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The Myth of Alzheimer's Disease


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#31 AgeVivo

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Posted 13 May 2009 - 08:20 AM

Methylene blue might be the best discovery against Alzheimer so far.

Edited by AgeVivo, 13 May 2009 - 08:21 AM.


#32 missminni

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Posted 13 May 2009 - 12:08 PM

Some research does seem to exist in regards to illegals drugs such as Ecstasy and marijuana increasing the risk of AD and those drugs affect the neurotransmitters of the brain.


Nicotine administration results in upregulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.. nAch activation produces an antinflammatory and neuroprotective effect. Nicotine and its metabolites is being studied in therapies for ADD, alzeihmer's, and schizophrenia.... where the brain may have a defecit of endogenous nAch activity. NON-smokers are 50% more likely to develop alzeihmer's (and this is controlling for any shortened life expectancy in smokers)

Marijuana also prevents neurons from being over stimulated and under stimulated and has an antiinflammatory and neuroprotective effect. Learning impairments result from a decrease in glutamate excitatory transmission in hippocampus... but overall there is a neuroprotective effect and it actually promotes nerve growth and is beneficial for alzeihmers prevention.

TUrmeric (common spice in indian food) also looks promising in reducing plaque\tangles and increasing nerve growth factors.

I would agree MDMA in large recreational doses if not coadministered with antioxidants is bad for the brain.

Give old people drugs I say, if it gives them something to be mentally engaged about. Albert Hoffman (inventor of LSD) was incredibly lucid and coherent at over 100 years old.

My mother was on a nicotine gum program in the mid 1980's that was administered at John Hopkins. The result was excellent. She would call me from Baltimore and tell me how she could remember the layout of her apartment and remember words she was having a hard time with before. However the program was discontinued and my father was erroneously told that to continue my mother on nicotine gum might give her cancer since she was a former cancer patient. I don't believe nicotine gum gives one cancer...it is only when it is smoked that it causes cancer. Suffice it to say this is a sore spot for me and it is still difficult for me to accept that my mom died because of ignorance. As for marijuana, being nueroprotective, what great news. I always thought of marijuana as a way to calm the mind and they do call it the "weed of wisdom". What a pleasant way to stay healthy.

#33 Dmitri

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Posted 21 May 2009 - 01:16 AM

Some research does seem to exist in regards to illegals drugs such as Ecstasy and marijuana increasing the risk of AD and those drugs affect the neurotransmitters of the brain.


Nicotine administration results in upregulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.. nAch activation produces an antinflammatory and neuroprotective effect. Nicotine and its metabolites is being studied in therapies for ADD, alzeihmer's, and schizophrenia.... where the brain may have a defecit of endogenous nAch activity. NON-smokers are 50% more likely to develop alzeihmer's (and this is controlling for any shortened life expectancy in smokers)

Marijuana also prevents neurons from being over stimulated and under stimulated and has an antiinflammatory and neuroprotective effect. Learning impairments result from a decrease in glutamate excitatory transmission in hippocampus... but overall there is a neuroprotective effect and it actually promotes nerve growth and is beneficial for alzeihmers prevention.

TUrmeric (common spice in indian food) also looks promising in reducing plaque\tangles and increasing nerve growth factors.

I would agree MDMA in large recreational doses if not coadministered with antioxidants is bad for the brain.

Give old people drugs I say, if it gives them something to be mentally engaged about. Albert Hoffman (inventor of LSD) was incredibly lucid and coherent at over 100 years old.

My mother was on a nicotine gum program in the mid 1980's that was administered at John Hopkins. The result was excellent. She would call me from Baltimore and tell me how she could remember the layout of her apartment and remember words she was having a hard time with before. However the program was discontinued and my father was erroneously told that to continue my mother on nicotine gum might give her cancer since she was a former cancer patient. I don't believe nicotine gum gives one cancer...it is only when it is smoked that it causes cancer. Suffice it to say this is a sore spot for me and it is still difficult for me to accept that my mom died because of ignorance. As for marijuana, being nueroprotective, what great news. I always thought of marijuana as a way to calm the mind and they do call it the "weed of wisdom". What a pleasant way to stay healthy.


I'm not sure about Nicotine's safety especially after reading some of the studies Kismet posted on another thread:

Well, apparently nicotine is carcinogenic (at least in many animal models). One of the key effects seems to be increased angiogenesis.

I don't have time to read those studies, but they don't use unrealistic doses (they surely reflect nicotine intake from cigerattes). But what are the doses and administration methods of nicotine as a nootropic? (patch?)

HNO. 2006 May;54(5):369-72, 374-5.
[Does nicotine add to the carcinogenic strain of tobacco smoke?]
[Article in German]
Kleinsasser NH, Sassen AW, Semmler MP, Staudenmaier R, Harréus UA, Richter E.
"Nicotine induced dose-dependent DNA damage in all cell types at low cytotoxic concentrations that allowed viabilities well above 80%. The lowest nicotine concentrations eliciting a significant increase in DNA migration were 1 mM for tonsillar cells and 0.25 mM for all other cell types. CONCLUSION: Nicotine induces genotoxic effects in human target cells of carcinogenesis in the upper aerodigestive tract at relevant concentrations. Thus, nicotine may contribute directly to tumor initiation resulting from smoking."

Carcinogenesis. 2004 Dec;25(12):2487-95. Epub 2004 Aug 19.
Nicotine promotes gastric tumor growth and neovascularization by activating extracellular signal-regulated kinase and cyclooxygenase-2.
Shin VY, Wu WK, Ye YN, So WH, Koo MW, Liu ES, Luo JC, Cho CH.
"Athymic nude mice, with gastric cancer cells (AGS) orthotopically implanted into the gastric wall, treated with nicotine (50 or 200 microg/ml) in their drinking water for 3 months developed larger tumor areas than mice in the control group."

Nicotine promotes colon tumor growth and angiogenesis through beta-adrenergic activation.
Wong HP, Yu L, Lam EK, Tai EK, Wu WK, Cho CH.
Toxicol Sci. 2007 Jun;97(2):279-87. Epub 2007 Mar 16.

J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2004 Jan;308(1):66-72. Epub 2003 Oct 20.
Nicotine promoted colon cancer growth via epidermal growth factor receptor, c-Src, and 5-lipoxygenase-mediated signal pathway.
Ye YN, Liu ES, Shin VY, Wu WK, Luo JC, Cho CH.

Int J Oncol. 2006 Feb;28(2):337-44.
Estradiol and nicotine exposure enhances A549 bronchioloalveolar carcinoma xenograft growth in mice through the stimulation of angiogenesis.
Jarzynka MJ, Guo P, Bar-Joseph I, Hu B, Cheng SY.

Carcinogenesis. 2009 Mar;30(3):506-11. Epub 2009 Jan 8.
Nicotine stimulates pancreatic cancer xenografts by systemic increase in stress neurotransmitters and suppression of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid.
Al-Wadei HA, Plummer HK 3rd, Schuller HM.



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#34 N.T.M.

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Posted 13 April 2010 - 07:46 AM

As I understand it, predominantly the disease can be ascribed to extracellular aggregates.

Several vaccines have already been proven effective. They of course do nothing for the aftermath though. That job's for stem cells. ;)

Edited by N.T.M., 13 April 2010 - 07:46 AM.


#35 medicineman

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Posted 13 April 2010 - 11:53 AM

I am sorry for anyone who has lost a loved one to AD. But even though we don't know the exact biochemical deficiency or dysfunction, that does not mean it is a fake disease. It exists. There are genetic factors as well as environmental factors associated with it. There are distinctive patterns of brain atrophy on imaging and autopsy, as well as nuclear studies showing distinctive glucose uptake dysfunction in parts known all along, to be most affected with AD.

http://www.scienceda...71101122822.htm

here is a study regarding PET scans and dementia.

"PRECLINICAL AD
AD begins deep in the brain, in the entorhinal cortex, a brain region that is near the hippocampus and has direct connections to it. Healthy neurons in this region begin to work less efficiently, lose their ability to communicate, and ultimately die. This process gradually spreads to the hippocampus, the brain region that plays a major role in learning and is involved in converting short-term memories to long-term memories. Affected regions begin to atrophy. Ventricles, the fluid-filled spaces inside the brain, begin to enlarge as the process continues."

Here is a bit on the biochemical pathways related to AD.

http://www.nia.nih.g...2/hallmarks.htm

Even though the scientific establishment is slower when it comes to the genetics of AD, there are solid findings relating to AD.

http://www.nia.nih.g.../geneticsfs.htm

Here is just some other papers: MRI and brain atrophy pattern that predicts Alzheimers. http://www.scienceda...90210092719.htm

And here is an exciting new finding regarding the use of EEG to detect alzheimers.

http://www.aip.org/d...2006/15144.html

Finally, this is a good document, well worth the read if you are interested, about the biochemistry of Alzheimers disease.

http://www.benbest.c.../Alzheimer.html

#36 ceridwen

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Posted 11 February 2014 - 08:24 AM

I've got Alzhimmers. It's virulent. Nicotinamide does not seem to be working for me either. I always tried to exercise both mind and body so I feel really offended at the suggestion that if you exercise and keep your brain active you don't get it. This disease is most certainly NOT a myth!
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#37 username

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Posted 11 February 2014 - 11:05 AM

Nobody really said that you don't get it. It's all about probabilities -> You can decrease the chance of getting it.
You can live healthily and still get cancer, sure. But at least you tried your best to decrease the chance of getting certain cancers (e.g. smoking -> lung cancer).
Nobody doubts that people who are diagnosed with Alzheimer's are sick and need some kind of treatment. People here questioned its alleged origins and current treatments, though.

#38 erzebet

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Posted 25 July 2014 - 07:37 PM

I am very open about new hypotheses but this topic was a stopper for me.

 

If you think AD is a myth, please visit any psychiatric ward or nursing home. Alzheimer is as real as it can be.

There are several types of dementias, Alzheimer often being intricated with vascular dementia - still it has characteristic hippocampus atrophy, severe cortical atrophy on the MRI or CT imaging and these patients fail at basic cognitive tests (Mini Mental State Examination is the standard here).

 

When I first learnt about MMSE I honestly thought that's a too simple test, until I started using it on patients - it's no joke, these people forget everything. During the final stages of their disease they even forget how to walk and how to eat. It's horrible and sad - for them and for their partners. I saw my fair share of highly-educated AD patients and I did notice a connection between depression, alcohol consumption and most vascular risk factors. This disease can strike anybody.

 


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