Free Republic

The disease is not normally infectious, but people who received grafts from cadavers did show telltale markers in their brains For the second time in four months, researchers have reported autopsy results that suggest Alzheimer's disease might occasionally be transmitted to people during certain medical treatments--although scientists say that neither set of findings is conclusive. The latest autopsies, described in the Swiss Medical Weekly on January 26, were conducted on the brains of seven people who died of the rare, brain-wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Decades before their deaths, the individuals had all received surgical grafts of dura mater--the membrane that...

The Alzheimer’s pandemic has long been a dark riddle. What are its causes? Why has it apparently become much more widespread just in the last few generations? Why does it afflict some nations more aggressively than others? Why do twice as many women suffer from it than men? And what can we do to fight back against this terrible, incurable disease? These crucial questions have long remained unanswered. But a new study by Yale School of Public Health offers some possible answers—answers with implications for both the young and the old. According to the study, the main cause of Alzheimer’s...

Hillary Clinton is laying out an aggressive plan to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease within a decade, which she says will be achieved by a dramatically boosting spending by four times the current levels. The Democratic presidential front-runner vows to spend $2 billion per year "to prevent, effectively treat and make a cure possible by 2025." She will announce her plan at a campaign stop in Iowa later on Tuesday. The annual $2 billion in spending will be part of a "historic, decade-long investment" that would bring up spending levels from the $586 million spent by the National Institutes...

From his Daughter Tres: It is with a broken heart that my father is succumbing to Alzheimer's. After falling three weeks ago, a small hemmorage in his brain, and three weeks of hospital/nursing home, he is mentally and physically disintegrating. I weep, knowing he is not long on this earthly plane; cussing at him today to get him to open his mouth to eat the pureed food, as his swallowing mechanism isn't functioning so well, but then alas, he opens his mouth for ice cream... I break down, laying my head on his chest, and the first sign of recognition,...

The world consoles, commiserates with France in it's time of sorrow and tragedy, demonstrating its support, at least symbolically with Gallic-themed tokens of condolences in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Here is just one example, one of myriad items to show the terrorists that they can kill the French but can they create such pretty commemorative items on such short notice? I don't recall seeing a single item like this in the aftermath of 9/11. And no, I was not a cheese-eating, smelly Froggie yesterday unlike others who seem to have been a Frenchman, even if having to hold...

Since last year, when her husband died unexpectedly in a Davidson County hospital, Francine Braun Wolberg’s grief has given way to anger over the long wait for answers. Her husband suffered from early onset Alzheimer’s, but he was otherwise healthy before going to the Thomasville Medical Center for mental health treatment. State Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Deborah Radisch performed an autopsy in Raleigh on June 12, 2014, the day after he died. But months later, there was still no death certificate listing the cause of death. That meant that Wolberg couldn’t collect survivor’s annuity payments needed to pay college tuition...

I don't know if you can believe the National Enquirer but the front page of the latest issue says she has a brain tumor, blood clots, MS, and is an alcoholic. Doctors are saying she has about six months to live. If this is not true then I think this is a bit too much for the National Enquirer to be printing this stuff.

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Researchers in the US have developed an implant to help a disabled brain encode memories, giving new hope to Alzheimer’s sufferers and wounded soldiers who cannot remember the recent past. The prosthetic, developed at the University of Southern California and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centre in a decade-long collaboration, includes a small array of electrodes implanted into the brain. High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this...

Most seniors may suffer from some degree of vitamin D deficiency, according to a study from researchers at University of California at Davis and Rutgers University. For the study the researchers surveyed 400 men and women with an average age of 76 in either good health or with mild cognitive impairment. They found that nearly all of the participants showed low levels of vitamin D with 26 percent displaying a deficiency and 35 percent show what they classified as insufficiency. "This work, and that of others, suggests that there is enough evidence to recommend that people in their 60s and...

Brain plaques may have been seeded by contaminated hormone extracts from cadavers. Only a decade ago, the idea that Alzheimer’s disease might be transmissible between people would have been laughed off the stage. But scientists have since shown that tissues can transmit symptoms of the disease between animals — and new results imply that humans, at least in one unusual circumstance, may not be an exception. The findings, published in this issue of Nature, emerged during autopsy studies of the brains of eight people who had died of the rare but deadly Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD; Z. Jaunmuktane et al. Nature...

According to a new poll, Carly Fiorina is the Republican presidential candidate of choice after Thursday night’s debates. The nationwide poll of more than 17,000 people from the Association of Mature American Citizens — a conservative organization for those 50-years-old and up — asked who won Thursday night and included candidates in the official GOP debate and the earlier, second-tier debate. With 6,273 votes Fiorina led the poll at 36 percent. Texas Senator Ted Cruz came in second place with 17 percent of the votes (3,015), and controversial real estate mogul Donald Trump came in third place with 14 percent...

Today, I was informed by the nursing home that it is in the process of moving 2 current residents from Alzheimer's Unit to the general floor, and there will be an opening within the next 7 - 10 days. Started the process for nursing home placement for my mother with now advanced Alzheimer's Disease in December 2014. Anticipated August 7, 2015 admission date.

We call the war of 1861 the Civil War. But is that right? A civil war is a struggle between two or more entities trying to take over the central government. Confederate President Jefferson Davis no more sought to take over Washington, D.C., than George Washington sought to take over London in 1776. Both wars, those of 1776 and 1861, were wars of independence. Such a recognition does not require one to sanction the horrors of slavery. We might ask, How much of the war was about slavery? Was President Abraham Lincoln really for outlawing slavery? Let's look at his...

A beautiful, funny, inspiring film about music superstar Glen Campbell's struggle with Alzheimer's disease before and throughout his sold-out "Goodbye Tour."

Sweet Tooth Causes Some Major Side Effects On your Brains! June 24, 2015 If you love your fried, fatty foods smothered in chocolate and generously dusted with icing sugar? Then, you might just have to say goodbye to mental acuity.A new research conducted in Oregon State University has revealed that a high-sugar, high-fat diet can drastically modify your gut bacteria which in turn may lead to significant losses in ‘cognitive flexibility’ – a measurement of the brain’s ability to switch between thinking about one concept to another, and to adapt to changes in the environment.The study, which was conducted on...

In the late 1950s, some 2 percent of the Fore tribe from Papa New Guinea died each year from a rare neural disease known as kuru. The mad cow-like disease was spread by the tribe's now-retired practice of eating the brains of their deceased relatives. A new study, however, has identified a gene adaptation that protected a small subset of the Fore population from kuru and other similar diseases. Kuru and other similar diseases are characterized by the proliferation of misshapen neural proteins called prions. These invaders stick together in infected brains, forming plaque-like polymers that slowly suffocate neural pathways...

I visited my friend Glen Campbell Wednesday in Nashville. Laura and Kim Campbell were there as well. You may be aware that Glen has bravely been living with Alzheimer's Disease. Along with his strong and courageous wife, they have changed the face of Alzheimer's forever. The world watched as Glen traveled from city to city, to continue doing what he loves to do: perform and share his music. Doctors were amazed at how the music and activity appeared to slow the pace of the disease for awhile. With his family, they showed the world that you don't have to hide...

Hollywood actor Omar Sharif is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and struggles to remember his most famous films, his son has revealed. The 83-year-old Egyptian-born actor, who shot to fame in 1962 when he starred in Lawrence of Arabia and later for his title role in Doctor Zhivago in 1965, has been struggling with the illness for the last three years. His son, Tarek El-Sharif, has revealed his father has now retired from acting due to the illness, which has seen him confusing the names of his most famous films and forgetting where they were filmed. He says his father knows...

University of Montreal study finds video game players navigate the screen using a key area of the brain Millions of boys could be at increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and other mental illnesses in later life through playing action video games such as Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed, according to new research. Scientists say players navigate the screen using a key area of the brain called the caudate nucleus, which leads to loss of grey matter in the hippocampus. Previous studies have shown reduced volume in the hippocampus, which controls memory, learning and emotion, is associated with neurological and...

With rising obesity, America faces an increased number of type 2 diabetes cases. With an aging Baby Boom generation, the country is bracing for an increase in Alzheimer's disease. Could the two be related? Previous studies have hinted at such a link. But researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis say they have nailed down the connection. Their study, using mice, found that elevated glucose in the blood – a primary consequence of diabetes -- can rapidly increase levels of amyloid beta, which shows up in brain plaques in Alzheimer’s patients. The buildup of these plaques is...