Alzheimer

Besides age, the biggest risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s disease is having a parent or other first-degree relative with the condition. A new study adds to growing evidence that inheriting it from your mother is much worse than inheriting it from your father. Researchers at the University of Kansas School of Medicine recruited 21 adult children (age 63 to 83) of Alzheimer’s patients who were still “cognitively intact.” They examined their brains using an MRI scanner on two occasions, two years apart. Then they compared those brain scans with those of 32 other healthy adults in the same age group with no family history of Alzheimer’s. Members of both groups had similar levels of education and cognitive performance. Though none of the subjects exhibited any outward signs of dementia, the brain scans revealed that the 11 people whose mothers had Alzheimer’s had lost significantly more gray matter over the 2-year period than the 10 people whose fathers had the disease and compared with the 32 people with two healthy parents. That cell loss was especially pronounced in two areas of the brain – the left precuneus (which plays a role in episodic memory, among other functions) and the left parahippocampas gyrus (which is involved in encoding and retrieving memories).

Cell phone radiation may fight Alzheimer's... in mice

The possibility that cellular phones have an impact on human health has generally been viewed in terms of the potential to do harm, primarily by inducing or promoting the growth of cancer. But a study that will be published by the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease may turn that all on its head. The study examined the performance of mice that received a daily dose of radiation similar to that produced by cell phones, and found that, over a period of several months, their memory improved. When the same procedure was performed with mice engineered to be predisposed to Alzheimer's pathology, it was actually able to reverse some of the cognitive decline. The findings are very preliminary, and need to be interpreted cautiously, but there's an interesting lesson in this.

Teste de Alzheimer

Fonte: aqui.

Question: How do you know if a person with Alzheimer's is close to the end? Are there signs?

Answer: Most patients will follow a series of changes as they progressively deteriorate as a result of Alzheimer's dementia. Patients in their final months will become less interactive, lose the ability to speak and communicate and become incontinent of both stool and urine. They eventually become bed-bound, as they no longer are able to walk or transfer.

They will no longer remember to eat, and often push food away if fed, and have progressive weight loss. As a result of these changes, they are more susceptible to infections such as pneumonias and urinary tract infections and are admitted to the hospital more frequently.

They may also develop bed sores and contractures (inability to extend and flex their joints). Some individuals become more agitated and disruptive. Other patients become withdrawn. Regardless, in these final stages, these individuals will require total assistance for all of their activities of daily living.

O crescimento assustador da doença de Alzheimer

Há já vários anos que doenças como "Alzheimer" e "Parkinson", entraram no léxico comum. Não temos background clínico, mas gostamos de acompanhar as tendências da saúde, numa perspectiva do ser humano.

Lemos isto: Mais de 100 milhões de pessoas sofrerão da doença de Alzheimer em todo o mundo em 2050. E ficamos muito preocupados, pois sabemos que a doença, para além de fatal, não permite qualquer qualidade de vida, após o seu diagnóstico.

Aqui, lemos mais detalhes sobre a investigação do Prof. Ron Brookmeyer, da Universidade Johns Hopkins:

• More than 26 million people worldwide have Alzheimer's disease, and a new forecast says the number will quadruple by 2050.
• At that rate, one in 85 people will have the brain-destroying disease in 40 years.
• "If we can make even modest advances in preventing Alzheimer's disease, or delay its progression, we could have a huge global public health impact," said Johns Hopkins public health specialist Ron Brookmeyer, who led the new study.

O estudo foi patrocinado por duas empresas farmacêuticas: a Wyeth e a Elan.

Alzheimer

A perda do juízo, sempre foi assustadora. Todos os seres humanos podem vir a estar sujeitos a ela.

Lemos este retrato, que nos deixa muito preocupados:

• ""Há doentes que são amarrados às camas em lares e hospitais" públicos, denunciou ao JN. Erika Marcelino, uma das psicólogas da APFADA, acrescentando que a falta de preparação do pessoal técnico conduz muitas das vezes ao "excesso de medicação". "A forma mais fácil de controlarem os doentes é entupi-los de medicamentos", afirma".

Independentemente das opções políticas ou de gestão, a humanidade deve ser um princípio que norteie os serviços de saúde.

Deixamos mais idéias aterradoras, que vinham na referida notícia:

• Maria do Rosário Reis, presidente da Associação Portuguesa de Familiares e Amigos de Doentes com Alzheimer (APFADA), não tem dúvidas em Portugal são "raríssimos" os técnicos especializados e até mesmo médicos sensibilizados para o tratamento de doentes com Alzheimer.
• Uma maior comparticipação nos medicamentos ou medidas a pensar nos cuidadores, como a redução de horário, são alterações legislativas pelas quais há muito luta.
• As comparticipações dos medicamentos rondam os 40% e as receitas têm de ser prescritas por neurologistas ou psiquiatras, o que é mais um entrave, alega Maria Rosário. Há poucos especialistas nessas áreas. "Um paciente que vá a um médico privado gasta na consulta o que poupa na comparticipação", afirma.
• Depois há imensos produtos essenciais que não são comparticipados, como as fraldas ou cremes.
• O paciente pode ainda fazer sessões de fisioterapia ou aulas de natação e se frequentar um dos poucos centro de dia existentes no país as despesas aumentam substancialmente .
• E numa fase mais adiantada da doença são necessárias três dessas técnicas para garantirem a vigilância dos pacientes de dia, à noite e aos fins-de-semana.