{"id":34,"date":"2007-12-26T13:06:14","date_gmt":"2007-12-26T20:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.PsychologyLounge.com\/2007\/12\/26\/scientists-try-to-discover-the-earliest-signs-of-alzheimer%e2%80%99s-disease-is-alzheimer%e2%80%99s-a-lifetime-genetic-disease\/"},"modified":"2007-12-26T19:24:11","modified_gmt":"2007-12-27T02:24:11","slug":"scientists-try-to-discover-the-earliest-signs-of-alzheimers-disease-is-alzheimers-a-lifetime-genetic-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.PsychologyLounge.com\/scientists-try-to-discover-the-earliest-signs-of-alzheimers-disease-is-alzheimers-a-lifetime-genetic-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Try to Discover the Earliest Signs of Alzheimer\u2019s disease (Is Alzheimer\u2019s a Lifetime Genetic Disease?)"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s New York Times has a fascinating article about current research in Alzheimer\u2019s called Finding Alzheimer\u2019s Before a Mind Fails<\/a>. It is simultaneously encouraging and deeply disturbing. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

The encouraging part is that researchers are discovering ways to examine patients that can find evidence of Alzheimer\u2019s many years before the disease manifests itself in symptoms. A radioactive dye call Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB) is injected into the patient. This dye attaches itself to amyloid plaques in the brain, and then these can be seen by using a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan.\u00a0 <\/span>Studies using PIB have found the astonishing fact that amyloid plaques are found in 20-25 percent of people over 65 who appear normal! If the amyloid hypothesis is accurate, then many of these people will go on to develop Alzheimer\u2019s disease.\u00a0 <\/span>Using PIB testing we could predict more accurately who will develop the disease, and perhaps develop prevention methods much like we give statins to heart patients who have plaques in their arteries. This is encouraging. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Someday in the future hopefully we will be tested for early signs of Alzheimer\u2019s disease in our 40\u2019s, and those who at risk given medications that will prevent it, just like we do for heart disease now. This would make aging much less scary. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Current Facts About Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

But the current facts about Alzheimer\u2019s are less encouraging. It is the sixth more common cause of death by disease in the U.S. Five million people over 65 have Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Estimates suggest that perhaps as many as 16 millions will have the disease by 2050, which is a staggering number that would bankrupt the health care system. (Of course, this assumes that in 43 years we have made no progress in the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer\u2019s disease, which is absurd.) <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Costs are already staggering–$148 billion dollars per year, and are increasing every year. Why? Here\u2019s the dark truth. Alzheimer\u2019s disease is a disease of the elderly. Almost 40 percent of those who live past 85 will eventually develop Alzheimer\u2019s disease. The problem is that medical improvements are curing the diseases that used to kill us well before 85. One of the reasons Social Security starts at age 65 is that until recently, most people didn\u2019t live much past the age of 65. Now as we defeat cancer and heart disease, and people stop killing themselves with diet and smoking, we are living into our 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s. \u00a0<\/span>And getting Alzheimer\u2019s disease. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

What is Alzheimer\u2019s disease? <\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk a little more about what Alzheimer\u2019s disease really is. Everyone worries about Alzheimer\u2019s disease as they age. But some forgetfulness is completely normal. (We hope.) There is a old joke about Alzheimer\u2019s disease which actually is a useful rule of thumb, it\u2019s not a big deal if you forget where you put the car keys, as long as you can remember what keys are for. It is significant changes in memory and problem solving that are more worrisome. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

When does Alzheimer\u2019s disease begin? <\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a mystery currently. Conventional wisdom says that Alzheimer\u2019s disease may begin a few years before symptoms appear, but some scientists question this. Because the brain has a lot of spare capacity, it may take years of deterioration before we lose enough brain function to notice. This may explain one of the common findings that the more highly educated (and probably more intelligent) develop Alzheimer\u2019s disease as\u00a0 <\/span>a lower rate. They may have more spare capacity. If you start off with an IQ of 150, and lose a third of your brain functioning, you end up with an IQ of 100, and can still function. Start at IQ 100, lose 1\/3, and you now are functionally retarded with an IQ of 66, and you won\u2019t be able to live independently. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

One scientist, Dr. Richard Mayeux, who is a professor at <\/span>Columbia<\/span><\/st1:placename> <\/span>University<\/span><\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>, says, \u201cI think there\u2019s a very long phase where people aren\u2019t themselves.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>If Dr.<\/span><\/st1:address><\/st1:street> Mayeux asks family members when a patient\u2019s memory problem began, they almost always say it started a year and a half before. If he then asks when was the last time they thought the patient\u2019s memory was perfectly normal, many reply that the patient never really had a great memory.\u201d (New York Times)<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

This is interesting and disturbing stuff. Other research finds that people who later develop Alzheimer\u2019s disease showed lower intelligence scores even early in life, suggesting that perhaps Alzheimer\u2019s disease is a genetic disorder that affects the brain in subtle way even early in life. If this is true, then the data on highly educated people may have been interpreted in a backwards way\u2014instead of higher education preventing Alzheimer\u2019s disease, it may be that Alzheimer\u2019s disease prevents higher education!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Treatment of Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Currently there are drugs that address the symptoms of Alzheimer\u2019s disease, but no drugs that address or slow the underlying disease progress. The good news is that there are numerous studies attempting to find drugs that will actually address the underlying disease process in Alzheimer\u2019s disease. The bad news is that no one really knows exactly what that underlying disease process is. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

There are two finding from examining the brains of those with Alzheimer\u2019s disease. The first is that they show plaques of beta amyloid between the nerve cells of the brain. The second is that the brains show tangles inside nerve cells made of a protein called tau. This damaged tau kills the nerve cells because they no longer get nutrients.\u00a0 <\/span>Both these are well-established facts, but no one knows what is the relationship between beta amyloid and tau, and how much each contributes to Alzheimer\u2019s disease. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

What Society Should Do About Alzheimer\u2019s disease? <\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

So what can we as a society do about Alzheimer\u2019s disease? My grandfather used to say, \u201cEveryone dies, so it\u2019s just a matter of how you die.\u201d By choosing to treat or prevent heart disease and cancer, are we choosing to die from Alzheimer\u2019s disease?<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>This is a scary thought.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s clearly worse to outlive your mind than to outlive your body. And Alzheimer\u2019s disease puts huge burdens on society and caretakers. Maybe we should start a campaign to encourage cigarette smoking in the elderly! (Or motorcycle riding, but this might make the roads a bit dicey.)\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

More seriously, we are in the unfortunate window of time where we have successfully improved longevity without really addressing this core disease of longer life, Alzheimer\u2019s disease.\u00a0 <\/span>Society desperately needs to find an Alzheimer\u2019s disease cure or preventative treatment. Without this we will as a society incur great costs and individual suffering. I believe that this should become a top priority of private and government research spending. First we need better basic research to find out what the disease process of Alzheimer\u2019s disease looks like. Then we can develop effective drugs to block or reverse that disease process. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime, all we can do is not worry too much, since stress may damage the brain. Eat healthy, exercise, maybe take some anti-oxidant vitamins, and hope that science can solve this puzzle so we can get old without losing our brain function. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

As for me, I aspire to these not-so famous words of the comedian Will Shriner, \u201cI want to die in my sleep like my grandfather… Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Copyright 2007 The Psychology Lounge\/ TPL Productions, All Rights Reserved<\/span><\/strong><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s New York Times has a fascinating article about current research in Alzheimer\u2019s called Finding Alzheimer\u2019s Before a Mind Fails. It is simultaneously encouraging and deeply disturbing. The encouraging part is that researchers are discovering ways to examine patients that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,5,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.PsychologyLounge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.PsychologyLounge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.PsychologyLounge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.PsychologyLounge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.PsychologyLounge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.PsychologyLounge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.PsychologyLounge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.PsychologyLounge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.PsychologyLounge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}