alzheimers news-will this old drug help

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WILL THIS OLD DRUG HELP

there has been an observation over the years that folks who have undergone chemotherapy and folks who have or are being treated for rheumatoid arthritis tend not to get alzheimers disease or dementia

why is that

in the theory of how alzheimers disease develops
first amyloid accumulates in the brain as amyloid plaques
these plaques kill brain cells
second later tau proteins inside the brain cells unwind and get deposited in the brain as tau tangles
these tangles cause brain cells to die
third later an inflammatory reaction sets in and this reaction leads to more brain cell destruction

to treat or prevent alzheimers disease drugs or techniques have to be developed that stops these three steps in alzheimers development

my drug biogen aducanumab removes the amyloid
it decreases tau tangles some
it decreases the inflammatory response some

my guess and its many scientists guess is that it will take at least three drugs each attacking each of these amyloid tau and or inflammation

back to rheumatoid arthritis
the mainstay in treating rheumatoid arthritis is using drugs to prevent or treat the inflammatory reaction that occurs in rheumatoid arthritis
rheumatoid patients have a high amount of immune stimulation going on
this may be why rheumatoid patients dont seem to get alzheimers

an older drug already approved for use in in cancer patients is being looked at as one of the repurposed drugs for alzheimers treatment

this drug called leukine generic name sargramostim is used to stimulate the immune system in cancer patients
it affects and stimulates the immune system that may help with the inflammation seen in alzheimers

here is an article on the research with links to more information

patients with alzheimers disease were given this leukine for 3 weeks then memory tests called mmse commonly used in office settings to test for memory loss were done
they found an increase in memory scores in these alzheimers patients

remember memory scores in alzheimers tend to go down not get better

so the leukine seems to be doing something that may help
its probably affecting the immune system in a positive wave to decrease the inflammation in the brain
just like what happens with rheumatoid arthritis

a much larger study is being done sponsored by the alzheimers association and nia to see how well it works
these larger studies last longer and involve more patients

this drug leukine or sagramostim is already fda approved for use
if it worked it or even if it helped some it could be ordered on patients to help slow down the disease

when will these results be ready and will it be ready in time for me
it could be up to 5 years before we know
that may be too late for me 

if it showed it may help i would definitely take it

in the meantime
i will stick to what im doing now
plus
in april i will finish my reevaluation for continued aducanumab infusions at ucla
also
in june or july the fda will decide whether or not they will approve it for use in alzheimers disease
either way 
i will get it for another year and a half

here is hoping the leukine drug helps

we will take help anywhere we can get it

the organicgreen doctor