Alzheimer Disease Question?
That's one theory... however it's not the whole story. Antialzheimer's drugs only slow down the progression of Alzheimers for 6 months to a year. If a neurotransmitter imbalance were the only problem, then these drugs would halt the disease all together. The main problem with alzheimers is the B-amyloid protein build up and neurofibillray tangles. It's a multifactoral disease, which partially the reason why it's difficult to find drugs that work effectively.
Philosophical Question about Dementia/alzheimer's?
We think alike my friend. To me Your brain is an amazing organ it controls our muscles, respiration, pulmonary function and a host of other lesser known functions, but it does not think. Thought is a function of consciousness/mind that exists independent of anything physical. What appears to be the brain thinking in brain function imaging and other brain measuring attempts is only blood flow being measured to the part of the brain that acts as an interface between the mind and the body. This is the secondary function of the brain after regulating bodily functions. It acts as the interface, or the mind body connection. Without it there would be no way for the nonphysical mind to exert any control over the physical body. It is interesting that science has done its best to overlook this fact for so long. The silly idea that thought is some magical function of some mysterious electrochemical reaction is so vague as to be hilarious. There are several ways to disprove this theory beyond any shadow of a doubt. Being nonphysical in source your mind/consciousness is in no way effected by the death of the body and loss of the mind body interface, or brain. I think that it takes a great effort to confine our consciousness to a body for an entire lifetime. Some just get tired of it and find other places to play. Bodies are confined to the material reality, but consciousness is unaware of these restraints. Love and blessings. Don
What are the key open questions regarding Alzheimer's disease?
I think the key issue today in dealing with the epidemic of Alzheimer's disease is what can be done to prevent this disease, a disease for which there is no cure. The evolving data is clear: a high carbohydrate diet leading to blood sugar elevations is a powerful pivot point in the genesis of the disease. So the answer as to whether the disease can be prevented or not is clearly a strong and resounding "yes." Just take a look at this recent publication: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10..... We just have to broaden our educational pursuits as part of a public health effort to let people know that carbs are basically toxic to the brain.
Are you protected from Alzheimer's?
My Grandad died with alzheimer's. I've also given palliative care to sufferers of dementia. There are a lot of good predictors of alzheimer's, including how much a person socialises, how much passive activity they engage in (e.g. watching TV), and wether a close relative has been diagnosed with alzheimer's. It's true that some foods can help prevent apoptosis (natural cell death). Omega 3 is high in anti-oxidants which remove free-radicals from our bodies. These free-radicals contribute to damage within cells. We can see that Omega 3 is beneficial then. But, alzheimer's involves necrosis (cell death caused by injury or illness) which cannot be prevented that well by a healthy diet. Also, foods contribute very little to boosting brain function. The best thing you can do to keep a healthy brain is to have an active brain. Do things to keep your brain active and you can slow down apoptosis and retain mental abilities better in the event of necrosis. In the words of my neurobiology teacher: 'use it or lose it'!
Question about psychic ability and alzheimers disease?
No, it's not possible. Here is why: nobody can see the future. The past and future are related, but they are ever-changing. As soon as you predict something, it's gone. You've altered the course of the future. If you were a psychic and had 100% accuracy in your predictions, and you predict I am going to die in a car accident tomorrow... you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna frickin' stay home! Future prediction gone. EDIT: For all intents and purposes, if a person says they can predict the future, but does not state their predictions (perhaps by keeping them in a sealed envelope), then there is no prediction. What good is a prediction that goes unsaid? It's garbage. What if I said "I can become invisible just by snapping my fingers, but I'm not going to show you?" Would you believe that too? EDIT: Here is the thing: psychics cannot see anything special. They have no special powers, and their only special ability is in conning people into thinking they have special powers. Psychics have a lot of tools in their arsenal to help them "predict" things about people. Sometimes they have their subjects fill out a questionnaire, sometimes it's based on personal observations, sometimes it's a combination of many things. For instance: a person appears to be of Irish-catholic heritage, based on their physical characteristics, their name, and the medallion of a Saint around their neck. Based on that, you can come up with a lot of very-likely names for people who are in their life: Mary, Mary Margaret, Erin, Daniel, Michael, etc. And people who believe in psychics are often forgiving when it comes to failed guesswork. So you say "ok, I'm seeing something about a person with a name that begins with M... M... " And as the psychic repeats it, this gives the subject the chance to interject with a name by shouting out "Mary?" "michael?" or "Emily?" There are tons of videos on YouTube exposing fraudulent psychics... and they're all fraudulent, even if they themselves don't realize they've just developed a knack for guessing.
How do people get Alzheimer's?
By getting old. So far that's the only risk factor (similar to ALS and Parkinson's). The exact mechanism appears to be tied to accumulation of plaques of amyloid-beta. Tau is also implicated as it is also found in the protein aggregates which form in the neural synapses. The exact cause of the protein aggregation is unknown so the ultimate answer to your question is "unknown" (or, to quote a favorite Asimov short story: "There is as yet insufficient information to form a meaningful answer.").
What are the primary research questions concerning Alzheimers disease?
In my opinion, the primary question is will the effect of hormones to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s be anywhere near as effective in humans as they are in mice. E.g., a 2010 study with transgenic male mice (carrying an Alzheimer’s-like gene) demonstrated that by increasing testosterone to superphysiological levels without allowing it to be converted to estrogen, the mice not only never had any Alzheimer’s symptoms, but their memories were better than those of normal mice, and they never showed any degradation of memory with age. (See: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/...) What is remarkable is that no researcher has ever followed up on this research in either animals or humans in spite of the proven safety of using testosterone in humans.Studies have shown that testosterone reverses all known biochemical properties associated with Alzheimer’s. Since men have much more testosterone than women, women are much more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than men. In theory, if men kept their free testosterone at teenage levels throughout their life, it should be impossible for them to develop Alzheimer’s.For women, estrogen has been shown to prevent the biochemical properties associated with plaques. One study showed that targeting estrogen receptor-beta (the receptor that estriol targets) improved memory and reduced plaque formation (See: Early intervention with an estrogen receptor β-selective phytoestrogenic formulation prolongs survival, improves spatial recognition memory, and slow... - PubMed - NCBI) Progesterone has been shown to prevent the biochemical properties associated with tangles, so keeping women at teenage levels of testosterone, estriol, and progesterone throughout their life should either eliminate or greatly reduce their chance of developing Alzheimer’s. Since the safety of bioidentical hormones in human has been irrefutably demonstrated, it is puzzling that researchers are ignoring this approach, especially since the alternative is a slow, sure, horrible death.
Is Alzheimer's hereditary?
Is Alzheimer's disease hereditary? Familial Alzheimer’s disease (FAD) is a rare form of the disease, affecting less than 10 percent of Alzheimer’s disease patients. All FAD is early-onset, meaning the disease develops before age 65. It is caused by gene mutations on chromosomes 1, 14, and 21. Even if one of these mutated genes is inherited from a parent, the person will almost always develop early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. All offspring in the same generation have a 50/50 chance of developing FAD if one of their parents had it. The majority of Alzheimer’s disease cases are late-onset, usually developing after age 65. Late-onset Alzheimer’s disease has no known cause and shows no obvious inheritance pattern. However, in some families, clusters of cases are seen. Although a specific gene has not been identified as the cause of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, genetic factors do appear to play a role in the development of this form of the disease. The ApoE gene on chromosome 19 has three forms— ApoE2, ApoE3 and ApoE4. Studies have shown that people who inherit the E4 version of the gene are more likely to develop the late-onset form of Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists estimate that an additional four to seven genes influence the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. One of these genes is called UBQLN1 and is located on chromosome 9. Genetic risk factors alone are not enough to cause the late-onset form of Alzheimer’s disease, so researchers are actively exploring education, diet, and environment to learn what role they might play in the development of this disease.
Is Alzheimer's really a myth?
First the framing of question is very wrong.Before few days I read an answer written by someone i don't recollect. But the question remember perfectly well. It wasHave you stopped beating your wife?Yours is that type of question.How can one answer it if you have already considered it as a fact?No Alzheimer's is not a myth. Please read thisAlzheimer's Disease & Dementia