Dad’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s stayed
hidden from everyone until I took over the medical administration of my parents
in 2015. Once I found out, there was a deafening silence from most of the
people I know even though virtually all of them would add, “My _____ had
Alzheimer’s…” But there was little help, little beyond people sadly shaking
heads. Or horror stories. Lots of those. Even the ones who knew about the
disease seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Alzheimer’s
Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut
up for any known reason, I started this part of my blog…
This comes at a
good time because the other day, my dad called me about some drug he’d seen
advertised on late-night TV called “Cebria”. He said he was thinking about
getting a supply of the drug because the advertising slogan is so…enticing: “Think
Faster & Remember More with Cebria® Improve Your Memory in
just 30 Days!**Results may vary!”
He knows he has
Alzheimer’s and to the best of my estimation capabilities, he is in Stage 5 or
6 – if he’s in 6, he’s slipped into it recently. I just realized that I haven’t
ever defined those stages. Here you go:
Stage 1: Alzheimer’s
disease is not detectable and no memory problems or other symptoms of dementia
are evident.
Stage 2: Minor
memory problems like losing things around the house though indistinguishable
from normal age related memory loss. Undetectable via testing.
Stage 3: Friends
and family members begin to notice memory and cognitive problems. Physicians
using tests can detect impaired cognitive function. The person can’t find the
right word during conversation, forget names of new acquaintances, trouble planning
and organizing, frequently lose personal possessions, including valuables.
Stage 4: Difficulty
with simple arithmetic, forgetting details about life history, poor short term memory,
inability to manage finances.
Stage 5: Need help
with many day to day activities, significant confusion, inability to recall
simple details about themselves (phone number, address, age); difficulty dressing
appropriately; they DO maintain functionality: bathe and toilet independently;
know family members and some detail about their personal histories.
Stage 6: Need
constant supervision and frequently require professional care; confusion or
unawareness of environment and surroundings; major personality changes and
potential behavior problems; need assistance with activities of daily living; inability
to recognize faces except closest friends and relatives; inability to remember
most details of personal history; loss of bowel and bladder control; wandering
Stage 7:
Alzheimer’s is terminal, patients in stage seven are nearing death. Lose
ability to respond to their environment or communicate. While they may still be
able to utter words and phrases, they have no insight into their condition and
need assistance with all activities of daily living. In the final stages of the
illness, patients may lose their ability to swallow.
Truth? I can’t
imagine that “Cebria” or any other nootropic pill will make Dad remember any
better. My biggest problem is that a person takes the pill and the first place
it hits is the stomach. The hydrochloric acid in the stomach helps the
molecules that break down food work better, the to “acidity” can vary between
1.5 to 5 (car battery acid up to acid rain). I can’t imagine the lactose,
glutamic acid, lysine, leucine, arginine, aspartic acid, serine, phenylalanine,
valine, threonine, tyrosine, isoleucine, histidine, methionine, and tryptophan
(the ingredients of the pill: http://www.topcognitiveenhancers.com/nootropic-reviews-seniors/cebria)
will last long in the stomach. Moreover, I can’t imagine that they will then be
taken up by the bloodstream and passed to the brain – which has a barrier set
up specifically to filter out “junk”. OK – so according to Wikipedia, it DOES
allow the passage of amino acids through the barrier (“ The blood–brain
barrier allows the passage of water, some gases, and lipid-soluble molecules
by passive diffusion, as well as the selective transport of molecules such
as glucose and amino acids
that are crucial to neural function.”)
The fact is that
these nootropic companies are in direct competition with real medicine – which can’t
find a cure (or even an effective treatment) of Alzheimer’s. The niche is open
at this moment and there’s a mad scramble to make a buck any way possible. I
include Big Pharma in that scramble as well…
HOWEVER…as I’ve
started to realize in my writing: “Evil” forces – especially in Humans – rarely
view THEMSELVES as evil. They’re just trying to find a solution to a problem
they perceive as life-threatening. While I am sure that there are drug
manufacturers whose sole goal is to rake in untold wealth while not caring a
fig about the destruction they leave in their wake; most of these companies “sincerely
believe” that they are doing good.
And therein lies
the tale…
Resource: http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2016/12/09/how-much-hope-is-there-for-alzheimers-drugs/#1bf392712602,
http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/mind-and-memory-supplement-scorecard,
http://www.alzheimers.net/stages-of-alzheimers-disease/
Image: http://az616578.vo.msecnd.net/files/2016/06/25/6360242025150255191939281878_Alzheimer-disease-patients.jpg
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