Davis

Travis Davis

Professor Jennifer Courtney

English 2010

September 29, 2017

Modern Alzheimers Research

Alzheimers, the sleeper disease in my humble opinion. When you think of the top diseases

killing people this day in age you think of heart disease, cancer and diabetes which have been the

leading causes of death by disease for centuries. Alzheimers has been creeping up silently for some

time and is now the 3rd deadliest disease in the world. Alzheimers is on path to become the costliest

disease of all of them by hitting the trillion-dollar range.

For those who may be unaware of the Alzheimers history. [In] 1906, Alois Alzheimer described

the pathological correlates of pre-senile dementia. (Magills Medical Guide, January 2017) Alzheimers

has been a disease that has left many doctors and researchers running into dead ends, also, being left

with nothing but treatments and medications that end up doing nothing for the patient or not doing

much as far as slowing the deterioration condition. The goal here like any disease affecting the masses

for centuries is reversing the affects, which then lead to a cure saving hundreds of thousands of future

lives. Even today there are no therapies available for the disease that target the base cause and

progression of Alzheimers. Treatment options have yet to become anything more than temporary relief

and show no signs of reversal or cure.

The Alzheimers Association: Founded in 1980 by founding president Jerome H. Stone. Today

the organization is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimers care, support and research.

Furthermore, I would like to talk about some of the modern research that has been this organization

and other like it has spent countless hours and billions of dollars towards discovering not only ways of

reversing and curing the disease, but ways of detecting it so that we can use the preventative steps to
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never become a victim of Alzheimers. This organization's focus is on-going discovery of treatments and

hopefully a cure for Alzheimer which a great portion of citizens of all ages suffer from. It provides the

communities with answers, support, direction and doctor referrals. They organize community activities

like walks or runs to raise money for research. I am interested in researching and writing about this topic

because my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at a young age and I saw him become a

completely different person which ultimately the disease took his life at relatively young age. This

disease has been growing rapidly and is something that needs awareness raised around it. When

Alzheimers first came to light as doctors where treating patients with mild cognitive impairment,

noticing patients state of cognition and memory ever declining, doctors scrambled to make sense of

what was happening. Immediate research began on patients leading to many failures in-turn many

people suffering debilitating memory loss, functionality and ultimately, life.

One of the first big steps in Alzheimers research was after many failed attempts and

misdiagnosis, doctors later determined that autopsies were required to determine whether the brain

was truly affected with the disease. Once researchers could pinpoint actual physical data on how that

brain was changed by the disease they were able to now label the stages of the disease based on MRI

scans on an actual living person.

As of June 8, 2017, the Alzheimers Association writes about the IDEAS Study (Imaging-

dementia-Evidence for Amyloid-Scanning). [Amyloid] is a protein that is normally found throughout the

human body with no exact reason or purpose. In Alzheimers Disease (AD) the proteins divide

improperly creating a form called beta amyloid which is toxic to neurons in the brain. (memory loss

online) Amyloid plaques then attach themselves to the brain which in turn proceed to forming of

Alzheimers. The IDEAS Study is now partnering up with government and academic researchers to

launch and add-on to expand their already core study where more than 18,000 people with a cognition

impairment will receive an amyloid PET scan. (studies have shown people whom test having higher
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counts of higher amyloid protein in their bodies pose a higher risk at developing the disease, but does

not conclude they will get the disease 100%. The IDEAS Study in a $100 million research study in hopes

of providing more insight to the aging brain and tracking new treatments. The Brain Health Registry

database with its combined archive of answers and place for all future research like IDEAS will hopefully

hold the cure one day. Through this study and its participants, they expect to pinpoint more genes that

are more centered at the root cause of cognitive impairment, already through other studies like IDEAS

twenty other genes have been named as contributing to dementia. People of an older generation are

giving up time and money to give themselves in the name of science and a more positive future for

those younger who may be predisposed to the disease.

Reading an article called The Four Pillars of Alzheimer's Prevention takes a nice alternative

approach to Alzheimers study and research, it focuses more on what individuals can do at a younger

stage in life regardless of their levels of amyloid proteins or genetic history. These techniques give hope

and enlightenment to anyone concerned with their cognitive health and is really a point I see more and

more as our communities become more aware of mental health issues. The first pillar Diet and

Supplements is something that spans across overall health which is great. This section talks about how

majority of people still follow the outdated American Diet. This day in age the American population is

consuming more and more meat and forgetting the abundance of nutrients found in fruits and

vegetables. [Research] published in the Alzheimers Association journal confirms that making the

switch from a fat and meat heavy way of eating to a primarily plant based diet, no matter how old the

person is can slow, and possibly reverse memory loss. (British Journal of Sports Medicine) This

information is shown to be more ammunition proving the overall health benefits of plant based diets.

Oh, the never-ending debate between meat eaters and vegetarians, but shall be left for another

reporting essay.
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Pillar 2: When it comes to physical and mental exercise I believe in the saying If you dont use

it, you lose it. In my opinion, when you become an adult and have attained a certain level of knowledge

and mental capacity, you become lax to the point of autopilot which leaves you vulnerable to the many

causes of cognition impairment. That said people should not become comfortable in their state and

should make a point to constantly challenge their mental capacity. The article also writes [In] a study at

Columbia University, researchers showed that older men who exercised on a treadmill four times a

week for 30 minutes grew new cells in an important related to memory and cognition. The Alzheimers

Association gives ideas and guidance on activities that promote physical and mental well-being.

Pillar 3: Yoga/Meditation is a little foreign to me and I would dare say majority of people living in

the United States. We are all just too busy to take a step back and meditate or do some yoga. Chronic

stress (another great quality of living in fast paced America) has been shown by research to have a

detrimental effect on a persons genes. Many studies conducted by Universities across the nation have

shown people with cognitive decline who practice some sort of yoga/meditation showed signs of

reversing memory loss and reduced anxiety which are early signs of Alzheimers.

Pillar 4: Phycological well-being is the idea that promoting self-acceptance, self-confidence and

reducing negativity are shown to decrease cholesterol and inflammation. Neuroscience now has new

movement called Purpose of Life (British Journal of Sports Medicine, April 24,2017) that connects

when a person believes they have a purpose in life, that the outcome not only treats Alzheimers but has

also shown to treat spinal cord injuries, strokes recovery and cardiovascular issues, showing that the

brain is a powerful healer in the right setting.

As it stands there are billions of dollars being spent in the pursuit of research and study in goals

of discovering a cure for the debilitating disease called Alzheimers disease. I believe that with these

discoveries of gene mapping, amyloid plaques detection in the living brain and body that sometime in
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the near future we will have some sort of solution or cure to this disease. In the mean-time

organizations like the Alzheimers Association provide a place for support, data base for guidance and

fund raising to keep the research going. I believe that thinking outside the box and taking a simpler

consideration about our daily lives could be a key step in possibly shrinking the population that is

affected by Alzheimers.

Below is a chart from (alz.org) with some facts covered in this report with some additional educational

information that while shock most people to how devastating this disease really is.
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Works Cited

1.) Attacking Alzheimer's. Magzter - World's Largest Digital Newsstand with over 9,000

Magazines, www.magzter.com/article/Business/Newsweek/Attacking-Alzheimers.

2.) Cerebrum. The Four Pillars of Alzheimer's Prevention, 31 Mar. 2017,

www.dana.org/Cerebrum/2017/The_Four_Pillars_of_Alzheimers_Prevention/.

3.) IDEAS Study Spurs Related Research to Impact Dementia Care. IDEAS Study Spurs

Related Research to Impact Dementia Care,

www.alz.org/documents_custom/IDEAS_add_studies_release_060817.pdf.

4.) Magill's Medical Guide Online (Salem Health). GALILEO,

www.galileo.usg.edu/scholar/sga/databases/salt-sgc1/.

5.) Memory Loss & the Brain, www.memorylossonline.com/glossary/frontallobes.html.

6.) Quick Facts Chart http: //www.alz.org/facts/