Alzheimer's drugs...more failures and a few promising trials starting...

I've posted about the failure of mainstream Alzheimer's treatments before...I think the focus on amyloid plaques is mistaken. Yes, there seems to be some good reason to address the tangles and build up in the brain at some point. However, if you're not fixing the cause of the plaque attack then it's going to happen again and be potentially worse, possibly a rebound effect?

Thus far the ONLY treatments that are working for the long-term are those that test for health issues, change diets, lifestyles, add targeted high-quality supplements to stop the root causes. Take a look at my page with recommended reading (link above) and you'll see a number of books focused on functional healing and reversal of Alzheimer's Disease and other related brain issues.

Here's a few of the latest on drugs in testing and some getting ready to start:

EXCELLENT article...
As another Alzheimer's treatment fails, experts are divided on where to next
Before I have a chance to ask dementia researcher Amy Brodtmann about the failure of yet another Alzheimer's treatment, she wants to make one thing clear.
"Whenever these drugs fail, you can't underestimate how devastating it is."
After three decades of research and billions of dollars of investment, news that another Alzheimer's drug treatment has failed means an effective treatment for the common degenerative disease is still out of reach...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2020-02-26/alzheimers-drug-failure-raises-questions-about-research/11996258

My comments: At first, I thought, wow, great...although I much prefer to figure out the root causes, address those and keep it from happening...but for those looking for a magic pill the first part of the article seemed positive, as does the end...but the one sentence I pulled below shows the problems with treatments that don't address WHY...
A new treatment for Alzheimer’s
Their research has shown that, in small doses, the metal lithium is capable of reducing Alzheimer’s symptoms and could prevent the emergence of Alzheimer’s in people with a genetic predisposition to the disease. ...
...Yet the treatment cannot remedy the symptoms of Alzheimer’s once severe cognitive decline has set in; it is only effective in low doses over sustained periods before dementia symptoms appear...
http://www.mcgilltribune.com/sci-tech/a-new-treatment-for-alzheimers-250220/

ProMIS Neurosciences Initiates Natural History Study of Blood-Based Biomarkers in Alzheimer’s Disease 
TORONTO and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. (TSX: PMN) (OTCQB: ARFXF), with Toronto Memory Program, Canada’s largest and most experienced memory clinic and site for drug treatment trials in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has initiated a pilot longitudinal study to assess the level of blood-based biomarkers in early AD with the support of Parexel, one of the world’s leading global clinical research organizations (CROs). ProMIS will leverage Parexel’s significant data management and central nervous system (CNS) expertise for the study, which it will use as the historical control arm for its anticipated Phase 1 study of PMN310, a novel antibody that selectively targets the toxic oligomeric species of amyloid beta, a root cause of AD. The dataset will help ProMIS detect a treatment signal as early as Phase 1, potentially allowing for rapid proof-of-concept at a fraction of the expense associated with traditional clinical trials. The dataset will be made available as a communal resource for Alzheimer’s researchers...
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/02/26/1990787/0/en/ProMIS-Neurosciences-Initiates-Natural-History-Study-of-Blood-Based-Biomarkers-in-Alzheimer-s-Disease.html

UPDATE 1-Roche drug fails in early-onset Alzheimer's disease study
* Study fails in inherited form of Alzheimer’s
* Roche says 2 additional trials to continue
* 100s of Alzheimer’s drug trials have flopped (Adds details throughout, comment from Roche)
https://www.reuters.com/article/roche-alzheimers/update-1-roche-drug-fails-in-early-onset-alzheimers-disease-study-idUSL8N2AA0QG

Drugs fail to slow decline in inherited Alzheimer's disease
Two experimental drugs have failed to prevent or slow mental decline in a study of people who are virtually destined to develop Alzheimer's disease at a relatively young age because of rare gene flaws
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/drugs-fail-slow-decline-inherited-alzheimers-disease-68881708
...The study tested solanezumab by Eli Lilly & Co., and gantenerumab by Swiss drugmaker Roche and its U.S. subsidiary, Genentech. Both drugs gave disappointing results in some earlier studies, but the doses in this one ranged up to four to five times higher and researchers had hoped that would prove more effective...

Israeli startup hopes to battle Alzheimer’s with enzyme-busting drug
After testing in lab, ProteKt Therapeutics says compound that inhibits the PKR enzyme can lead to cognitive improvements and slow the disease’s progress; road ahead is long
...Nisemblat is aware that the way ahead is long and precarious and because there is no clear, single cause of Alzheimer’s disease there is also “no single target” to aim at in trying to beat the illness.
“The traditional treatments are not beneficial,” he said. The industry has been seeking new ways to slow down the illness’s progression and halt patents’ deterioration...
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-startup-hopes-to-battle-alzheimers-with-enzyme-busting-drug/ 

Scary...Blue Cross Plans Say Alzheimer’s Has Tripled Among Adults Ages 30 To 64

This is some scary news! Especially since they're only looking at commercially insured Americans. Imagine what the numbers probably look like across the board... Yikes.

Blue Cross Plans Say Alzheimer’s Has Tripled Among Adults Ages 30 To 64
Early-onset dementia and Alzheimer’s disease jumped 200% among commercially insured Americans between the ages of 30 and 64 over a recent five-year period, a new analysis of Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurer claims shows...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2020/02/27/blue-cross-alzheimers-has-tripled-among-adults-as-young-as-30/#2fcafd374d28

Alzheimer's Survivors...

Post by Dr. Dale Bredesen today: "We support the mission of the Alzheimer's Association to eliminate AD. However, we strongly disagree with their assertion "there is still no treatment that slows progression of the disease, let alone stops or reverses it." An estimated 5.8 million Americans have Alzheimer’s. A new case is diagnosed every 65 seconds. Isn't it time to publicly acknowledge that real progress has been made—and published repeatedly—using a precision medicine approach?" (The article he refers to is posted at the end of this post)

Under his post on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/drdalebredesen/), there are loads of comments from people doing the Protocol, reversing AD, going back to work, going back to doing what they loved and had lost.

Someone under the post said they talked to the CEO of AA during a walk and he claimed that he had never heard of Dr. Bredesen. Really? I wonder if he is aware of APOE4.info? All the docs who have and are training in the Protocol? Bredesen is not the only one who is having success with similar programs.

Sadly, there is no money behind non-drug treatment studies (the majority of dollars for studies comes from pharmacy companies...) so it's just word of mouth.

Here are two good sites with testimonials, info, how to get started helping you or your loved ones on the path to preventing and reversing AD.

It's a tough protocol for some...but if it works it's a lot easier than being a statistic, having to watch the memory of your loved ones deteriorate, having to bath them, having to worry about nursing homes...

https://alzsurvivor.com/

https://www.apoe4.info/

I have a ton of links above under the header if you're looking for practitioners, more info, etc.

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After 40 years, the Alzheimer’s Association sees signs of progress against a devastating disease. Is it real?https://www.statnews.com/2020/02/24/after-40-years-the-alzheimers-association-sees-signs-of-progress-against-a-devastating-disease-is-it-real/

Explaining Functional Medicine...

This guest column says everything I might have said if I'd tried to write about the topic...  The only thing I might quibble over is the title of the article as it's really not a totally new kind of medicine!

A new kind of medicine

The first time I heard the term Functional Medicine (FM) was soon after my mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.

After her diagnosis, she was prescribed medication and we were told the disease would continue to progress until her death. Since then, I have often wondered how different it might have been if years ago we would have had more detailed information about her health. Maybe FM could have made a difference.

http://www.northstarmonthly.com/opinion/a-new-kind-of-medicine/article_231dbc16-5803-11ea-8539-5bfc9aec428f.html

Updated 1/8/2021 - Light it up...if you want to ruin your sleep!

For as long as I can remember I have hated walking into dimly lit houses. It seemed that older people, in particular, seemed to like low lights. I swore that when I got older I would have a brightly lit house. And I have had a brightly lit house.

Until now.

When the government forced us to switch from the old incandescent lights, killing a thriving American industry, moving us to made-in-China LED bulbs, I bought every incandescent bulb I could find. High wattage. Yes, I'm a rebel.

I had read about the issues with LED and was really aggravated that our government was mandating a switch. I dug in my heels and refused to change. As with many stances like that one they fade over time, especially when it became impossible to find incandescent bulbs and my supply was running low. I broke down and used one of the free bulbs our electric company had sent trying to entice us to switch.

As I am a ceramic artist and a painter lighting is super important to me. At some point, I discovered daylight LED bulbs and fell in love with them. My art looks soooo much better in daylight and it's soooo much better when working to have those bright lights. I changed out every light in the studio to daylight LED bulbs. I became a convert.

Bright daylight LED bulbs started replacing all of my bulbs. Take that old people...no dim lighting for me, ha ha!

Then I upgraded my Fitbit and started tracking my sleep. Yowzer. I was getting zip when it came to deep sleep and my REM was hit or miss.

I started delving into how to sleep better. My typical pattern was to fall asleep fairly easily but would wake up somewhere between 2 to 3 and wander in and out of light sleep for a few hours before dragging my butt out of bed.

The more I learned about sleep the more I learned about the impact of light. In particular, our light bulbs. Fluorescent, incandescent, and LED. I discovered blue light blockers. I read posts and info by Dave Asprey, Matthew Walker, and others on how to get better sleep and the issues with computers, phones, tablets, and the various light spectrums.

The irony of my commitment to have bright lights is it turns out that those very same lights are wreaking havoc with our sleep cycles. Poor sleep is a huge contributor to dementia in later life. I guess maybe quite by accident past generations may have been saving their brains to some degree, unbeknownst to them.

We are "made" (ala evolution) to wake up with sunlight and sleep when it gets dark. With the advent of gas, then electric lighting we started blowing our sleep circuits. Over time we have become proud of sleeping shorter lengths. We brag that we'll sleep when we die, not realizing that we'll die sooner and more miserably if we don't get proper sleep.

If you go camping, away from lights and civilization, and don't take any electronics I bet you'll find you go to sleep just like cavemen. Unless you camp like I used to with adult beverages and groups of partying friends!

Now as I type I am wearing prescription blue-blocking glasses. I have Night Shift, a free app, on my phone and tablet. I have f.lux on my laptop. I get up every morning and try to get some sunlight to start my circadian clock ticking correctly, building toward a good night of sleep. I exercise in the morning or early afternoon to avoid revving up my system before bedtime.

I am currently researching melatonin. One expert says not to bother, another says it's great. One says it's needed for our brains, not just sleep. Another says we need it when we reach a certain age as our production slows down. The information and suggestions regarding melatonin are all over the place. I'm working on another post with what I'm learning. Stay tuned.

Sadly, all the things I have been doing to help my sleep haven't helped a bit. (Note: 1/8/2021 --- turns out some of the things have helped. See the bullet points below to see the changes I've made.) I'm going for a sleep study next week. I do not have high hopes as they started and ended the conversation with a push for a C-Pap machine. I don't snore. I have used the SnoreLab app for many nights and not even registered. I mentioned trying other things...even different types of sleep devices...and they harped on C-Pap. I've decided they get a kick-back. But I'm still going for the study. (Sleep study sucked, worthless...see my posts on it for details.)

On the lighting front, I have switched the bedroom lights to blue blockers so I can read at night. I added a few blue-blocking night lights to areas where we wander at night, like the bathroom. I have covered or disconnected every tiny light in the house.

Here's one story that stuck with me as I investigated sleep...someone did a sleep study and during the person's deep sleep they took a tiny penlight and shined it on the back of their knee. It took them out of deep sleep. Turns out our entire body is a light sensor. I think Matthew Walker is the one that talked about that one, will post a link if I find it again.

Here are all the other things I'm doing to try and get a good night of deep and REM sleep. BTW, the C-Pap pushing sleep doc wasn't interested in anything, including the fact that I have a short-sleep gene and another that indicates I might have trouble with deep sleep.

My attempts to get better sleep, in addition to the ones mentioned above, include:

• No caffeine after 10 a.m.
• A cocktail of supplements half an hour to an hour before bedtime:
• 1mg time-release melatonin at bedtime
• LUNA tablets without melatonin
• 2 teaspoons of CALM (magnesium) in a tiny amount of water
•  I have added some GABA, turmeric and 5-HTP to my nightly pill-popping regime
• 1/8/2021 Update --- I have ditched GABA and melatonin as they weren't helping. I now add ashwagandha, shankpushpi and collagen to my nightly herbal tea. I no longer drink the Golden Milk (next on the bullet list). I drink my tea at least 3 hours before bedtime to avoid the middle-of-the-night bathroom trips. My deep and REM sleep lengths are improving.
  
• I tried Golden Milk --- turmeric, almond milk, cinnamon, a touch of vanilla...and I added Shankpushpi which is supposed to help your brain and with sleep. It didn't seem to have any effect on my deep sleep. However, I did start using the bathroom more in the middle of the night...sigh...so I moved it back to 3 hours before bedtime. Drinking it that far from sleep-time doesn't help at all for sleep but the ingredients are great for my brain so the Golden Milk is a keeper.
• I don't eat at least 3 hours before bedtime, usually longer
• I stop using my tablet, phone, and computer an hour or two before bed
• I have a regular schedule, hit the bed between 9:30 - 10 every night
• All of my bedroom windows are covered with dark sheets (they are a strange shape so I can't use the standard light-blocking shades)
• I have the head of my bed elevated. That was initially to avoid acid reflux but it turns out that's also good for your sleep.
• I have tried binaural beats (tried the Atmosphere and BrainAurum apps); that didn't have any kind of impact on my sleep. 
• I use the Insight Timer app for sleep meditations. Some of them do help get me back to sleep when I wake up in the night but they have bright white backgrounds and that little pop of light is enough to light up the "time to get up" part of my brain. I now keep my blue-blocking glasses next to the bed and have learned to put them on before going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, grabbing my phone for the sleep app, etc.
• I have a white and pink noise machine that does seem to help
• If I wake up in the middle of the night and can't easily get back to sleep I read a book. With a blue-blocking light. The suggestion is that you get out of bed and go somewhere else to read, but I have found that if I do that, then head back to bed, I wake up. So I read in bed and it puts me back to sleep, turns my brain off just fine.
  

I joke that I'd stand on my head for an hour before bed if I thought it would help me sleep. Please don't tell me it would as I hate the idea of standing on my head!

Thus far all of my efforts have failed. But I have learned a lot. Especially about lighting. I'm going to continue to switch out the lights in the house. I want dimmers on all of them so I can turn them down at night.

We have fluorescent lighting in the kitchen, pantry and laundry room. Those have to go. That's a big issue though as it'll cost a chunk of change to switch them out. Fluorescent lights are the worst of the worst...so, for now, I am turning them off a few hours before bed.

Blue Lights:

https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/blue-light-detrimental-to-healthy-sleep
https://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/blue-light.htm
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side

Binaural beats:
https://www.binauralbeatsmeditation.com/the-science/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sleep-newzzz/201810/how-can-binaural-beats-help-you-sleep-better
https://www.healthline.com/health/binaural-beats

Ramblin' about Alzheimer's Disease

Note: This is an older blog that I hadn't finished, hadn't posted. Posting now, late, some redundancy in ones I've posted since...but not gonna waste all these words :-). In addition to the articles that were current at the time I wrote this (at the bottom) I've added some that are more up-to-date.

For a variety of reasons, I've been reading a lot about Alzheimer's Disease. I have Google Alerts set up on a wide variety of related topics, am on the APOE4.info site with great info, read every study & article that pops up, have checked out or bought every book on the subject. I've become a believer that it is possible to prevent it in many cases and reverse it in some.

The caveat on reversing? It is tough. First, you have to identify the many potential contributing causes, which involves testing (blood tests mainly) that most insurance companies will not cover totally. Then, if you find that you have one or more "causes" (and it's always more than one from what I've found in my reading) you have to do a lot to correct the contributors. If someone is partially down the path --- for instance already at the point where they have issues swallowing pills or their mental abilities have deteriorated to the point where they can't adjust their diet --- it is extremely, extremely difficult.

Winding my way through all the data can be confusing! Learning the language requires a medical degree, which I do NOT have! However, I AM learning. I'm also comparing all the data that is popping up and looking for commonality.

I probably have a higher chance than many of developing some sort of dementia (aside from genetics, I am a crazy artist :-)). So, as I discover things that seem to make sense I'm incorporating them into my life.

Currently, I'm working on my sleep habits. Increasing my dives into deep sleep and extending the number of hours my little pea brain stays asleep are two areas I am focusing on.

From what I've discovered melatonin levels drop as one ages. Taking melatonin when we're younger has more of a placebo effect (per Matthew Walker). However, adding it to the nighttime routine if quality sleep is an issue when we're older can help. I just ordered some.

I've added a blue light blocker to my phone, tablet and laptop. Blue light triggers something in our brains that says "stay awake" (I can hear some of you groaning at that simple-ed down description). I can get all technical if you'd like? No? Yes? No. Try Bing or Google --- you'll find a ton of info out there.

I put in a sleep-promoting light in my bedside lamp. It allows me to read but doesn't cause my bod to think it needs to be running around cleaning the cave.

I am trying a white noise machine. It also has pink noise, which is supposedly just as good or better. It does help to even out the background noises. Last night I didn't use it and when the air conditioner kicked in I woke up a few times. Could be that if I hadn't gotten used to the noisemaker I wouldn't have noticed.

I got rid of or covered all lights in the room. I covered the windows with dark sheets (strange shaped windows so typical shades won't work)

The other things I'm doing? I've added some supplements, changed my exercise time to mornings and am more diligent, I've added and subtracted some foods from my diet, and I am doing 12-14 hour fast every day. I'll write more about each of those at another time.

Current new articles on APOE4, Alzheimer's Disease, etc.:

Plant flavonols significantly reduce Alzheimer’s risk
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200202/Plant-flavonols-significantly-reduce-Alzheimere28099s-risk.aspx
(I posted this one on APOE4.info and one person pointed out some flaws in the study.)

Biogen And Neurotrope: Why Numbers Cannot Overcome Alzheimer's Disease
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4320953-biogen-and-neurotrope-why-numbers-cannot-overcome-alzheimers-disease

Finding the cure for dementia | 60 Minutes Australia (YouTube Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEpTH70xRIs&feature=youtu.be

Predicting Alzheimer’s by Combining Blood Test With Genetic Screening
https://www.managedcaremag.com/news/20190806/predicting-alzheimer-s-combining-blood-test-genetic-screening

Dietary choline associated with reduced risk of dementia
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190806101530.htm

On the hunt... (Little Life Hacks post)

My mother is in the early stages of some sort of dementia, cognitive decline, or maybe Alzheimer's Disease. She hasn't been officially diagnosed although we've been to a neurologist. I'll save my thoughts on that visit for another blog on another day!

We have been following the Bredesen Protocol with some success. Given the fact that we didn't start until a few years after her memory issues began I'd say we've seen noticeable improvements, but not jump up and down results. Yet.

Part of the problem is that mom doesn't like taking pills...and there are a LOT of supplements that are suggested with the Protocol. If you're interested, here's a link to a post by Jacob on his website that gives a fairly simple overview and list: https://mybiohack.com/blog/dale-bredesen-protocol-recode-alzheimers-mend

Because Mom doesn't like taking the pills she sometimes skips taking them at all and always complains. So, I've been on the hunt for powder, liquid, chewable forms of as many as possible.

Trying to find a reasonably priced, quality supplement with those restrictions is hard enough. Toss in no sugars or bad oils and other things not on the "good for you" list and the number decreases to zero for most.

I was able to find a few. I found a chewable magnesium to replace the CALM she takes at night. The CALM is great, but it has to be mixed with water. Water means getting up in the middle of the night.

I found a liquid PQQ but it is four to five times the price of the pills she is taking. Not able to do that one right now.

I also ordered a chewable 5 HTP. by NOW. I ordered via Walmart, third party as they don't sell it. It's not on Amazon either. It will be 10 days before we get it. (Update --- it's OK, doesn't taste great but it is palatable)

She is already taking a chewable methyl B12 and multivitamin. I don't care for the multivitamin so will be working on replacing it with a better chewable.

Finding some form of easy-to-take choline, citicoline, Alpha GPC seems to be an impossible task.

I make her a brain tea with most of the herbs Bredesen recommends, plus some others not on his list that I've found help with cognition. I also make her a tea designed to address some of her other issues.

We're working on things, but truthfully we're probably only able to do maybe 50-75% of the Bredesen Protocol list. Finding organic and gluten-free foods when you live an hour from a half-decent grocery store is a challenge. Finding grass-fed meats, pastured eggs, and chicken? They exist but we're not really sure they're legit. Forget finding wild-caught Alaskan salmon! But, wild-caught salmon can be found at Walmart.

I always carry a large cooler of things with me when I go see them. I'm lucky to have Sprouts, Publix, Walmart, Aldi, Whole Foods and other stores super close. I try to go up once a week but there are a few other challenges in my life right now that are keeping me close to home. Soon I'll be back on track to get up there!

All of the supplements and food choices come at a high price. They took zero supplements and had one medication before all of this started. And...going from a dollar or so for a loaf of bread to $4-$6, for example, can really add up (although carbs are low on the "to eat" list so that's not necessarily the best example). My dad has always been frugal and they've lived a simple life. Now it's complicated. It's a complete change in every way possible for my parents. And it's hard. Everything is alien to their past way of life. Reading labels, avoiding all things sugar and gluten, learning to cook foods they've never heard of before...the list is long.

I'm lucky to have such a strong, resilient, loving Dad. He is getting it done despite all the crazy things being thrown in his direction these days! His Bible is getting a good workout though.

I love my parents dearly and will do everything I can to help my Mom beat this...and to help my Dad as he copes with cooking all the meals, helping her, and many things that he couldn't have envisioned when he said "for better or worse" many years ago.

Well...there I go rambling again. I was writing about hunting for supplements and ended up writing about my awesome parents.

I didn't say much about Mom. She is giving it her all. With her cognitive issues she gets sidetracked and comes up with some interesting takes on things at times but overall she is determined to fight. I also didn't mention the rest of my family...my sisters and brothers. They are all part of this journey and doing what they are able to make it work. I'm dang lucky to have my great family.