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An Alzheimer's LifePlan Publication
This online book details the Medical Advice of J.Wesson Ashford
Dr. Ashford's published research and Alzheimer's patient support information
can be accessed at www.medafile.com.
Editorial comments made here are solely the thoughts of the author,
they are not medical advice - or presented as such.
The public is given free access to news, memorry fitness testing,
Online-Community-Clinical Workshop and Prevention Support Services,
and Treatment Research Centers at:
www.alzheimerslifeplan.com
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Did you know that much of Alzheimer's can be prevented.
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Prevention:
Enough evidence has been accounted for that documents the benefits from adopting healthy lifestyle habits. Below you will see Dr. J. Wesson Ashford's Top Ten Treatments that he says can reduce an individual's chances of developing the disease between 60-90%. There is a mounting archive of supporting evidence - made possible through funded research projects and maturation of technologies that assist the medical research communities.
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Detection/Diagnosis:
The onset of the Alzheimer's disease process - early Alzheimer's - begins several years (7-10) before any of the traditional "Alzheimer's Moments" or memory loss symptoms would be apparent to friends or family members.
The technologies of brain imaging and clinical memory fitness testing are changing the methodology of Alzheimer's early onset detection and diagnosis. Researchers now have the ability to monitor the disease from early detection to late stage conditions - without surgury or tramatic testing. These toolsets are essential in the research labs and clinical trial process - because now doctors can monitor the body's responce to treatment - or any alteration a treatment (in trials) might make to the Alzheimer's disease pathology.
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Personal Alzheimer's Education:
If prevention is the most effecitve treatment - the healthy members of the population must have access to sound medical advice, and have their efforts supported in convenient fashion. That is why at www.alzheimerslifeplan.com the online visitor can access a multi-faceted, interactive publishing network.
Within the Alzheimer's LifePlan Interactive Multimedia Center, the world's first animated film of the Alzheimer's disease process can be viewed, along with over three hours of programs produced in an investigative reporting manner - covering ancient myths about Alzheimer's being hereditary, moving to and through tutorials on self memory fitness testing and participation in online debates/seminars.
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Medical Advice:
The lead Alzheimer's LifePlan medical specialist, Dr. J. Wesson Ashford MD, PhD., beginning in the mid 1980's, began publishing papers suggesting individual memory testing could assist in tracking the disease process in living patients. Dr. Ashford currently leads a movement within the industry of Memory fitness testing and early Alzheimer's onset detection. Dr. Ashford and his team urge individuals to keep records of their vital sign readings and the results of memory fitness test scores - in a baseline personal fitness format. Giving this information to an individual's doctor is extremely valuable in assisting the doctor in the individual's early warning and onset detection plan, or Alzheimer's treatment strategy
Within the Alzheimer's LifePlan programs, individuals are invited to establish their personal memory fitness testing and vital sign records - so they can monitor for any reduction in short term memory and learning performance - as well as provide their doctors with comprehensive records of memory fitness and overall health. The memory testing service offered to the program's online participates, is based on the clinical versions of Dr. Ashford's clinical memory platforms.
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Online Community and Interactive Participation:
The population is invited to participate in the Alzheimer's LifePlan - the first public service of its kind - offering each individual a personal online memory fitness testing service, access to ongoing information/research programs, and valuable personal health information to share with their doctors, family members and care givers.
The Alzheimer's LifePlan is also the first population memory assessment project. Ten Thousand members of the Alzheimer's LifePlan online community will be invited to particiapte in the Neurological Disease Foundation's MAP project - which will add statistical validation to Dr. J. Wesson Ashford's clinical early Alzheimer's diagnostic memory assessment test platforms
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Direct Monitoring of Treatment Development:
There are FDA approved drug treatments that are most effective when properly administered in the early stages of the disease.
Information and memory testing is given freely to members of the Alzheimer's LifePlan online community - in the hopes that individuals will confer with their doctors and develop a personal Alzheimer's prevention and treatment strategy.
Another hope is that the simplistic style used throughout the Alzheimer's LifePlan project - will make it easy for people to conduct workshops and memory fitness testing with their older family members who may be at greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than they are - but not comfortable surfing the Internet or taking interactive memory fitness tests.
Those having facilities and online computer access are invited to create a local Community Workshop affiliation. The affiliation is free and there is ample support for the affiliate offered through the online services of the Alzheimer's LifePlan.
If you are concerned about a loved one or friend that you think is at risk of developing the Alzheimer's disease process - or you fear has early onset - deliver your friend to their doctor for immediate diagnostic testing!
Because many early onset cases of Alzheimer's disease are still going undetected - many people are progressing through the early disease stages without prolonging their memory fitness. The available FDA approved treatments slow the memory loss in these early stages - and therefore prolong the individual's ability to form recent memories.
The Alzheimer's LifePlan supports treatment development, and within the Alzheimer's LifePlan visitors and participants can monitor the progress being made regarding preventative, pharmaceutical, and the dramatic industry of Immunetherapy - treatment development communities.
Few people are aware of the fact, that the first alteration of the disease process pathotholgy - in this case the clearing of the a-beta amyloid plaque in an advanced Alzheimer's diseased human brain - has been documented. The Alzheimer's Vaccine which produced that reversal is not safe for the population - but a second generation compound is working its way through clinical trials right now. There are also hundreds of newly developed treatments in late stage development - great progress to monitor.
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Ending Alzheimer's by 2012:
Putting all the recent finding regarding Alzheimer's prevention, memory fitness testing, and disease treatment together: a plan that educates the population, assists individuals in adopting disease preventative lifestyle habits, provides unlimited memory fitness/vital sign records reporting, and supports patient/doctor dialogue and personal Alzheimer's mangement programs - could end Alzheimer's as we know it by the end of 2012.
Assuming members of the population adopt the preventative treatments suggested by Dr. Ashford, and actively participate in their personal Alzheimer's management program - they will add years to their normal cognitive health/life.
In the event a reduction in memory fitness is detected in memory fitness testing - the individual should immediately consult with their doctor an seek a sophisticated memory test.
If the doctor (and patient) are fortunate and detect early onset - there are FDA approved drugs that should be administered as early as possible. Those individuals actively prolonging their physical and mental fitness, maintaining a plan of vital sign and memory fitness baseline records with their doctor's guidance - should reduce their chances of developing the disease all together - and increase their chances of early onset detection.
The Healthy Lifestyle Habits of the Alzheimer's LifePlan
Dr. J. Wesson Ashford, PhD., MD, has lead a dedicated research doctors in developing effective short-term memory and learning performance testing methods. In the clinical environments, Dr, Ashford has developed memory testing systems that detect the earliest forms of memory fitness decrement - with high probability of accuracy - years before the mild cognitive impairment symptoms would be visible to family members.
The Alzheimer's LifePlan public service project is the first utilization of a Dr. Ashford modeled memory fitness testing platform - available to the population through the projects web page channel at www.alzheimerslifeplan.com.
Since, 1985, Dr. Ashford has promoted that the Alzheimer's disease process might be preventable. At his web page www.medafile.com, Dr. Ashford has offered an evolving "Treatment" program.
Turns Out Dr. Ashford Wrote the Book on Alzheimer?s Prevention
I also found that Dr. Ashford was professing Alzheimer?s disease prevention ? even publishing papers which outlined his ?Top Ten Alzheimer?s Prevention Treatments?, to hundreds of thousands of people who visited his web page ? www.medafile.com. So, almost by accident, I became associated with the leading short-term memory and learning performance testing specialists, one of the leading researchers and medical doctors (J.Wesson Ashford is an MD and a Ph.D.) who stands firmly behind his treatment programs of healthy lifestyle habits. Dr. Ashford professes that following his top ten treatment programs can reduce an individual?s chances of developing the Alzheimer?s disease process between 60-90%. To my ears, anything that will cut 10% of this disease out is worth pursuing ? so I did.
I interrogated Dr. Ashford at great length, regarding each point of his ?Top Ten Treatment? program. He readily gave me substantial scientific research which supported his summary claims. While we were talking, we mutually arrived at the conclusion that an aggressive mass communication program, aimed at informing the population about these simple lifestyle habit treatments, accompanied by an equally aggressive program to introduce individuals to the values of memory fitness testing ? could be the foundation of a public service project ? that ultimately supported the end of Alzheimer?s disease.
There is a complete and detailed description of Dr. Ashford?s treatment program at his online Alzheimer?s resource center, www.medafile.com, but I will include the unedited full discussion that Dr. Ashford presents on that site:
Top10alz.doc 2/13/02
THE TOP TEN TREATMENTS
(under development)
FOR PREVENTING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
J. Wesson Ashford, M.D., Ph.D.
DISCUSSION
The field of Alzheimer?s disease is rapidly uncovering information for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer?s disease. While much discussion about cause is still speculative, there is mounting evidence to support several ideas about how Alzheimer?s disease develops. Though there is never enough evidence to prove any scientific theory, there is frequently enough evidence to discuss a particular idea with patients and to make practical recommendations. In the field of Alzheimer?s disease, there are several such issues that can now be brought to the clinic setting. There are some recommendations based on current experience with treating Alzheimer patients or the associations between Alzheimer?s disease and other dementing disorders. Other suggestions are based on scientific hypotheses with only preliminary evidence.
1) Take your blood pressure regularly and be sure that the systolic pressure is always less than 130. This recommendation is based on the association between stroke and Alzheimer?s disease and several articles relating high blood pressure to poor memory and a higher incidence of Alzheimer?s disease, particularly in association with certain genes. There is also some evidence that patients taking diuretics for their elevated blood pressure get less Alzheimer?s disease. So keep track of your blood pressure and, if necessary, make sure that it is well treated.
2) Watch your cholesterol; if your cholesterol is elevated, get treated with ?statin? drugs and be sure your cholesterol is fully controlled. First, cholesterol levels are related to arteriosclerotic vascular disease, which is in turn related to heart disease and stroke. So, this is a good idea in any case. There is recent evidence that that cholesterol plays an important role in memory in the brain and is controlled by Apolipoprotein E, which may be associated with 50% of the Alzheimer risk. Two recent studies have suggested that individuals taking ?statin? drugs are less likely to get Alzheimer?s disease. While these findings cannot be considered to warrant prescription without cholesterol elevation, clearly these data give individuals with elevated cholesterol have another reason to take their prescribed medications. There has been one epidemiological study associating animal fat intake with Alzheimer risk across many different countries, but this study is not convincing enough to ask everyone to take all animal fat out of their diet. But, if the fatty chemicals in your blood are not good, you should discuss modification of your diet with your physician.
3) Exercise your body and mind regularly. There are many studies extolling the virtues of exercise. While there are no specific links between exercise and Alzheimer?s disease, there are links between exercise and health and cognition. People can get smarter by exercising. So, there is a logical recommendation to exercise to reduce the risk of Alzheimer?s disease. But, beyond this, there are recent theories linking insulin to Alzheimer?s disease. The blood insulin level peaks about an hour after you eat. If you exercise about 30 minutes after you eat, even if just walking for about 15 minutes (that?s after each meal), you might reduce your peak insulin level and leave the insulin-degrading enzyme to do its other task of breaking down the harmful beta-amyloid that forms fibrils in the brains of Alzheimer patients. There are also several studies linking education to delayed onset of Alzheimer?s disease and some recent evidence suggesting that keeping your mind active can also delay onset. Though all of these studies can be criticized in various ways, it makes sense to stay in school as long as possible and continue seeking intellectual stimulation throughout your life.
4) Wear your seat belt; wear a helmet when you are riding a bicycle or participating in any activity where you might hit your head. There have been many reports of a relationship between head injury and Alzheimer?s disease. While head trauma probably accounts for less than 5% of the cases of Alzheimer?s disease, safety can help to reduce this factor.
5) If you have diabetes, make sure that your blood sugar is optimally controlled. One of the greatest advances in medicine has been the ability to control diabetes. Patients with diabetes have a tendency to get vascular disease, and this disease can injure the brain. While there is not clear relation between diabetes and Alzheimer?s disease, patients who have had blood sugars that have gone too high or too low may lose memory and be at greater risk for suffering from dementia.
6) Consult your doctor about treatment for your arthritis pain. There have been several studies indicating that arthritis patients who take NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) have a reduced risk of Alzheimer?s disease. A recent study (t?Veldt et al., 2001, New England Journal of Medicine) suggested that arthritis patients who had taken NSAIDs for over 3 years had an 80% reduction in their risk of getting Alzheimer?s disease. Because the risks of these drugs (especially internal bleeding) are so great, they cannot be recommended for routine prevention. However, if you have arthritis, you should seek the advice of your doctor for treatment. Of additional great interest is another suggestion (from the lab of E. Koo), that only certain NSAIDs may prevent the development of a toxic protein in the brain that may be a specific cause of Alzheimer?s disease (beta-amyloid-1-42). The particular NSAIDs identified with this benefit so far are ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), sulindac (Clinoril), and indomethacin (Indocin). Indomethacin may be the most potent, and one study suggested that this drug does slow down the course of Alzheimer?s disease. Ibuprofen is most readily available. However, a good recommendation for pain patients at this time is for sulindac because it is the most easily administered and has the least side effects.
7) Take your vitamins. There is little reason not to take supplemental vitamins after you turn 50 years of age, and they might even help if you have some transient deficiency in your diet (see Willett & Stampfer, 2001, New England Journal of Medicine). There is general support to take extra supplements of Vitamin E (400 international units) and Vitamin C (500 milligrams) together (once per day for prevention, twice per day if memory problems are present, and three times per day if Alzheimer?s disease is diagnosed). These recommendations are based on the oxidation/free-radical theory of aging and Alzheimer?s disease and one large study which suggested that Vitamin E delayed specific end-points for Alzheimer patients by as much as 6 months. Though the free-radical theory of Alzheimer?s disease has not been shown to be causal and the Vitamin E study has not been replicated, this ?neuroprotective regimen? has become a common treatment of Alzheimer?s disease and taken by many as a preventive.
B12 and folate have also been advocated as brain protective agents. B12 recommendations are complicated by the issue of intestinal uptake by intrinsic factor. The RDA for folate is 400 mcg per day, but this dose can be increased to 1 mg per day if memory difficulty is a concern and B12 levels are not low. Recent correlation between elevated homocysteine levels and Alzheimer?s disease (Sheshadri et al., 2002, New England Journal of Medicine) brings a focus on this substance and the associated intake of B12 (which is inadequate with a ?vegan? diet) and folate. B12 and folate supplementation can keep homocysteine levels in check. Alcohol and caffeine intake and tobacco use increase homocysteine.
8) Discuss sex-hormone replacement therapy with your physician. There are general recommendations to post-menopausal women to take hormone replacement therapy to reduce the risk of heart disease and improve life in a variety of ways. There is also some evidence that these hormones might reduce the risk of Alzheimer?s disease. However, one study has suggested that the treatment of female Alzheimer patients with hormone replacement therapy may have more risk than benefit. The issue of sex-hormones is of interest because these chemicals seem to enhance the function of many brain cells. This leads to another question, which is, would sex-hormone replacement help elderly males as well?
9) If you have difficulty getting to sleep, consider trying 6 milligrams of melatonin at bedtime. Melatonin is a natural substance produced by the pineal gland in the brain. This substance is produced only in the dark and may help to initiate and sustain sleep. As you get older, the brain produces less melatonin, and older people sleep less. Sleep is good for the body and brain in any case and may help to keep Alzheimer pathology from developing. There is only scant scientific evidence that melatonin helps sleep, but there are many patients and their family members that claim that it helps a great deal. A big problem is that melatonin is a health food, not regulated by the FDA, so potency is not monitored. Also, it may help sleep only in those individuals with a significant melatonin deficiency. However, melatonin is an excellent anti-oxidant and some recent laboratory evidence has suggested that melatonin may prevent the formation of toxic amyloid fibrils in the brain, and these fibrils may be the primary cause of Alzheimer?s disease.
10) If you have significant difficulty with your memory, talk to your doctor about cholinesterase inhibitors. Several drugs from this class, including tacrine (Cognex), donepezil (Aricept), rivastigmine (Exelon), and galantamine (Reminyl), have been approved by the FDA for treating Alzheimer patients with mild dementia. While the primary evidence suggests that these drugs have only a modest benefit on cognition, there have been several studies that have suggested that these drugs may slow down the progression of Alzheimer?s disease. Note that these studies are only suggestive, not conclusive, but many physicians agree with this suggestion based on their own observations. Importantly, if these drugs can slow Alzheimer progression, then they may have their biggest advantage very early in the disease course. While doctors are not prescribing these drugs for preventing Alzheimer?s disease, many physicians are prescribing these drugs beneficially for patients with mild memory problems. It is possible that these drugs may become a central part of preventive therapy for Alzheimer?s disease in the future.
There are several treatments in addition to those listed above that have been recommended for Alzheimer?s disease as treatment or preventive agents. At this point, there is not enough data to make more explicit recommendations. For example, a recent review of Ginkgo Biloba suggested that the recommendations for this substance ?remain ambiguous? (Sommer & shatzberg, 2002, Psychiatric Annals). Co-enzyme Q-10 has also been recommended without wide support. There is not enough evidence that aluminum is associated with Alzheimer?s disease to recommend throwing out your aluminum pots, but you probably shouldn?t cook tomato sauce in them. Tobacco was shown in some studies to protect against Alzheimer?s disease, but later analyses have suggested that it is not preventive. Alcohol in very low quantities may protect against heart disease and has been suggested to protect against Alzheimer?s disease as well, but anything more than minimal use is not wise.
Several studies are exploring potential new preventions and treatments for Alzheimer?s disease. The ?amyloid vaccine? is one of the most interesting, but the development of this treatment has suffered a recent setback because some of the volunteers trying the treatment developed brain inflammation. Also, there may be specific drugs now available that might slow Alzheimer pathology. For example, lithium and valproic acid, two drugs used to treat manic-depression, may inhibit a brain enzyme (glycogen-synthase-kinase-3-beta), which could prevent the development of neurofibrillary tangles, a late Alzheimer pathology.
Many patients with Alzheimer?s disease, including those in very early phases, have problems with depression and paranoid ideas. These symptoms can and should be treated.
Another critical question in Alzheimer?s disease, especially if early treatment can slow progression and delay dementia, is early recognition. Screening tests to be used routinely in doctors? offices for patients over 60 years of age are now being developed and may help many patients to get help sooner.
At this time, there are many genes being uncovered that appear to be associated with Alzheimer?s disease. In the future, it is likely that specific individuals will be told not only what their risk is for developing Alzheimer?s disease, but also how they can modify their life to prevent it completely. There are so many indications that Alzheimer?s disease might be prevented that there is hope mounting that we may be able to end this disease in the near future.
At first glance, these ?treatments? seemed to echo many of the basic lifestyle habits suggested by doctors and anti-disease programs. None of them seem to be difficult to assimilate into a normal lifestyle routine. Dr. Ashford is adamant that there is enough evidence in each area to merit adopting these lifestyle habits. In the near future, he is certain, researchers will complete reviewing the substantial data being accumulated and issue treatment bulletins which qualify the amount of good these treatments do. But, there isn?t much argument against adopting the healthy lifestyle habits right now.
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What you must know about Alzheimer's
Here is an overview of the Alzheimer's disease situation today:
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It is the general consensus of the medical research community that prevention - an individual's adoption of healthy lifestyle habits (diet/nutrition/physical-mental exercise/vital sign regulation) could reduce that individual's chances of developing the disease process 60-90%.
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Individuals at age 65 have a 10% chance of developing the disease in the next year.
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Individual at age 85 have a 55% chance of developing the disease in the next year.
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Most Alzheimer's disease cases go undetected through the periods of time when treatment could be most effective, as there is no standardized methodology for the population to appraise their personal memory fitness to establish their normal - or baseline - of memory fitness and watch for any decline in their ability to form memories, essentially screening and monitoring for mild cognitive impairment - the early signature memory loss of Alzheimer's.
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There is no cure or treatment that arrests/reverses the disease process once it has developed.
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Most doctors and clinics are not current in Alzheimer's disease detection, diagnosis or treatment strategy development, and, most individuals have no memory fitness testing or mental health monitoring program.
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Most assisted living and nursing homes have no medical doctor or medial doctor specializing in Alzheimer's treatment.
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The FDA approved treatments for Alzheimer's are only effective if administered early in the disease process and then they only slow the short-term memory deterioration - prolonging the eventual need for admittance into a nursing home.
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There is dramatic progress being made in treatment development, but even an optimistic estimate of when these treatments will be available would be five-to-ten (5-10) years.
Let's Go Down The List
Number 1
It is the general consensus of the medical research community that prevention - an individual's adoption of healthy lifestyle habits (diet/nutrition/physical-mental exercise/vital sign regulation) could reduce that individual's chances of developing the disease process 60-90%.
Dr. Alzheimer used clinical observation, memory testing, and a microscope to accurately diagnose - at autopsy - the disease that now carries his name. That was in 1906, and he spent the rest of his life, trying to answer the questions revolving around the disease of the mind he had discovered.
He was followed by legions of researchers, scientists, doctors, physical fitness and health enthusiasts - all well intended but unable to 'crack' the disease process code. Until 1985, when a group of neuroscientist isolated the building blocks of the short-term memory destruction process - the a beta amyloid plaque compound. As these researchers began to understand the chemistry of the disease, others were working on technology that would image healthy or diseased brains, moving the study of the disease process from autopsy analysis to exquisite imaging of living brains. Also a group of dedicated clinical psychiatrists and neuroscientists studied the brain and specifically how the brain forms and manages the memory processes.
So, there are basically three camps studying the disease phenomena.
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There are the treatment developers, looking to chemistry and pharmaceutical treatments that can alter or reverse the disease process/damage in a body.
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There are the imaging scientists who can track the health and disease deterioration in the brain - and identify success/failure if a treatment is being tested.
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There are the research Psychiatrists, testing individuals for their memory fitness, establishing their baseline, monitoring for any decrement to the brain's ability to form memory, and effectively screening for or diagnosing the footprints of the disease should it develop.
That's it.
These dedicated professionals have covered massive amounts of research ground. Today, we actually know what is happening inside a body where Alzheimer's is developing. We can watch the disease process erode the human brain in animated video!
But this progress doesn't cure or end the epidemic - and it does not offer hope for the two million Americans alone who will develop the disease in the next 48 months.
Originally, it was thought that the disease was non-discriminatory, it would or could occur in any body, for reasons unknown. It may have been thought of as a random or transmitted disease, for a while it was thought to be genetic, some even thought that it was caused my a virus or bacterial agent.
Now, collective reasoning illustrates the disease occurs in the individuals of the population that have high levels of cholesterol, hypertension (high blood pressure), repeated incidents of head trauma, radical blood sugar spikes, sleep disorders, poor nutrition or inadequate dietary intake, lack of physical exercise, lack of mental stimulation (learning), and stress in their day-to-day living. Unfortunately, the scientific community has learned this from secondary research observation. Meaning, each of these topic conclusions was noted in a research study that was addressing another issue (not Alzheimer's directly).
So the truth to this situation is that a certain part of the population - those who do not develop Alzheimer's at any time in their lives, are more likely than not - living a lifestyle of Alzheimer's prevention. Research has not looked at this group and may have overlooked the best form of dealing with this medical/financial/social tragedy.
Number Two
Individuals at age 65 have a 10% chance of developing the disease in the next year.
It is a statistic, true in the United States. We know the disease strikes in the older population - although 10% of the cases actually occur in people under 50 years of age. That's called early onset.
The significant thing researchers have learned here is that there are some factors that accelerate or pre-condition individuals to develop the disease process. Some of these are genetic and researchers have now developed ways to identify the 5-7% of the population that have genetic Alzheimer's. At long last, this group of individuals is really getting a lot of attention. Researchers and doctors are studying the effects of lifestyle habits, known treatments and some natural treatments on this group - to see if the disease process starting could be delayed or perhaps prevented all together.
With this genetic group aside, one out of ten people 65 years of age, will develop Alzheimer's in the next year. That is, assuming everything stays the way it has been. What if the population at ages 50-65 change their body chemistry and/or general overall health? If the population adopts a lifestyle similar to those who are say 85 years old and healthy - that same statistic that say one-in-ten will develop the disease would be reduced to .05 in 10 would develop it (the equivalent of the genetic group carrying through).
Number Three
Individual at age 85 have a 55% chance of developing the disease in the next year.
You can guess where I'm headed with this one. The secondary research has identified that individuals living unhealthy lifestyle habits have a 55% chance of developing the disease - wouldn't the changing over to healthy lifestyle habits at a younger age alter the body chemistry/disease process, and prolong the individual's health?
Number Four
Most Alzheimer's disease cases go undetected through the periods of time when treatment could be most effective, as there is no standardized methodology for the population to appraise their personal memory fitness to establish their normal - or baseline - of memory fitness and watch for any decline in their ability to form memories, essentially screening and monitoring for mild cognitive impairment - the early signature memory loss of Alzheimer's.
Simple truth. The victims can't remember they have a memory problem. The family members usually are in denial and/or fearing the worst and unable to diagnose/treat something they don't understand.
So here is what should happen. Individuals should frequently test their brain's ability to form memory - technically that is called an individual's short-term memory and learning performance rating. When an individual takes their memory fitness test a number of times - that forms a baseline or graphic representation of what their normal memory fitness is. When they go to their annual medical examine they can take a printout of their memory fitness testing history - or show the testing program to the doctor online.
The simple truth here is that the brain is often stressed and has a reduction in its ability to form recent memories. It wants to please you all the time, so it doesn't let you know it is having a problem. These reductions can signal fatigue, stress, reactions to drugs or compounds, allergic reactions, surgery recover, stroke recover and on and on. Whatever the reason for a reduction in memory function - it is a serious thing and should demand medical attention.
The simple truth here, is that most general medical doctors pay no attention to the memory fitness and are not equipped to conduct clinical memory evaluations. In the case of Alzheimer's that translates into millions of years of time the victims could be responding to treatment and prolonging their mental health.
If you become involved in the Alzheimer's LifePlan, and I hope you do, you will have the opportunity to test your memory fitness, establish your baseline of memory fitness, record your vital signs and present your medical doctor with a printout of your personal LifePlan program - perhaps introducing them to the clinical support services the Alzheimer's LifePlan offers doctors and care givers as well.
Number Five
There is no cure or treatment that arrests/reverses the disease process once it has developed.
After one hundred years of effort - there is no cure for Alzheimer's. this makes the promise of prevention very attractive. The Alzheimer's disease process will eventually be overcome, and effective treatments or prevention methods - like a vaccine - will become available. But even then, the treatment will be most effective on those people who are living a anti-Alzheimer's disease process lifestyle.
Number Six
Most doctors and clinics are not current in Alzheimer's disease detection, diagnosis or treatment strategy development, and, most individuals have no memory fitness testing or mental health monitoring program.
Aside from the fact that over 50% of American don't even have medical insurance (translating to adequate maintenance/preventative examinations or care), today's doctors and care givers are overloaded and fighting a losing battle in regards to Alzheimer's. There are few doctors who specialize in the field because there is little for them to do. Those doctors who research and study Alzheimer's have made tremendous progress in diagnosis, understanding and even treating the disease in the past five years - but, most of this knowledge is still in the laboratory.
there exists few and precious channels of education within the medical communities. To make matters worse, doctors are obligated to continue their education in general medical practice - leaving Alzheimer's off their scope because it is a geriatric specialty with a long history of "nothing new" attached to it.
Again. if you become involved in the Alzheimer's LifePlan, you will have the opportunity to introduce your doctor (or your clinic if you are a doctor) to several clinic support services the program offers. It is our hope to bridge the gap between the research labs and the clinic, supporting the individual's personal Alzheimer's prevention programs.
Number Seven
Most assisted living and nursing homes have no medical doctor or medial doctor specializing in Alzheimer's treatment.
Another sad reality. Assisted living and nursing home communities do not specialize in health and fitness programs. The assisted living industry provides living quarters for those who need household chores, cooking, shopping - assistance. The nursing homes provide care for those who can't take care of themselves.
Over the years, a system of having a doctor on contract to these facilities has evolved. In general, the individual's general practitioner remains the primary doctor throughout an individual's involvement with these institutions.
One of the significant sections of the Alzheimer's LifePlan is the program's workshop programs. These are designed to integrate into the senior community, clinic, assisted living environments. For the nursing home industry, there is a complete clinical support program that assists the care giver in monitoring the individual's memory decline and eventually treatment response. In both cases, programs and interactive activity will be designed so the individual can be assisted, entertained, stimulated and comforted as they go through treatment or pass through the disease process.
Number Eight
The FDA approved treatments for Alzheimer's are only effective if administered early in the disease process and then they only slow the short-term memory deterioration - prolonging the eventual need for admittance into a nursing home.
The earlier the disease process is diagnosed the better. But, early diagnosis is difficult. If early detected, a qualified doctor can prescribe FDA approved drugs, they are called inhibitors, that slow the damage to the memory centers of the brain. these drugs do not stop the disease or reverse/repair the damage caused by the disease.
Number Nine
There is dramatic progress being made in treatment development, but even an optimistic estimate of when these treatments will be available would be five-to-ten (5-10) years.
Right now a newly developed treatment, the Alzheimer's Vaccine is working its way through clinical trials. the vaccine has proven an effective vaccine in a laboratory animal (mouse) model. All ready, the vaccine has produced documented reversal of the disease process in the human brain. So, why isn't it being rushed into clinics and nursing homes? Because it hasn't been proven safe. That is a primary concern of the FDA clinical trial procedure.
The neuroscientists who developed the vaccine have created a new form of treatment - Immunetherapy. This school of brain medication revolves around Dr. Dale Schenk's discovery, that adequate amounts of the beta amyloid plaque - when injected into the blood stream - can trigger an anti-body action - where excess amounts of the beta amyloid plaque is engulfed with the antibodies, then carried away by scavenger cells. It works, and is now being refined - fine tuned to be safe in the bodies of healthy or Alzheimer's diseased victims.
There are other treatments in development that hold promise as well. Each of these will take millions of dollars in development and years of testing before they are available to the population.
This information, should motivate all healthy people to adopt healthy lifestyle habits - habits that add years of prolonged health to your life. If you can add five years to your lifespan, you can greatly reduce your chances of developing the disease all together - while you prolong your health until treatments like the vaccine become available. Someday in the near future, there may be a form of the vaccine that eliminates the disease process from ever starting in a healthy brain.
Author's Summary
Please consider this your invitation to manage your personal Alzheimer's situation.
I was motivated to fund and organize the Alzheimer's LifePlan - because I feared for my parent's independent and healthful living. Alzheimer's continues to take my parent's families. Both my mother and father have outlived their younger and older family members - and lived longer than their parents who succumbed to dementia or Alzheimer's did.
My parents are both over 85 years of age and live the lifestyle/treatment program that Dr. Ashford prescribed for them. They are the poster children of the Alzheimer's LifePlan and their involvement as "guinea pigs", for the project has made it possible for our programmers to produce the "user friendly" areas of the program. Visitors to the web page spaces will immediately notice the entire space is simplistic in design - there is a minimal amount of graphics so the pages load on dial-up connections - and tutorials for the areas where interactivity is offered. The important parts of the message - like this summary - are purposely simple. This is a consistent format requirement - because younger family members who have online computer access can easily assist older family members in their personal Alzheimer's prevention program. In the process, all will be empowered to stand up in front of this dreaded disease.
You are invited to participate in the Alzheimer's LifePlan public service project. You will find that the project has organized the research, care giving, senior community and treatment development communities - offering bridges between you the visitors and the professionals.
As long as I can afford to offer the free public access to the news, information and GUEST GUEST vital sign and memory fitness test baseline record account - I will.
If you can afford the one time $50 membership fee - that will give you a personal vital sign and memory fitness test baseline record account that runs thru the end of 2012 - I thank you in advance.
Your money will go to maintaining the overall project and the Dr. Ashford's and the Neurological Disease Foundation's work in early detection and treatment development.
If you appreciate the work being done here, the best way to show your appreciation is to out smart the Alzheimer's disease process - live a long and healthy life. Talk with your doctors about your health and discuss the concepts and programs presented here.
Please feel free to visit all public areas of the project, become involved where you feel called to participate.
Go Back to Alzheimer's LifePlan Home Page
Go To Memory Fitness Testing Center
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