the number one website on the Internet for news, advice, and insight into Alzheimer's disease. Bob has written more than 950 articles with more than 8,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.

Original content Bob DeMarco, Alzheimer's Reading Room

(R)evolution in Alzheimer's Related Caregiving

2009-08-06T10:28:00.002-04:00

Follow the Alzheimer's Reading Room link to continue reading

clipped from www.alzheimersreadingroom.com

One of my greatest fears is the day I might have to place my mother in an Alzheimer's care facility. I say might because I pray that I'll never have to do it.

I receive emails all the time from people that experience the guilt, angst, and remorse of having place their loved one in a Alzheimer's care facility that provides little care, and is a horrid environment for their loved one.

It doesn't have to be that way...........

Perhaps what’s going on here is actually miraculous: nearly every one of them has been liberated from the nightmare of antipsychotic drugs. And virtually all of them will never be readmitted to a hospital behavior unit, a nursing home--or shackled to a restraint and left alone to die.--Laurence Harmon, et al

The Alzheimer's Action Plan

2009-06-28T12:45:00.001-04:00

“Most of us will either get Alzheimer’s or care for a loved one who has"

The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems

"This book is the most comprehensive and up-to-date guide for the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer's disease. Whether you are a health care professional or have Alzheimer's in your family or are simply interested to living to an old age, this book is a must read."
--Deepak Chopra, M.D., New York Times bestselling author of Perfect Health: The Complete Mind/Body Guide

Insight and Advice about Alzheimer's Disease
Subscribe to The Alzheimer's Reading Room

"Memory does matter. Adults across the life cycle are asking questions, many questions! The authors answer these questions for the educated public, family members who encounter memory loss in a loved one, and even adults who believe they are experiencing early memory loss. The answers are comprehensive and understandable, no small accomplishment given the plethora of new information available—information that at times is not only confusing but also conflicting."
--Dan G. Blazer, M.D., Ph.D., former Dean of Medical Education, Duke University School of Medicine; past President of the American Geriatrics Society

"Dr. Doraiswamy has done a masterful job of communicating what the layman should know on the treatment, the care giving and, most important, the prevention of Alzheimer's. It was gratifying to learn about the mountain of evidence that what is good for your heart is also good for your brain."
--Arthur Agatston, M.D., cardiologist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of The South Beach Diet

"I love this book! A powerful and vital resource for people who need it the most. Dr. Doraiswamy is that unique blend of medical expertise mixed in with warmth and compassion topped off with humility that makes him rare and wonderful."
--Leeza Gibbons, Emmy award-winning TV host and founder of Leeza's Place and the Memory Foundation

"Lisa Gwyther is a national treasure. She has been a pioneer in providing innovative care and education for Alzheimer’s patients and their families for many years. Lisa’s long experience helping families cope with the challenges of memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease makes her uniquely qualified to co-author this book. Families experiencing the new world of memory loss and Alzheimer’s couldn’t ask for a better companion for the journey. Her warmth, compassion, and wisdom shine through, and will help light the way."
--Pat Lynch, Director of Communications, Alzheimer’s Center Program, National Institute on Aging

"Most of us will either get Alzheimer's or care for a loved one who has. This action plan can empower you to make a difference."
--Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, You: The Owner’s Manual

"Five million Americans have Alzheimer disease, and an even larger number with mild to moderate memory loss are at high risk of developing this illness. Murali Doraiswamy, a leading clinical researcher in Alzheimer disease, and Lisa Gwyther, a founder of the Alzheimer Association, have co-authored this timely, state-of-the-art book directed at patients with Alzheimer disease, their informants, and their primary care physicians....I fully predict that this exceptionally well-written, reader-friendly book will become the standard resource for patients with Alzheimer disease and their loved ones. Its up-to-date information, patient-centered approach, and focus on prevention and treatment directed at patients with incipient Alzheimer disease distinguish it from The 36 Hour Day by Nancy Mace and Peter Rabins, which is directed at caregivers of patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer disease."
--JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association)

Bob DeMarco is an Alzheimer's caregiver and editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room. The Alzheimer's Reading Room is the number one website on the Internet for advice and insight into Alzheimer's disease. Bob taught at the University of Georgia, was an executive at Bear Stearns, the CEO of IP Group, and is a mentor. He has written more than 700 articles with more than 18,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.

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Follow the Alzheimer's Reading Room on Twitter

100 Million Adults Touched by Alzheimer's

2009-05-06T14:46:00.001-04:00

HBO Alzheimer's Project / Harris Interactive Census

Read more on this topic.

Alzheimer's Reading Room: 100 Million Adults Touched by Alzheimer's

Subscribe to The Alzheimer's Reading Room--via Email

The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems

Bob DeMarco is the editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. The Alzheimer's Reading Room is the number one website on the Internet for news, advice, and insight into Alzheimer's disease. Bob has written more than 950 articles with more than 8,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.

Original content Bob DeMarco, Alzheimer's Reading Room

The State of America's Health as Obama Takes Office

2009-01-05T06:59:00.001-05:00

clipped from health.usnews.com

Obama has pledged to keep his campaign promise to bring comprehensive reform to our ailing healthcare system. In contrast to the last big push for reform, during the Clinton administration, this time there has been more agreement among insurers, employers, consumers, and lawmakers on the broad outlines for change. Although many specifics have yet to emerge, all parties agree that any plan must place a strong emphasis on encouraging healthful behaviors and preventing disease.

Our expanding girth is America's most visible health problem. Not only are most adults too heavy, but obesity rates for children have more than doubled in the past 30 years. Excess weight is a significant factor in four of the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. Obesity has fueled a 45 percent rise in diabetes over the past 20 years; someone born in 2000 has a 1 in 3 chance of developing the disease.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T13:02:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year

Wishing each and everyone of you a wonderful new year.

Doctors Feel Gloomy, Financially Strapped

2008-11-18T11:36:00.001-05:00

Doctors sure seem unhappy these days. Just take a look at the downbeat results from a survey out from the Physicians’ Foundation.

Here are some of the bracing findings from 11,950 primary care docs and specialists who responded to the survey:

94% said the time they’ve devote to non-clinical paperwork in the past three years has increased. 63% said the paperwork has meant they spend less time per patient.

82% said their practices would be “unsustainable” if proposed Medicare pay cuts were made.

78% believe there is a shortage of primary care docs in the U.S.

49% said that over the next three years they plan to reduce the number of patients they see or stop practicing entirely.

60% would not recommend medicine as a career to young people.

42% said professional morale is either “poor” or “very low.”

17% rated the financial position of their practices as “healthy and profitable.”

6% described morale of their colleagues as “positive.”

: When Alzheimer's Hits at a Young Age

2008-11-16T14:22:00.000-05:00

Brian Kammerer, the 45-year-old chief financial officer of a small hedge fund, called his wife one day from a cellphone in the men's room of his Manhattan office building. A colleague had just asked him for something, he whispered, but he had no idea what it was.

'It clicks and it holds papers together,' he said.

'A stapler?' Kathy Kammerer asked.

'I think that's what it's called,' he replied.

Living Alzheimer's From the Front Row

2008-11-16T14:10:00.002-05:00

I often use the term "living Alzheimer's from the front row". This term describes caregivers and others that watch Alzheimer's develop 24/7. Once the disease strikes they get to witness the craziness of it all. On one hand, you have the person suffering from Alzheimer's; on the other hand, you have the person responsible for caring for that person. Unless you are an Alzheimer's caregiver it is almost impossible to either understand or comprehend what it is like living in the front row.

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

Until you sit in the front row you won't be able to comprehend what it is like living in the "front row" . In the early days of caring the caregiver deals with a disease that is not only impossible to understand; they live with a disease that turns their world upside down. Imagine a person you know all or most of your life and their behavior changes--suddenly--and for the worse. This person, your loved one, begins to act out behaviors with you that you have never seen or experienced before. You want to scream at them or worse, but you come to the realization that this only makes matters worse. You cannot reason with a person suffering from Alzheimer's. They believe what they say to be true and nothing can change it.

It is difficult to describe the range of emotions a caregiver might feel or experience in a single day. Imagine being happy and then sad, caring then angry, focused then frustrated, an almost endless stream of feelings and emotions that conflict. The caregiver lives an anxiety filled life day-after- day. The caregiver nevers knows when this craziness might come to an end. They do know this uncertain fate is heart wrenching.

Most people have difficulty dealing with change. The Alzheimer's caregiver deals with change on a daily basis. Never knowing for certain what is coming, but knowing fully it is coming. Informed caregivers try to get ahead of the curve so they can get prepared for these harsh, sometimes hard to comprehend changes. Knowing that your loved one is going to forget simple things like how to brush their teeth, how to take a shower, and even how to eat is not a pleasant thought. The actual experience and feeling of helplessness cannot be described. Knowing that the day is coming when they --won't know you-- is the most horrific feeling of them all.

It isn't pleasant living in the front row. Yet, somehow we do it. Many of us for years. Trust me when I say this, if you are not living in the front row you could never imagine what it is like.

If you know a caregiver get involved. The first thing you can do is listen to them as they vent. The next thing you can do is arrange for them to get away from it all for a period of time. Hug a caregiver, I assure you it will be an experience you won't forget.

More About the Alzheimer's Reading Room
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Alzheimer's Disease Statistics

What is Alzheimer's? What are the Eight Types of Dementia?
Alzheimer's Dementia Caregiving -- Advice and Insight
Does the Combination of Aricept and Namenda Help Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients
Communicating in Alzheimer's World
Is it Really Alzheimer's or Something Else?
2010 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures
60 Good Reasons to Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Bob DeMarco is the editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. Bob has written more than 1,400 articles with more than 9,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.

The Alzheimer's Action Plan

300 Tips for Making Life Easier

Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Eat Your Statins

2008-11-16T14:08:00.000-05:00

Two major studies found vitamins E, C, B12, and folic acid all did exactly squat in preventing heart attacks, while Crestor, the last and most powerful statin, cut the rate of heart attacks and strokes by 50% and reduced overall death by 20% in men over 50 and women over 60 who scored high on a blood test that may indicate cardiovascular risk.

“Count the next 100 men you see over 50,” says Evan Stein of the Metabolic and Atherosclerosis Research Center, who has worked on decades of clinical trials with drug companies. “Fifty of them are going to die of heart disease. No matter what, if you are at cardiovascular risk, you should be taking a statin.”

Eat Your Statins

Matthew Herper with Robert Langreth

Want to avoid a heart attack? Stop taking your vitamins and switch to a cholesterol-lowering statin drug instead.

That was the message from last week's annual meeting of the American Heart Association in New Orleans. Two major studies found vitamins E, C, B12, and folic acid all did exactly squat in preventing heart attacks, while Crestor, the last and most powerful statin, cut the rate of heart attacks and strokes by 50% and reduced overall death by 20% in men over 50 and women over 60 who scored high on a blood test that may indicate cardiovascular risk.

“Count the next 100 men you see over 50,” says Evan Stein of the Metabolic and Atherosclerosis Research Center, who has worked on decades of clinical trials with drug companies. “Fifty of them are going to die of heart disease. No matter what, if you are at cardiovascular risk, you should be taking a statin.”

In Pictures: 10 Ways To Know If You Should Take A Statin

Only 3% of patients on placebo had heart attacks, strokes or heart surgeries in a two-year period, according to the Crestor study, called Jupiter. But low-risk people would need to be treated to make a dent in the one-third of American deaths (that's 800,000) caused by heart attacks and strokes. A recent survey of 13,000 patients found that 47% of heart attacks occurred in people whom scientists estimate had less than a 10% chance of having a heart attack over the course of a decade.

Twenty million people already take statins, but the Crestor study is likely to lead to a surge in use for one of the drug industry's best inventions. That includes branded entrants, like AstraZeneca's Crestor and Pfizer's Lipitor, and cheap generic versions of Zocor and Pravachol.

The drugs have side effects, including muscle weakening, that can be dangerous in some cases. Nobody is advocating putting really healthy patients on statins.

Statins lower cholesterol by short-circuiting the process in the liver that produces cholesterol in the body. The first statin drug was derived from a fungal broth by Akira Endo, a scientist at the Japanese drug firm Sankyo, in the 1970s. Merck's Mevacor, built on Endo's work, hit the market in 1987. Trials in 1994 and 1995 of Merck's more potent follow-up, Zocor, and Pravachol, from Bristol-Myers Squibb, proved statin drugs can prevent heart attacks and deaths. Sales of cholesterol-lowering drugs took off; last year, they totaled $34 billion globally.

The immediate hype surrounding the Jupiter study is about adding the new blood test, for C-reactive protein (CRP). It measures inflammation in the arteries that can cause heart attacks. But far more important will be the way this massive trove of data--18,000 patients' information--solidifies the already rosy view cardiologists have of statin drugs; it will also be invaluable for silencing critics. Jupiter lead author Paul Ridker discloses he has patents on the test. Some researchers quoted here, including Ridker, have financial links to drugmakers.

Until now, there has been no solid proof that statins prevent women from having a first heart attack (though if a woman already had a heart attack, they clearly prevented the second one). The reason is that earlier studies done more than a decade ago, one of them recruiting solely from the Air Force, hadn’t included enough women to get a statistically significant result. Academics wrote in a law journal earlier this year that Pfizer was vulnerable to lawsuits if it had promoted these lifesaving drugs to women. In Jupiter, women over age 60 benefited every bit as much as men over 50.

"It's spectacular," says John J.P. Kastelein of Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, a co-author of the Crestor study. "We finally have strong data" that a statin prevents a first heart attack. Christie Ballantyne of Baylor College of Medicine predicts the results will "invigorate doctors and patients" to use statins more often.

Consider this: Testing people for high CRP, as Ridker has advocated, could make 7 million people eligible for statin drugs. The numbers are only bigger if we extrapolate the findings to people younger than 50. But if current guidelines were followed to the letter, the number of people taking these drugs could jump more than 50%--from 20 million to more than 30 million.

Eric Topol of the Scripps Research Institute notes that the patients in the study were "not people on the health train." Fifty-five percent had high blood pressure and 75% were obese or overweight. It may be the CRP test partly picks up people some docs already treat. Roger Blumenthal at Johns Hopkins gives a statin talk to any man over 50 with even one cardiovascular risk factor.

Generics could make widespread statin therapy downright cheap. Zocor and Pravachol are both off-patent. Lipitor goes generic in 2011. Sidney Wolfe of the watchdog group Public Citizen says "the message that has come off Jupiter is that people who are otherwise very healthy can benefit from statins." But Wolfe, a critic of Crestor, says that Lipitor and Pravachol are safer options. "We still think, based on recent data, that Crestor has no unique benefits but it has unique risk."

One statin critic not backing down is John Abramson, author of Overdosed America. He points out that patients on Crestor had the same rate of serious illnesses requiring hospitalization as those on placebo. "You haven't improved their net health," says Abramson. Instead, he argues, you're trading heart attacks and strokes for other serious illnesses. And he contends that not offering weight-loss counseling to an overweight population created an "artificial situation" that exaggerated the benefits of the drug. He's not alone. Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's fake news show The Colbert Report joked the study was "a great breakthrough in the battle to find things to prescribe to people who don’t need them."

But modern humans live in a world for which we are biologically unsuited, says James O’Keefe of the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo. Hunter-gatherers, who fed on fish, lean meat and fibrous veggies, had levels of low-density lipoprotein, or bad cholesterol, between 50 and 75 milligrams per deciliter, half the level for the average American. Breastfed babies have LDLs of 40mg/dL until they start eating processed foods, he says. “We all have high cholesterol,” says O’Keefe. Even treatment guidelines for patients on statins never recommend getting lower than 70 mg/dL, but maybe 50 is really "normal."

There is disagreement over whether statins work just by lowering LDL or also by preventing inflammation in the arteries, which also may have a role in heart attacks. That could explain why Jupiter outperformed previous statin trials, Ridker argues, and could lead some doctors to prescribe Crestor over generics. Use of Zetia, the non-statin cholesterol drug from Merck and Schering-Plough that is also part of the combo pill Vytorin, could continue to drop, because it may not have the same anti-inflammatory effects, and there's no evidence it stops heart attacks. Pfizer could catch a tailwind as health plans fearing Crestor's long patent life encourage docs to prescribe the similar Lipitor instead.

That leaves plenty for scientists, investors and marketers to fight over. But statins have proved their worth in 18 clinical trials stretched out over two decades. If these drugs aren't worth using widely, pharmaceutical chemists better get out of the prevention business entirely. Statins may be as good as drugs get.

Ten Million Baby Boomers likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s during their lifetime

2008-11-16T13:54:00.001-05:00

I am a baby boomer. My mother suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. Five years ago, I left my job as the CEO of a small software company to take care of my mother. I am living the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s from the front row.

It is rare to meet baby boomers that are concerned about their own uncertain fate when it comes to Alzheimer's disease. This includes most of my close friends. Fifteen thousand baby boomers are turning 60 each day.

• Every 71 seconds someone develops Alzheimer’s disease.

• Alzheimer’s disease is now the sixth leading cause of death (recently surpassing diabetes).

• One in every eight adults over the age of 65 suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

• One out of every two adults over the age of 85 suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

• Ten million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s disease in their lifetime.

Alzheimer’s disease is certain brain death. Imagine living in a world where you can recount experiences from 1936, but can’t remember your birthday party five minutes after it ended. Meet my mother. My mother never suffered a major illness. She never had an operation. Five years after her diagnosis she is in very good health. But, her brain is dying. She doesn’t know it.

I started the Alzheimer’s Reading Room to keep track of the thousands of articles and many books I was reading. I soon realized I could help the ten million Alzheimer’s Caregivers worldwide by personalizing this information on my blog. Later on, I decided to start writing about our successes in fighting the disease, our decisions on treatments, our new life style, where to look for help, and news about the search for a cure. I stick to information I believe is useful and helpful. There is an enormous amount of new information each day; it’s difficult to identify the best and most useful information. This is my job.

I now know there are many things baby boomers can do to lower the odds of contracting Alzheimer’s disease. I do all of these things for myself each day. There are things you can do to stave off the disease. You need to start doing them now. You cannot wait. With this in mind, I am broadening my mission on the blog to include information to help baby boomers understand and take action against Alzheimer’s

Here are few things baby boomers should be doing right now:

• High blood pressure (hypertension) is a cause of cognitive decline. Hypertension causes build-up of beta-amyloid in the brain. This is a complication frequently associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Take action to get your blood pressure down now.

• High cholesterol levels in your 40s may raise the chance of developing Alzheimer's disease decades later. Failure to deal with this condition effectively could raise the odds of contracting Alzheimer’s disease by fifty percent. Get your cholesterol checked often and get it down.

• B12. A recent study found that people with higher levels of vitamin B12 were six times less likely to experience brain volume loss. A simple blood test is all that is needed to check the level of B12 in your system. You should start eating foods rich in B12 and consider getting B12 shots to raise the amount of B12 in your system.

• Big Belly. Having a large belly in middle age nearly triples the risk of developing dementia.

• Cocoa flavanols. A recent study at Harvard found that those who regularly drank a cocoa flavanol-rich beverage had an eight percent increase in brain blood flow after one week, and 10 percent increase after two weeks. I highly recommend incorporating this into your diet.

• Exercise. A new study just released shows that regular exercise is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of dementia and can help slow progression of Alzheimer's disease.

In the days ahead, I will be writing more about ways to combat Alzheimer’s disease. If you know someone currently caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease please tell them about the blog. You can subscribe to the blog via email or reader by taking the appropriate action on the blog.

They are predicting that ten million baby boomers will suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. By spreading the word and taking action we can lower the number. Let’s get together on this.

Original content the Alzheimer's Reading Room

The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems

Clostridium Difficile Is the New MRSA

2008-11-16T13:53:00.001-05:00

Now, the CDC estimates, C. diff contributes to between 15,000 and 30,000 deaths annually. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the hospital there’s a tough bug to worry about.

Even as hospitals are taking bolder steps to fight MRSA, a nasty infection often contracted during hospital stays, another microbe is quickly becoming more common: Clostridium difficile. The WSJ has the story.

Clostridium Difficile Is the New MRSA

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the hospital there’s a tough bug to worry about.

Even as hospitals are taking bolder steps to fight MRSA, a nasty infection often contracted during hospital stays, another microbe is quickly becoming more common: Clostridium difficile. The WSJ has the story.

The bug was recognized a problem in the 1970s, but it was only in 2000 that an especially virulent strain emerged. Now, the CDC estimates, C. diff contributes to between 15,000 and 30,000 deaths annually.

The dark irony is that, because C. diff typically kept in check by the healthy bacteria that live in the digestive tract, people often get C. diff infections after treatment with antibiotics (which kill both harmful and healthy bacteria).

One doc recently wrote of a case where overly aggressive antibiotic treatment, apparently designed to meet performance guidelines for treating pneumonia, may have caused a case of C. diff colitis.

Hospitals are trying to slow the spread by being more judicious in their use of antibiotics. Other efforts include isolating infected patients, giving scrubs, masks and gloves to patient visitors, and using especially strong cleaning solutions for patients rooms, to destroy the C. diff spores that can dry out and remain dangerous outside the body for long periods of time.

Photo of C. diff spores by Photo Researchers

Combining Alzheimer's drugs helps slow rate of decline in Alzheimer's Patients

2008-11-16T13:50:00.000-05:00

My mother is currently moving into the medium stage of Alzheimer's so for us this is exciting news. I intend to send this information to our personal care physician and discuss it with him immediately.

I just finished reading a study published in the journal Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders that indicates combining two different kinds of Alzheimer's drugs works better one. This unique research took place over a long time frame, 1990-2005. Typical clinical trials last about 6-9 months.

Those in earlier stages of Alzheimer's disease are typically treated with cholinesterase inhibitors like Aricept, Razadyne, or Exelon. Those suffering from later stage Alzheimer's disease are usually treated with Namenda (Memantine). The study found that people who took the combination of a cholinesterase inhibitor and Memantine showed a significantly slower rate of cognitve decline than those who took only a cholinesterase inhibitor or no drug.

While still in an early stage and needing follow-up this study indicates that the combination of drugs significantly slows the deterioration of cognitive function in Alzheimer's patients.

"Finding something that could actually modify the course of the disease is the Holy Grail of Alzheimer's treatment, but we really don't know if that is happening or what the mechanism behind these effects might be," Alireza Atri explains. "What we can say now is that providers should help patients understand that the benefits of these drugs are long term and may not be apparent in the first months of treatment. Even if a patient's symptoms get worse, that doesn't mean the drug isn't working, since the decline probably would have been much greater without therapy."

John Growdon, MD, a senior author of the paper said, "The results of this study should change the way we treat patients with Alzheimer's disease. Cholinesterase inhibitors are approved for use in mild to moderate dementia, while memantine has been approved for advanced dementia. But it looks like there is an advantage in prescribing both drugs as initial treatment."

You can read more about the study by following the links:

Combining Alzheimer's drugs helps, study says

Benefit Of Combination Therapy For Alzheimer's Disease Confirmed

Combining Alzheimer's drugs helps, study says

Drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease have shown only modest success in easing symptoms of the incurable illness that robs people of their memory and makes them unable to lead normal lives. But a new study from Boston researchers offers a glimmer of hope that combining two kinds of drugs may help delay progression of the symptoms.

Researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital Memory Disorders Unit report in the journal Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders that combining two types of Alzheimer's drugs works better than giving none or one of the drugs alone to slow cognitive and functional decline. Previous clinical trials have compared the drugs with placebos in short studies of safety and effectiveness, but the MGH group says theirs is the first to look longer-term at patients in a real-world clinical setting. Their study was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the Massachusetts Alzehimer's Disease Research Center.

Led by Dr. Alireza Atri, the researchers analyzed the records of 382 patients who were treated at the Boston clinic from 1990 to 2005. The earliest group of 144 patients did not receive any medication, the second group got a cholinesterase inhibitor approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the mid-1990s, and the third group took that drug plus memantine, a drug approved in 2003 that helps patients think more clearly. The patients were followed for an average of two and a half years and given tests to measure both their cognitive abilities and their capacity to carry out the activities of daily living.

People who took the combination of drugs showed a significantly smaller rate of decline than those who were taking only a cholinesterase inhibitor or no drug. Memantine was not studied alone because by the time it was available, cholinesterase inhibitors were widely used. The researchers accounted for differences among the groups, such as how early in the disease they were diagnosed and whether they had other illnesses, but the differences in how they scored on tests of cognition and function still held true.

The results raise the intriguing possibility that the drugs may be protecting the patients' brains from further deterioration, the authors said.

"Finding something that could actually modify the course of the disease is the Holy Grail of Alzheimer's treatment, but we really don't know if that is happening or what the mechanism behind these effects might be," Atri said in a statement. "What we can say now is that providers should help patients understand that the benefits of these drugs are long term and may not be apparent in the first months of treatment. Even if a patient's symptoms get worse, that doesn't mean the drug isn't working, since the decline probably would have been much greater without therapy."

Original content the Alzheimer's Reading Room

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Worried about Alzheimer's? Rule # 1 Exercise

2008-11-16T13:49:00.000-05:00

It is getting more and more difficult for me to get my mother to exercise. Recently one of her best friends, now 79, received a scare when her good friend told her she was starting to get forgetful. She asked me what I thought she should be doing to help protect herself against dementia and Alzheimer's. My answer to this is question is always the same--Rule #1 Exercise.

Our friend decided on the spot to take my advice and join Gold's gym. She did so immediately. We decided to attend the Silver Sneakers exercise class the next morning. I had trouble getting my mother to go to the gym class so I asked our friend to come over and help me convince her. It worked, thank goodness.

On the way to the gym the best way I can describe my mother is zombie like. She could barely walk, kept telling me she was going to faint, and said she was sick. I could barely get her out of the car. When we walked out of the gym my mother was standing straight, had a smile on her face, and was communicating. It is rather hard for me to describe this unless you see it for yourself. This happens every time. Exercise works for my mother who suffers from Alzheimer's and the benefits are obvious. Our friend upon seeing this in person for the first time decided she will attend the class at least three times per week.

The experience reminded me of an article I read a while back that discussed the positive effect that exercise had on nursing home residents suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

"Nursing home residents with Alzheimer's disease who participate in a moderate exercise program have a significantly slower deterioration than those who receive routine medical care, researchers have shown."

Reuters Health: Exercise slows decline in Alzheimer's patients

Nursing home residents with Alzheimer's disease who participate in a moderate exercise program have a significantly slower deterioration than those who receive routine medical care, researchers have shown.

Dr. Yves Rolland, of Hospital La Grave-Casselardit in Toulouse, France, and colleagues examined the effects of a program of exercise for one hour twice weekly on activities of daily living, physical performance, nutritional status, behavioral disturbance and depression among 134 Alzheimer's disease patients in nursing homes.

The patients were 83 years old on average. They were assigned to the exercise program, which focused on walking, strength, balance and flexibility training, or to routine medical care for 12 months.

As reported in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 110 participants completed the study. Among the 56 subjects in the exercise group who completed the study, the rate of adherence to the program was about 33 percent on average.

At the end of the 12 months, the average activities-of-daily-living score was significantly more improved in the exercise group than in the routine medical care group, Rolland's team reports.

In addition, average walking speed improved significantly more in the exercise group than in the routine medical care group at 6 months and 12 months.

However, the exercise program had no apparent effect on behavioral disturbance, depression or nutritional assessment scores.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, February 2007.

Read more about Alzheimer's at the Alzheimer's Reading Room

The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems

Forget MRSA C Difficile Worse

2008-11-16T13:48:00.001-05:00

With all the attention on antibiotic-resistant staph, or MRSA, you may have overlooked Clostridium difficile, the nasty bacterium behind a growing number of hospital-acquired infection. Turns out C. diff is infecting more than 1 in 100 inpatients, a nationwide survey just found.

Forget MRSA for a Moment, Clostridium Difficile is a Growing Problem

With all the attention on antibiotic-resistant staph, or MRSA, you may have overlooked Clostridium difficile, the nasty bacterium behind a growing number of hospital-acquired infection. Turns out C. diff is infecting more than 1 in 100 inpatients, a nationwide survey just found.

APIC, the big infection-control group, asked its members to take a one-day snapshot of C. diff in U.S. hospitals; responses came back from more than 600 facilities in 47 states.

A day in the life of C. diff proved sobering. Thirteen of every 1,000 hospitalized patients are colonized with C. diff, and 94% of those patients show signs of C. diff disease, such as severe diarrhea. The finding suggests that, on any given day, some 7,000 hospital patients have C. diff, and about 300 will go on to die of the disease, the authors wrote.

The one-day-snapshot method is somewhat unusual, so it’s tough to compare these findings with C. diff numbers from earlier studies. But by any measure, it’s clear that C. diff is a growing problem. Check out this analysis, which found that the percentage of hospital patients with C. diff doubled between 2000 and 2005.
C. diff has the nasty habit of flourishing after patients are treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics, which wipe out the intestinal bacteria that normally keep C. diff in check. And it forms hardy spores that are difficult to kill — alcohol-based disinfectant gels, for example, don’t do the trick. What’s more, a recently discovered strain called NAP1 is not only especially virulent, but also appears to pass more easily from person to person than other strains of C. diff.

So what can be done? Solid isolation and hygiene by hospital personnel helps. So does avoiding broad-spectrum antibiotics when possible, and keeping the course of treatment short. For more tips, see this WSJ story.

Photo of C. diff spores by Photo Researchers

‘No Cost’ Ways to Get Informed and Get Help about Alzheimer’s Disease

2008-11-16T13:46:00.001-05:00

“Families with loved ones who have Alzheimer’s disease are being pulled on all sides, and the last thing they need is any additional financial pressure. Now more than ever, they need to be proactive and embrace support that is theirs free for the asking. This assistance can make a world of difference in terms of lightening the financial as well as the emotional toll of caregiving.”

Press Release

‘No Cost’ Ways to Get Informed and Get Help about Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Urges Action during National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month

NEW YORK , NY – As economic woes and healthcare cost concerns continue to grip the nation, the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) is encouraging families of those affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias to take advantage of free services and monetary awards that can help reduce the financial toll of this chronic disease.

AFA’s message comes during the observance in November of both National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Caregivers Month.

Eric J. Hall, AFA’s president and CEO, said that AFA these days is fielding more inquiries than ever about financial aspects of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease.

“The burden of chronic disease, especially for those living on fixed incomes, becomes even more apparent when economic times are tough,” he said.

“Families with loved ones who have Alzheimer’s disease are being pulled on all sides, and the last thing they need is any additional financial pressure. Now more than ever, they need to be proactive and embrace support that is theirs free for the asking. This assistance can make a world of difference in terms of lightening the financial as well as the emotional toll of caregiving.”

It is estimated that five million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, with the majority aged 65 and older. The brain disorder progressively causes loss of memory and other intellectual functions, and a person lives an average eight years from diagnosis. The cost of an individual’s care can be as high as $36,000 per year.

Here are five of AFA’s “no cost” support services:

On AFA’s 6 th annual National Memory Screening Day on November 18 th, more than 2,100 sites from coast to coast will offer free, confidential memory screenings and information about memory concerns, successful aging and resources. AFA encourages adults with memory concerns, a family history of Alzheimer’s disease or a desire to establish a baseline score for future comparison to participate. The results do not represent a diagnosis, and screeners encourage those with abnormal scores and those who still have concerns to pursue a full medical exam.

AFA’s toll-free hot line, 866-AFA-8484, links callers with its licensed social workers who answer questions—big and small—about myriad topics and provide referrals to local resources nationwide.

Available by free subscription, AFA’s quarterly magazine, care ADvantage for caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease and related illnesses, contains practical care-related strategies, activities and input from families living with the disease.

Families in financial need can apply for respite care grants to help offset the cost of such services as adult day programs and in-home aides. The grants are offered twice a year and applications must be made through AFA member organizations.
For teenagers, including those personally dealing with Alzheimer’s disease in their families, AFA awards a $5,000 scholarship annually to a college-bound student. Applications are due February 15.

For information about these and other programs and services, contact AFA at 866-AFA-8484 or visit www.alzfdn.org.

The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) is a New York-based nonprofit organization made up of 950 member organizations nationwide that provide hands-on programs to meet the educational, emotional, practical and social needs of families affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related illnesses. AFA’s services include a toll-free hot line, educational materials, a free caregiver magazine, and professional training. Call (toll-free) 866-AFA-8484 or visit www.alzfdn.org .

Contact: Carol Steinberg
Phone: 866-AFA-8484

The Alzheimer's Reading Room

Learning to Speak Alzheimer's: A Groundbreaking Approach for Everyone Dealing with the Disease

: Blog to Cope With Alzheimer's

2008-11-16T13:43:00.000-05:00

"You're never too old to start blogging -- and to stave off dementia.

Seniors in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, with mild to moderate memory loss, are writing Web logs to help them make sense of their daily lives. And the activity, they say, is slowing the onset of their symptoms."

A terminally-ill Girl wins the legal right to die

2008-11-16T13:41:00.000-05:00

A terminally-ill British teen wins the legal right to die at home. ITN's Joanna Simpson reports.

Girl, 13, rejects life-saving heart operation

A 13-year-old British girl who has undergone nearly a dozen surgeries in her young life has refused a heart transplant operation -- a decision that may ultimately lead to her death.

Hannah Jones, who was diagnosed with leukemia and later a heart condition, told her parents and medical authorities that she would rather spend her remaining time at home than in the hospital. Health authorities have ceded to the decision after interviewing the girl.

"I've been in hospital too much -- I've had too much trauma," Hannah Jones told Sky News on Tuesday. "I don't want this, and it's my choice not to have it."

Hannah was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 4 years old. Chemotherapy put her into remission but doctors then discovered she had cardiomyopathy, a serious disease where the heart muscle becomes swollen and sometimes fails.

The girl's story surfaced when parents complained about hospital officials who sent a social worker to interview the girl about her choice.

The family received a telephone call saying the hospital would take legal action if they didn't bring Hannah to hospital, said her mother, Kirsty Jones.

"They phoned us on a Friday evening and said that if we didn't take her in they'd come and take her. We still refused to take her," she said.

Hospital officials said it is standard procedure to make sure both the child and their parents understand the consequences of any medical decision.

"Clearly, the welfare of the child is paramount," said Sally Stucke, a pediatrician with the Herefordshire Primary Care Trust where Hannah was receiving treatment.

"Pediatricians will always consider the child's best interests at all times and this would include the child's medical, emotional and psychological well-being."

"No one can be forced to have a heart transplant," she added.

Dr. Tony Calland, who chairs the British Medical Association's medical ethics committee, told BBC radio that a 13-year-old like Hannah, supported by her parents, should be "perfectly capable" of making such a decision.

"Decisions to refuse life-prolonging treatment are always extremely difficult and emotive," he said.

"What is paramount is that decisions are made in the best interests of the patient. Where consensus cannot be reached between doctors, patients and family, then it is only appropriate that the courts intervene to act in the best interests of the patient."

Dr. John Jenkins, a pediatrician and chairman of Britain's General Medical Council standards and ethics committee, said children who have lengthy illnesses become "experts in their own condition quite early in life."

Heart transplants are risky operations on any patient -- and those risks increase with young people who have additional conditions like Hannah's leukemia.

The transplants often require patients to be on lifelong anti-rejection medication to prevent their body from attacking their new heart. The medicines often have side-effects, which make the body more susceptible to dangerous infections.

"I just decided there were too many risks, and even if I took it there might be a bad outcome," Hannah said.

"There is a chance that I may be OK, and there's a chance that I may not be as well as I could be, but I'm willing to take that chance."

Olfactory testing may be helpful in early identification of Alzheimer's

2008-10-28T11:54:00.001-04:00

Have you tested your sense of smell lately?

clipped from alzheimersreadingroom.blogspot.com

The other day my mother asked me what I was putting in my coffee. I told her cinnamon. This reminded me of a test I did with her several years ago. I asked her if she could smell things as I put them under her nose. She could not detect the odor on any of them. I did this after reading an article that indicated difficulty identifying common smells such as lemon, banana and cinnamon may be the first sign of Alzheimer’s disease. It dawned on me at that time this would be an interesting test for anyone worried about the early signs of Alzheimer's.

I do believe this is a useful test for older people and baby boomers. Early detection of memory decline is important as you age. On the other hand, if you pass the smell test with flying colors that is a good sign.

MRSA Infections Come to the Doctor’s Office

2008-10-16T19:42:00.001-04:00

Follow the links to read more about this nasty stuff.

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is a tough-to-treat infection that in recent years has migrated out of the hospital and into the community. The cases above come from the country practice of WSJ.com columnist Ben Brewer, who writes this week about his experience treating the infection.

clipped from online.wsj.com

We all harbor skin bacteria. Some bugs are worse than others. About 25% to 30% of people carry staph bacteria on the skin or in the nose and can pass it to others. Only about 1% of the population is walking around with MRSA.

Even so, nearly 18,650 people died from MRSA infection and 94,000 others were seriously sickened in 2005, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The basics of MRSA prevention are hand washing, wiping down surfaces and covering cuts. Keeping personal care items separated from others also helps. For more information on MRSA and how to prevent its spread, see this report from the Mayo Clinic.

Dead reunite for show to support Obama

2008-10-14T10:53:00.001-04:00

Were you there? Do you wish you were there?

clipped from www.centredaily.com

Bob Weir, of the Grateful Dead, performs at the Bryce Jordan Center during a benefit concert for Barack Obama on Monday, October 13, 2008. CDT/Michelle Bixby

“People can you feel it? Love is everywhere.”

Brett Parnes, 36, a Boulder, Colo., attorney, flew to Philadelphia first thing Monday, drove a rental to State College (his first time here) and spent virtually all evening in what seemed like a state of transport — dancing barefoot alone back and forth with barely a break across the Jordan Center floor.

“This is a great town, with great vibes, and my favorite bands are here,” said Parnes, who planned to fly back to Colorado today.

Kat Lawlor, 16, took the day off from Ipswich High School in Ipswich, Mass., and arrived with three pals from Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Teacher’s aide Keira Reilly, 18, of Plymouth, N.H., said she came early “to rage the parking lot” outside Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, where early arrivals were directed.

Combining Alzheimer's drugs helps slow rate of decline in Alzheimer's Patients

2008-09-24T09:21:00.001-04:00

These findings should bring hope to those suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia. Baby boomers should take note.

clipped from alzheimersreadingroom.blogspot.com

My mother is currently moving into the medium stage of Alzheimer's so for us this is exciting news. I intend to send this information to our personal care physician and discuss it with him immediately.

"Finding something that could actually modify the course of the disease is the Holy Grail of Alzheimer's treatment, but we really don't know if that is happening or what the mechanism behind these effects might be," Alireza Atri explains. "What we can say now is that providers should help patients understand that the benefits of these drugs are long term and may not be apparent in the first months of treatment. Even if a patient's symptoms get worse, that doesn't mean the drug isn't working, since the decline probably would have been much greater without therapy."

The results raise the intriguing possibility that the drugs may be protecting the patients' brains from further deterioration, the authors said.

Which Patients Are Going to Retail Clinics?

2008-09-12T10:34:00.001-04:00

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

There’s been plenty of debate over the walk-in clinics cropping up in drug stores and big-box retailers. But research has been lacking on just who is using those clinics and what they’re being treated for.

In a new study that helps fill that gap, researchers pooled data from 1.35 million visits to more than 300 clinics operated by eight different companies. The clinics were in a variety of stores, including Wal-Mart, CVS and Walgreen.

Roughly 90% of the patients came for one of 10 relatively simple treatments. The list included ear infections, upper respiratory infections, immunizations and blood pressure checks.

Insurance paid for 67% of visits

Most of the patients said they didn’t have a primary care provider

The study, published in Health Affairs, was conducted by RAND researchers and funded by the California HealthCare Foundation

Better to Be Fat and Fit Than Skinny and Unfit

2008-08-20T11:59:00.001-04:00

Since this describes me I thought I would post the article as a clip.
You can read the entire article by clicking the link in the clip. Following the links in the article provides lots of interesting information.

clipped from www.nytimes.com

Increasingly, medical research is showing that it isn’t. Despite concerns about an obesity epidemic, there is growing evidence that our obsession about weight as a primary measure of health may be misguided.

Last week a report in The Archives of Internal Medicine compared weight and cardiovascular risk factors among a representative sample of more than 5,400 adults. The data suggest that half of overweight people and one-third of obese people are “metabolically healthy.” That means that despite their excess pounds, many overweight and obese adults have healthy levels of “good” cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose and other risks for heart disease.

The data follow a report last fall from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute showing that overweight people appear to have longer life expectancies than so-called normal weight adults.

Obama Says Single-Payer Health Care Makes Sense

2008-08-19T21:38:00.001-04:00

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

Barack Obama said he would consider embracing a single-payer health-care system sometime in the future as his plan for broader health coverage evolves, the WSJ’s Amy Chozick reports from the campaign trail.

“If I were designing a system from scratch, I would probably go ahead with a single-payer system,” Obama told some 1,800 people at a town-hall meeting on the economy in
Albuquerque, New Mexico.

But critics, including every Republican we can think of, cringe at the elimination of competition and deep government involvement in the private sector.

“People don’t have time to wait,” Obama said. “They need relief now. So my attitude is let’s build up the system we got, let’s make it more efficient, we may be over time—as we make the system more efficient and everybody’s covered—decide that there are other ways for us to provide care more effectively.”

Medicare Drug Benefit Premiums Rise, but Less Than Expected

2008-08-15T15:39:00.001-04:00

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

The average premium Medicare beneficiaries pay for prescription drug coverage will rise 12% next year — though in real terms that’s only three bucks a month more than they’re already paying.

Based on bids from the private insurers who provide the Medicare Part D benefit, the feds said yesterday that the average premium next year would be $28 a month. (UnitedHealth, Humana and Cigna are among those providing the plans, Bloomberg notes.)

The rise is due largely to people taking more medicines, and to the rising cost of drugs, the Associated Press says.

It’s worth noting that many of the most expensive drugs on the market now, such as some cancer treatments given via infusion, are covered by a different Medicare benefit, so the high cost of those drugs doesn’t figure into the Part D premiums.

Medicare Could Save Billions By Cutting Re-Hospitalization

2008-08-14T19:45:00.000-04:00

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

The percentage of patients who return to the hospital with in 30 days of being discharged could be cut dramatically, says an op-ed in this morning’s Boston Globe. A MedPAC study found that potentially preventable readmissions cost Medicare some $12 billion in 2005.

Medicare could improve things for patients — and ultimately save money — by paying more for a few key steps, argue the authors, a couple senior folks from the Commonwealth Fund.

One medical center lowered readmission rates for cardiac patients by 78% when nurses called the patients at home to check on key signs such as weight, swelling, and shortness of breath.

Medicare should bundle funding for this kind of follow-up monitoring in its payment for the patient’s initial hospital stay, and “claw back” the initial payment for any patient who is re-admitted to any hospital within 30 days, the authors suggest.

TauRx Therapeutics-- New treatment halts progress of Alzheimer's disease

2008-08-09T11:58:00.000-04:00

clipped from alzheimersreadingroom.blogspot.com

The results of the Phase 2 study of TauRx's new treatment strongly suggest that it is possible to halt progression in mild and moderate Alzheimer's. TauRx is continuing to refine its treatment and hopes that restoration may be possible at least at the earlier stages with improved versions of its drug. Tangles are already destroying nerve cells in parts of the brain critical for memory in people in their fifties and upwards. The ultimate goal is to develop a product that is convenient for patients that could be widely used at the very earliest stages of the disease, long before patients experience the first symptoms of Alzheimer's.

Which Drugmaker Will Be Biggest in 2014? Hint: Not Pfizer

2008-08-06T00:21:00.001-04:00

File this under food for thought. I hope this helps stimulate some good investment ideas.

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

The drug industry’s about to plunge off a patent cliff, as blockbuster after blockbuster faces generic competition. But some companies are facing a steeper cliff than others.

Evaluate Pharma, a data crunching outfit based in London, pooled consensus forecasts to estimate how things will look in 2014.

Here’s a list of the top six, based on projected worldwide sales of prescription and over-the-counter drugs in 2014:

2014 RANK COMPANY 2007 RANK 2014 DRUG SALES (EST., $m)
1 Roche 5 49,500
2 Sanofi-Aventis 3 48,011
3 GlaxoSmithKline 2 43,300
4 Novartis 4 42,875
5 Johnson & Johnson 7 32,547
6 Pfizer 1 29,287

Special Reminder: PBS Presents The Future of Alzheimer's

2008-08-03T13:21:00.000-04:00

PBS will present a special evening of programming focused on Alzheimer's disease on Sunday, August 3 starting at 9 p.m.

The programming starts with a national encore broadcast of the Emmy-Award-winning THE FORGETTING: A Portrait of Alzheimer's, followed by a new half-hour discussion, The Future of Alzheimer's, moderated by actor and Alzheimer's champion David Hyde Pierce.

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Diverse Approaches to Alzheimer's Therapies Continue to Show Progress at ICAD

2008-07-31T11:42:00.001-04:00

clipped from alzheimersreadingroom.blogspot.com

A lot of good and encouraging news continues to come out of this week's Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease 2008.

--18-Month Data from an Extension of a Pivotal Trial of Dimebon in Alzheimer's

--First U.S. Double-Blind Phase II Clinical Trial of IVIg (Immunotherapy) in Alzheimer's

--Phase II Immunotherapy Trial with LY2062430 in Mild to Moderate Alzheimer's

--Antidementia Drugs Contribute to Longer Life in People with Alzheimer's

Read More......

Abnormal Thyroid Levels Can Increase Risk For Alzheimer’s Disease in Women

2008-07-30T16:10:00.001-04:00

A year or so ago I first read about hyperthyroidism and its connection to Alzheimer's disease and dementia. I asked our doctor to check my mother. He termed the results as suspicious and prescribed a drug for her thyroid. After about two months my mother started smiling more and laughing. Was it the drug? I'll never know for certain. Buy, my belief is it does help. If you have a loved one suffering from an early stage of Alzheimer's or dementia I suggest you get the thyroid checked.

clipped from www.healthnews.com

Thyroid disease, resulting from either low or high thyrotropin levels, has been found to be associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease in women only. Thyrotropin is a hormone that affects thyroid gland function and thyroid hormone levels. When a patient has low levels of the hormone, the condition is known as hypothyroidism, while a patient having high levels is referred to as having hyperthyroidism.

Both conditions are recognized causes of reversible dementia based on previous studies. In fact, routine screening of serum thyrotropin levels is included in evaluation of patients with suspected dementia. However, the effects of a normally functioning thyroid gland on the brain's cognitive abilities have not been made clear. It is not known whether thyroid function affects Alzheimer's or if it is Alzheimer's that affects thyroid function.

Tau drug shows early promise in Alzheimer's

2008-07-30T15:54:00.001-04:00

clipped from www.healthcentral.com

An Alzheimer's drug that
attacks abnormal tangles in the brain appeared to slow progression
of the disease, British researchers said on Tuesday, but doctors
cautioned that the results are early.

The drug, made by private biotechnology company TauRX and called
Rember, produced a significant improvement in key measures of
thinking and memory in people with moderate Alzheimer's disease,
company officials said.

The drug is among the first to attack tangles of tau protein in
the brain that are strongly associated with dementia in Alzheimer's
disease.

"We've demonstrated for the first time we can halt the disease
by a treatment that aims to dissolve the tangles," said Claude
Wischik of the University of Aberdeen and chairman of TauRX
Therapeutics in Singapore.

The researchers tested 321 patients with mild to moderate
Alzheimer's disease at 17 centers in the United Kingdom and
Singapore, they told the International Conference on Alzheimer's
disease in Chicago.

New Research Shows That People With Better Physical Fitness Have Less Brain Atrophy in Alzheimer's

2008-07-28T14:46:00.001-04:00

I have been writing about Alzheimer's and exercise on the Alzheimer's Reading Room blog for years. I believe that exercise is a key component in fighting off the devastating effects of Alzheimer's on my mother--now 92 years old.

Exercising in a gym also gives my mother an added boost by keeping her socialized. Most days my mother goes kicking and screaming to the gym. On the way out she has a smile on her face, better balance while walking, and I feel like we are fighting the good fight.

I should mention that I am also getting some obvious benefits. If you are predisposed to Alzheimer's by birth you really need to incorporate Alzheimer's into your daily return.

clipped from www.alz.org

People with early Alzheimer’s disease who had better fitness ratings had less atrophy in key brain areas associated with memory, according to research reported today at the 2008 Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD 2008) in Chicago.

This is the first time that MRI brain imaging has been used to demonstrate the connection between cardiorespiratory fitness and Alzheimer’s-related brain changes in the hippocampus, an area of the brain important for memory and spatial navigation. In Alzheimer's, the hippocampus is one of the first regions of the brain to suffer damage.

"We found that, in early-stage Alzheimer’s, cardiorespiratory fitness is correlated with regional brain volumes in key areas affected by the disease," said Honea. "This suggests that maintaining cardiorespiratory fitness may positively modify Alzheimer’s-related brain atrophy."

Another Disappointing Year for Alzheimer’s Drugs

2008-07-28T14:24:00.001-04:00

You can check out what is going on by following the links in the clip.

We can only hope and pray for a breakthrough.

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

Last month, Myriad Genetics said its late-stage trial of its experimental drug Flurizan failed to show any benefit for Alzheimer’s patients.

The results of the Flurizan study will be unpacked this week at a big annual Alzheimer’s conference,

as researchers look at what’s next in the field, the Los Angeles Times reports this morning.

Eli Lilly is running a late-stage trial of its drug LY450139, which is supposed to block the production of gamma secretase

Elan and Wyeth are in the midst of late-stage study of bapineuzumab, an antibody-based drug that’s supposed to clear plaques from the brain.

Results from the big test are expected in 2010. But the drug has generated some excitement among investors, even though preliminary results of a mid-stage study didn’t shoot the lights out. More details on those results are scheduled to be released tomorrow.

Health Benefits of Pets

2008-07-24T12:08:00.002-04:00

I know first hand how a cat can benefit a person suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. Also, see the article below from HealthCentral.com for more about the benefits of pets in assisted living facilities.

clipped from www.cdc.gov

Most households in the United States have at least one pet. Why do people have pets? There are many reasons. Some of the health benefits of pets are listed below.

Pets can decrease your:
Blood pressure
Cholesterol levels
Triglyceride levels
Feelings of loneliness

Pets can increase your:
Opportunities for exercise and outdoor activities
Opportunities for socialization

Health Benefits of Pet-Ownership Strengthens Human-Animal Bond
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) issued a statement supporting the health benefits of animal companionship for people.

Health Benefits of Animals The Delta Society provides abstracts, articles, and bibliographies on the health benefits of animals to people.

Health Benefits of Pets, NIH

Pet Doors Opening at Assisted Living Centers

2008-07-24T12:04:00.002-04:00

This is an excellent article that I read at HealthCentral.com. I know from first hand experience about the wonderful effect a cat can have on a person suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. Just watching this effect can bring you joy and happiness.

Follow the link in the clip to read the entire article. It is a good read.

clipped from www.healthcentral.com

When the elderly woman first arrived at Brooke Grove Retirement Village in Sandy Spring,
Md., some of the staffers were skeptical when they saw she had brought her cat along.

The woman, in the early stages of dementia, "floated in and out," according to Jackie Carson, the assisted living administrator at Brooke Grove, a center specializing in Alzheimer's care.

Staffers had to help the woman remember to feed the cat, and some were initially resentful, saying their job was to care for people, not animals, she added.

But slowly, the staff came around, when they saw all the benefits that the cat conferred on the residents, Carson, a registered nurse, said.

I’ve learned about long-term care’s reality, thanks to Mom

2008-07-17T07:15:00.001-04:00

This is an excellent read. Paul R. Willging was involved in long-term care policy development at the highest levels for more than 20 years but he really learned what it is all about when he to find long term care for his mother.

You can read the entire article by following the link in the clip.

clipped from www.ltlmagazine.com

You’d think I’d know it all by now. But let me tell you, nothing brings the real issues of long-term care home in a more compelling fashion than confronting them personally. As I write this piece, I’ve just returned from Minnesota, where multiple siblings and I spent a fascinating, frustrating, and educational week seeking an appropriate long-term care community for Mom.

Which Drugs Do — And Don’t — Increase Fall Risks for the Elderly

2008-07-17T07:08:00.001-04:00

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths for people 65 and older, and they’re the most frequent reason for trauma admissions among the elderly, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

Drugs ranging from sleeping pills to painkillers can make people woozy, confused or interfere with balance. To cut the risk of falls, the UNC researchers are focusing on the options among nine groups of medicines. For a look at the best and worst choices by category, see the appendices to the study in the June issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy.

The basic problem is that patients — and even their physicians — are unlikely to be aware of all the side effects that common medicines can have, Susan Blalock, an associate professor at UNC’s pharmacy school, told us.

Obama Wants Tax Credit for Small Firms Offering Coverage

2008-07-15T10:37:00.001-04:00

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

Barack Obama shed some new light on his health-care proposals this weekend, suggesting a $6 billion-a-year plan to offer tax credits to small businesses offering health insurance to employees.

Our Washington Wire blog notes that Hillary Clinton had made a similar proposal for small businesses, whose problems providing health insurance are among the biggest hurdles to universal coverage. The big annual Kaiser Family Foundation survey on employee health benefits found that 59% of firms with 3-199 workers offered health benefits in 2007, compared with 99% of firms with 200 or more workers. The issue was more dire for firms with 3-9 employees, where 45% offered coverage.

New Book and Review: The Alzheimer's Action Plan

2008-07-13T20:56:00.001-04:00

clipped from alzheimersreadingroom.blogspot.com

“Most of us will either get Alzheimer’s or care for a loved one who has"

The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems

Intel Receives FDA Market Clearance on In-Home Medical Device for Management of Health Conditions

2008-07-13T18:53:00.001-04:00

This is an important new product and brings state of the art technology to patients that are chronically ill or in need of constant care giving.

I think this could become an important tool for caregivers. For those who must work it could certainly provide some piece of mind and allow them to keep their loved one at home rather then have them institutionalized.

As time goes on this new technology will likely come down in price and overall cost. With the cost of gasoline rising it might also replace some to the doctor visits.

The potential market for this device is huge, so if it is accepted in the marketplace it will become a valuable tool.

Here is a snippet from the press release. You can read more by following the link in the clip.

clipped from www.intel.com

Intel Corporation today announced the receipt of 510(k) market clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Intel's personal health system, the Intel® Health Guide, a care management tool for healthcare professionals who manage patients with chronic conditions. The Intel Health Guide enables caregivers to provide their patients with more personalized care at home, while also engaging and empowering patients to take a more active and positive role in their own care.

The Intel Health Guide is a comprehensive solution, combining an in-home patient device, as well as an online interface allowing clinicians to monitor patients and remotely manage care.

The solution offers interactive tools for personalized care management and integrates vital sign collection, patient reminders, multimedia educational content and feedback and communications tools such as video conferencing and e-mail.

America's Best Hospitals

2008-07-10T14:58:00.001-04:00

clipped from health.usnews.com

What makes a hospital a "best"? A smart, caring workforce armed with the latest technology? Of course. But if that were the magic formula, the only names you'd see in the "America's Best Hospitals" rankings would be those of high-profile, big-money centers that can afford to lure top talent and purchase every new device. Hospitals that fly below the radar, like the 17 facilities in the heart rankings that were cited by fewer than 1 percent of heart specialists who responded to the annual U.S. News survey, would never appear.

5 Ways to Cut Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

2008-07-09T10:52:00.001-04:00

This is an excellent and well written article. The tips apply to everyone and should be incorporated into daily life. Well worth the read.

clipped from abcnews.go.com

More than 23 million Americans have diabetes, and up to a quarter of those do not even know they have it. A new report found that children are at greater risk of developing the disease.

Tallying the Cost of McCain’s Plan to Insure the Uninsurable

2008-07-09T10:48:00.001-04:00

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

What should the nation do about people who aren’t offered insurance through work, aren’t old enough for Medicare, aren’t poor enough for Medicaid and aren’t healthy enough to afford private coverage on the open market?

John McCain wants to beef up federal funding for state high-risk pools that cover people in this dicey situation. Earlier this year, McCain’s policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin put the cost of the plan at $7 to $10 billion, and said it could cover five million to seven million people. But, an article in this morning’s New York Times quotes Holtz-Eakin as saying those estimates “could change dramatically,” depending on how the program is structured.

Can Tomatoes Carry The Cure For Alzheimer's?

2008-07-09T10:45:00.001-04:00

I am not a fan of the vaccine approach. Nevertheless, this does look interesting.

clipped from www.biologynews.net

The humble tomato could be a suitable carrier for an oral vaccine against Alzheimer's disease

Kim and colleagues' aim was to develop a plant-derived vaccine against Alzheimer's disease, since beta-amyloid is toxic to animal cells. Tomatoes are an attractive candidate as a vaccine carrier because they can be eaten without heat treatment, which reduces the risk of destroying the immune stimulation potential of the foreign protein. The researchers inserted the beta-amyloid gene into the tomato genome and measured the immune responses to the tomato-derived toxic protein in a group of 15-month-old mice.

A Primary Care Doc Builds an Electronic Office, and Nobody Comes

2008-07-09T09:52:00.001-04:00

No doubt this doctor is early with this strategy.

I envision a doctor visit via a web cam. With a growing number of people without health care a cheap solution to a simple antibiotic will be a real home run.

The web cam satisfies the need to talk to the doctor live. If its a simple ailment that needs a generic prescription that works. If its more serious the doctor could direct the patient to the emergency room or to a doctor.

I believe in the future people will willingly pay $30 for the web cam consult and then 4 bucks for a generic drug.

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

Three years ago, Ben Brewer took the leap and paid for a fancy Web site that allows patients to send secure emails and have electronic consults.

Brewer counts himself among the minority of doctors willing to take the online plunge. “Most doctors I know seem unwilling or unable to make even email part of the way they practice medicine,” he writes. Legal worries and data overload are the deterrents.

Sex gets better with age, study says

2008-07-08T23:42:00.001-04:00

It will be a while before I can comment first hand on this one. It is interesting. I wonder if I will have to move to Sweden?

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com

70-year-olds said they get it on now more than they did 30 years ago

More 70-year-olds are having good sex more often, Swedish researchers said on Tuesday in a finding bound to bring a smile to many an aging baby boomer.

They found 70-year-olds of both sexes are having more sex than they did 30 years ago, and many more women report being satisfied with their sex lives.

Vote: Does sex gets better as you get older?
Sexed-up seniors do it more than you think
Sexploration: Grams and Gramps are getting it on

What I Wish I’d Done Differently

2008-07-08T14:05:00.001-04:00

Been there, done that. An excellent article worth reading and passing along to friend.

I found out that one of the most important decision that can ever be made is the selection of an excellent personal physician. Are they still updating their education? This is one question I would ask. And the first thing I would recommend is asking question.

I would suggest adding the New Old Age to your reader. Click the link in the clip to do it.

clipped from newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com

Looking back on the last few years of my mother’s life, with 20/20 hindsight and the belated knowledge that came from four years of reporting about aging for The New York Times, my single biggest mistake was not finding a doctor with expertise in geriatrics to quarterback her care and attend to the quality of her life, not merely its length.

Writing down every morsel doubles weight loss

2008-07-08T13:52:00.001-04:00

This is an excellent article and I can attest this works.

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com

In the struggle to lose weight, picking up a pen might be just as useful as putting down the fork.

That’s according to a new study that found that people who kept daily food diaries lost twice as much weight or more as those who didn’t keep a tally of their meals.

Docs Bailing Out of Medicare, Medicaid

2008-07-08T13:49:00.001-04:00

Click the link in the clip to read about this disturbing trend.

clipped from abcnews.go.com

Plummeting Reimbursement Rates Have Some Doctors Looking for a Way Out

New Clue to the Cause of Alzheimer's

2008-07-04T16:25:00.001-04:00

I read most of the books published on Alzheimer's in the last five years. I also read thousands of articles. I keep wondering if scientists are looking in the right place. Is the plaque made up of beta-amyloid the place they should be looking; and if so, is the path to a remedy or cure?

The article on the next page addresses this issue. This gives me hope.

clipped from www.time.com

Morrison-Bogorad said the findings may help explain the discovery of plaque in the brains of people who do not develop dementia. For some time, doctors have wondered why they find some brains in autopsy that are heavily coated with beta-amyloid, but the person did not have Alzheimer's.

National Policy Discussion on Diagnosing Early-Stage Alzheimer's

2008-07-03T10:28:00.001-04:00

This looks interesting and hopefully will lead to some real action. I'll try to post highlights of the conference as they become available.

clipped from www.newswise.com

The Alzheimer Research Forum, the Web’s foremost community of AD researchers, in collaboration with the Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer’s Initiative and Alzheimer’s Study Group, has assembled a panel of thought leaders to address the challenges and solutions to early-diagnosis of AD during a 90-minute web-based “virtual town hall meeting.” The event is scheduled for Wednesday, July 9, from 2:00-3:30 p.m. (U.S. East Coast Time) and will be conducted using Webinar technology and teleconferencing.

One of the key roadblocks to developing better treatments for AD is the lack of approved tests that doctors can use to screen and diagnose patients who are at the very earliest stage of the devastating brain disorder. The lack of early-stage diagnostic tools also impedes drug development.

http://www.alzforum.org/res/for/journal/detail.asp?liveID=167

Scientists: Watermelon yields Viagra-like effects

2008-07-03T10:09:00.001-04:00

I thought I would shoot this in here in case you missed. The active ingredient is found in the flesh and rind of the watermelon. As you know this is not the tasty part. On the other hand, a lot cheaper then Viagra.

Have a great July 4th weekend everyone!

clipped from news.yahoo.com

A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra — but don't necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks all night long.

Watermelons contain an ingredient called citrulline that can trigger production of a compound that helps relax the body's blood vessels, similar to what happens when a man takes Viagra, said scientists in Texas, one of the nation's top producers of the seedless variety.

Found in the flesh and rind of watermelons, citrulline reacts with the body's enzymes when consumed in large quantities and is changed into arginine, an amino acid that benefits the heart and the circulatory and immune systems.

Meditation, Yoga Might Switch Off Stress Genes

2008-07-02T13:47:00.001-04:00

clipped from health.usnews.com

There's more on meditation at the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Relax! Stress, if Managed, Can Be Good For You

You're aiming for stimulated and focused—but not frazzled.

Healthful Lifestyle Teaches Prostate Genes to Behave

Living right—with a good diet, exercise, and low stress—brings out the best in your genes.

Audio: Dr. Dean Ornish on How Diet Affects Genes

Worried about your memory?

2008-07-01T08:38:00.001-04:00

You can obtain this free booklet by clicking the link in the clip.

If you prefer paste this link into your browser.

http://tinyurl.com/46r8h4

clipped from www.alzheimers.org.uk

Worried about your memory? Booklet
This booklet is designed to help you understand more about memory loss, so that if you are worried - either about your own or someone else's memory - you can seek advice and, if necessary, get treatment and support.

Alzheimer's: With increasing life expectancy, it's a fate that awaits more and more of us.

2008-07-01T08:23:00.001-04:00

An interesting and thought provoking article. Clink the link in the clip to read more.

clipped from www.nj.com

It's a kind of good news-bad news situation: We
live longer -- which gives us more time to get
Alzheimer's. And women, who often live longer than
men, account for the greater number of patients.
Although age is the key risk factor for Alzheimer's,
family history and genetics, or heredity, are others.
And, as with age, we can't change them.

Lack of 'Good' HDL Cholesterol Linked to Memory Loss

2008-07-01T08:08:00.001-04:00

If you are predisposed to Alzheimer's by birth you might want to take a close look at this article and vdieo.

My mother falls into this category so it does concern me.

clipped from health.usnews.com

News today that low levels of the "good" HDL cholesterol raises a person's risk of memory loss and memory loss and dementia may send many folks rushing to their doctor for a cholesterol check. Indeed, the findings are pretty scary. Study participants with the lowest HDL levels—defined as less than 40 mg/dL—were 53 percent more likely to perform poorly on short-term memory tests compared to those with high HDL, defined as 60 mg/dL or greater. (These healthy participants were age 61, on average, experiencing the earliest signs of dementia that typically start in middle age.) Those whose HDL levels plunged over the six-year study also experienced a decrease in the number of words they were able to recall on the memory test, says study leader Archana Singh-Manoux, senior research fellow in epidemiology at the University College London.

Video: Cholesterol: The Good and the Bad

Generic Risperdal Hits the Market

2008-07-01T08:04:00.001-04:00

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

Patients looking to save on antipsychotics have a new option. The patent protecting Johnson & Johnson’s blockbuster Risperdal expired yesterday, and today the FDA said it granted approval to Teva Pharmaceuticals to market the first generic version.

Flurizan’s Failure Leaves Key Alzheimer’s Theory Unresolved

2008-07-01T07:52:00.001-04:00

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

Though Myriad Genetics was hoping its experimental Alzheimer’s drug Flurizan would surprise naysayers in the scientific and investment communities, the company instead announced that its Phase III clinical trial did indeed fail.

The company said Monday that the 18-month, 1,684-patient study – the largest Alzheimer’s-treatment study to date – showed Flurizan failed to improve cognitive functioning or activities of daily living, and added that Myriad is abandoning further efforts to develop the drug. This leaves Elan and Wyeth’s bapineuzumab and Eli Lilly’s gamma secretase inhibitor as the two leading candidates among disease-modifying Alzheimer’s drugs in development.

Myriad to End Development of Flurizan

2008-06-30T09:35:00.001-04:00

clipped from www.thestreet.com

Myriad Genetics MYGN said Monday that it will stop development of its experimental Alzheimer's disease drug Flurizan due to the failure of a pivotal phase III study.

The Flurizan study, which enrolled patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's, did not achieve statistical significance on either of its two primary endpoints -- cognition or activities of daily living, the company said.

While disappointing, the negative outcome from the Flurizan study was not unexpected, given the relatively poor results coming out of the drug's phase II study.

Are You Depressed? Take This Self-Test

2008-06-27T08:56:00.001-04:00

Click the link in the snippet if you are interested in taking the test

clipped from health.usnews.com

If you've been feeling out of sorts, you could have clinical depression that requires medical attention, or you could have a milder form of the blues that can be helped with seven instant mood boosters. Use this evaluation to help determine where your symptoms fall on the depression scale. You can print out the results and bring them to your doctor to discuss whether you might benefit from antidepressants or psychotherapy.

Note: This test is not designed to make a diagnosis of depression, which should be performed by your doctor. If you score above 30 or answer anything other than "A" on question No. 15, you should see your doctor to discuss your symptoms and possible treatments. Any change of 5 or more points, from one test to the next, indicates that your moods have changed significantly.

How to Make Your Workout Quick and Sweaty

2008-06-25T20:29:00.003-04:00

Let me know the results if you try this workout routine.

clipped from health.usnews.com

While researching a book on exercise and the brain, John Ratey learned that intense exercise releases a hormone that burns belly fat and adds muscle fibers. So the Harvard Medical School psychiatrist swapped out 40-minute jogging sessions on the treadmill for something less time consuming but more vigorous: Twice a week, he now jogs for a total of 20 minutes and includes five exhausting sprints of 20 to 30 seconds apiece. After a month, he was amazed at the results. "I didn't change my diet, and I spent less time on the treadmill," he says. "But all of a sudden, I was 10 pounds lighter."

Many of the people I work with are time starved," says Todd Durkin, a trainer and conditioning coach in San Diego. "They don't have an hour a day to work out."

24 million Americans have diabetes

2008-06-24T15:25:00.001-04:00

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com

New government estimates show that nearly 24 million people in the United States have diabetes, an increase of more than 3 million in two years.

This means that nearly 8 percent of the U.S. population has diabetes, mostly the type-2 diabetes linked with obesity, poor diet and a lack of exercise, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.

The estimates, based on 2007 data, also show that 57 million people have pre-diabetes, a condition that puts people at increased risk for diabetes. And up to 25 percent of people with diabetes do not know they have it, the CDC said — down from 30 percent two years ago.

It is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States.

When Drugs Don’t Help High Blood Pressure

2008-06-24T13:55:00.001-04:00

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

There are lots of drugs out there to treat high blood pressure — old and new, cheap and expensive, available in all sorts of combinations and permutations. But for about 25% of patients, drugs don’t seem to help. That’s a big problem, because lots of people have high blood pressure (aka hypertension), and it’s a key risk factor for heart attacks and strokes.

A scientific statement out this month from the American Heart Association says the problem is likely to grow as the nation becomes older and the rate of obesity rises.

Resistant hypertension is different than uncontrolled hypertension. Plenty of people have uncontrolled hypertension, for example, because they don’t stick to their drug regimen. Resistant hypertension is when a patient is following a doctor’s directions and taking as many as three different drugs without getting blood pressure under control.

Pfizer and the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease

2008-06-24T13:51:00.001-04:00

Pfizer Invites Public to View and Listen to Webcast of July 28 Pfizer Analyst and Investor Meeting at ICAD

clipped from www.pfizer.com

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pfizer Inc invites investors, media, and the general public to view and
listen to a webcast of a presentation by Pfizer’s
neuroscience leadership team at an analyst and investor meeting on
Monday, July 28, at 6:00 p.m. Central Daylight Saving Time, in
connection with the annual meeting of the International Conference on
Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD).

To view and listen to the webcast, visit our web site homepage at www.pfizer.com
and click on the “Pfizer Analyst and Investor
Meeting at ICAD” link in the Investor
Presentations tab. Information on accessing and pre-registering for the
webcast will be available at www.pfizer.com
beginning today.

Visitors will be able to view and listen to an archived copy of the
webcast at www.pfizer.com.

For the Wealthy, Private Health Care Consultants

2008-06-23T18:58:00.001-04:00

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

Confused or overwhelmed by the chaotic medical system? If you’re rich, there’s someone who’d be glad to help.

Take PinnacleCare, a Boston company founded in 2002 and profiled in this morning’s Boston Globe.

Fees range from $7,000 to $100,000 a year, excluding an initial sign-up fee; a standard family membership is $10,000, the Globe says. For that, you get services such as round-the-clock email and telephone consults, and face-to-face meetings with a personal health adviser.

“By navigating the medical system for you and your family and giving you uncomplicated access to the best the healthcare system offers,” the company says on its Web site, “PinnacleCare helps you and your family focus on prevention, early detection and a long-term optimal health strategy, as well as helping with immediate needs.”

New AMA President Backs Insurers’ Doctor Ratings

2008-06-23T18:56:00.001-04:00

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

Nancy Nielsen (pictured), who last week became the second woman to lead the AMA, spent some time as chief medical officer at Buffalo, N.Y., insurer Independent Health. Doctors expect she’ll have a less adversarial relationship with the health-insurance industry than her predecessors, the Chicago Tribune noted over the weekend.

Nielsen has a take on the controversial issue of rating doctors based on measures of quality. Nielsen, who has represented the AMA on efforts including the National Quality Forum, told the paper she endorses insurers’ use of report cards but wants doctors involved in what is rated. She played a role when the AMA worked with New York AG Andrew Cuomo as to push insurers to reform their ratings techniques and transparency, the Trib notes.

The Doctor Will See You on the Webcam Now

2008-06-19T15:26:00.001-04:00

Depending on cost this might work very well for people without health insurance. Many illnesses require a simple prescription for an antibiotic.

Many people I know can't get into a doctor on the first day when they start feeling ill. As a result, the lack of immediate treatment and a prescription drug causes the illness to linger and lengthens the recovery time.

This is an interesting counterpoint to retail clinics and behind the counter generic antibiotics.

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

To the Health Blog, American Well sounds like a company that’s selling doctor visits via webcam. But Roy Schoenberg, the CEO, tells us we don’t get it.

“The fact that you can engage in a Web video chat with a provider is a nice exercise, but it’s not the fundamental offering of the system,” is how he put it in a recent conversation.

The company’s business model is to partner with insurers, who agree to reimburse in-network doctors for patient e-visits. Docs who choose to work with American Well can sign on whenever they want and see patients who are looking for an online visit.

Today, the company announced its first big customer: HMSA, Hawaii’s Blue Cross Blue Shield provider, which has just under a million members and is the state’s biggest insurer.

The visits are reimbursed through relatively new standardized billing codes that allow docs to get paid for electronic visits. The insurer pays the doc, and American Well takes a cut. The company also charges an up-front licensing fee.

125 Cancer 'Cures' That the FDA Calls Fake

2008-06-18T23:28:00.001-04:00

clipped from health.usnews.com

People with cancer, especially the more intractable varieties, are often desperate. And where there are desperate patients, fraudsters will follow. The Food and Drug Administration yesterday warned 25 companies and individuals, which collectively market 125 products, to stop advertising them as cancer "cures," since there's no evidence that they can cure, prevent, or treat the disease.

Other resources are also available. Quackwatch has amassed a lot of information on questionable cancer therapies. And the Canadian government earlier this year launched Project False Hope, which aims to reduce cancer-related online health fraud. Two nifty elements: an interactive feature that dissects a (fake) website to show what tactics scammers use, and a health fraud awareness quiz. Lastly, there's the low-tech approach: Run products by your doctor to vet the marketing claims before you buy or use them.

New regimen saves man with deadly melanoma

2008-06-18T23:26:00.001-04:00

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com

An Oregon man, given less than a year to live, had a complete remission of advanced deadly skin cancer after an experimental treatment that revved up his immune system to fight the tumors.

"Immunotherapy has become the most promising approach" to late-stage, death-sentence skin cancers, said Dr. Darrell Rigel, a dermatology researcher at the New York University Cancer Institute in New York who had no role in the research.

GRAPE SEED EXTRACT MAY REDUCE COGNITIVE DECLINE ASSOCIATED WITH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

2008-06-18T12:58:00.001-04:00

This inforamtion about grape seed extract and MegaNatural-AZ. is new to me and I thought I would pass it along.

Since I am genetically predisposed to Alzheimer's via birth I am always searching for information and alternatives that might be beneficial in the long run.

clipped from www.sfn.org

A compound found in grape seed extract reduces plaque formation and resulting cognitive impairment in an animal model of Alzheimer’s disease, new research shows. The study appears in the June 18 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

The researchers tested a grape seed polyphenolic extract product sold as MegaNatural-AZ, made by Polyphenolics, which in part supported the study. Polyphenolic compounds are antioxidants naturally found in wine, tea, chocolate, and some fruits and vegetables. To determine whether the extract could mitigate the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers used mice genetically modified to develop a condition similar to Alzheimer’s disease. They exposed pre-symptomatic “Alzheimer’s mice” to the extract or placebo daily for five months. The daily dose of the polyphenolic extract was equivalent to the average amount of polyphenolics consumed by a person on a daily basis.

Fish Oil Pinch Spurs Search for Alternative Omega-3s

2008-06-18T12:48:00.001-04:00

I guess we can expect prices for Omega-3 to start rising fast soon. My mother and I take three capsules each every day so cost could become an issue at some point.

As for genetically modified Omega-3, I guess we will make the decision when the new products become available.

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

The global commodities boom extends even to the ocean depths: The price of crude fish oil has nearly tripled in the past five years.

This matters to you, Health Blog reader, because fish oil is a primary source of omega-3 fatty acids, the nutritional supplements that may reduce the risk of heart disease and a host of other ailments.

The price has been rising as Baby Boomers (and others) have been swallowing ever more fish oil. Global fisheries, alas, are already under pressure and can’t keep up with the habit.

Responding to this growing imbalance, some big corporate players are using biotech gene-splicing techniques to create land-based supplies of omega-3s, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

DuPont hopes to use genetically modified yeast to crank out omega-3s. Monsanto is trying soy beans. And Dow AgroSciences and Martek Biosciences are splicing algae genes into canola seeds. The products could come to market within the next few years.

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