Eye Surgery Improves Mood of Alzheimer's Patients. Study Shows Alzheimer's Patients May Sleep Better, Be Less Depressed After Cataract Surgery Why do I need to register or sign in for WebMD to save? We will provide you with a dropdown of all your saved articles when you are registered and signed in. Oct., 28, 2011 (Orlando, Fla.) -- People with Alzheimer's disease should have regular eye tests to screen for vision problems. That's the recommendation of researchers who found that people with mild Alzheimer's disease who have cataracts may benefit from vision-correcting surgery. The benefits include improved sight, better sleep, and less depressed mood.
Also, people with Alzheimer's often had better communication and interaction with others after the surgery. According to Brigitte Girard, MD, a professor of ophthalmology at Tenon Hospital in Paris, treatment improved the patients' lives and also the lives of some caregivers. Despite fears to the contrary, Girard says, surgery did not worsen patients' general condition or dementia. Many Alzheimer's patients get drugs with opposing effects. You wouldn't brake your car while stepping on the gas—or wash down a sleeping pill with espresso. Yet many people taking common Alzheimer's disease medications—cholinesterase inhibitors—are given medications with anticholinergic properties, which oppose their effects.
Group Health Research Institute scientists investigated how often that happens and reported on the consequences in an "Early View" study e-published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. "Cholinesterase inhibitors are today's primary therapy for slowing Alzheimer's disease," said study leader Denise Boudreau, PhD, RPh, an associate scientific investigator at Group Health Research Institute. "Anticholinergic properties are often found in drugs commonly used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, allergies, urinary incontinence, depression, and Parkinson's disease, and they can have negative effects on cognition and function in the elderly. Dr. The researchers found: Team approach best for treating, dealing with Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of disability.
About $183 billion is spent annually on care related to Alzheimer's. It's estimated that this will rise to $1 trillion by 2050. Much of the current research focuses on early brain changes and early diagnosis with the goal of developing treatments that will effectively halt the progression of this disease. However, until this goal is realized, there remains a need to improve care for those living with Alzheimer's. Currently available medications provide only modest benefit. However, these treatments have been ineffective. Given the chronic nature of this illness and limited effectiveness of currently available medications, Alzheimer's disease is best managed by multidisciplinary teams consisting of physicians, social workers and other professionals. Physicians provide expertise in evaluation, diagnosis and treatment. There is hope for continued progress. Dr. Antiviral drugs may slow Alzheimer’s progression. Antiviral drugs used to target the herpes virus could be effective at slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a new study shows.
The University of Manchester scientists have previously shown that the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s when it is present in the brains of people who have a specific genetic risk to the disease. AD is an incurable neurodegenerative condition affecting about 18 million people worldwide. The causes of the disease or of the abnormal protein structures seen in AD brains – amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles – are completely unknown. The Manchester team has established that the herpes virus causes accumulation of two key AD proteins – β-amyloid (Aβ) and abnormally phosphorylated tau (P-tau) – known to be the main components of plaques and tangles respectively. Both proteins are thought by many scientists to be involved in the development of the disease. Could hypertension drugs help people with Alzheimer’s? Study Identifies Earliest Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Released:10/10/2011 3:05 PM EDTSource Newsroom: Mayo Clinic Newswise — ROCHESTER, Minn. — Addressing the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease, before a patient shows outward signs of cognitive problems, has sometimes been a challenge for physicians and researchers, in part because they have not been using common and specific terms to describe the disease’s initial phases.
A Mayo Clinic study recommends adding categories to more effectively identify and treat people and give researchers standard definitions to work with. The study is published in this month’s issue of the Annals of Neurology. The researchers assessed new guidelines for preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that were recently published by a working group formed by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association (NIA-AA). The Mayo researchers concluded, however, that the three stages defined by the workgroup are not sufficient to describe all cognitively normal elderly patients. Comment/Share. Forgotten dementia sufferers helped through art. While medical researchers continue the search for advanced diagnosis, prevention and treatment of dementia, a researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London is focusing on improving the experiences of those already suffering with the devastating disease for whom any cure would be too late.
Professor Helen Nicholson is devoting her time to evaluating a pioneering project which enables advanced dementia sufferers to take part in art, drama and dance projects. Hearts and Minds is a unique creative arts and reminiscence project, run by Age Exchange, specifically for older people with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia but also including people with other mental health needs such as schizophrenia and depression. Artists are be working with care staff in South London and Maudsley NHS Trust to hold group work and one-to-one performing arts session with dementia sufferers. She adds: "This is an arts-based inquiry rather than a scientific one at this stage.