Marinduque Mainland from Tres Reyes Islands

Marinduque Mainland from Tres Reyes Islands
View of Marinduque Mainland from Tres Reyes Islands-Click on photo to link to Chateau Du Mer

WELCOME TO MY SITE AND HAVE A GOOD DAY

If this is your first time in this site, welcome. It has been my dream that my province, Marinduque, Philippines becomes a world tourist destination not only during Easter Week but also whole year round. You can help me achieve my dream by telling your friends about this site. The photo above is your own private beach at The Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort. The sand is not as white as Boracay, but it is only a few steps from your front yard and away from the mayhem and crowds of Boracay. I have posted some of my favorite Filipino and American dishes and recipes on this site also. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on infringement of your copyrights. Cheers!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Cure for Alzheimer's Disease Coming Soon



As a member of the senior community and formerly involved in the development of new drugs, the following news just released by Associated Press excites me beyond imagination. If this news turns out positive, I feel the discovery of these three Alzheimer's drugs will be a historic event in drug development in the US. It will prolong the lives of millions of senior citizens all over the world. Here's the article for your reading pleasure.

Hopes for the Cure of Alzheimer's Coming Soon? By MARILYNN MARCHIONE(AP) We're about to find out if there will be a way anytime soon to slow the course of Alzheimer's disease. Results are due within a month or so from key studies of two drugs that aim to clear the sticky plaque gumming up patients' brains.

A pivotal study of a third drug will end later this year, and results from a small, early test of it will be reported next week at an Alzheimer's conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

These three treatments are practically the "last men standing" in late-stage trials, after more than a decade of failed efforts to develop a drug to halt the mind-robbing disease. Current medicines such as Aricept and Namenda just temporarily ease symptoms. There is no known cure.

Experts say that if these fail, drug companies may pull out of the field in frustration, leaving little hope for the millions of people with the disease. An estimated 35 million people worldwide have dementia, which includes Alzheimer's. In the U.S., experts say about 5 million have Alzheimer's. The three treatments being tested are not even drugs in the traditional, chemical sense. They are antibodies — proteins made by the immune system that promote clearance of amyloid, the stuff that forms the plaque.

It's a strategy with a checkered history, and scientists aren't even sure that amyloid causes Alzheimer's or that removing it will do any good in people who already have symptoms. But there are some hopeful signs they may be on the right track. "Everybody in the field is probably holding their breath that there is something positive to come out of these trials," said Dr. Ronald Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.

"It may not be a home run" in terms of improving memory and cognition, but if brain imaging or spinal fluid tests show the drugs are hitting their target, "they will be regarded as successes," he said. William Thies, scientific director of the Alzheimer's Association, agreed. Even if there is just a small effect, "that would be a huge finding because that would let you know you had a drug that worked," he said. It then could be tried as a preventive medicine or given earlier in the course of the disease when it may have more impact.

The three drugs and their developers are: _Bapineuzumab (bap-ih-NOOZ-uh-mab), by Pfizer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy unit. _Solanezumab (sol-ah-NAYZ-uh-mab), by Eli Lilly & Co. _Gammagard, by Baxter International Inc.

All are given as periodic intravenous infusions; some companies are trying to reformulate them so they could be given as shots. If a major study shows that one of the drugs works, there will be a huge effort to make it more convenient and practical, Thies predicted. Still, it would probably be very expensive.

The first two on the list are lab-made, single antibodies against amyloid. Gammagard is intravenous immune globulin, or IVIG — multiple, natural antibodies culled from blood. Half a dozen companies already sell IVIG to treat immune system and blood disorders. It takes 130 plasma donations to make enough to treat one patient for a year.

Treating Alzheimer's with IVIG would cost $2,000 to $5,000 every two weeks, depending on the patient's weight, said Dr. Norman Relkin, head of a memory disorders program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He consults for some drugmakers and has patents for tests that measure amyloid.

Relkin is also leading a late-stage, 400-patient study of Gammagard that will wrap up late this year. A much smaller, earlier study he led showed less brain shrinkage among people receiving the drug than among those getting dummy infusions. "It was so startling that I sent it to two laboratories for independent verification," Relkin said.

Next week, at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Canada, Relkin will give a three-year progress report on 16 patients out of the original 24 enrolled in that earlier study.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice article. Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer disease can be prevented if the symptoms are known. Alzheimer disease patients should use coconut oil.
Alzheimer Disease Treatment

Marian said...

I have decided to make this post or testimony public. My husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s ten years ago. I loved my husband very much, and it was heartbreaking to have him develop Alzheimer's disease and to stand by and watch him decline in his ability to take care of himself, struggling with day-to-day tasks. It takes away his memory and eventually the ability to do basic tasks. Alzheimer’s doesn’t just affect the person who is diagnosed — it also turns your world as a caregiver, upside down if your loved one is grappling with the condition. To be clear, there is no pharmaceutical medicine, no magic pill that has any significant effect on the progressive downhill course of this disease. Not until we use an Herbal Medicine called BRONGEE that puts an end to it. He has been well and living his best life. While there may be other different options. Never make your own success path a secret. There should be no shame. Contact Dr. Rohan with dr.rohanronjohn@gmail.com, It may also help you too.

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