Alzheimer's genes link uncovered

[Heidi]

Source: BBC

Page last updated at 17:00 GMT, Sunday, 6 September 2009 18:00 UK

Two potentially key genes linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease have been uncovered by UK researchers.

It is the first gene clue to the condition in 16 years and has prompted scientists to rethink their theories on how the disease develops.

The genes were pinpointed in a study of 16,000 DNA samples and are known to be implicated in inflammation and cholesterol breakdown.

It is hoped the Nature Genetics study will open the way for new treatments.

The last and only gene to be linked to the common form of Alzheimer's disease is APOE4 gene, which has been the focus of much research.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8237686.stm

[David Zephyr]

1. Another marvel from a nation with socialized medicine.

Thanks. I have a dear friend since we were infants and she now has early Alzheimer's and I hate this disease.

[1Hippiechick]

4. Deepest sympathy. Alzheimer's has got to be the cruelest disease I've witnessed in my lifetime.

Painful to watch someone you love slowly slipping away. My experience w/my father-in-law: Early in the disease, the "slips," repetition, and confusion become salient, because such is not the norm. As the disease progresses, it is the cognitive moments that become salient, because such is not the norm. Can you imagine your mom or dad not recognizing you? Then, hop onto the medication merry-go-round to try to determine whether or not a medication is exacerbating the impairment. Deterioration of speech, mobility....

I would love to see in my lifetime a preventative--even a cure--for this disease. Sympathy and empathy to you if you are in proximity to your friend where you will witness the devastation of this disease.

[David Zephyr]

9. Thanks.

She's only 56 lives in Cambridge with her two daughters and hubby. She's coming out to California to spend some time with her sisters, mom and me. This is killing me. I hate this disease. Thank you for your concern. I'm sorry you've been through this with your father-in-law.

[ipaint]

5. My dad has it. It's very difficult for him and my mom.

The medicine gave him headaches and horrible nightmares which he thought were real every morning. So now he is off it. No more headaches or nightmares and his appetite is back.

I hope they find something to help folks soon.

[David Zephyr]

10. So sorry for you and your mom.

This is theft of our loved ones. That's how I see it. I hate it. We want them back. Like you, I'm hopeful they find something soon, too.

[Twinguard]

12. My mom started showing symptoms in her mid-50's

The way that horrible disease progresses, it seems as though she left us years ago. In reality, she died only a few years ago. Her mom died from Alzheimer's only a few short years earlier. It has ravaged my family, and for quite a few years. My grandpa (mom's dad) lost his wife and his daughter within a few years of each other due to Alzheimer's... he committed suicide a month after mom died. I can't tell you (nor do I have to, as you are dealing with it currently) how horrible this god damned disease is.

Thankfully, it seems that more is being learned about it. I hold out faith that it will be decoded and eventually curable.

As a side note, my wife and I walk the annual Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk to help fund the research. It is surprisingly good therapy-- most everyone who walks has had their life touched in some way. It is a way for all of us to come together in a positive setting.

I hope that you and yours find some peace while coping with Alzheimer's.

[No Elephants]

15. You're right. Many great research findings have come from nations wih socialized medicine.

[liberalhistorian]

23. Both my stepmother and my uncle now have it, and my stepfather

is in a nursing home with Lewy Body Dementia. I hate these damned dementia diseases and what they do to people and their families with every fiber of my being. And we're headed for a major epidemic of them very soon, sad to say. Getting dementia terrifies me and I think if I ever do I might just "take care of it" first before it robs me and my family.

[defendandprotect]

2. Of course, there's no link to Mad Cow . . . they're simply the

same symptoms . . . same sponge-like deterioration of the brain!

Genes are a handy excuse for all the new diseases we've created in the last 50 years!

Soon, we'll be told they've found a genetic link to poverty!!!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Yes, they're exactly the same.

Except for all the differences.

[lakercub]

13. Can you post some links

to the peer-reviewed literature linking mad-cow disease and Alzheimer's, or at least showing some sort of commonality between them? I would be very interested to see that. I hope you have some. Thanks.

[defendandprotect]

18. There is much evidence showing a link to Mad Cow . .. and always has been . . .

first is the historical --

Eons ago, we understood this came from the "cannibalism" of feeding animals to animals.

We began to do it again three or four decades ago -- with America leading the way and

"teaching" this again to other countries.

We've not only fed animals to herbivore animals, we've fed road kill to animals!

And there is also the visual . . . the effects on the brain are the same.

Meanwhile, yes, I do have info on it and if I have time later, I'll look for it.

And, yeah . . . it was a return of "hoof and mouth" that finally ended the last scandal

of "Mad Cow" in England/Europe -- !!!! More coincidence theory.

We've done nothing but create and spread disease -- and then pretend to solve it with

slash and burn medical care!!!

:crazy:

[azul]

21. This is from 2004 but it has some references:

"The most frequent misdiagnosis of CJD among the elderly is Alzheimer's disease.<55> Neither CJD nor Alzheimer's can be conclusively diagnosed without a brain biopsy,<56> and the symptoms and pathology of both diseases overlap. There can be spongy changes in Alzheimer's, for example, and senile Alzheimer's plaques in CJD.<57> Stanley Prusiner, the scientist who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of prions, speculates that Alzheimer's may even turn out to be a prion disease as well.<58> In younger victims, CJD is more often misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis or as a severe viral infection.<59>

Over the last 20 years the rates of Alzheimer's disease in the United States have skyrocketed.<60> According to the CDC, Alzheimer's Disease is now the eighth leading cause of death in the United States,<61> afflicting an estimated 4 million Americans.<62> Twenty percent or more of people clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, though, are found at autopsy not to have had Alzheimer's at all.<63> A number of autopsy studies have shown that a few percent of Alzheimer's deaths may in fact be CJD. Given the new research showing that infected beef may be responsible for some sporadic CJD, thousands of Americans may already be dying because of Mad Cow disease every year.<64>

Nobel Laureate Gajdusek, for example, estimates that 1% of people showing up in Alzheimer clinics actually have CJD.<65> At Yale, out of a series of 46 patients clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer's, six were proven to have CJD at autopsy.<66> In another study of brain biopsies, out of a dozen patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's according to established criteria, three of them were actually dying from CJD.<67> An informal survey of neuropathologists registered a suspicion that CJD accounts for 2-12% of all dementias in general.<68> Two autopsy studies showed a CJD rate among dementia deaths of about 3%.<69,70> A third study, at the University of Pennsylvania, showed that 5% of patients diagnosed with dementia had CJD.<71> Although only a few hundred cases of sporadic CJD are officially reported in the U.S. annually,<72> hundreds of thousands of Americans die with dementia every year.<73> Thousands of these deaths may actually be from CJD caused by eating infected meat."

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0107-07.htm

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. My stepfather died of Alzheimers, and he was a vegetarian, so

mad cow was unlikely in his case.

[1Hippiechick]

3. New discoveries that lead to looking down a different path are exciting! Thanks for posting.

"These discoveries will enable scientists to follow new avenues of investigation as they piece together the causes of Alzheimer's disease - likely to be a mixture of genes, lifestyle and life events."

[Diamonique]

6. This is good news.

I lost my Mom to Alzheimers in 1991. What a dreadful disease. I pray that we can defeat it some day.

[StarryNite]

8. Thanks for posting this

It is such a wretched disease. It truly is the long goodbye.

[cascadiance]

11. Now... If we can just get rid of the "preexisting condition" crap, people might actually get tested

... for this.

I recall there already being some genetic testing for this earlier as well (at least with people that have already passed on (like my Grandfather), but I've avoided it, as I don't want the plague of not having any insurance available to me as payment for finding out I test positive for this (even if I might get treated for it earlier). Both my dad and my grandfather have had dementia.

[crikkett]

22. and if we test positive then there's an excuse to take up smoking

I've read various reports that nicotine and cannabis prevent/stunt alzheimers

[fascisthunter]

28. nah.... we need to keep this technology only for the wealthy

and so that the wealthy can get wealthier...:sarcasm:

[Vidar]

14. I've lost my Dad, grandmother & aunt to this horrid disease.

[lunatica]

16. My mother has Dementia, a form of Alzheimers'

It ruins life for everyone involved. There is not one single redeeming thing about it. There is no silver lining. There is no resolution or goodbyes. There is no dignity or heroism or coming to terms with or graceful acceptance that isn't forced on everyone. There is no timetable like there is with other diseases where you know how long until the end. If the person is in good physical health it can last as long as the body lasts.

I hope they can find not only a cure but one that can reverse the devastation.

[Coventina]

19. My deepest sympathies, Lunatica. That is how my mother died as well.

It was ten years of a living hell. I wish I could offer words of encouragement, but as you already know, there are none. Just know that there are those of us who have been there, and understand completely what you are going through. If you ever want to PM me, feel free.

:hug:

[JimWis]

17. Thanks for sharing that info. My mom - she is 84 - is in early stages.

[windoe]

20. My Mom and her sister have it.

It has been so hard on my family. Thank you for posting this, genetic research provides so much hope.

[goclark]

24. My Mom has it and she is 91 years ~ sweeter than sugar

I am her main care giver and it is heart breaking to watch.

None of the medicines seem to work.

Yesterday she told me she felt like she was on a desert and didn't know where she was going. :cry:

I am blessed to have alarms on all the doors to the house --"Back door open" and "Front Door Open" --- even with that I am awake/asleep listening for her and checking on her.

Yesterday it was 95 degrees in Los Angeles. She was cold and had on two flannel robes.

She has a "boyfriend" that is 91 now - he is adorable.
I called his daughter to check on him and she said, " Dad sleeps in his leather jacket every night. We can't get him to take it off."

Last year, he walked 1 mile to Home Depot and purchased a
5 pound bag of cement -- he carried it home!
We were frantic and looking for him all over the neighborhood.

A friend called us to tell us he was swinging a bag and walking by her house~ we got him safely home. :cry:

[MadinMo]

25. My mother will be 95 next month and has some kind of dementia.

She lives with my sister in a caring environment and is relatively happy. Thank goodness. She is cheerful and sweet but confused about a lot of things --- more so every day. I say she is "happily goofy". Her health, otherwise, is very good for someone 95 years old. I accepted that I have lost her some time ago.

[goclark]

26. I really do understand

It is so hard watching it happen and knowing that without a miracle, our love ones will only get worse. : (

[dugaresa]

29. it appears to run in my husband's family

paternal grandparents both had it.
maternal grandmother had it.
aunts and uncles on paternal side are all slipping into dementia.

it is truly scary.