Scientists Find New Target For Alzhiemer's 107
GarryFre writes "Neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center have found a new therapeutic target that can potentially lead to a new way to prevent the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The target called neutral sphingomyelinase (N-SMase) is a protein which, when activated, can cause a chain of reactions in the cell leading to neuronal death and memory loss. Already a substance has been found that shows some promise in halting the progression of the disease."
Scary, scary illness (Score:5, Insightful)
I admit being truly scared of alzheimer's.
It may be completely irrational, but cancer looks much less scary in comparison.
Re:Scary, scary illness (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Scary, scary illness (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Hope for Pratchett? (Score:4, Insightful)
I think it's fair to say Alzheimer's research is getting a lot more press than it was getting even three years ago - before Sir Pterry made his announcement. He's done an enormous amount to bring Alzheimer's into the public eye, whereas previously it was the sort of thing people talked about in hushed tones when discussing the fate of an elderly relative, frequently not even daring to say "Alzheimer".
That alone has probably brought in more money for Alzheimer's research than anything else. Frankly, it's high time too. It's a cruel, cruel condition that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Not only does the sufferer slowly lose their mind, but their relatives get a ringside seat watching it happen in a sort of morbid horror show, unable to do a great deal but see the person they love die while their body keeps going.
Re:Scary, scary illness (Score:5, Insightful)
In the end, all you truly have, is your mind. Who you are, who you were, and who you will be, is all in your mind. Cancer kills the body... Alzhiemer's kills who you are, and who you could be, destroying your memory of who you were...
I agree, other diseases, such as cancer do not put as much fear into me, as much as Alzhiemer's.
Re:Scary, scary illness (Score:5, Insightful)
It may be completely irrational, but cancer looks much less scary in comparison.
They're both horrible diseases. Cancer is physically torturous, alzheimer's mentally torturous. Both are hell on the people who love the afflicted.
There are no good ways to die, but those two diseases have to be among the worst ways.
Re:Scary, scary illness (Score:1, Insightful)
No hope for Pratchett! (Score:5, Insightful)
I think it is not progressing surprisingly rapidly. Because I do have a partner with Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease, I follow the scientic news announcements, and I have to say that this particular news announcement is like many that are made almost every month. This is only talking about a potential target. It does not even talk about a possible medicine. If a medicine is found, it usually takes at least five year before it could become available for the general public. Even if this is a valid target, it could still take several years before finding a medicine that only works on the target. So, it could still take ten years before a medicine based on this target could become available.
Alzheimer's Disease is a progressive and fatal disease with an life expectancy of about 10 years after diagnoses. So, based on this facts I would conclude that this is no hope for Pratchett!
It is true that Alzheimer's Disease is now where cancer used to be fifty years ago. What many people don't know is that the total costs for Alzheimer's Disease, in the Western world, are already larger than the total costs for cancer, and are expected to rise rapidly in face of demographic developments, especially in Europe.
Re:Scary, scary illness (Score:5, Insightful)
My Grandmother passed away this past December but had Alzheimer's for many years, progressively getting worse over time. In addition to what you list, I'd like to add that it has a large impact on those that care about the person. As my Grandmother's Alzheimer's state worsened, my mother and uncle (her only surviving children) became very frustrated in trying to care for her. Caring for someone that doesn't even know you is rough. Trying to hold a conversation, only to repeat it, knowing that it won't be remembered, is frustrating. You essentially care for the body of someone who "died" already.
My family, probably like many others, has plenty of medical conditions to worry about. Alzheimer's is the one I fear above the others, not so much for what it will do to me, but for what it will do to those I love.
Mij
Re:Scary, scary illness (Score:3, Insightful)
And you don't need to buy new books. Just read the same one over and over again.
Unless you're Terry Pratchett; it won't be long before he writes the same one again.
You may be on to something. In addition to having to wait 22.3 years in order for a tragedy to become funny, there is also a certain window before hand during which it is also funny. IRT Alzheimer's, one might say, "[that author who committed suicide recently whose name I have forgotten] cured his Alzheimer's - with a bullet! What? Too soon?" Maybe a year (or ten - Alzheimer's is tricky that way) from now Terry Pratchet will be alive but suffering more from the disease, at which point the reception of your joke may cause you to say, "What? Too late?"
Re:I hope (Score:4, Insightful)
One would presume it would be regular medication, not a cure. This is just treatment for a symptom; which is a good thing.
Re:Scary, scary illness (Score:3, Insightful)
There are no good ways to die,
I wouldn't say that. Running along, healthy as a horse then suddenly keeling over at age 80ish seems a pretty good way to go. Lingering deaths pretty much universally suck, but there are ways to die (naturally) that are quick, relatively painless, and don't cause long-term stress and suffering for those that love you.
Re:Scary, scary illness (Score:3, Insightful)
In the end, all you truly have, is your mind. Who you are, who you were, and who you will be, is all in your mind. Cancer kills the body... Alzhiemer's kills who you are, and who you could be, destroying your memory of who you were...
I agree, other diseases, such as cancer do not put as much fear into me, as much as Alzhiemer's.
That's what I thought. Then I saw someone dying of breast cancer that metastasized to various parts of the body. When enough parts start failing, your brain starts getting less of the chemicals it needs and more of the chemicals that cause problems. Yeah, I've seen non-brain cancer make a person lose memory of what they did a few minutes ago, collapse into confusion and incomprehensibility punctuated by short moments of complete lucidity, and finally lapse into a coma that ended in death.
You know what? It ALL sucks. If it doesn't kill you instantly so you never experience it, dying is a hellish experience. Mind and body aren't independent - what hurts one hurts the other.
Re:Scary, scary illness (Score:3, Insightful)
Funny that. My dad has both and if I had to pick I'd say the Alzheimer's, by a wide margin, is hardest on him and his family. Its not just the forgetfulness, which is only one symptom, its the dementia and the loss of basic skills. He more or less lives in a dreamworld, never sure where he is, when it is, who he is. Its worse at night and during the day he seems okay, but he has no idea what is going on. He will sometimes latch onto a conspiracy theory like believing some stranger he just met is trying to hurt him or stole from him 20 years ago. His emotions are more or less out of control. He's lost most of his skills. Its not that he doesn't have the wherewithal to cook, its just he doesn't know how or exactly what an oven is anymore. Alzheimer's is like 100 diseases in one. Its really incredible how much damage it does and we're not even in the late stages.
Cancer on the other hand is difficult, but its not much more than driving him to the hospital for a chemo treatment every few weeks and dealing with the side-effects. If I had to pick, I'd pick cancer without a second thought. The treatments for it are much better. Alzheimer's is a guaranteed slow and painful death sentence that begins with the loss of one's self. I hate to say it, but I think the most humane thing would be if the cancer killed him before the Alzheimer's got worse. At a certain point they just lie in bed, crap themselves, cry, and scream. Man, how I wish there were better treatments or a cure for this. Its fucking awful.