The mother of Leeza Gibbons has died of Alzheimer’s Disease. She was the main reason Leeza started her “Leeza’s Place” in Joliet and elsewhere. The involvement has been growing with the various offerings to those in need.

gpzrwz@aol.com

There is no certainty that ENBREL (etanercept) is an answer to the neurological manifestations presumably caused by the damage to the important brain structures so identified by Dr. Alzheimer in the early 1900’s. 

It should be a necessary part of the illness– supposed to be within the Alzheimer form of  description– that the person upon dying should have a “head-post” with the removal of the brain for complete examination. Thus the cause and effect could be realized  much more accurately and a medication might be produced– available to treat the signs and the symptoms before the destruction in the hypothalamic area is complete.

The literature on Alzheimer’s Disease is becoming more exact toward making a diagnosis of this threatening epidemic for those older folks and with a possibility of a treatment approach, the relief with a medication may be just possible. Our major problem is the need for an exact diagnosis through a testing mechanism that is fool-proof and doesn’t make any false judgement on the pathology present in the hypothalamic area and adjacent sites on the undersurface of the cerebral hemispheres. 

There still may be a specicic reason the use of Enbrel(etanercept)  did effect a specific change in the symptomatology in the patient cited and that effect must be defined.  

Hopefully, the pathological changes might be reversed and a renewed cerebral function could ensue.

Research will give the answer. But when?  

Here is an article about the Painkiller, Ibuprofen. 

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - People who took the painkiller ibuprofen for more than five years had a 40 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

They also found that certain other medicines in the same class, known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, reduced the risk of developing the illness by 25 percent.

“Some of these medications taken long-term decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, but it’s very dependent on the exact drugs used. It doesn’t appear that all NSAIDs decrease the risk at the same rate,” Dr. Steven Vlad of Boston University School of Medicine, whose study appears in the journal Neurology, said in a statement.

The study involved more than 49,000 U.S. veterans aged 55 and older who developed Alzheimer’s and nearly 200,000 who had no form of dementia. The researchers looked at more than five years of prescription data from the U.S. Veterans Affairs health care system, and at several different NSAIDs.

They found those who were prescribed ibuprofen for more than five years were 40 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those who did not. The longer they used ibuprofen — sold under many brand names, including Motrin and Advil — the lower their risk.

The study also found that while some NSAIDs, such as indomethacin, were associated with lower risks of Alzheimer’s, other drugs in the class, such as Pfizer Inc’s celecoxib, or Celebrex, were not.

DOCTOR: DON’T START TAKING IBUPROFEN

Alzheimer’s disease has been linked with inflammation, and researchers believe that anti-inflammatory drugs might help delay onset of the disease.

“What’s new here is that where other studies have shown that NSAIDs as a class are associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, we have shown that the risk varies by the individual drug,” Vlad said by e-mail.

“This kind of individual drug effect has been suggested before only in animal and other lab studies to date. Because our numbers were so big, we were actually able to find differences between individual drugs in humans,” he said.

Despite the benefits, Vlad does not recommend that people start taking ibuprofen in the hopes of staving off Alzheimer’s disease.

“All NSAIDs have significant risks including ulcers, gastrointestinal bleeding, kidney dysfunction, elevated blood pressure and, certainly in the case of COX-II inhibitors like (Merck Inc’s withdrawn drug) Vioxx, a cardiovascular risk,” he said.

“I think the major implications of this study are more in the direction of prompting further research: a trial of ibuprofen to prevent Alzheimer’s disease might be reasonable,” he said.

An estimated 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form of dementia. The disease starts out with mild memory loss and confusion, but escalates into complete memory loss and an inability to care for oneself.

Alzheimer’s disease has no cure and few effective treatments.

(Editing by Andrew Stern and Stacey Joyce)

Amazing results for drug seem too amazing

By: E’LOUISE ONDASH - For the North County Times The headline a couple of weeks ago was an eye-catcher: “Enbrel works fast against Alzheimer’s disease.”

And the story was just as intriguing. A Los Angeles physician had administered injections of etanercept (brand name Enbrel, a drug used to treat arthritis, psoriasis and other conditions) to a man with Alzheimer’s disease. According to his wife, who spoke on a video available on the Internet, the injection “put him back to where he was before” —- and the change took place within minutes.

Pretty exciting stuff, but too good to be true?

The Alzheimer Research Forum thought so and wanted to know more. This free Web site does in-depth investigations and reports on Alzheimer’s disease. In this case, its reporters found there were many facts about the

story that went unreported. Among them:·  The study or experiment was published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation, an “open-access” journal, which means one needn’t have a subscription and that it sometimes charges contributors.·  The study was not reviewed by other scientists.·  The subject of the experimental treatment was charged by the physician. The 81-year-old retired doctor received weekly injections of etanercept for five weeks. The drug binds and neutralizes tumor necrosis factor, which scientists hypothesize may interfere with transmission of nerve impulses in the brain in people with Alzheimer’s disease.·  Critics downplay the study because it was not a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study.·  Critics say this off-label use of etanercept should not be promoted to the public when it hasn’t been tested properly.

·  The drug was injected in the area of the cervical vertebrae (back of the neck), but not in the canal where the cerebral spinal fluid flows. Some critics say this may not be the best way to administer the drug, because it may not reach the brain. This method also may cause blood vessels in the area of the injection to rupture.

And lastly, one can’t help but wonder about Dr. Edward Tobinick, the Los Angeles physician who is promoting this experimental treatment. He is a board-certified dermatologist and internist who specializes in laser hair removal. According to the Web site, he owns stock in Amgen, the company that makes etanercept, and “holds numerous patents on delivery methods of etanercept for neurological conditions.”

Tobinick also is on probation for one year, according to the Medical Board of California. In its quarterly newsletter, the board says he is being disciplined for advertising another treatment for back pain for which there are no studies proving effectiveness. If he is to keep his license, Tobinick must complete courses on prescribing and ethics, and his practice must be monitored. Intense interest in this story is understandable. There are about 5 million people with Alzheimer’s disease, and in 40 years, that number may be 16 million. Some predict that by 2030, Medicare spending on those with Alzheimer’s could be nearly $400 billion.

When baby boomers are surveyed, they list developing Alzheimer’s disease as their top fear as they grow older.

We’ve heard for the last several years that the incidence of heart disease has decreased since the mid-1960s, but a study at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., may signal that this trend has come to an end and may be reversing.

The researchers examined death certificate data and autopsy reports of Olmstead County, Minn., residents who died between 1981 and 2004. They were between 16 and 64 years old. (Extensive medical records have been

kept for years by the Mayo Clinic and the Rochester Epidemiology Project, and researchers say these records are “reliable snapshots of national disease trends.”) The cause of death of all the subjects was “non-natural causes,” for which the autopsy rate is high.

About four out of five of the 515 deceased had some degree of atherosclerosis (plaque in the arteries), and 80 percent of this group showed signs of coronary artery disease. Just over 8 percent had a high level of the disease.

Whether this rise in heart disease is connected with the concurrent increased incidence of obesity and diabetes is something researchers say they will have to study further.

E’Louise Ondash of Vista is a registered nurse. Contact her at elo3@cox.net.

Here is a link to an article of interest from the Azheimer Research Forum Alzforum: Alzheimer Research Forum Home

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23431610-details/Drug+%27can+reverse+Alzheimer%27s+symptoms+in+minutes%27/article.do

While not approved for the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease in either the US or the UK, further testing is being done to determine the value of Enbrel as a treatment for Alzheimer’s.

We will be using this blog as a place to find articles and links of interest.  Please check back often. We welcome your comments. If you would like to suggest an article or link, we will be happy to consider it.  Thank you.