Susan Siegfried has a doctorate in clinical psychology and she has volunteered to keep us up to date on current research and new understandings of the disorder. She is also willing to deal with the psychology of the patient and the rest of the family and care givers, in an effort to try to help smooth out some of the bumps that inevitably evolve and give some insight into what to expect as the disease progresses.
Posted By: Susan in the category: Alzheimer's Research
One of the symptoms that can be observed in the middle to later stages of Alzheimer’s disease is hallucinations. If these are upsetting to the patient one would look for relief in medication. Effects of cholinesterase inhibitors on behavior has been observed in open-label trial of Tacrine and Rivastigmine as well as in placebo-controlled trials of Metrifonate [ … ] continue reading ›
Posted By: Susan in the category: Alzheimer's Research
After seeing the successes of the Amloid hypothesis research, Nishimura et al. decided to look into the genes which produce Amyloid protein rather than attacking the proteins with antibodies. Through various gene assays Nishimura et al. was able to discover genes susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease. Initially, of the 23 pairs of chromosomes found in humans, it was [ … ] continue reading ›
Posted By: Susan in the category: Alzheimer's Research
Pierre L.LeBars, MD, PhD; Martin M. Katz, PhD; Nancy Berman, PhD studied EGb 761 is an antioxidant extract from the Gingko biloba plant. This EGb extract has been used across Europe to treat various forms of dementia. Many of the clinical trials associated with the successes of EGb had failed to show a standard assessment of [ … ] continue reading ›
Posted By: Susan in the category: Alzheimer's Research
Martin Farlow, MD; Stephan I. Gracon, DVM; Linda A. Hershey, MD; Karen W. Lewis, MS; Carl H. Sadowsky, MD; Jann Dolan-Ureno, BSN; researchers working for the Tacrine study group conducted a 12 week study aimed at determining the effects of the drug Tacrine on probable Alzheimer’s (AD) patients in outpatient clinics at 23 centers [1]. A [ … ] continue reading ›
Posted By: Susan in the category: Alzheimer's Psychology
Many people with Alzheimer’s Disorder experience something called “Sundowning”. This is when the visible symptoms of Alzheimer’s such as memory loss, confusion, fear and anxiety and/or the inability to socialize with other become noticeably more intense. The reason for the name is that this occurs in the later afternoon and the evening. It can be [ … ] continue reading ›
Posted By: Susan in the category: Alzheimer's Psychology
Early research on the use of Hormone Replacement Therapy to reduce risk of Alzheimer’s There has been a fair amount of research out there that says Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for women appears to reduce the risk for dementia, especially dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. This is based on observational studies so we do not have [ … ] continue reading ›
Posted By: Susan in the category: Alzheimer's Research
Purpose: It is my goal in this blog to keep everyone up to date on the scientific research results pertaining to possible treatments, cures and preventions for Alzheimer’s Disease. Every effort will be made to translate complicated scientific journal articles into everyday language that will be helpful for all of us. Process: Some semblance of a time [ … ] continue reading ›
Posted By: Susan in the category: Alzheimer's Psychology
January 4, 2011 was an important day. The National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) was signed into law by President Obama. This Act will create a national plan to coordinate all our national efforts involving Alzheimer’s medical research, care of those afflicted and support for caregivers. I often wonder how other disorders such as breast cancer [ … ] continue reading ›
Posted By: Susan in the category: Alzheimer's Psychology
One of the things I have been curious about is whether or not my father can pick up subtle cues in conversation that we all take for granted. We know the Alzheimer’s patient tends to have a flat affect, that is, a lower level of facial expression. It seemed likely then that cues such as [ … ] continue reading ›