A New Way to Predict Alzheimer's? (And Ways to Ward Off Memory Loss)

dementia/alzheimer

I will be 87 on 7/4/09, I thought I was doing good till I reaiized I couldnremember naames not all I KNEEW WHAT I WANTED T SAY BUT IT JUST WOULDNT COME OUT. I AM STILL DRIVING AND AM MORE CAREFUL ,BUT IF I AM NOT CONSENTRATING I MAY PASS THE STREET I AM LOOKING FOR, BUT THE MINUTE I PASS IT I WAIT TO GO TO TNE NEXT CORNER TO TURN AROUND (VERY CAREFULLY). I AM MARRIED (SECOND TIME AROUND )I STILL KEEP HOUSE LOVE TO GO OUT

FOR DINNEER HAVE A GLASS OF WINE ETC. MY BIGEST PROBLEM RIGHT NOW IS IJUST CANT GET ENOUGH SLEEP, I SLEEP FROM 10 TO12 HOURS A NIGHT, BY THE TIME I GET UP HALF THE DAY IS GONE, I READ VERY LATE EVERY NIGHT. I AM TAKING PILLS TO HELP MEMORY LOSS I CANT TAKE AEICEPT IT GAVE ME TERRIBLE NIGHTMARES, I AM TAKING

NAMENDA AND EFEXORND I RALY THINK IT IS HELPINF ME, I THINK I AM ABOUT THE SAME SINCE I STARTED TAKING THEM. I HOPE

Predicting Dementia...

Did anyone notice the conflict between the Headline and the body of the text??? Alzheimer's disease is never once referred to in the study quoted, yet it got "the lead". This kind of reporting is what adds to the confusion about aging and dementia.

Also, the entire "checklist" is no more than noticing the details that should be collected in a good history, and then knowing enough about dementia to realize that they are important. There is nothing here that is new, exceptional or insightful. This is the kind of stuff you ask a third year medical student on general internal medicine rounds, not something that deserves mention in a newspaper.

test and more questions for clinicians?

I had a chance to review the study and results and agree there are some concerns. In particular, is not a screen for AD. It is not even a screen for a dementia from a vascular source, the second leading cause of dementia. Any dementing illness supposedly could be picked up, but they are not specific about what kind. Furthermore, if you are underweight, 80 and can’t button a shirt in more than 45 seconds you are in the 56% range to develop dementia in 6 years by this point scale. That would freak out a lot of people who have arthritis, macular degeneration or other reasons why they are underweight and cant perform fine motor skills rapidly.

I maintain excellent care planning for aging, ill patients should be our standard. The early diagnosis for advance planning, allocation of resources, family support and involvement, preparation of advance directives and conversations with family members about wishes for care are the accepted strategies for any long term care plan for any serious illness.

When dealing with dementias, the slow loss of personhood by the patient, the emotional upheaval and caregiver stress are the very factors that make this disease unique and unique for each individual that navigates this course. Offering time is the best option for planning, but predicting when the disease may

strike does not offer any solutions for these immeasurable, tragic and unrelenting characteristics of a dementing illness. We can only hope to continue to find best practices to improve quality of life as we live in the moment with these diseases.

Zoë A. Lewis, MD, FACP www.zoealewis.com

Alzheimer's Study

These types of discoveries are exactly why studies are so important.

Ongoing research and clinical trials that test potential new treatments are the best chance we have for fighting the disease.

One study to consider is the ICARA (bapi) study (www.icarastudy.com). Its goal is to explore if an investigational drug, called bapineuzumab, can help slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease.