Could Alzheimer's be Caused by Inflammation?

Contributed by: Dennis Fortier, President, Medical Care Corporation
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As with all unsolved scientific problems, hypotheses are constantly developed, modified, and tested with each new study shaping the ongoing debate in some way. In terms of the question "What Causes Alzheimer's?", the hypothesis that inflammation is the culprit has long been discussed and, to some degree, tested in the lab.

The LA Times ran an interesting article this week highlighting the inflammation hypothesis and describing its merits. It's a good overview of a theory that is not considered central by leading thinkers today, but may well have merit.

One quote in the article suggests that this is a "very new" way of thinking about the problem, but that is not really true. Inflammation has been fairly well scrutinized for its role in the Alzheimer's disease process. The current scientific emphasis elsewhere (primarily on the amyloid hypothesis), merely suggests that inflammation is not the most compelling avenue according to most of the experts in the field.

However, most would agree that inflammation may play some role in the complex cascade of pathology associated with this disease.
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A better understanding and more awareness of Alzheimer's related issues can impact personal health decisions and generate significant impact across a population of aging individuals. Please use the share buttons below to spread this educational message as widely as possible.

Medications that can Impair Memory

Contributed by: Dennis Fortier, President, Medical Care Corporation
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Amid the stream of press about memory loss, there is an obvious focus on Alzheimer's disease. There is less prevalent coverage of other memory-impairing medical conditions such as depression and thyroid disorders, to name a couple. However, there is scant attention paid, and in fact few online resources that I have located, focused on medications that are known to impair memory.

I noticed this short story at NewTimes.com and I thought it should be shared. It is written by Dr. Beata Skudlarska, a geriatrician in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

While the article largely debunks the notion that Lipitor and other statins cause memory loss, the author recognizes that there is evidence of such side effects in about 2% of the population. More importantly, the article names other specific drugs that are known to be associated with memory disturbances.

Reference is made to certain drugs in all of the following categories:

• Tranquilizers
• Anti-depressants
• Anti-psychotics
• Pain killers and muscle relaxants
• Stimulants

Reference is also made to certain drugs for treating the following conditions:

• Upset stomach
• Incontinence
• Allergies
• Stomach Cramps
• Allergies
• Seizures
• Asthma
• Arthritis
• Inflammation

It is a short article, it is well written, and doesn't appear to be selling anything other than expert medical advice. If you have any memory concerns that you think might be related to medications you take, I recommend you follow this link and read it.
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A better understanding and more awareness of Alzheimer's related issues can impact personal health decisions and generate significant impact across a population of aging individuals. Please use the share buttons below to spread this educational message as widely as possible.

Infection, Inflammation, and Memory Loss

Contributed by: Dennis Fortier, President, Medical Care Corporation
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A study out of the University of Southampton and published this month in Neurology is generating lots of coverage in the popular press. Most of the headlines indicate that infection accelerates memory loss but the story must be considered a bit more carefully.

First of all, it must be considered that the participants in this study all had Alzheimer's disease. Although it is important to understand the health factors that might exacerbate cognitive decline due to Alzheimer's disease, it is also important not to generalize these findings too broadly beyond the scope of the research. Importantly, this study did not conclude, as some headlines suggest, that every common cold will reduce your ability to store and retrieve information from memory.

Secondly, the study focused on the presence of inflammation (as a surrogate marker for infection) and its relationship to cognitive decline. Researchers have known for some time that there is a relationship, albeit a poorly understood relationship, between inflammation and memory loss. This study suggests that there may be a connection between infection and memory loss but makes no bold conclusions about what that connection entails.

Bottom line: many of the headlines I have seen on this study have overstated the strength of any proven relationship between infection (which can cause inflammation) and memory loss.

A better understanding and more awareness of Alzheimer's related issues can impact personal health decisions and generate significant impact across a population of aging individuals. Please use the share button below to spread this educational message as widely as possible.

Alzheimer's Disease and Stem Cells

Contributed by: Dennis Fortier, President, Medical Care Corporation
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The scientific process can be long and slow. In fact, the very nature of science is to be deliberate, comprehensive, and redundant as a means of objectively elevating hypotheses into facts.

You may have seen headlines this week about a potentially important discovery from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia. The researcher's (Bryce Vissel and Andrea Abdipranoto) findings published in the journal Stem Cells suggest that excessive inflammation can prevent the brain from repairing itself properly. They also have hypothesized that a certain brain chemical, activin A, can suppress inflammation and allow the brain's stem cells to stimulate repair.

This is early stage research performed in mice and, as noted, the scientific process is generally long and arduous. But this is a new finding that may shed some important light on the disease process in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. I suspect we will be hearing more about this.