Memory Fitness Alzheimer's Treatment

What is the American Alzheimer's disease tragedy? Millions have undetected early Alzheimer's - and could miss their only opportunity for effective treatment...                                        Lack of Awareness!  Why is this true? Available FDA approved treatments, are most effective at slowing the disease process when they are administered in the pre-or early onset disease stages. At the heart of the tragedy, as you are reading this there are millions of people who are in the early onset stage of the diseae and they are loosing their opportunity to postpone being admitted into a nursing home. Individuals or their doctor who think they are at risk of developing the disease, can be tested for early Alzheimer's onset. Dr. J. Wesson Ashford, M.D., PhD., in his clinical rounds has developed a test platform that promises early onset detection 6-7 years before the apparent memory loss symptoms would normally be detected by family or doctors. Individuals can monitored their normal short term memory and learning performance ability "memory fitness" like a vital sign, and establish a valid baseline rating of their brain's Memory Fitness.  Learning about Alzheimer's disease teaches doctors and individuals that "brain health", can be guaged by testing and individual's memory fitness. The results of multiple memory fitness tests can give a valid "baseline" or normal rating to an individual's memory fitness; without this baseline rating, it is extremely difficult to detect any memory disorder. The Alzheimer's LifePlan offers free memory fitness testing. Individuals can adopt healthy lifestyle habits and greatly reduce their chances of developing the disease. But they don't. There is no online, radio/tv, in community or in-clinic network promoting awareness of Alzheimer's prevention - that is the propose of Alzheimer's LifePlan.   Below, you can review the path of awareness that led to forming the news, information, treatment development and prevention program network - The Alzheimer's LifePlan. We will visit these primary areas: The Alzheimer's Association Dr. J. Wesson Ashford's Memory Fitness Testing Brain Imaging Immunetheraphy - An Alzheimer's Vaccine!                                   (Scroll down to view the sections) The Alzheimer's Association For decades, the Alzheimer's Association has provided support, information, local programs, care giver support, and raised more funds for Alzheimer's related research than any other private organization. To say the association is an institution is an understatement. My search for information and historical data about Alzheimer's took me to the Northern California/Nevada Alzheimer's Association in Mountain View, California. Since 1987 Bill Fisher has headed up organization of all concerned about Alzheimer's in this region. He has seen the complete turn over of doctors and research professionals who early on, thought it was pointless to even diagnose the Alzheimer's disease condition - for fear it would just agitate people. Today, Bill fisher works with the leading team of doctors, including Dr. J. Wesson Ashford, to take the good news about Alzheimer's detection and treatment development to the people of his area.   The Alzheimer's Association Leads Funding For Alzheimer's Awareness/Research Projects Like the millions before me that were dumbfounded about Alzheimer's - I sought out the Northern California/Nevada Alzheimer's Association. I met with Mr. Bill Fisher, CEO of the Northern California/Nevada Alzheimer's Association, and heard first hand what his group is doing to promote Alzheimer's awareness and prevention. Traditionally, the association has provided support groups, information, some organized community and patient/care giving programs - when there was nothing else.

In 1985, Dr. J. Wesson Ashford, through what has now become Medafile, began promoting lifestyle and self administered treatments that would greatly reduce an individual's chances of developing the Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Ashford and much of his work in memory testing is highlighted throughout the Alzheimer's LifePlan spaces. This is due primarily to the role memory testing plays in monitoring your memory fitness - on the watch for mild cognitive impairment.

But when I started studying Alzheimer's, I instinctively sought out doctors, researchers, care givers and treatment development scientists - who promoted prevention.

Dr. Ashford has been consistent over the years to promote what he calls his "Top Ten" treatments. These change as time goes by, primarily in response to new findings.

Below, is the condensed version of Dr. Ashford's current top ten treatments as they appear at Medafile:

THE TOP TEN TREATMENTS (under development) FOR PREVENTING ALZHEIMER?S DISEASE J. Wesson Ashford, M.D., Ph.D. (April, 2005) Take your blood pressure regularly and be sure that the systolic pressure is always less than 130. Watch your cholesterol; if your cholesterol is elevated (above 200), talk to your clinician about appropriate treatment. Consider ?statin? medications and be sure your cholesterol is fully controlled. Increase your dietary intake of omega-3-fatty acids (eat deep-sea finned fish at least 3 times per week) and nuts (especially almonds). Exercise your body, mind, and spirit regularly. Physical exercise best 10-30 mins after each meal for 10-30 minutes, 3 times per day. Do aerobic and strengthening exercises. Maximize your education. If you have spare time, do mental puzzles (like crossword puzzles). Stay active with your friends and in your community. Physically protect your brain. Wear your car seat-belt. Wear a helmet when you are riding a bicycle or participating in any activity where you might hit your head. Work to decrease your fall risk through physical exercise, making your environment safe. Decrease your risk of type II diabetes. Monitor your fasting blood sugar yearly. Keep your BMI (Basal Metabolic Index) in the optimal range (19-25): -------- BMI = 703 * weight (pounds) / height (inches) squared -------- To optimize your BMI, control your food intake and exercise. If you have diabetes, make sure that your blood sugar is optimally controlled. Consult your clinician about your pains (treat arthritis with ibuprofen, sulindac, or indomethacin). Take your vitamins daily (folate - 400mcg, B12 - 25mcg, C - 250 mg, and E - 200iu's). Check with your clinician yearly to be sure your homocysteine levels are not high and you have no signs of B12 deficiency Discuss sex-hormone replacement therapy with your clinician (such therapy is not currently recommended for Alzheimer prevention, but may be used depending on circumstances). If you have difficulty getting to sleep, consider trying 3 - 6 milligrams of melatonin at bedtime. Monitor your memory regularly. Be sure the people around you are not concerned about your memory. If you think that you have significant difficulty with your memory, talk to your clinician about further evaluation. Consider therapy with cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine. CLICK HERE FOR FULL DISCUSSION Recommendation of Vitamin Supplements for discussion, see: Willet WC, Stampfer MJ, What vitamins should I be taking, Doctor, NEJM, 345, 1819 (2001) Take at the morning meals: Vitamin E 200 iu's Vitamin C 250 mg Multi-vitamin (with folate 400 mcg and no iron) If approved by your clinician: 1 enteric coated baby aspirin each day. DIETARY RECOMMENDATIONS OPTIMIZE: Fruits - citrus, blue berries Vegetables - green, leafy Fish - deep sea, finned, oily, at least 3x/week Nuts - especially almonds, chocolate MINIMIZE: Animal products - Red meat (more than once per week), Dairy.

Did you notice # 10 ?

Monitor your memory regularly. Be sure the people around you are not concerned about your memory. If you think that you have significant difficulty with your memory, talk to your clinician about further evaluation. Consider therapy with cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine.

When I read that - it was a bombshell - because it provided the individual an opportunity to monitor their personal memory fitness - identify if any memory reduction (ability to form recent memories) was occurring - and take action if there was any indication the disease process was taking hold.

We will soon be reviewing Dr. Ashford's memory fitness testing research, introducing you to an easy way to take a personal memory test. The test will be free and is actually enjoyable - programmed so you can assist older family members who may not want to learn how to use your computer.

What Dr. Ashford's Top Ten Treatment meant to the Alzheimer's LifePlan

As you will recall, I started my Alzheimer's research, to see how my parents could prevent getting Alzheimer's. My parents were moving into their 80's as I started researching into Alzheimer's. The fact that my parent's chances of developing the disease (statistically) was over 40% (at 80) and would start exponentially climbing higher than 50% (after 85) - to me, meant that half of the aging population was doing something differently than the other half - the half that was getting the disease at the 85 years of age marker.

I hope that made sense to you?

Let me see if I can say it in simple terms....

Several of my parent's parents, brothers, sisters and friends had dementia or Alzheimer's disease and passed at a younger age than my parents had all ready reached.

Researchers and scientists, and doctors like Dr. Ashford, were promoting that environmental and lifestyle habits played an important role in an individual's personal Alzheimer's disease process development.

When I came across Dr. Ashford's Top Ten Treatments, I decided to compare my parent's lifestyle habits to the "treatments" Dr. Ashford had described. I found that my parents were living a lifestyle very close to what Dr. Ashford had recommended.

Setting the Stage for an effective personal Alzheimer's Prevention Program

Living a lifestyle like the the one that Dr. Ashford prescribed, my parents appeared to be on an "anti-Alzheimer's" drive. But how could I determine that factually? It would be one thing to say their apparent physical health was proof they were protecting themselves from all disease - including Alzheimer's - but so many people institutionalized in Nursing Homes are physically just as healthy as my parents (at least in the early and middle stages of AD).

But, the logic was straightforward. People aging well, with strong physical fitness, healthy diets, low stress and low blood pressure, and higher education (with continued learning) - develop fewer cases of Alzheimer's and live longer lives than those who do not integrate these things into their lifestyles.

So, the concept was developed that my parents would become the "poster kids" for the first Personal Alzheimer's Prevention Program and that program would be developed into a public service to assist the population in preventing their personal cases of Alzheimer's from developing.

It appeared my parents had developed a lifestyle very similar to that which Dr. Ashford prescribed to reduce their chances of developing Alzheimer's disease. When I asked Dr. Ashford about this, he stated that there was a lack of research in this specific area - meaning that most information supporting prevention of Alzheimer's came about as a side effect of other research. For instance, in a sleep disorder research project- a group of senior citizens was given Melatonin to assist in them getting eight hours of sleep a night. It turned out that follow-up research on these seniors indicated that they developed 30% less Alzheimer's cases than their general population group. It is really a significant factor, but not backed by substantial or dedicated research efforts.

Being a self motivated business organizer, I felt compelled to launch a task force to initiate Alzheimer's Prevention research.

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The End Alzheimer's 2012 Task Force

In the early days of organization, the task force spent a fair amount of time, reviewing the findings of each participant, then searching online for any similar activities. Universally, there was a real shortage of researchers working on this problem.

Mining into the research community deeper, we found that those individuals working on brain imaging, memory testing, diet/lifestyle treatment (prevention), pharmaceutical and treatment technologies - were operating few and far between the industry.

In 2002, the task force had completed building what is now the Alzheimer's LifePlan Memory Fitness Testing Center and was ready to "go public" with a focus group phase of prevention promotion.

Let's revisit the Memory Testing areas - so you'll know how to test your memory, or that of someone you care about.

The Focus Turns To Prevention

Essential to Ending Alzheimer's is the public's awareness of:

Memory Fitness Testing

Researchers suggest that over half of the Alzheimer's cases go undetected through the early mild cognitive impairment stages. This is costing America and the families of Alzheimer's disease billions of dollars each year as well as tragic loss of quality living.

This is tragic and doesn't have to continue. Healthy individuals can easily test their memories, and over time create a record of their brain's ability to form recent memories - successfully recalling them when tested. It turns out that the brain is our most resilient organ - and it has an almost endless capacity for learning. But, if you don't use it - you'll lose it!

NOTE: If you get nothing else from this web page. Please go to the 24/7 Workshop One - scroll down to the end of the workshop where you are told how to access the "GUEST and MEMBER Services" area for free memory fitness testing.  When you log-in to the testing center - use

User name: GUEST and Password: GUEST

That will enter you into the free public access test. This is an area for any visitor to acquaint themselves with short term memory testing as well as the personal memory fitness testing services offered at the site.

How You Can Monitor Your Memory Fitness

Meeting Dr. Ted Langley and Taking Dr. Ashford's Testing Platform To the Public

In 2000, I helped produce the live satellite coverage of the WYSIWYG Film festival, from San Francisco. Working on the crew was a very bright individual lending a hand in building the custom lighting system I had designed. This individual turned out to be Dr. Ted Langley, PhD in Neurophysiology. Ted overheard me talking about the Internet Broadcasting Network and several of the online web page networks I manage. He asked for an audience and when we got together, he introduced me to his partner, Henry Bowles, together the principals of Bowles-Langley Technology.

In our first meeting, Ted and Henry showed me the Alertness Testing device that they had received a patent on. They wanted to review how testing people's alertness and/or ability to operate heavy equipment or work long shifts could be monitored through an online service - which is one of the strong technologies of the Internet Broadcasting Association. I really felt that the testing could be conducted over the Internet, but I felt it would be a "hard" sell and probably not offer a real advantage over on-site computer based testing centers.

In discussion of their basic testing technology, they mentioned that they had developed an effective short-term memory and learning performance testing platform with Dr. J. Wesson Ashford - and they thought that test could be an effective screening platform for mild cognitive impairment - the early signature of Alzheimer's disease.

In one of our early meetings, Ted and Henry showed me a computer based short-term memory and learning capacity test. That test has changed my life. Seated at my computer, within a minute, I was captivated and drawn into a visual image matching game - then it was over. I scored 65%, because I didn't follow instructions. I took the test again. Wait! Did I see that image in the last test or this one? Whew! I scored 100%. Then Ted asked me to take the test again - only this time we would throttle up the number of images from 26 to 40! After taking the test a half a dozen times, Ted and Henry then showed me the "My History" area - and there is was, my baseline record of memory fitness. Neat! Simple. But, I didn't see how it could be an industry. Enter Dr. Ashford..... Technology has a way of evolving all by itself - but, technology in the hands of those who need it to evolve - moves it in new and accelerated directions. Ted and Henry collaborated with Dr. Wesson Ashford, MD, Ph.D. Dr. Ashford has a long history with memory testing and perhaps more one-on-one experience with patients suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease then most memory assessment specialists. The trio made significant improvements to the methodology of testing, results compilation, storage and reporting of the original BLT test. The results - the BLT/A Short-Term memory and learning performance test platform. Enter Mr. Peck..... Some time went by and the iBHEALTH.net SVP of Business Development, Ron C. Peck made a presentation to me regarding the current status of doctors using the Internet for electronic medical records (EMR) and how one of our network sponsors, NovaSoft, had successfully developed a HIPAA compliant electronic medical record management service (online) for the medical industry - could this not be applied to the BLT-A Short-term memory and learning performance testing platform? The general consensus was that it could - and work was begun on the programming required for such a system. Presently, the clinical treatment support and networked research project short-term meaning and performance tracking services are available to the research/care-giving communities. Enter Mr. Tim Galligan..... By then we had all ready built an online BLT/A testing platform as a subscription service. Tim Galligan, and excellent webmaster and Cognitive Engineer, developed the specifications of a short term memory and learning performance center that could serve the population. The test was constructed from day one to be the "first-to-market", meaning this version wasn't scientific but the foundation of the testing system could be expanded and customized to meet the needs of researchers who would join us later. Enter Mr. Geoffrey Kennedy..... Shortly after Tim Galligan had programmed the population version of the testing center, it became apparent the entire platform needed tutorials, public information and reference materials - to aid in the promotion of memory testing. Mr. Geoffrey Kennedy, was placed in charge of making the original Memory Fitness Testing Center spaces. Geoffrey has also taken over re-programming of all the clinical/professional versions of the test which must be on a JAVA platform and maintain high security and reliability to meet HIPAA regulations. Calling Upon a Founding Sponsor, Re-Enter Mr. Mason Warner.... Back in 1999, when the Internet Broadcasting Association -iBA, was producing NAB 2000 and IBC 2000 Global Internet Broadcasting Demonstrations - Novasoft Systems donated several thousand dollars worth of server space and some web streaming capacity. Mason Warner, the Founder of Novasoft had shown me robust database enterprise backrooms that he had built and operated for clients. One of these was a network that connected a series of medical offices and occupational medicine clinics together. As, the test team at BLT provided specification for the population based testing platform - Novasoft provided code security and some architectural guidelines - resulting in the memory test results being compatible with all of the Novasoft data management programs. In short form - this made the test platform secure, very robust and scalable - meaning it could handle a small number of participants and quickly grow to handling larger groups on demand. The testing platform was also constructed to fit into the iBHealth/Novasoft Electronic Medical Record Management system - the thought being that clinics and doctors could eventually integrate the Personal Memory Fitness/Baseline Record in with the patient's HIPAA compliant medical record management service - both being online services. So we looked at the potentials of integration - basically creating the potential for an Internet Broadcasting Network that would be dedicated to supporting individuals in the pursuit of testing their memory fitness as well as providing clinical treatment support functions. From Internet Broadcasting to Memory Fitness..... What started out being a an experiment in Internet Broadcasting and e-commerce has turned into something quite unique. The Trustees of the iBA and the sponsors who have made the End Alzheimer's 2012 Task Force a reality - extend an invitation to all of the medical community who can use the community, communication, business administration and research/treatment support functions made possible by this enterprise. At the end of this three year process - everyone involved is now anxious to see and hear the reaction of the population and the medical/research communities. A network, dedicated to supporting the population's personal self-healing endeavor - and integration of the doctor's and care-givers support to the individual - is really something of great potential. The same network has extreme potentials to connect doctors with their patients and the research communities. The electronic medical record management and the individual memory testing and baseline record management systems alone can streamline and revolutionize the way doctors and their staff deliver higher levels of care with reduced operational expenses. All of this work has been situated within the Alzheimer's LifePlan and represents a collective enterprise effort, the sponsors, affiliates and ultimately the members of the population that visit the spaces will benefit, as public awareness and professional standards are improved. You are welcome to be an observer, participant, sponsor, leader - this is a network of common grounds. We believe most disease can be prevented and promote that to the populations. We also believe that talented genius is hard at work to remove those areas of mystery that still surround disease. We are proud and happy to be one service that can appraise the individual's memory fitness, present baseline and points of reference for that individual's care givers to monitor, and to the best of our abilities, end disease where ever possible. Mase Warner masterminded and oversees operations of the network's Electronic Medical Record Management Program....      Go Back to Alzheimer's LifePlan Home Page      Go To Memory Fitness Testing Center

Brain Scans and Image Rendering Systems Give Researchers Answers To Dr. Alzheimer's Questions 

Few people realize that Dr. Alzheimer in 1906, relied upon a technological marvel of his day - the microscope - to confirm there were plaques and tangles causing devastation to the learning centers of disease patients. He (Dr. Alzheimer), developed memory tests for a series of patients that evidenced accelerated senility - later at autopsy (with the microscope) he documented that memory reduction had occurred in a sequential manner - and the plaques and tangles were in the exact physical location of the short term memory and learning functions were centered.

Dr. Alzheimer was only able to confirm his theory at autopsy and with the microscope. In the 100 years that followed, legions of researchers, scientists, doctors and technologist have continued to monitor the Alzheimer's disease process - and the majority of this research has centered upon the very same substances that Dr. Alzheimer's identified. There is a protein based compound in all healthy brains - a beta amyloid - that is the primary compound of the Alzheimer's process plaque.

In the 100 years since Dr. Alzheimer's correct diagnosis of the disease - we now know that the disease process is extremely complex, has many chemical mechanics running in a number of places. But, the one clear indicator that remains, and drives the most apparent symptom of the disease process is the excessive levels of plaque in the short term memory centers - those areas that allow an individual to form recent memories.

There have recently been tremendous progress in Alzheimer's research. Remember that doctors, scientists and medical researchers have been studying the brain, genetics, memory and cognitive reasoning/learning functions, body/disease chemistry, and treatment development and monitoring for response to treatment - for a hundred years.

In the 1990's, several large technology companies allocated research development towards better brain imaging. In regards to Alzheimer's, this effort promised doctors and researchers physical proof and images of the disease process in living brains. The progress made here literally presents a picture of the brain's condition at precise points of time in the disease process. Doctors can "image" the consistent pattern of mild cognitive impairment all the way through to advanced stages (brain damage) of the disease.

Dr. Paul Thompson, PhD. UCLA Neuroimaging Lab We'll be talking more about the importance of brain imaging later, but I wanted to introduce Dr. Paul Thompson, PhD. to you - and let him explain how the powerful SGI Super Computers provide valuable imaging of the disease process, and how these images will play a vital role in ending Alzheimer's.

For a complete transcript of my visit with Dr. Thompson, click here.

Dr. Thompson's Press Room, click here.

As I was not entrenched in any medical research camp - I approached individual camps to see how their specific progress matched up. When I visited Dr. Thompson, living brain imaging was available, expensive, and yet to be a common medical clinic practice.

Dr. Thompson observed that great progress was now possible at the research center level - but there remained a great void between individuals in the population, the doctors in clinics, and the research labs developing treatments. He was one of the first researchers I met with that actually put the progress being made into perspective - looking at how all the disciplines of treatment development would form some sort of interactive community - where those individuals at the highest risk could be assisted in developing personal Alzheimer's Prevention programs, monitoring their individual physical and mental. health, gain as early a detection of the disease process developing, and rapidly employ as an aggressive treatment program as doctor's were able to deliver.

It makes sense. If members of the population can see what Alzheimer's is, and they are told how they can prevent it or at the very least reduce their chances of developing the disease - the number of cases developing would decline.

 

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The Alzheimer's Vaccine and Immunetherapy

The first reversal of the Alzheimer's disease process - has been documented from the first human clinical trials of the Alzheimer's Vaccine compound. Over 300 Alzheimer's patients were inoculated with the Alzheimer's vaccine in clinical trials. A small percentage of them developed inflammation in the memory centers of their brains. The dosages were halted for safety reasons - but the research continues.

Now there has been published autopsy reports, from very credible doctors - providing evidence that the beta amyloid plaques were cleared from the disease brain's memory centers.

Continued research of the living patients provide evidence that the memory fitness - the patient's ability to form recent memories - either stabilized (didn't get worse) or got better!

Doctors and researchers have the first foundation to investigate further - and they are. The Neurological Disease Foundation hosted " The Great Debate" during the 2004 Neuroscience Convention in San Diego California. This one hour debate contains the Con arguments of Dr. Todd Golde, MD, PhD of the Mayo Clinic, and, the Pro sides presented by Dr. Peter Davies, PhD of Albert Einstein College of Medicine Department of Pathology and Neurosciences.

The convention was attended by thousands of researchers and doctors - and over three hundred of them attended the debate. I was there and produced a complete video of the activity - I urge you to show it to your doctors - and, if you are interested in hearing the best researchers in this area outline their current approach to ending Alzheimer's - you will find this fascinating.

There are still mysteries of this complex disease, but so much is know now and associated technologies like memory testing and brain imaging - researchers now have effective ways of measuring monitoring diseased as well as healthy human brains. Dr. Alzheimer and most of the researchers that followed him, had to wait for diagnosis confirmation at autopsy. We've come a long, long way.

The development of Immunetherapy has caused a revolution within the Neuroscience community. I'll try to summarize why.

• Until recently, researchers only speculated about the role a beta amyloid played in healthy as well as diseased brains. Today, not only is the role beta amyloid plays in healthy brains understood (normal levels), the relationship between the normal levels, excessive levels and blood chemistry provide additional evidence of disease onset.
• When Dr. Schenk developed the Alzheimer's Vaccine theory (first in mice then moving into human trials) - there was a common assumption that the blood/brain barrier - the isolation of the brain from the circulatory system's anti-body and immunity systems) - prevented the basic immune functions within the cranial cavity (skull). The first participant (was administered the vaccine in clinical trials) to die (not from clinical trial related issues), at autopsy provided evidence the middle stage plaque deposits were cleared from the disease brain. A growing number of research projects have now duplicated Dr. Schenk's mice models - and are advancing their research towards human trials.
• After initial inoculations, a small percentage of the over 300 patients developed inflammation - so dosage was halted - but the research continued. It was found that patients who received the vaccine, had their memory performance stabilize or get better.
• The Alzheimer's LifePlan, Dr. Ashford, and The Neurological Disease Foundation, have joined forces and launched the Memory Assessment Project - which validate the clinical versions of Dr. Ashford's short term memory and learning performance testing platform within Alzheimer's treatment clinical trials.
• Clearly, the mechanism of stimulating the body's anti-body/immune responses that clear the beta amyloid plaque from the short term memory forming areas of the brain - have a positive effect for the patients - and could lead to an effective treatment - not a cure - but a treatment that allows people to live normal lives with their Alzheimer's condition being managed.

Of course, the promise of promises would be that early inoculation with a safe vaccine to those at high risk of developing the Alzheimer's disease process - could prevent development of the disease in their remaining lifetime.

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