Fight to End Alzheimer's

To end this blog, I wanted to make a post on Dr. Dale Bredesen’s book, “The End of Alzheimer’s.” Dr. Dales’s book talks about 36 metabolic factors, that can cause “downsizing” in the brain. Some metabolic factors include sleep, hormone levels, and micronutrients. No one has ever survived Alzheimer’s, but Dr. Dales’s book has new protocols to “prevent and reverse” Alzheimer’s. He has named this protocol “The Bredesen Protocol.” Many people attest to “The Bredesen Protocol” because he treats Alzheimer’s as a combination of issues and not one. According to PRIMEHEALTH, Bredensens protocol begins with taking a cognitive test online and blood tests so the doctor can see where you are, and give you a customized treatment plan and ways to improve your cognitive function. Alzheimer’s has always been known to have decreased use of glucose, so another big part of his treatment is burning fat.

The second part of his protocol is reintroducing insulin sensitivity. This can be done through exercise, diet, stress reduction, and supplements. The third step is to maximize your immune system by taking vitamins and supplements. The fourth step is to reduce inflammation; This means removing stress, alcohol, soft drinks, excessive sugar, etc. Fifth step: treating pathogens. Undiagnosed illnesses are a significant cause, so finding and treating any illnesses are essential. People who begin these treatments at the onset of their symptoms when they first develop Alzheimer’s see the most improvement from Bredesen protocols. However, I think it’s important to note that said protocols were released in 2017, and many doctors and patients don’t follow these protocols; I believe that if said Bredesen protocols were as helpful as it is said, then we would’ve built more research on top of these findings sometime in the past six years. When my grandmother was in the hospital, these protocols and many health concerns were not addressed or shared with her family. I don’t believe that the physicians on her case attempted to follow these protocols, and you would assume that if said protocols were as impressive as described, physicians would try to follow them or discuss them with their patients. To me, these seem like things that physicians should try to address with their patients as part of their patient care. However, working in the ER, I’ve seen enough to know that many people don’t care about their health as it is and take very little care of their physical and mental health. I really do wonder how many people would be willing to make the necessary changes to their lifestyle to try and prevent/delay Alzheimer’s. 

According to beingpatient.com, there has been a theory called the ¨Alzheimer’s amyloid hypothesis” for a while now, which is the belief that plaque buildup in the brain is causing Alzheimer’s. Looking at the brain scans of patients with Alzheimer’s, you can typically see the amyloid clumped up. However, they have struggled to prove that this is a cause and not a symptom. In my last blog post, I mentioned the success of the new drug called Lecanemab and how it successfully unclumps the amyloid causing fewer symptoms and improving the quality of life. Thanks to this research and drug, we know that amyloid protein does play a big part in Alzheimer’s; We just can’t prove if it is a cause or a symptom. 

There’s also been a link between Alzheimer’s and different viruses. Beingpatient.com has an article on how herpes and Cov-2 (the cause of covid-19) has been linked to an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Interestingly enough, they have also found that 85%-90% of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s experience a loss in smell, which indicates that the hippocampus has been affected. Your hippocampus plays a role in helping you determine which scents are safe and which fragrances are dangerous such as propane or gasoline, might indicate danger, for instance. According to the article, the brain works like our muscles. Once the hippocampus is no longer used, other parts of the brain also become damaged and don’t function the same. 

I think it’s interesting how many things can be attributed to causing Alzheimer’s, but we still don’t have a definitive answer on anything. We’re coming very close to making more breakthroughs and solving the puzzle, and I’m excited to see what researchers will end up with. Once we cure Alzheimer’s, we could potentially solve other brain-related diseases using the same research. 

Nursing homes are infamous for their malpractice, putting residents in compromising situations. Just about anyone you ask can tell you a horror story about a family member or someone they know of being taken advantage of or mistreated by nursing homes. Why do we allow this to happen as a society? People who were once mothers, fathers, grandmas and grandpas are put into facilities that don’t have their best interest at heart. Their only interest: money. Now, does this mean that all facilities are terrible? No. Do all facillities have at least one horror story? Certainly.

A family in Michigan believes that their 92 year old mother with Alzheimer’s was taken advantage of, and that her diamond wedding ring was stolen after only a week of having been in the facillities care. My grandmother was in different facillities for a long time because we didn’t have time to provide the level of care she required, and many of her things were stolen during her time there. She was never dressed in her own clothes, and she never had shoes no matter how many pairs we brought her. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is now auditing a nursing home for over-prescribing Schizophrenia medications and suggests that the home may be dangerously sedating patients.

Lets talk credentials. Nursing homes have very few prerequisites and just about anyone can work for them regardless of their qualifications and minimal to no healthcare experience needed. Some nursing homes don’t even require you to have a CNA certification, they label it as a “resident assistant” and have them provide personal care etc. Just to become a bus driver you’re required to receive a CDL and go through many classes, but at nursing homes you can jump right in when you have patients that require specialized care. When will this change? How will we fix the abuse and theft our families and friends experience here?

It is thought that the FDA will approve the Alzheimer’s drug Lecanemab but there are many questions as to if it will be as successful as is thought. Today, January 6th, it is expected the FDA will make a final decision on approving or denying the medication. As I previously mentioned, the drug has been fast tracked using an accelerated approval program. “The accelerated approval program allows for earlier approval of drugs that treat serious conditions and “fill an unmet medical need”

 If it is approved then Eisai, a pharmaceutical company producing the medication, has said that they will try and make it available as soon as possible.  As I mentioned in previous blog posts, an 18 month clinical trial found “moderately less decline on measures of cognition and function than placebo at 18 months”- CNN 

However, the medication has also been found to cause adverse effects. Some include reaction to IVs and swelling and bleeding of the brain found in MRIs. If Lecanemab is found to be unsuccessful or that it is not working as well as once believed then it will be taken off of the market. 

I am extremely excited to see how the next few years pan out and if the research and discovery made through Eisai could lead to more breakthroughs and progress. As of now, we have no medication that can stop or prevent Alzheimers or dementia, only slow its progression such as Lecanemab has. I have worked a lot with the Alzheimer’s Association, including serving as a committee member for them, and i’m very pleased to say they moved quickly in releasing a statement. They are also encouraging medicare to move fast so they will be able to cover the medication and make it even more widely available. I love that they are encouraging insurance companies to take a stand and contribute to making this available for everyone. 

When most people think about Alzheimer’s or Dementia, most people associate the diseases with being elderly. Though have you ever heard of childhood Dementia? “Roughly 700,000 people are estimated to be living with childhood dementia. Most children die before turning 18.” – Childhood Dementia Initiative. In nearly 11 minutes, someone dies from childhood dementia every day; this is close to the number of deaths from childhood cancer. But kids who suffer from childhood dementia, also suffer other symptoms you wouldn’t see as much in adults with dementia, such as seizures, vision and hearing loss, and problems with their bones, joints, cardiovascular, respiratory, or digestive systems. 

“Childhood dementia results from progressive brain damage caused by over 70 rare genetic disorders including Niemann-Pick type-C,”- Dementia Australia. This means children are born with these genetic diseases, and we still have no cure, let alone awareness, for a disease that can do as much damage as cancer. Dr.Whiteman has interviewed families affected by or living with Battens disease, a disease often associated with childhood dementia. After talking with families and interviewing children, she wrote a book called “Max and Abby,” helping children understand what the disease is, and the frustration associated with it since children usually have a hard time grasping what is happening around them. “Told through the eyes of big sister Abby, Max and Abby shines a gentle light on the challenging topic of childhood dementia and disability, revealing the highs and lows of life as a sibling of a child with additional needs.”-Batten Disease Support and Research Association. I think it’s ridiculous that after so much time and so many families suffering, many still have almost no awareness of it. I had never heard of childhood dementia before writing this, and now that I have, I’m immensely saddened that we don’t yet have a cure for childhood dementia and that so many kids are losing memories of their parents and childhood. 

Lecanemab is being celebrated as an amazing “breakthrough” for Alzheimer’s. It is the very first drug that has been found to actually slow the damage Alzheimer’s has on someone’s brain. However, according to bbc.com, “lecanemab, has only a small effect and its impact on people’s daily lives is debated.” A protein that is called Amyloid gets clumped together between brain neurons and causes a disruption of cell functions. Eisai and Biogen, the joint developers of Lecanemab, say that it works by separating the Amyloid proteins. They were granted their BLA application and were approved for accelerated pathway and priority review in July of 2022. The “Prescription Drug User Fee Act” is set for January 6, 2023. 

Trials conducted for Lecanemab with 1,800 participants,  were conducted through intravenous infusion, “A method of putting fluids, including drugs, into the bloodstream.” This was done every two weeks, and what they found was less mental decline after only 18 months than those who were only given the placebo. I think that this is an incredible finding as far as Alzheimer’s research goes. It isn’t a cure, however seeing as 99.6% of Alzheimer’s trials fail, this is most definitely a “breakthrough”. 

However, Lecanemab was only found to reduce decline by a measly 27% and may have possibly contributed to the death of 2 patients. Given, there were 1,800 in the trial, but it’s still very concerning that it may be linked to their death. If it is found that it did in fact contribute to their death, or it causes any more issues, the FDA may end up having to reconsider Lecanemab. “Brent Forester, director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Research Program at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, who helped to run the clinical trial for Lecanemab. His concerns lie with safety. About 20% of people who were treated with Lecanemab had brain-scan anomalies that indicated swelling or bleeding — although less than 3% of those who received the antibody experienced symptoms related to these changes”- Mckenzie Prillaman  I think that this could honestly go both ways, we will have to see if the benefits outweigh the risks, and what affect it has in the long run. I think that either way this is very beneficial research, now that they have learned how to effectively separate Amyloid proteins.

In my area, we have a new local restaurant that is overlooking a golf course. I reached out to the owner over the summer, and we agreed to collaborate and set up a weekend long “Dine n’ Donate” event. Essentially, all anyone has to do is show up and eat, and a certain amount of the proceeds are given to charity. In this case, 10% of the proceeds were donated, and we raised a grand total of $250. All of this money was donated to the Alzheimer’s Association through “Walk to end Alzheimer’s.” Dine n’ Donate events are beneficial for both the charities and the business because they raise sales, bring attention to the business, and put them in a positive spotlight. Charities gain lots from these, because it doesn’t require buying products to give in return like you would for a fundraiser. Additionally, new research has come out showing just how beneficial exercise is for Alzheimer’s/dementia. “For the AD portrait, the top three scoring treatments for reversing Alzheimer’s without exacerbating it were exercise in various datasets. However, the authors clarify that most studies had been done on rodents.” (Hill/Gammie, Scientific reports) This is very interesting research, as we already knew that mostly sedentary individuals develop Alzheimer’s or dementia, but did not know that exercise could even reverse symptoms. ¨Less than a quarter of adults meet recommended physical activity standards for good health¨ (Stabile, FoxNews)  additionally, ¨More than 6 million Americans of all ages have Alzheimer’s.¨  (Alzheimer’s Association) I think that the correlation between these numbers are no mistake.  In hindsight, I can never remember my own grandma doing much of any type of exercise herself before she became diagnosed with dementia, so I wonder if this impacted her as well. I think it would be very  interesting to take a poll and see how many people with Alzheimer’s/dementia regularly exercised before diagnosis. 

This past weekend in a town near me we had our “Walk to End Alzheimer’s” event that is managed through the Alzheimer’s Association. Throughout the year, we fundraise and raise awareness towards Alzheimer’s, and then host a big event. We had a lot of sponsors such as Edward Jones, and Health Alliance present.

As well as fundraising, I am a committee member for the Walk, probably the youngest one there. So, throughout the year I help plan and ask for donations towards the wall and then help with organization, set-up, tear down and help run the event the day of. It is an extremely fun event to be a part of and I enjoy helping out. This year our walk raised over $100,000, how exciting!! 79% of the funds that we raise throughout the year are used towards Alzheimer’s research, care, support, and advocacy!

It was lots of fun, and I’m glad to say that it went off without a hitch. I hope that through events like these we can bring more awareness towards Alzheimer’s and get more people thinking about solutions and improvement on their quality of life. My favorite part of the walk is the pinwheel flowers that people place in their yards. Each flower represents a different meaning, a purple flower means you’ve lost someone to Alzheimer’s, a yellow flower means that you’re caring for someone with Alzheimer’s, an orange flower means you just support the cause, and a blue flower means you currently have Alzheimer’s. Hopefully the funds we raise will help make real progress. 

As of now, there are currently 9 Alzheimer’s vaccines being tested in trials. One of which, the FDA has made the decision to fast-track. The company is called Vaxxinity, and the vaccine they are developing is for people who have already developed Alzheimer’s. While the FDA has fast-tracked it, this does not promise that they will approve it, only that they will review it faster. As of 2022, there have been no survivors of Alzheimer’s so the promise of one of these 9 vaccines potentially working is extremely encouraging and means we are moving in the right direction towards a cure. According to “beingpatient.com”, “Its Phase 1, Phase 2a, and Phase 2a Long Term Extension trials have shown it to be well tolerated in people living with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s over three years of repeat dosing.”

Along with this exciting news, Irish doctors have also announced that they believe they have discovered a link between the flu vaccine and Alzheimer’s. They believe that getting the flu vaccine reduces your chance of developing Alzheimer’s by 40%. A site called “RTE” had some extremely interesting quotes including:

“90,000 people were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in the un-vaccinated group and only 50,000 in the vaccinated group over eight years,”

“The benefit is very clearly associated with reducing your risk of developing dementia and, in particular, Alzheimer’s disease.”

Supposedly, “The US government has taken a keen interest in the research.” and the doctors and researchers looking into this link between the flu vaccine and Alzheimer’s will be traveling to Washington DC to present before the Health and Human Services committee. Overall, this is some very promising work taking place that could potentially save lives. I am excited to see how this research develops!

Sources for article and image: https://www.rte.ie/news/health/2022/0920/1324448-flu-jab-alzheimers/ , https://www.beingpatient.com/vaxxinity-fda-alzheimers-vaccine/ , https://www.va.gov/washington-dc-health-care/stories/flu-shots-available-at-washington-dc-va-medical-center/