alzheimers news-follow the research

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-FOLLOW THE RESEARCH

after my mother was diagnosed with alzheimers disease i started reading more about alzheimers disease
then
my younger brother was diagnosed with it in his mid 50s
that really caught my attention so i began to read more about alzheimers research and knew it was important in finding a treatment and a cure

i realized it was probably too late for them 
later after i was diagnosed i started looking for research that might be promising in time to help me

i first volunteered to be in the torch studies at ut southwestern 
then
also at the same time i volunteered to be in the adni 2 alzheimers research study
both were not treatment studies but are fact finding studies using diagnostic testing like labs spinal taps genetic testing mri scans amyloid scans memory testing to follow folks long term to see what changes would occur as the disease progressed

i knew when my time in the adni 2 study was up that i would only be in studies that provided treatment that might be beneficial to me

early on 4 years before i entered the biogen aducanumab embark study i identified the aducanumab as one of those treatment studies 
i did about 3 years of infusions in that one and should restart it again soon
it is awaiting fda approval for use in mild cognitive impairment and early azheimers 

i also look for research studies that show promising things that are being looked at
eg
this one mentioned in this article is a good example

i have the apoe 4 gene 
i have the homozygous version ie i have 2 copies of the apoe 4 gene
about  14 % of the us population have one copy
about  2 % of the us population have two copies
half of the patients with alzhiemers disease has at least one copy ie apoe 4
the apoe 2 gene if you are lucky to get it protects you from alzheimers
the apoe 3 gene mildly protects you
so
if you could choose you want the apoe 2 gene

the apoe gene is involved in lipid metabolism
the apoe 4 folks have a problem with lipid metabolism
these lipids are important in the brain and blood vessels

choline is a nutrient found in eggs meat fish some beans and nuts
most folks dont take in enough of it
choline is used to make phospholipids that are used in the brain 
folks with the apoe 4 gene dont absorb as much choline as those with the apoe 3 or apoe 2 genes

the research in the article above implies that may be the reason folks with apoe 4 tend to get late onset alzheimers disease
its the lipid metabolism problem that occurs in apoe 4 patients

they looked at yeast cells with the apoe 4 gene placed inside the cell
adding choline made things more normal

now
they have incorporated the apoe 4 gene in mice and will feed them a high choline diet
if their theory is correct these mice with the apoe 4 programmed to get alzheimers may not get alzheimers disease

then
next
would be a study in humans

the scientists thinks that this preliminary evidence may mean that folks with the apoe 4 gene
ie me
might benefit from taking choline supplementation
clinical trials will show if thats true

clinical trials can sometimes take 5-10 years to complete
thats too long for me to wait

so for me
i have to look at these studies closely and follow the clinical trials
somewhere along the line i have to decide if i want to take choline supplementation

when these clinical studies are eventually done and reported 
it will probably be too late for it to help me
so
i have to follow the research closely and make my decision soon

i have been down this rabbit hole several times over the last 10 years only to find out later when the clinical studies are done that things didnt really work

i am willing to try things thats promising as long as no harm is done
maybe
ill just eat more fish and eggs and beans and nuts
except for fish i have those other three every day
maybe ill also add choline to my pill regimen

hopefully i dont fall down some rabbit hole 


the organicgreen doctor