From the first moment I discovered my dad had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, it seemed like I was alone in this ugly place. Even ones who had loved ones suffering in this way; even though people TALKED about the disease, it felt for me like they did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I added a section to this blog…
VERY sporadically, I’ll be highlighting Alzheimer’s research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today:
“FDA Approves a Second Alzheimer's Drug That Can Modestly Slow Disease” PLUS “First-of-its-kind test can predict dementia up to nine years before diagnosis”
“Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have developed a new method for predicting dementia with over 80% accuracy and up to nine years before a diagnosis. The new method provides a more accurate way to predict dementia than memory tests or measurements of brain shrinkage, two commonly used methods for diagnosing dementia.”
“U.S. officials have approved another Alzheimer’s drug that can modestly slow the disease, providing a new option for patients in the early stages of the incurable, memory-destroying ailment. The Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly’s Kisunla…for mild or early cases of dementia caused by Alzheimer’s.”
DO YOU SEE THE POSSIBLE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS???
IF doctors and scientists are able to consistently predict dementia using fMRI scans from 1,100 volunteers taken from a UK database holding a half a million participants. From that study, they can then estimate the strength of connections between ten regions of the brain that make up the most significant parts of the brain.
After they figure out that I’m a candidate for developing Alzheimer’s, they should be able to the new drug to slow the disease SOME during the early stages of the disease – more specifically “for mild or early cases of dementia caused by Alzheimer’s.”
While no use for Dad, and ALSO given that knowing that I had/have a sporadic fear that with my dad diagnosed with Alzheimer’s I’m more likely to be diagnosed with it ANY DAY NOW!!!...
Yeah, I know, my own brain drives me crazy sometimes! (OH! “Crazy” is not the same as “Alzheimer’s”!
Finally, I searched and found this: “…statistics related to the risk of developing Alzheimer’s in your lifetime digs up some 3 million hits from Google!
I COULD pore over them and feed my fear, or I could accept the reality that if I’m 60 years old today (I’m currently 67) the odds of developing Alzheimer’s are 4.8%, or in other words, there is a 95.2% chance that I WON’T develop the disease.”
You (like me) might as, “is that a general chance or does it include people whose parents were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s?” The research reaches the following conclusion, “If you have a first-degree relative with Alzheimer’s disease (e.g. mother, father, sibling), your risk of developing the illness is about two to three times higher than someone else your age who doesn’t have a family member with the illness.”
OK – that seems straightforward. That puts my chance of developing Alzheimer’s at (using 2.5 times 4.8 = as likely) at 12%. That’s two chances in twenty-five or about one in twelve; twelve and a half to be precise. So, if we put twelve and a half people in a room, I will have Alzheimer’s, eleven others will not, and there will be a grisly murder for someone like Hercule Poirot to solve. (Which, being in a writing state of mind, puts an idea into my head…)
So, I live in the decade where it has become to not ONLY figure out if I’ll develop Alzheimer’s, it’s now possible to TREAT that diagnosis.
While I’m certainly not immune, I can add to the reasons that it’s unprofitable to worry about being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I hope it helps you as much as it quieted my own heart; ‘cause it helps a bit.
Resources: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240606152250.htm,https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2024-07-02/fda-approves-a-second-alzheimers-drug-that-can-modestly-slow-disease
Image: https://www.charities.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ADR.png
