alzheimers news- much adu

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-MUCH ADU

i am hoping that the following is a
game changer
for myself my siblings
and
all those infected with alzheimers disease
for all those who will be infected with alzheimers

if you have not read my recent blog titled its time
then consider reading it first before preceding further

the amyloid theory for alzheimers is that beta amyloid
accumulation in the brain causes alzheimers disease
if you remove the beta amyloid
alzheimers is controlled or if we are lucky cured

now enter 2016
there are now drugs that do this are being studied right now
to see if they work

if they do
they could be approved by the fda in 2-3 years
maybe sooner

so
since i have mild cognitive impairment amnestic type
the precursor to alzheimers disease
i may be a good candidate for this drug

in theory
if i take one of these drugs
if it works
my disease will be stopped in its tracks
maybe prevented
maybe controlled

in the next 5 years we will know if this stuff really
does what it suppose to do

so
yesterday my wife she and i got up at 500 am
made the 3.5 hour drive to
the alzheimers disease center at the
university of texas southwestern medical school
to
do my annual evaluation there
but
also
to get more information about a new treatment study
on patients with my diagnosis
mild cognitive impairments amnestic type
and
those with positive amyvid pet scans showing the bad
bad beta amyloid in the brain
the hallmark of alzheimers disease

we met with the head of the department there
with the research director who is running this new study

this new drug is called aducanumab
for short i call it the adu drug

this is what i called an alzheimers vaccine
it is an antibody that will be given as a monthly infusion
lasting an hour for maybe up to 180 weeks

in theory it goes into the brain removing the beta amyloid
from the brain and spinal fluid
if this works two things would be noticed

one
the amount of beta amyloid in the brain gets decreased
so you can see on the amyvid pet scan the marked decrease

two
a persons memory gets better or stays the same
it doesnt worsen
im hoping for the gets better version

now
in phase 1 studies of the adu drug
thats what happened
the amyvid scans got better
folks memory improved

so the company biogene skipped over phase 2 studies
directly to phase 3 studies

after 18 months if this stuff seems to work
the company will apply for fda approval

alzheimers drugs like some cancer drugs get fast track approval
by the fda
it could be available for the general population in 2-5 years

so what i just wrote is
there is a drug that may treat actually treat alzheimers disease

not like aricept which only treats symptoms not the disease
its probably one of the reasons i am better
but i know that effect will eventually end

that this new drug may be available in two years

so pay attention if you are at risk for this disease
it probably will be used eventually in folks
that
do not have symptoms yet
like
my siblings and relatives
and
yours

at ut southwestern they will be signing up 20 people for this study
lucky for me is that i am the first person they will be signing up

so
yesterday
i did some of the initial medical history stuff
got a neurological history and physical by the head of the department
got a memory test

like i told the examiner the memory test i hate the most
not the scans not the blood draws not the spinal taps not the infusions

so
i was given the 25 page consent form to review
i decided there is nothing in that form that will prevent me from doing this
it will take 33 trips to ut southwestern over 180 weeks to get this all done

next
i will do more medical history stuff
do more memory testing
they draw 240 ml thats about 50 tsps of blood
then
thats all submitted

if i pass those tests
then i do a mri maybe another spinal tap
my previous mris are normal
my previous spinal tap shows a decreased beta amyloid with low tau protein
the hall mark sign of alzheimers disease
then
the test that i have been waiting for
the amyvid pet scan that will show if i have beta amyloid in the brain

if its positive
they only take positive folks
i am in

plus i finally will know for as sure as one can that i have it
alzheimers disease

now i dont get to see the scan
but
if i enter the study that means the scan was positive

then
i do the monthly infusions for 18 months
getting more mris and blood tests and memory tests along the way

i will either be in the treatment group
or
the placebo group

at the end of 18 months
all placebo folks and all who got the real stuff
have the option to go another 100 weeks of treatment with
aducanumab

hopefully by the end
this stuff will be on the market

if accepted
if this works
i will get close to 4-5 years of treatment with an iv infusion
that hopefully will stop my alzheimers disease in its tracks
or
will regress it significantly

a real life changer for myself   my wife she   and my family


if it works i could see my granddaughter ms b
graduate from
elementary
middle school
high school
college
get married
have kids
something
i never thought i would be thinking

i realize this is not a guarantee
there may be side effects that show up that shuts this drug down
so far this one and others are not showing much of these side effects
except high doses of it might cause problems

but
as i read the potential side effects
you know you see them on your pharmacy prescription sheets
see them on tv at the end of the commercials
nothing in there scares me enough
since
i realize the side effect of not doing anything is much worse

ive seen it in my mom and my,younger brother
sorry
thats not the way i want to end all this

now
when this comes on the market it is expected to cost
close to $20,000 a year
if i get in the study i will get $100,000 of free drug
and
may get it free even longer if it gets continued

so here at the country n
my wife she and i are excited to be considered for this
ground breaking possibly historical drug study

smiles do abound around here today

its much adu about a lot

for more info on this study and contact information
go to this link for the alzheimers center ut southwestern
yes thats me and my wife she in that video

or
this link for the study being done in other states

here is an article on this drug

the organicgreen doctor