reader Posted April 8 Posted April 8 From CNN Editor’s note: CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and writer Sandee LaMotte are part of the study covered in this story and have written about their experiences. CNN — When Penny Ashford’s father was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease at age 62, she knew the devastating brain disorder might one day steal her memory. In her late 50s, her free-floating anxiety turned to outright panic when she began struggling to find words. “I couldn’t tell a story. I couldn’t get my words out,” said Ashford, now 61. “I remember sitting at a dinner party one time, and I couldn’t finish my thoughts. It was the most unbelievable moment. “I came home and sobbed and told my husband, ‘Something is wrong with me. I can’t talk,’” she said. “I was petrified.” Today, after a complete revamp of her lifestyle and overall health, Ashford’s struggles with retrieving words have eased, while measures of amyloid and tau proteins and neuroinflammation — all hallmark signs of Alzheimer’s — have fallen. Ashford knows about these improvements because she’s part of a unique study tracking her progress via key blood biomarkers now being used to help diagnose early dementia. Instead of relying on painful spinal taps and expensive brain scans, these blood tests are heralded as a new, less invasive and time-consuming way to determine risk and aid in an earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. The preliminary data, presented Monday at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in San Diego, analyzed biomarkers on 54 participants in an ongoing preventive neurology study called the Biorepository Study for Neurodegenerative Diseases, or BioRAND. Continues at ‘Amazing’ reduction in Alzheimer’s risk verified by blood markers, study says | CNN bkkmfj2648 1 Quote
reader Posted April 9 Author Posted April 9 From Vox Could an inexpensive vaccine help stave off dementia? Anyone who has watched a loved one descend into the fog of dementia knows the tremendous toll that neurodegenerative diseases of aging can exact. Dementia currently afflicts over 55 million people worldwide; in the US, more than 6 million people — about 1 out of 10 of those 65 years or older — live with dementia. The economic cost of treating and the often uncompensated cost of caring for those sufferers is now more than $600 billion a year. As our population ages, that number will only grow, with one estimate projecting that the number of people with dementia will double by 2060. It is a fate that many of us will one day suffer — according to one recent study, adults over 55 have a nearly one in two chance of eventually developing dementia. But this week delivered one of the brightest spots in an otherwise dark field. According to a study that followed more than 280,000 people in Wales, older adults who received a vaccine against shingles were 20 percent less likely to develop dementia in the seven years that followed vaccination than those who did not receive the vaccine. This could be a big deal. There are very few, if any, treatments that can prevent or slow down dementia, beyond good lifestyle habits like getting enough sleep and exercise. The possibility that a known, inexpensive vaccine could offer real protection is enormously meaningful. We have good reason to be confident in the findings: While this study is perhaps the most prominent to show the protective effects of the shingles vaccine, other studies of the vaccine have come to similar conclusions. Continues at https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/407273/dementia-shingles-vaccine-alzheimers-virus-old-age?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us bkkmfj2648 1 Quote
