Posted on 02/09/2012 1:00:57 PM PST by Mount Athos
A widely available cancer drug has shown remarkable success in reversing Alzheimer's disease in mice, raising hope of a breakthrough against incurable dementia in humans, US researchers said Thursday.
Mice treated with the drug, known as bexarotene, became rapidly smarter and the plaque in their brains that was causing their Alzheimer's started to disappear within hours, said the research in the journal Science.
"We were shocked and amazed," lead author Gary Landreth of the Department of Neurosciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Ohio told AFP.
"Things like this had never, ever been seen before," he said.
The drug works by boosting levels of a protein, Apolipoprotein E (ApoE), that helps clear amyloid plaque buildup in the brain, a key hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.
"Think of this as a garbage disposal," Landreth said.
Six hours after mice got the drug, soluble amyloid levels fell by 25 percent, ultimately reaching 75 percent reductions. The effect lasted up to three days, said the study.
Soon after taking the drug, mice performed better on tests of mental ability and showed improved responses to odors.
Unlike normal mice, Alzheimer's mice will not usually build nests if given tissue paper in their cage, as if they have forgotten to associate paper with the opportunity to nest.
But 72 hours after treatment, the Alzheimer's mice began to build nests again.
"They are not great nests but they are nests nonetheless," added Landreth, suggesting that if the drug can be shown to work in humans it might be best targeted to people in the early stages of the disease.
(Excerpt) Read more at france24.com ...
A doctor should be able to prescribe it off label if it's already approved.
The specially bred mouse is a model for the disease process. The mouse's level of cognition doesn't affect its usefullness.
Tell the drug pushers to go to hell.
In this case, you're the one who needs to take a pill.
May we guess that you’re an immoral, jug-headed poison pill pusher?
Magic pills, get your magic pills, no cures without magic pills...
The mouse doesn’t even have the portion of the brain that is affected by alzheimers.
This whole story is just more of the same Big Pharma hype that we get all day long on TV.
“Ask your doctor if snail poop is right for you”
“Tell the drug pushers to go to hell.”
That’s really what your comments were about, you being a Luddite.
In my family/clan, we have a member who suffers from it. Not damn good. An emotional rollercoaster for family members. Unlike AIDS or other “pc” disease, the patient does not even know who you are even though you grew up with that person.
The Turmeric (curcumin) has been discussed to death here, and you should be able to find the threads with keywords.
The niacinamide (also known as nicotinamide) has been written up in several med journals.
For the coconut oil, search “Dr. Mary Newport.”
It was her own husband that was her guinea pig.
Excerpt from the NHD article:
As we reported on Tuesday, Dr. Mary Newport has made a startling discovery. And she’s now reported her findings to the medical community. A daily intake of coconut oil halted the symptoms of her husband’s early onset Alzheimer’s. In fact, it reversed much of the damage done by the disease.
At just 53, her husband began to lose his mental functions. As an accountant, he found he had trouble completing tax returns and basic accounting tasks. Later, he had trouble keeping his shoes and socks together or finding a spoon in his kitchen.
He was put on one big name Alzheimer’s drug after another but he steadily declined. Desperate, his wife researched the “why and how” of Alzheimer’s until she made an important discovery. Her findings showed that Alzheimer’s patients had brain cells that were unable to process glucose. That’s the brain’s principal energy source.
In fact, without glucose, the neurons in the brain began to die. But Dr. Newport discovered another energy source which can “refuel” the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
So, for the drugs and procedures now being developed to care for and/or cure cancer, a whole host of diseases and syndromes, even aging, those people over ‘X’ will not be eligible, even if they can afford to pay for it or have insurance or experimental insurance permission, to participate or benefit?
I go back to my original argument about any national health care: who gets to decide who gets what, who lives and who dies?
0bama Deathcare gives us the answer: bureaucrats and politicians. Nameless, faceless bureaucrats. And politicians who vote in the dead of night.
Thank you for your sober, mature response.
How about coronary artery plaque, the cause of heart attacks? And what, if any, are the side effects?
If those questions are answered positively, a lot of us should be taking the stuff.
But, wait a minute- wouldn’t that reduce the need for angioplasties, cardiac stents and surgeries? No surprise that cardiologists might want that stuff buried! it would cut into their income, big time!
I always respond “in-kind”
No, my comments were about deadly, ineffective poisons being pushed off on an unknowing public.
>> “No surprise that cardiologists might want that stuff buried! it would cut into their income, big time!” <<
.
Its not just cardiologists, its the whole gang. As the saying goes, “follow the money.”
If you want answers to disease questions go to Webster Kehr’s site: http://www.cancertutor.com/index.html
Turmeric:
Excerpt -
Early research offers hope that two regularly available compounds – used together – may combat Alzheimer’s disease.
The research comes from Dr. Milan Fiala at UCLA. He earned his MD at the University of Geneva, Switzerland and obtained an MSc from Harvard. He’s spent the last decade researching Alzheimer’s disease. In 2008 he was given the “Alzheimer Award” by the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
He believes a simple dietary combo may help prevent Alzheimer’s.
Ancient Source of Hope
Over the last decade Dr. Fiala has been researching curcumin and how it may combat Alzheimer’s.
Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric, the yellow spice that gives its color to most Indian curried dishes. It has been used for centuries in Indian medicine.
Now curcumin is catching on in the western world. Researchers have studied its benefits for over a decade. They have found it to be a powerful anti-inflammatory.
But its best gift may be to Alzheimer’s patients.
Dr. Jenny Brockis, Principle GP at Ocean Reef Family Medicine Practice, says there’s a strong clue as to why.
Alzheimer’s disease is pretty rare in India. In fact, one study showed that it occurs in less than one percent of people in India. Why is this? Dr. Brockis says that it’s all about diet.
“It is due to curcumin,” says Dr. Brockis. “And in India a huge amount of turmeric is consumed in curries on a daily basis.”
Lab Research Supports Theories
Dr. Fiala has spent the last 10 years testing this out in the lab. He’s published several studies that show it protect brain cells from dying. He believes it fights Alzheimer’s.
Now he’s made another big breakthrough. One that combines curcumin with a safe vitamin – a combo he believes delivers powerful protection.
Vitamin D:
Excerpt:
A powerful leader accustomed to driving multiple operations will gradually lose command. A dedicated grandmother may forget the names of the grandchildren she loves.
When I read one woman’s story about how she came to accept that she had Alzheimer’s, my heart broke a little. She says:
“I think there comes a point in everyone’s life when we pause to reflect on the past, realize the present and look to the future. That happened for me at the age of 46. I’d been married for over 20 years. Our son was in his freshman year of college. I was happy in my job and my husband was looking forward to retirement.
“In the fall of that year I started to become forgetful – which was not like me at all. I had an almost photographic memory. I had a stressful job and worked long hours, so I blamed that for my forgetfulness. I couldn’t remember things like my home phone number, my associates’ names, or on bad days, how to get home.
“I remember that many times I would stop at a gas station. After filling my tank [I wouldn’t] know whether I was going to work or coming home. I tried desperately to hide it and became pretty good at it! But one day in December, my husband and I were out shopping. He went to a different department in the store. The next thing I knew was that I couldn’t remember where I was or how I got there. It was time to fess up…”
Kris, from Georgia
Alzheimer’s can be a debilitating disease that can dramatically transform your life. It’s an insidious disease that can rock your confidence and rob you of your yesterdays. As one sufferer says, “I feel that I am robbed of any future because while I will live in it, I will be unlikely to remember it.”
It’s a brutal reality to have to accept. But scientists are offering hope in fighting the disease. Over 4,000 scientists attended the recent International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease. And amidst a flurry of presentations, they reported that simple vitamin D may be your best defense against Alzheimer’s.
“Sunshine” Vitamin Boosts Brain Function
Sounds too good to be true? Not according to a new study revealed at the conference. The study says that vitamin D deficiency raises your risk of mental decline by up to 394 percent.
The study is just the latest to show that the “sunshine vitamin” is essential to good brain health. It was conducted by the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, England. It reviewed participants as they completed a series of tests and exams.
Tests included memory, time and space orientation, and attention-focusing exercises. Vitamin D levels were measured from blood samples and compared with test performances.
“There are some fantastic findings this year,” said Professor William Thies, the chief medical and scientific officer of the Alzheimer’s Association. He said these findings “are some of the first reports of this type in Alzheimer’s” and “have the “potential to move the field forward.”
Study results showed that the risk of cognitive impairment was 42 percent higher in people deficient in vitamin D. Impairment was 394 percent higher in those who were severely deficient in it.
“The odds of cognitive impairment increase as vitamin D levels go down,” says study author David Llewellyn. “Given that both vitamin D deficiency and dementia are common throughout the world, this is a major public health concern.”
The Peninsula Medical School also worked on an earlier related study. It too offered evidence supporting this simple truth: seniors who get their daily dose of “sunshine” maintain stronger cognitive functioning.
Critical research, based on tests conducted on almost 2,000 U.K. senior citizens, showed a clear correlation between the presence of the “sunshine vitamin” and healthy mental function.
Sunshine is an important source of vitamin D. UVB rays initiate the production of the vitamin in human skin. Vitamin D also helps maintain strong bones (through the absorption of calcium and phosphorus) and a healthy immune system.
According to study author Dr. Iain Lang, the results indicate that individuals with the lowest levels of Vitamin D were 50 percent more likely to suffer impaired mental faculties. In other words, as vitamin D levels in seniors decreases, mental impairment increases.
“Getting enough vitamin D can be a real problem,” said Dr. Lang. “Particularly for older people, who absorb less vitamin D from sunlight. One way to address this might be to provide older adults with vitamin D supplements.”
Older people lose their capacity to absorb Vitamin D from sunlight as the body ages. That means they must seek other sources of the “sunshine vitamin.”
Sources of “Sunshine”
According to Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, Vitamin D can also be found in foods such as oily fish and eggs. She adds that these foods are key sources of vitamin B12, which studies have shown to also help in protecting the brain.
Maggie Ward – nutrition director at The UltraWellness Center in Lennox, MA – says the best animal source is liver, especially from cod, herring, and sardines.
“That’s why those living in dark climates have these fish as a staple in the diet,” she says. “Nature always knows best.”
But she believes the best source of vitamin D is simple, old-fashioned sunlight.
“This is one of the many reasons I love summer,” she says. “I get my vitamin D from the sun and have one less supplement to take.”
Supplement Your Sunshine
The Vitamin D Council offers several good tips to ensure you get just the right amount of “sunshine.” Check out these four ideas:
Have your doctor check your vitamin D levels. This will give you a good idea of how much vitamin D you need to supplement.
Make sure you’re getting vitamin D3 in your diet. Smart options are capsules or drops. To improve absorption, take it with food containing fat. Fat makes it more soluble.
Have your levels rechecked every three months. Vitamin D is a hormone, so it fluctuates for everyone. Seasonal changes also affect it.
People with dark skin need at least 5 to 10 times more sunlight than light-skinned people.
“Vitamin D supplements have proven to be a safe, inexpensive, and effective way to treat deficiency,” says Llewellyn. “However, few foods contain vitamin D and levels of supplementation in the U.S. are currently inadequate.”
Mice have a neocortex and cerebral neurons.
This whole story is just more of the same Big Pharma hype that we get all day long on TV.
The Department of Neurosciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Ohio is Big Pharma?
“Ask your doctor if snail poop is right for you”
How immature.
>> “Which means it will be necessary to kill off the more advanced and grab their money as fast as possible.” <<
.
I see that you’ve studied their business model...
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