Attached is an optimistic article on Aducanumab, a new drug being developed by Biogen that (hopefully) shows the possibility of slowing cognitive decline in dementia patients (there was also an earlier Times Video this week about the drug…link below).
But…Wow…did the second sentence skip right to the stock rise as a result of this promising drug. Ka-Ching. Ka-Ching.
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to get any drug tested, let alone manufactured, without a massive amount of money behind it, and, in this particular case, because, depending on which report you read, there are anywhere from between 5 million to 6.5 million Americans who are living with Alzheimer’s and related dementia, the need to help these men and women is great indeed and, therefore, the amount of money to be made on this drug if it does indeed prove in expanded trials to be effective is downright staggering. Alzheimer’s is a worldwide horror, so I understand cutting to the money chase.
My mother died of Alzhiemer’s and my husband’s mother died of vascular dementia so I champion and welcome the research, the testing, the reports. I only wish that in these articles attention is also paid, while everyone is busy hoping for and waiting for a much needed drug cure, to interventions and technologies that can enhance the daily lives of men and women living with Alzheimer’s and related dementia.
Home caregivers have a rough time – very often someone in the family has to give up working in order to care for a parent or spouse or relative at home, because dedicated Alzheimer’s facilities are expensive. Very often these home caregivers are cast in the role of “nurse,” but without the training and without the salary. Very often these home caregivers have to pull tricks of care out of their hats 24/7/365 without any relief, without any near end in sight…because the disease can linger on for many, many years before the unfortunate host often dies of something else entirely. Like pneumonia.
But in the meanwhile what is a caregiver to do? There are modalities that can soothe the souls of those living with dementia and Music Therapy, Therapeutic Music Listening, Art Therapy and Movement Therapy are just a few of them.
These technologies are not cures of course, rather they are tools that can be used to alter aggressive or frightened moods, lull one into sleep, tease out bits of conversation and positive memories, brighten a day’s mood through the use of music of personal preference, or music that is known to have been favored in the past.
Art is food for the soul…painting or drawing or just the simple act of using a coloring block and bring calm and pleasure to someone with dementia.
So, too, movement therapy, which can be physically soothing and help with sleep and general moods.
If there is someone in your life with Alzheimer’s, or if you know of someone who has Alzheimer’s or related dementia whose caregivers could use a little “help” while we (all) await a drug cure, I have included below a few links that I hope will be useful in that endeavor.
I hope Biogen’s new drug becomes widely available if it is effective. In the meanwhile, not everything great comes in a pill bottle.
Great things can be heard in song, or seen within the pages of a photo album, or explored in the works of art on a wall…or in the pages of a coloring book with the help of a box of crayons. They all helped my mother.
Maybe they can help someone you know. I hope so, and I share it all for what it is worth.
The Mayo Clinic: How can music help people who have Alzheimer’s Disease?:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/expert-answers/music-and-alzheimers/faq-20058173
The Mayo Clinic: How can music help people who have Alzheimer’s Disease?:
http://ccn.upenn.edu/chatterjee/anjan_pdfs/Chancellor_ArtTherapy_AD_JAD.pdf
American Music Therapy Association:
http://www.musictherapy.org/
Music Has Power: The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America:
http://www.alzfdn.org/EducationandCare/musictherapy.html
American Music Therapy Association:
http://www.todaysgeriatricmedicine.com/news/story1.shtml
How Art Therapy enhances the quality of life for Dementia Patients:http://www.alzheimers.net/2014-04-29/art-therapy-for-alzheimers/
Dance Movement Therapy and Alzheimer’s Disease:
http://www.adta.org/resources/Documents/Info-Sheet-DMT-Alzheimer-s-with-Resource-Bib.pdf
Biogen Idec’s potential new Alzheimer’s drug:
http://www.nytimes.com/video/multimedia/100000003584118/biogen-soars-on-alzheimers-drug.html
#Alzheimers #BiogenIdec #Aducanumab #Dementia #MusicTherapy #ArtTherapy #DanceTherapy #AmericanMusicTherapyAssociation #AlzheimersAssociation
April 1, 2015 at 7:12 pm
Giselle Minoli thanks so much for this. My mother has Alzheimer’s and it can be so tough especially when I remember how vibrant she was.
April 1, 2015 at 7:12 pm
I think this is the only G+ post from anyone that I have ever immediately saved to Pocket. Not because I can personally apply anything in here yet (in some respects, as heartbreaking as it was, I think my father’s passing was merciful as he was on the verge of dementia from which his mother suffered horribly), but because you never know when it will be your turn. We and our loved ones are one test away from going from “that’ll never happen to me” to “why is this happening to me?” Thank you, Giselle Minoli!
April 1, 2015 at 7:19 pm
Marlon Thompson I am so sorry. I have been there. My mother lived with it for about 12 years. I could write post after post about all that was destroyed…along with her personality.
Ev Eric you kind man. I hope you don’t ever need it…but a little music therapy and art therapy and dance therapy is good for everyone, Yes? 😉
April 1, 2015 at 7:27 pm
Giselle Minoli yes. One should never wait until it’s needed!
April 2, 2015 at 12:00 am
Ev Eric I believe Alzheimer’s has replaced the fear once saved for the Big C. With cancer at least there are different types of treatments – surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants, etc. – but for Alzheimer’s there is nothing…except perhaps prevention.
I reached out today to my good Google+ friend and our community anti-aging doctor Kim Crawford-Aging well doctor to speak with her on the phone about this and the current protocol for people keeping themselves healthy. I aim to do a post with her about what people can do to keep their systems as strong and healthy as possible. Stay tuned for that. But, in the meanwhile, please visit Kim’s profile page and Follow Her. She is a font of free-flowing and endless information about health and diet. Her commitment to aging healthily is awe-inspiring.
April 2, 2015 at 12:28 am
Giselle Minoli There was a study done about how sleep is used to open blood vessels and get chemical junk out of the brain. That may be why some need more sleep than others. It may also help explain dementia — some of us can’t get the junk out, and our ability to do so decreases with age, resulting in amyloid plaques when junk piles up.
April 2, 2015 at 12:34 am
Dana Blankenhorn that is interesting…I read something recently (last week I think) about a lack of sleep and/or an inability to sleep (and speaking one’s dreams out loud when asleep was a fascinating part of it) being a possible early indicator of future Parkinson’s.
Dana, I think it’s all of a piece (or a peace if you will). I think our emotional health and state of mind is linked to our physical state and health. Weirdly we live in a culture that pooh pooh’s getting a good night’s sleep. We brag about not needing any sleep. We’re go-getters, right?
Can you send me the link to which you refer? I’m interested.
April 22, 2015 at 1:21 am
Didn’t anyone see the news about the University of Queensland researching ultrasound as a therapy for Alzheimer’s?
http://www.kurzweilai.net/ultrasound-treats-alzheimers-disease-restoring-memory-in-mice
April 22, 2015 at 1:56 am
I did not Alan Light but here you are to tell us about it and I will look at this link. Thank you very much. I will get back to you…
April 23, 2015 at 2:41 pm
Morning from Los Angeles Alan Light. Seriously thanks to you for adding this link here. It’s fascinating. I am not a scientist or a doctor, obviously, and I dislike the cynicism that often comes with news of pending/experimental treatments/procedures/drugs.
That said, I do tend to think that there is more of a cry for drug treatment of Alzheimer’s than anything else. I was curious to read the many intelligent comments at the bottom of your link. Yes, the FDA would also have to approve the creation of ultra sound devices that could be used on the human brain and with that goes more attendant tests, trials and years and years and years of waiting.
That said, were it to swing the Ultra Sound route, it wouldn’t be Big Pharma that would benefit and all of the trial money, etc. at this point (I could be mistaken) comes from Big Pharma.
The treatment resonated with me in an unexpected way – I had a serious injury last year that required several surgeries and there was a lot of “scar tissue” (amyloid plaque reference) that I had to break up to get things moving again. I’m free-associating here of course but couldn’t help it.
I hope everyone here reads your link. Thank you!
April 28, 2015 at 3:01 pm
Giselle Minoli I’m glad you liked the link. Of course the FDA would get involved in the US, but the US isn’t the only game in town. I’m hoping that medical seasteads in international waters might allow some of the new therapies to reach the American public sooner.