Slashdot Log In
Scientists Claim Infrared Helmet Could Reverse Alzheimer's Symptoms
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Sat Jan 26, 2008 03:31 AM
from the feeling-light-headed dept.
from the feeling-light-headed dept.
penguin_dance writes "Ready to put on your thinking cap? There's a report out of the UK regarding an 'experimental helmet which scientists say could reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease within weeks of being used'. The helmet is to be worn for ten minutes every day and stimulates the growth of brain cells using infra-red light. The article explains, 'Low level infra-red red is thought to stimulate the growth of cells of all types of tissue and encourage their repair. It is able to penetrate the skin and even get through the skull.' Human trials are due to start this summer." I wont make any nomad-based predictions, but I'll remain on the skeptic side of the fence for now.
Related Stories
[+]
Alzheimer's Could Be a Third Form of Diabetes 251 comments
Atzanteol writes "Insulin, it turns out, may be as important for the mind as it is for the body. Research in the last few years has raised the possibility that Alzheimer's memory loss could be due to a novel third form of diabetes. Scientists at Northwestern University have discovered why brain insulin signaling — crucial for memory formation — would stop working in Alzheimer's disease."
[+]
Promising Blood Test for Alzheimer's 91 comments
The online edition of the British journal Nature Medicine has a study of a blood test for Alzheimer's disease, developed at Stanford. The test lights up if 18 specific molecules are present in a blood sample. Using samples of stored blood, the test proved 90% accurate in identifying people who had been diagnosed with the disease by other methods. It was also 87% accurate in distinguishing samples from people who do not have Alzheimer's but exhibit some other form of dementia. The numbers of samples involved were small — SFGate's writeup has some details. The Mercury News's article says the test's developers want to begin selling it to laboratories in 2008, for which FDA approval would not be required. They hope to get FDA approval for general use by 2009.
[+]
Alzheimer's Treatment Mooted 79 comments
aminorex writes "Enbrel (etanercept) has been immediately, markedly, and consistently effective in all Alzheimer's patients, according to a report in Science Daily. The original research article is available online at the Journal of Neuroinflammation web site. "We can see cognitive and behavioral improvement in a patient with established dementia within minutes of therapeutic intervention" comments one Journal editor."
"All Alzheimer's patients" may be over-optimistic, but according to the article, though the research it concerns has been heavily focused on a single patient, "many other patients with mild to severe Alzheimer's received the treatment and all have shown sustained and marked improvement."
[+]
Drug Shows Early Promise Against Alzheimer's 46 comments
The feed delivers news from Ars Technica about a new and promising treatment for Alzheimer's. The drug Etanercept works by disabling the functioning of a cytokine called TNFa, and reportedly caused immediate improvement — in minutes — in mental functioning in one Alaheimer's patient. Double-blind studies have not yet begun.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Full
Abbreviated
Hidden
Loading... please wait.
Spaceballs The Helmet! (Score:5, Funny)
[Playing with his dolls]
Dark Helmet: [In Dark Helmet voice] And now Princess Vespa, I have you in my clutches, to have my wicked way with you, the way I want to.
[In Vespa voice]
Dark Helmet: No, no, go away, I hate you! And yet... I find you strangely attractive.
[In D.H. voice]
Dark Helmet: Of course you do! Druish princesses are often attracted to money and power, and I have both, and you *know* it!
[In V. voice]
Dark Helmet: No, no, leave me alone!
[In D.H. voice]
Dark Helmet: No, kiss me!
[V]
Dark Helmet: No! Stop!
[D.H]
Dark Helmet: Yes, yes!
[V]
Dark Helmet: Oh, oh, oh! Ohhhh, your helmet is so big!
My only question... (Score:2, Funny)
Sunlight? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Plus older people tend to avoid the sun, as they can't stand the heat / brightness, quite apart from the cancer risks...
Still, on a lighter note:
Doctor: I'm sorry, Mr Smith, but your wife's symptoms match either Alzheimer's or AIDS.
Smith: *gasp* What can I do, Doc?
Dr: Well, I suggest you take her into town, and leave here there. If she finds her way home, wear a condom!
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Apparently the white hair on polar bears acts like optic fibre. It collects light over a larger surface than the bare skin of the animal and channels it to the body to keep it warm.
Fascinating Captain. (Score:3, Informative)
Never heard of this before. Too bad it's not true [stlawu.edu] and you are propagating another "urban myth" (although Polar Bears aren't especially urban).
Thanks for playing.
And now back to our regularly scheduled program.
Foil, then bake. (Score:2, Informative)
So... the next logical question is... (Score:5, Interesting)
What's up with Alzheimer's and helmets? (Score:2)
Skeptical and yet... (Score:5, Interesting)
Frankly, This is an illustration of why our process of developing medications is ridiculous. This may not work (though I resent that "wontwork" tag) but frankly there are at least 3 very promising treatments for Alzheimer's Disease in early trials. But because of the length and the way trials work, if they are successful none of them will emerge from trials early enough to help my father. And frankly, he and my family would be willing to try anything to help him. And in the end the worse outcome is that he doesn't get better. But we will never know. 10 years from now Alzheimer's may be no worse than severe diabetes, MS, Crohn's Disease or what have you: controllable, not curable with a quality of life equivalent to most other people. But because we would rather not kill a dying person to find out if we'll kill them or save them, my father will never get benefit of this.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Sorry, didn't mean to direct that toward you, this was actually meant to be a more general societal thing. Until people get over their sue-happy kick lately, all government entities are going to tread softly, I imagine, particularly those directly related to public hea
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I will grant that we are a sue happy society, but there's a reason for that. Being an American who's lived in Canada for a couple years I'm noticing there's a lot more government support and government agencies here. The government regulates the corporations so the average Canadian doesn't even need to think of suing. In the US on the ot
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Coffee is supposed to be brewed HOT. It is supposed to be served HOT. You spill HOT SHIT on you, and you GET BURNT.
That woman was sold a cup of coffee that was somewhere between 180-190 F. That's hot, sure. Starbucks sells hotter coffee -- actually the crap sold by starbucks is FAR too hot to drink and tastes like it's been overroasted and brewed too hot and kept too hot for too long, but nobody goe
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
No, actually the lawsuit was NOT frivolous. It was actually an exercise in corporate comeuppance.
The woman, who was elderly and rather frail, originally asked McDonalds to reimburse her for her medical bills incurred for treating second degree burns. While it may be necessary to BREW coffee at 205 degrees, it is not necessary (or prudent) to keep it on the warmer at that temperature, which McDonalds was doing.
The woman only brought the suit after McDonalds refused her request to compensate her medi
a lot harder than it sounds (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:a lot harder than it sounds (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Symptoms may be reversed in minutes--not weeks (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109091102.htm [sciencedaily.com]
From the article:
"An extraordinary new scientific study, which for the first time documents marked improvement in Alzheimer's disease within minutes of administration of a therapeutic molecule, has just been published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation.
"This new study highlights the importance of certain soluble proteins, called cytokines, in Alzheimer's disease. The study focuses on one of these cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF), a critical component of the brain's immune system. Normally, TNF finely regulates the transmission of neural impulses in the brain. The authors hypothesized that elevated levels of TNF in Alzheimer's disease interfere with this regulation. To reduce elevated TNF, the authors gave patients an injection of an anti-TNF therapeutic called etanercept. Excess TNF-alpha has been documented in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer's.
"The new study documents a dramatic and unprecedented therapeutic effect in an Alzheimer's patient: improvement within minutes following delivery of perispinal etanercept, which is etanercept given by injection in the spine. Etanercept (trade name Enbrel) binds and inactivates excess TNF. Etanercept is FDA approved to treat a number of immune-mediated disorders and is used off label in the study."
A bit optimistic (Score:3, Insightful)
Key points:
This is a case study of one patient.
Treatment was not double blinded. Patient's family and doctor knew about the treatment.
From the paper, the degree of improvement sounds a bit short of complete reversal of symptoms
Upon returning to the clinic one week following perispinal etanercept administration for his weekly dose the patient's wife and son confirmed that he had remained markedly clinically improved throughout the week, a fact which was remarked upon by the family [see Additional file 1]. He was noticed to be less reluctant to join in conversation. On re-examination by author ET prior to repeat dosing one week after the initial dose, the patient correctly identified the year, month, season, day of week and state. He appeared to answer with less frustration, and the examiner's impression was that there was reduced latency of response, and his affect seemed improved. On the FAS test for verbal fluency when asked to list all of the words that start with the letter F in 60 seconds he listed 8 words, and named 5 animals in 60 seconds.
The study author has a patent on this treatment strategy.
Severity of Alzheimer's dementia can vary dramatically from day to day, and many patients show periods of near-comp
But seriously, the weather (Score:3, Funny)
to the doctor to make sure there's nothing wrong.
After an exam, the doctor says, "You're physically okay, but you guys
might want to start writing notes to help you remember things."
That night they're watching TV when the old man gets up from his chair.
His wife says, "Where are you going?"
He says, "I'm going to the kitchen to get a glass of water."
She says, "Will you get me some Vanilla ice cream?"
He says, "All right."
She says, "Don't you think you should write it down?"
He says, "I don't have to write it down. Vanilla ice cream."
She says, "And could I have strawberries and whipped cream?"
He says, "All right."
She says, "Don't you think you should write it down?"
He says, "I don't have to write it down.Vanilla ice cream with
strawberries and whipped cream."
Twenty minutes later he walks in and hands her a plate of bacon and eggs.
She says, "You forgot my fucking toast."
Weasel words ftw... (Score:3, Insightful)
I guess I'm just a cynical bastard now, but having weasel words in a story like this whispers, "snake oil" or, "wishful thinking" to me. Maybe it's because all the people selling quack stuff are careful about how they say things for legal reasons, and now I put too much effort into scrutinizing how medical claims are worded. Call me when it's actually curing Alzheimers in a no-shit, double-blind, randomized study with more than a handful of participants.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Uh, they're scientists engaging in very preliminary research, and you're criticizing them because they're being honest about how experimental it is? They aren't making any medical claims whatsoever. They're just basically saying "we found this interesting result in rats, let's see if it also applies to humans."
Call me when it's actually curing Alzheimers in a no-shit, doubl
But... (Score:4, Funny)
Reminder (Score:3, Funny)
Your last words before doing so were "mom, I'm going back to my room now"
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes, infrared light can pass through the skull. In fact, there's a technique called fNIR (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) which uses a system of IR emitters and detectors to measure brain activity. Some links:
http://www.lab-times.org/methods/m_07_03.html [lab-times.org]
http://www.biomed.drexel.edu/fnir/Contents/brain_imaging/ [drexel.edu]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FNIR [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I have this image of brain cells getting depressed and just hanging around, slowly degenerating.