WEDNESDAY, 6 JUNE, 6PM-10PM SOULED OUT SRI HARTAMAS RESTAURANT - FUND RAISING FOR ADFM

Dear Friends,  

COME JOIN THE FUN FOR A GOOD CAUSE !!!!!!  

   

SOULed OUT SRI HARTAMAS

FUND RAISING IN AID OF

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE FOUNDATION MALAYSIA (ADFM)

DAY / DATE  :  WEDNESDAY, 6 JUNE 2012

TIME  :  6:00pm – 10.00pm

VENUE  :  20 JALAN 30/70A, DESA SRI HARTAMAS, 50480 KL  

From 6pm to 10pm on Wednesday, 6 June, the Management and All Staff of the SOUL Society HQ, including Owners Fred Choo, The Commander In Chief and First Lady, Michelle Kwok, will be taking over the floor at SOULed OUT Sri Hartamas SERVING THEIR PATRONS WITH THEIR HEART AND SOUL -  to wait on tables and collect TIPS for CHARITY  !!!

SOULed OUT WILL MATCH THE AMOUNT OF TIPS COLLECTED BY THE HQ TEAM  FOR THE NIGHT,  to raise money for ADFM as part of their Annual CSR Programme.

So for service with a difference, drop by SOULed Out Sri Hartamas between 6pm and 10pm on June 6 for some fun time for a charitable cause !!!!!!

Please help circulate to your family members, business associates, and friends.  

DEAR FRIENDS, SEE ALL OF YOU THERE :)


From:  ADFM National Caregivers Network

Amyvid® Now Available To Diagnose Alzheimer’s

Beta-almyloid plaque is a marker for Alzheimer's Disease and for a number of years, the only way to find it was through a brain biopsy or an autopsy. Now a new test has been approved to help doctors diagnose the disease.

It's been an emotional day for 73-year-old Hilda McIntosh. Her son- a psychiatrist- started noticing mental changes in his mom about a year ago and wanted to have her checked for Alzheimer's Disease.

"Her memory isn't quite the same, she is repeating stories and becoming more forgetful," said Hilda's son.

Along with other exams, she also got a PET scan with a recently FDA-approved radioactive dye called Amyvid.

Dr. Rajan Agarwal of Abington PET/CT of Willow Grove says the dye travels through the bloodstream to the brain. If there are amyloid plaques, the dye will bind to them.

"This is the first scan of all the scans out there that actually looks for Beta-almyloid deposits in the brain," said Dr. Agarwal.

Simply because amyloid plaques are detected, doesn't necessarily mean the patient has Alzheimer's. This is just one piece of the puzzle but it does give doctors more confidence in diagnosing the disease.

"This would just help us determine if their cognitive impairment could be related to amyloid deposits in the brain, which might be related to Alzheimer's," said Dr. Agarwal.

Dr. Agarwal says if other tests also point to Alzheimer's, then medication can be started early to slow its progression.
Advertisement

The scans can also help advance research to find better treatments. This is something Hilda would like to see for the millions of people and their families affected with the disease.

"It's so painful. I would like to be a part of helping in any small way to find answers and bring this to some better level than it is today," she said.

There was other good news for Hilda - her scans were negative which means it's highly unlikely she has Alzheimer's Disease.

Regarding the new testing, the dye was just approved in April and it could start being used at more centers soon.

It's important to note that it is not a screening tool. It won't predict Alzheimer's but it can help lead to a more accurate diagnosis.

(Source : Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly, 3 June 12 -10 June 2012)

Tips from A Professor with Dementia

I am a retired physician and an Emeritus Professor of Medicine. I also have Alzheimer's disease.

Before my diagnosis, I was certainly familiar with the disease, having seen patients with Alzheimer's over the years in my internal medicine practice. But I was slow to suspect my own affliction.

Now that I've been diagnosed, I can trace my problems back some 10 years, to when I was 76. I had been chairing a monthly program in medical ethics, and I knew most of the speakers and found it easy and enjoyable to introduce them. Then, suddenly, I found I had to rely on prepared material to make the introductions. I started to forget names, though never faces. These kinds of lapses are common in aging brains, so it was easy for me to write them off to "senior moments"...

Since my improvement, I have developed a list of insights I'd like to share with others facing memory problems:

• Carry a small book and write notes whenever there's something you want to recall later.

• When you cannot remember a name, make a joke and ask the person to repeat it, then write it down.

• Read books.

• Take walks.

• If you cannot walk, exercise in bed.

• Draw and paint.

• Garden, if you can.

• Do puzzles and games.

• Do Try new things.

• Organize your day.

• Learn to prepare food, eat, dress, wash and go to bed in an efficient way.

• Eat a healthful diet that includes fish twice a week, fruits and vegetables and omega-3 fatty acids.

• A reliable and good-humored book on a serious subject is "The Memory Bible" by Dr. Gary Small.

Don't withdraw from your friends and your family. This is advice I had to learn the hard way. Afraid of being pitied, I tried to keep my condition a secret, and that meant pulling away from people I cared about. But now that I've decided to be open, I've been gratified to see how accepting people are and how willing to assist.

For the full-length story, go to The Los Angeles Times.

(Source : Alzheimer's & Dementia Weekly, 3 June 2012 - 10 June 2012)

Rays of Hope in the Fight Against the Spread of Alzheimer’s

Nearly five million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Experts predict the number will reach 16 million by 2050.

Scientists are working to prevent that projection from becoming a reality - or at least trying to find a treatment that will ease the effects of the debilitating, memory-robbing disease. In the past few months, Alzheimer's researchers have made notable progress that could one day lead to improved treatments for the disease or even methods of preventing it. Nonetheless for many of us who have loved ones with Alzheimer’s, breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s research have been slow to show promise.

"Science usually works in a slow, deliberate fashion," says Peter V. Rabins, M.P.H., M.D., director of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry & Neuropsychiatry at Johns Hopkins. "That is a strength, because it can prevent mistakes such as exposing people to drugs that don't work and that have serious side effects. But it leads to frustration in people when they or their loved ones have the disease being studied."

Here’s a brief overview of a few recent studies you’ll want to follow in the months ahead …

• Biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid in brains and spinal cords of people with mild cognitive impairment, the precursor to Alzheimer's disease, can predict Alzheimer's up to 10 years before symptoms appear. This finding can open the door to the development of new treatments that may stop the disease's progression early on.

• People who have amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), a condition in which the only difficulty is with memory, appear to be at increased risk for developing Alzheimer's. Patients with aMCI have more memory loss than normal for their age, but their symptoms aren't as severe as Alzheimer's are. A simple questionnaire can help identify people with aMCI, thereby allowing them to begin Alzheimer's diagnostic testing and treatment sooner rather than later. 

• Inherited early-onset Alzheimer's disease may be more closely related to late-onset Alzheimer's than previously thought. Scientists have found similar gene mutations in both forms, leading some experts to believe that each may have the same causes. Detection of the gene may give doctors a new tool to help determine the correct treatment approach in current Alzheimer's patients.

• People who participate in cognitively stimulating activities like reading, writing, playing games and solving puzzles throughout their lives tend to have fewer deposits of beta-amyloid in their brains as they age. Researchers have long suspected that keeping the brain active helps ward off Alzheimer's, but this is the first time they've been able to identify an underlying biological link.

(Source:  John Hopkins Health Alert, Posted in Memory on May 28, 2012)

Is Coconut Oil Effective For Alzheimer Disease?

(Source : Medscape, 30 May 2012)

Response from Gayle Nicholas Scott, PharmD, Assistant Professor, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, Virginia; Clinical Pharmacist, Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, Chesapeake, Virginia.

Coconut oil and a related medical food, Axona® (Accera, Inc; Broomfield, Colorado), are being promoted as treatments for Alzheimer disease (AD). Obtained from the kernel of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera),[1] coconut oil contains medium-chain fatty acids, predominately lauric acid but also caprylic, myristic, and palmitic acids. Medium-chain triglycerides are the esterified form of medium-chain fatty acids; the terms are often used interchangeably.[2] The active ingredient of Axona is caprylic triglyceride. In the published research available, the product is called AC-1202.[3-5]

Proponents claim that coconut oil and Axona provide ketones as an alternative to glucose for cerebral metabolic processes. Advocates of these treatments describe AD as "diabetes of the brain" and contend that the AD brain is better able to use ketones than glucose.[6] This theory is not widely accepted among AD clinicians and researchers,[7] but some speculate that ketogenesis might improve free radical-mediated pathologies associated with AD.[8]

Normally, metabolic energy comes from glucose. When glucose availability is reduced, the liver produces ketone bodies (primarily acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyric acid [beta-OHB]) as energy sources. Unlike the heart and skeletal muscle, the brain cannot use fatty acids as an energy source because it requires glucose or ketone bodies.[8]

Medium-chain triglycerides are more ketogenic than long-chain triglycerides, such as those in animal fat. Ketogenic diets, which are diets high in fat and low in carbohydrates and proteins, have been used since the time of Hippocrates for treatment of epilepsy; the mechanism is still unknown.[8] Ketogenic diets are still used in refractory epilepsy, but poor tolerance of the gastrointestinal side effects and dislike for the diet limit effectiveness.[9] Medium-chain triglyceride diets are better tolerated than classic ketogenic diets, which include more long-chain triglycerides. Because medium-chain triglycerides are highly ketogenic, patients can consume more carbohydrates, making the diet more palatable.[8]

Several theories have been proposed for beneficial effects of ketones in AD, including prevention of amyloid plaques, reduction of proinflammatory mediators associated with neurodegeneration, and a neurotrophic effect of cerebral ketone metabolism.[10] Studies with encouraging results using ketogenic diets in AD have been published.[10-13] In a 6-week clinical study of 23 elderly patients with mild cognitive dysfunction, a diet very low in carbohydrates, which increased ketone levels, improved memory function better than a high-carbohydrate diet.[10] In another preliminary clinical study of 20 persons with AD or mild cognitive impairment, administration of a medium-chain triglyceride beverage was associated with improvement on some cognitive measurements in response to acute elevation of beta-OHB levels 90 minutes after treatment in 2 single-dose study visits, but only in patients without the apolipoprotein E gene (n = 9).[14]

A literature search for coconut oil and AD revealed no clinical studies. A search for the medical food Axona yielded 1 manufacturer-sponsored study and 2 substudies.[3-5] In a 90-day, randomized, double-blind phase 2 study, 152 persons diagnosed with mild to moderate AD received Axona10-20 g/daily or placebo. The primary endpoint was improvement on the AD Assessment Scale-Cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog). At 45 days, patients receiving the study drug showed improvement on the ADAS-Cog, as noted in company advertising. However, scores were similar in both groups at day 90 and after a 2-week washout period on day 104. In patients without the apolipoprotein E gene, Axona was superior to placebo at both time points.[3]

According to the Alzheimer's Association, the manufacturer of Axona elected to market the product as a medical food rather than conducting phase 3 studies in a larger population to prove effectiveness. Medical foods do not require phase 3 studies.[15]

Both coconut oil and Axona are high in calories and saturated fat, but some research suggests that coconut oil neither increases weight nor adversely affects lipid levels.[2,16,17] Gastrointestinal adverse effects, particularly diarrhea, were frequent causes of discontinuation in the phase 2 study.[3] Coconut oil costs about $12 for 16 oz. Axona costs about $85 per month.

Currently, neither coconut oil nor Axona can be recommended for AD due to lack of credible effectiveness research. For patients or family members who insist on these products, suggest starting with a low dose and gradually increasing the dose to avoid adverse gastrointestinal effects. Healthcare providers should monitor for adverse effects and effectiveness and possibly increased lipid levels. 

Measuring Blood Pressure, Two Arms Are Better Than One

Odds are that when your doctor takes your blood pressure, he or she measures it in only one arm. Yet, guidelines from the American Heart Association have for some time recommended measuring blood pressure in both arms at a patient's initial visit - and findings from a recent study suggest why clinicians should routinely perform the two-arm measurement. The study, published in the Lancet, found that a substantial difference in blood pressure readings between arms indicates an increased risk of developing vascular disease and of dying from heart disease.

A gap between arms in readings of systolic pressure - the top number in the reading, which measures pressure in the arteries when the heart muscle contracts, or beats - can reveal impaired blood flow stemming from vascular diseases, specifically peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and cerebrovascular disease.

When researchers analyzed data from 20 studies involving 16,428 people, they found that a difference of 15 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or greater between arms was associated with more than twice the risk of developing PAD when compared with people who had smaller systolic variations. PAD occurs when plaque builds up in the arteries (atherosclerosis), mostly affecting the legs. The blockages, similar to coronary artery disease, increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

The study analysis also showed that a difference of 15 mm Hg or more was associated with underlying cerebrovascular disease caused by atherosclerosis in the arteries that deliver blood to the brain, which can lead to stroke or dementia. People in the study with at least a 15 mm Hg difference had a 60 percent increased risk of suffering from the disease.

The difference of 15 mm Hg or more was also associated with a heightened likelihood of premature death from heart disease or another medical condition. And the number of people showing such a gap wasn't insignificant. In one study the researchers analyzed for the Lancet study, up to 7 percent of participants had a difference of 15 mm Hg or higher.

Take away. But another compelling reason to check for a pressure difference between arms is to accurately identify the presence of hypertension, or high blood pressure. If a clinician measures blood pressure in only one arm, and the blood pressure is lower in that arm than in the other, he or she may miss hypertension. For that reason, as well as for potentially identifying a sign of vascular disease, having your blood pressure measured in both arms is certainly worth discussing with your doctor at your next visit

(Source:  John Hopkins Health Alert, 1 June 2012)

Study Finds: Having Purpose In Life Helps Fight Alzheimer's

New research suggests that having a purpose in life may help protect people from health issues such as Alzheimer's and other cognitive problems. In this preliminary study, scientists defined "purpose in life" as intentionally engaging in behaviors that one thinks are important.

Research done by Memory and Aging Project at Rush offers hope in fight against disease. 

Charlotte Morrison loves to walk, practice tai chi and paint with watercolors.  Morrison, 83, finds meaning in helping others who live with her in the Bethlehem Woods Retirement Community in LaGrange Park to express themselves. "Every morning, I ask myself, 'How can I help someone today?' My purpose in life is to help people," she said.

Morrison worked with developmentally disabled children and adults for 32 years, then cared for her husband for seven years before he died.

After Alzheimer's disease took his life, she joined the Memory and Aging Project at Rush University Medical Center, about 3 1/2 years ago. "I will do anything to help anyone figure out Alzheimer's. Now research is coming up with real results, finding ways of helping people live better with Alzheimer's. It's an honor to be part of something like this," Morrison said.

Some of this research, including a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry's May issue, has found that having a purpose in life can help protect individuals from health problems, including Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive disorders. The term "purpose in life" is defined as the tendency to be intentional, to engage in behaviors that one wants to engage in and thinks are important, said lead investigator Patricia A. Boyle, a neuropsychologist with the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences.

"(The research) is exciting. It suggests possible behaviors that everyone can strive toward and that promote cognitive health. People are asking what they can do to prevent Alzheimer's, to maintain cognitive function. Find things that are meaningful and that help you feel life is purposeful," Boyle said.

Alzheimer's disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, with 1 in 8 older adults, and 5.4 million individuals, suffering from it, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Symptoms of Alzheimer's disease include loss of memory and thinking ability and functional changes, including reducing the ability to care for oneself.

Boyle and her colleagues looked at information from 246 of the more than 1,500 older individuals enrolled in the Rush Memory and Aging Project, which began in 1997. It studies chronic aging conditions among those living in the Chicago area. For up to about a decade, participants had yearly clinical evaluations, with neurological and cognitive testing.

Participants tended to be older, with an average age of about 80, and began the study without showing signs of Alzheimer's disease. Once a year, they were asked to rate themselves on the answers to certain questions, including how much meaning they derived from life's activities and whether they were goal-directed or purposeful.

"We found that for two people with a similar amount of Alzheimer's changes, the one with higher purpose in life did much better with cognitive function over time," Boyle said.

After the participants died, brain autopsies were performed on them. The researchers then looked at the plaques and tangles that had formed in their brains. Plaques and tangles are protein deposits associated with Alzheimer's disease. "They prevent brain cells from communicating effectively with each other," Boyle said.

"There is increasing evidence that almost everyone has some amount of plaques and tangles," she said.

With this information in mind, the idea becomes helping people to cope and still do well, perhaps by developing a purpose, Boyle said.

"Purpose in life is something everyone can work toward," she said.

It is part of an overall sense of well-being, including contributing to society, being a productive person, having goals and a knowledge of what's important to you, working toward those goals and contributing to the world, Boyle said.

The daily challenges one faces, including working to pay the bills, can make it difficult to maintain a focus on how people are spending their "most important resource — time," she said.

"I recommend that people think of their priorities. Think of what's important and meaningful to you, and move in that direction," Boyle said.

These activities could include spending time with family, and, perhaps doing a different kind of work. "These bring a sense of wellness that is protective. Studies are showing that this promotes health," she said.

Morrison said her work at Bethlehem Woods as an advocate is consistent both with her earlier work as a teacher for the developmentally disabled and her work with Alzheimer's research.

"I want everybody's grandchildren to not have Alzheimer's," she said. "I think that people in general know people who've had Alzheimer's. We are hoping that it's something that can be cured. I think they are getting on the right track."

(Source:  Alzheimer's Association - Chicago Tribune , 23 May 2012 By Jessica Tobacman)

Smell Tests Don't Predict Alzheimer's, Study Finds - Misleading Reports May Create False Hope -- Or False Alarm

SMELL TESTS should not be used to predict Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, according to a new study.

Although there is a link between the two, Researchers found other medical problems may cause people to lose their sense of smell, and it may not necessarily mean they will develop the progressive brain disorder later in life.

"A nonspecific association between poor smell function and Alzheimer's dementia is not the same as actually being able to use a smell test to predict Alzheimer's," Dr. Gordon Sun, a General Otolaryngologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said in a University News Release.

"Unfortunately, this misinterpretation of the research has led to the promotion of these tests by the media and public figures like Dr. Oz," he added. "This study helps set the record straight about where the evidence currently stands."

In conducting the comprehensive review, the study's authors examined nearly 1,200 articles dating back to 1984. Two studies that tracked patients over time and 30 studies that evaluated patients at one specific point in time met inclusion criteria.

"Understandably, researchers, clinicians and the public are eager for a simple, accurate, and inexpensive way to predict or diagnose Alzheimer's early, but we're not there yet," argued Sun, who is also a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/U.S. Veterans Affairs Clinical Scholar at the University of Michigan Medical School.

"My concern is that by promoting smell tests at this point, we create false hope or even false alarm among seniors and their families," he said. "Additional research is needed before we can rely on smell tests to predict the later onset of Alzheimer's."

The study, published online on 10 May in the Journal Laryngoscope, concluded that patients visit their primary care physician if they are concerned about their risk for Alzheimer's disease.

(Source:  HealthDayNews, 10 May 2012)

Memory : Six Key Signs That Memory Loss May Be Serious

At least three-fourths of people over age 50 report that their memory is not as good as it was. The reality is that more than 90 percent of those who do complain about memory impairment do not have Alzheimer's or dementia. Many memory complaints reflect changes in ability over time but appear to be relatively minor and due to normal age-related changes in the function of the brain.

So how do you know if your loved one is part of the minority whose changes in memory are more serious and warrant an evaluation by a health professional?

Red flags - Momentarily forgetting someone's name or a specific word is actually normal and does not necessarily worsen with age. The following behaviors, in contrast, may be signs that something more serious is taking place:

1.   Difficulty with routine tasks. Trouble completing tasks that a person has done many times before, like figuring out a tip at a restaurant, filling out tax forms or managing a checkbook, is a real reason for concern.

2.   Getting lost. Another red flag is when a person becomes lost while walking or driving in a familiar place, even the person says the navigational difficulties were due to inclement weather or having to make a big detour. This too is a potential warning sign of early Alzheimer's or dementia that needs to be investigated further.

3.   Loss of recent memory. Forgetting what you had for dinner the day before or what movie you watched a few hours earlier is not always a sign of normal brain aging. Other warnings include forgetting important dates or events or repeatedly asking the same question.

4.   Forgetting simple words. People with Alzheimer's or dementia may also have difficulty following or joining in a conversation. They may stop in the middle of a sentence and be unable to pick up where they left off. This is different from the occasional difficulty coming up with a name or word.

5.   Poor judgment in financial matters. It's not uncommon for people with Alzheimer's or dementia to buy things they don't need, to give away significant sums of money to telemarketers or unscrupulous salespeople, or to repeatedly make donations in response to mailed or telephoned requests to legitimate organizations.

6.   Mood change. People with Alzheimer's or dementia may exhibit confusion, suspicion, fear, depression or anxiety, traits that they never had before.

Finally, when a person regularly complains about poor memory and mentions that it is worsening from the year before, it should be looked into.

(Source:  John Hopkins Health Alert, 14 May 2012) 

Does Namenda Work? Dr. Rabins Addresses a Difficult Question

In this excerpt from a recent issue of the Memory Disorders Bulletin, Medical Editor Dr. Peter V. Rabins confronts the difficult question: What do you do when a caregiver asks, "Dr. Rabins, do you think that Namenda is really working?"

Namenda (memantine) was widely available for about 20 years in Europe before it received approval in 2003 for Alzheimer’s disease therapy from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Namenda is approved for people with moderate and severe Alzheimer’s disease, but some doctors, including memory and dementia experts, offer it to all of their patients with Alzheimer's, regardless of the severity of their symptoms.

Many doctors who are specialists in Parkinson's disease and frontotemporal dementia are using Namenda for their patients with dementia symptoms, even though it is not FDA-approved for that. While it is perfectly within their purview to use a medication "off label" for Alzheimer’s disease if they feel it's warranted, I hope studies will be carried out to tell us whether Namenda does have positive benefits.

There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, so the goal of drug therapy for Alzheimer’s disease is to help manage the symptoms. Improvement in cognition is an indicator that Namenda might be working. Therefore, when a caregiver asks me if I think that Namenda is working or not for their loved one, I answer "yes" only when I can see an improvement on a scale that measures cognition or thinking.

Should you choose Namenda? The decision to use Namenda depends more on the preferences of the Alzheimer’s disease patient and his or her family than on the science. Many families and caregivers say, "If Namenda might help, even a little bit, I want my loved one to take it."

On the other hand, some families and patients say, "I don't want to take something that will only make a small difference." For these individuals, I work to get them as much information about Alzheimer’s disease as possible to help manage any behavioral or psychiatric symptoms and to address the financial, legal, ethical and social problems they are facing.

There is no "right" or "wrong" when it comes to this issue. It is the patient and family who should make the final decision, not the doctor. I feel the same way about stopping Namenda. It is up to the patient and family to decide once they are given the information in a balanced and fair manner.

However, colleagues whose opinions I value feel that a drug such as Namenda offers false hope and the benefit is so minimal that it should not be used unless family members feel strongly that they want to try it with their loved one.

(Source:  John Hopkins Health Alert, Posted in Memory on 7 November, 2011)