See Inside
As you read this illustrated story, two more people are being diagnosed with the disease
| January 20, 2013 | 25
Dwayne Godwin is a neuroscientist at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Jorge Cham draws the comic strip Piled Higher and Deeper at www.phdcomics.com.
Erratum (1/29/13): The top sentence in the first panel of the cartoon should read--"One in eight older Americans have Alzheimer's disease."
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25 Comments
Add CommentWith the number of aged in this country exploding this is an unimaginable catastrophe about to happen.I sure hope the FDA is going to push any possible drugs through the system with a speed reflective of the need.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNothing in the article about whether this disease is occuring with more frequency in the elderly, or if we are simply seeing more of it because of increasing life spans. Is this a worldwide phenomenon or is it related primarily to western civilization?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEnjoyed the artwork.
In case it cannot be prevented, at least anytime soon, it would seem we need to be doing concurrent exploration of palliative care models.
Occams razor.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOxidation.
Man is an obligate herbivorefrugivore eating meat which leads to age-related iron accumulation which leads to oxidation.
"Following treatment with a drug called deferiprone (an iron chelator), the iron level in the rabbits’ blood plasma was reduced and the levels of both beta-amyloid
and phosphorylated tau in the brain were returned to normal levels."
"Three new drugs to treat and perhaps prevent neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS recently received patents."
"The novel thing here is that iron is accumulating in places it does not normally accumulate," said Mitch Knutson, Ph.D., a UF assistant professor of food science and human nutrition and a study co-author.
"Such iron accumulation in muscle was quite unexpected. This may be of concern because more people are genetically predisposed to developing iron overload than we originally thought."
Work in this area is not only important for finding a cure for Alzheimer's but it appears that a buildup of junk proteins may underlie a number of age related disorders. Understanding how to restore a cell's ability to cleanup after itself may help to increase quality of life for the elderly.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisoxidation is interesting to me - I remember reading in a uni bookshop 25 years ago (1988) about a heretic who said a lot of health/aging problems were due to oxidation - this went against the commonly-accepted knowledge of the time - I was interested to see how it went over time. Now you reckon it's gospel ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo there you go - 25 years from heretical to accepted knowledge ...
Several years ago, there was a short blip on one of the major news media (ABC, CBS, dont remember now) which stated on their 5:00 newscast that a direct connection had been found having to do with the theory that smokers nearly never, if in fact ever, developed the disease----something to do with nicotine negating the formation of plaques on the surface of the brain. "More at 11:00" said the anchor. Well, strangely enough, the story had been
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisaxed from the late edition, and I never heard a word after that.
A few months ago, I read in some health rag that sure enough, a derivative of nicotine was being used in one or more of the drugs being developed to try and control the disease.
I got to rolling over in my mind, all the folks I know (knew) that have(had) this insipid disease, are/were strict tetotalers when it came to tobacco products---Not one of 'em ever smoked, chewed or used tobacco in any form. Hmmm----Food for thought/further research-----?
Much of any disease, if not all of them , has to do with a lack of exercise. Everything that is paralized tends to oxidize. Simple as that. Intense exercise! Sweat!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOr we start giving it up!
Smoking has been linked to a *doubling* of the chances of developing Alzheimer's, not a decrease, at least for middle-aged people. Those who stop before middle age don't seem to have the same increased risk and go on to develop it at about the same rate as those who never smoked.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat's not to say that nicotine isn't beneficial as there is research suggesting that nicotine patches help the memory of Alzheimer's patients. But cigarette smoke contains thousands of chemicals so equating "helpful effects of nicotine" with smoking is incorrect.
Not only should the FDA rush approval of new drugs, since it is a national health problem, the federal government should provide incentives to drug cos. to allow mass production of generics and lower costs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis disease can strike Any of us and totally destroy us and all we cherish.
THIS is why oxidation happens , increased iron due to man as a obligate herbivorefrugivore eating highly absorbable heme iron from meat leading to abnormal levels of iron in the body. The same as feeding meat to a frugivore bat , he developes iron storage disease , hemochromatosis , iron excess.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Iron storage is a strong determinant of levels of systemic oxidative DNA damage in a healthy population"
"Pathologic findings in bats resembles secondary hemochromatosis in man"
A 'drug' already exists. Imho. Phytate , phytic acid , an iron chelator found in our food , 10 cents per gram out of China.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Iron may play an important role in Parkinson's disease (PD) since it can induce oxidative stress-dependent neurodegeneration. The objective of this study was to determine whether the iron chelator, phytic acid (IP6) can protect against 6-hydroxydopamine- (6-OHDA-) induced apoptosis in immortalized rat mesencephalic dopaminergic cells under normal and iron-excess conditions"
"IP6 may offer neuroprotection in PD"
I believe the graphic at the beginning of the article is incorrect. It should read "1 in 8 OLDER Americans have Alzheimer's".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSee, for example http://www.alz.org/downloads/facts_figures_2012.pdf.
The cellular proteins and its loss of structure or its abnormal tangles due to Tau or a weak apolipoprotein E are the end results of the loss of structural integrity of neuronal cells, the theater in which these proteins are formed and degraded. What we see or notice is the abnormal protein tangles interfering from neuroal function and memory loss, a very painful process with lots of economic fall out. Yet it is like the chicken and egg story- is the defect in the anatomy of the neuronal cells that cause an abnormal accumulation of tangles or tangles lead to structural and functional loss. It is a mystery- a mystery of life- which will haunt for ages to come. Science we believe will provide the answer- but science will depict the true nature of the cell defect but it will not help reverse the process.Aging is an irreverisible process with loss of structure, function and chemistry that hold every cell to function normally.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe FDA has already pushed "possible" drugs... they do NOTHING, however.. So, it is NOT a matter of "pushing drugs", but finding EFFECTIVE treatments, no those in existence that creates false hopes and drain our budget.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI believe that the correct statistic is 1 in 8 *older* Americans (see alz.org), which sounds a lot more likely. Odd that Scientific American would make such a big mistake.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAfter A-lzheimers and A-IDS, what curse would there be alliterate with A?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHere are 2 approaches that may be of interest:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1. An American doctor has written about how she helped her husband with Alzheimer's. Her book is:
Alzheimer's Disease - What if there was a cure ?
Mary T Newport, MD
Do a search for: "coconutketones"
2. Professor David Smith at Oxford University has been looking at MRI scans of the brain for over 30 years.
He has shown that:
- the early signs of brain shrinkage can be seen at least 20 years before onset of Alzheimer's.
- that the Homocysteine level in the blood is a good indicator of Alzheimer's.
He has also shown that a cocktail of high-strength B vitamins can usually stop the progression of the illness.
Do a search for: "foodforthebrain"
This describes an online test for "cognitive impairment". If you fail the test you receive a letter that you can take to your doctor, which advises them about the problem and possible solutions - which is an interesting form of "grass-roots" medical education !
So far 150,000 people over 50 years old have taken the online test and about 11% have failed.
Your doctor will be advised to test your Homocysteine level. If the result is outside certain limits then a cocktail of high-strength B vitamins has been shown to reduce the Homocysteine level.
This usually halts the progression of the Alzheimer's, but does not cure it.
Search for "vitamindassociation".
Look for "Events" "May 18th" and a video of a talk by Patrick Holford.
On the hypothesis - unproven - that these 2 methods might help me avoid Alzheimer's, I am following both approaches now and taking Coconut Milk and high-strength B vitamins.
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Ms. Jean, your question if this is a worldwide phenomenon or more in the US is very important. I urge the researchers to concentrate on this. The diet of the average American is atrocious, so we need to investigate this asap. (IMHO)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisKSama, where do you come up with this idea? Do vegetarians have a lower risk for Alzheimer's disease? Never heard so!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisjimk00 - It is a misconception that the disease is only an "older" person's disease, you can get it as young as 40 or even earlier.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisKSama - Homo sapien sapien has evolved to eat meat over the last few hundred thousand years, so your idea of been vegetarian holds no merit. It is simple Darwinism.
Jean - The numbers are just as bad here in Australia, and I believe it is no better in the UK, so yes I do believe it is a worldwide problem.
And no it is not a diet or exercise thing, I have known a few people with it, and it seems to have no simple explanation to why it hits any particular person.
It is an insidious disease, that I hope they find a cure for soon. Long before my feeble brain gets it.
Cite your sources or shut up. Anyone can make up stuff and put quotes around it. Iron is shown to compensate for excessive salt in the body so maybe you are not just wrong but are harming people with your pet theory.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe study said "may" not "does". One study is meaningless until duplicated and verified. That is why we have peer review.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFeel free to die but since there are life forms that regenerate limbs and others that live for centuries until something forcibly kills them, I'll take my chances with science and try to live long enough to really irritate my grandchildren (which I don't have yet) by spoiling my great grandchildren.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSince we now know that many diseases are directly related to the "wealthy" lifestyle and the USA has no poor by global standards, this is a good point!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor those that disagree with me about poverty in the USA, find me 1 person that hasn't had access to food more frequently than once every three days for more than a month. Until you do there aren't any real poor in America. There are "relatively poor" who are simply less rich than the rest of us but they aren't truly poor.
I too loved the graphics. They also informed me. After losing a schizophrenic son to suicide many years ago and serving as the CEO of Ontario Schizophrenia Society until I retired and more years of personal advocacy for scientific brain research into all chroic mental illnesses, I have concluded after 30 years of dedicated advocacy that it is the business of scientific research which keeps a cure at bay.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would like to see the eqivalent of the Silicon Valley scientists to take on the job by following their own instints and without the barriers caused by business rules they are forced to follow rather than their own intelligence.