Any clinic, even home healthcare nurses could do screening, researcher says
Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comSimple blood test may detect Alzheimer's
Seeded on Mon Sep 13, 2010 5:58 PM EDT (msnbc.com)
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Easy to describe the process of finding if someone will develop Alzheimers, but as usual, they do not discuss the cost of those tests, nor do they advise what the insurance companies will cover, if any.
We have to face it, the cost of curing medical problems remain with the wealthy who are fighting tooth and nail to preserve their present taxes.
ALSO, at what point do you go for the test ? When you think you are starting to forget more things than not? If it runs in your family, do you go sooner rather than later? Is this a once a year thing, or once every five years? They don't seem to give too many details in the text. And, the most obvious question... will this do anything to stop the progressiveness of the disease? I would rather we focus on finding some sort of cure, instead of finding it earlier in a person.
What if you forget to take the test?
I like it. ...now what were we talking about?
Alzheimer's is a devastating disease. It not only takes the life of the one afflicted, but it also takes the lives, time, hope and work of the caregivers. It is a very cruel disease. I sincerely hope that this blood test will help with early diagnosis, so that those who must stare down that terrible future might have a chance to circumvent its effects. Currently, no cure exists. No medications are really effective, although a few do help. Let us all hope that this simple test will be available to all who wish it, and that science/research will be able to find a cure.
Trust me, Alzheimer's is NOT the worst disease out there. Take Pick's disease. It's MUCH worse, and since so little people get diagnosed with it, there's barely any research, so there's little to no treatment. If you ask how I know this, my grandma has it.
I think that everybody has there own idea of what is "worst." Any progressive disease is terrible for all parties involved. Parkinson's, Pick's, Huntington's, M.S.... all terrible, progressive, devastating diseases.
This is like Arlo Guthrie not wanting to take the Huntington's test. Do you really want to know if Alzheimer's is coming for you?
What is the point of an obviously expensive test to find out you have a condition that can not be cured. Why upset the patient by telling them they have this and there is nothing you can do, the family will find out soon enough anyway and suffer plenty without having to start early!
Since, as stated in the article, there's no cure for this disease, what is the point in an early blood test detection? Early, qualification for disability payments?
I think it's to get the patient on drugs to ease the person's pain, and possibly extend the number of years they have left.
Keegan, the drugs don't ease their pain, they postpone the inevitable. I sound like a b*tch, but I'm being serious.
There are many reasons for early detection of Alzheimers. Your wife can leave you sooner, your health insurance company can reject your application, your boss can fire you, and you can get a job hosting the MTV Video Awards sooner than later.
Early detection is not some evil obamacare medical prank. A company exists that is just completing Phase II FDA trials wherein their blood test can be used to guide physicians in specific treatment regimes so as to get best results for the patient.
Check out Power 3 Medical (PWRM). Cool technology, simple blood test, patents applied for.
I don't think I want to know if I'm going to get Alzheimers....why would anyone actually want to know?? The AMA and pharmaceutical companies are all in on this one looking at the "cha-ching" factor, just like everything else connected with "early detection". I don't buy it.
My father has Alzheimers as did his grandmother so there is a good chance I will have it, too. For my father, I wish we had been able to have an earlier diagnosis so that the appropriate treatment could have started earlier and who knows how our lives would be different. As for myself, I don't know whether I really want to confirm my status, but if it could help me 'be there' longer for my kids - I am all for it. Don't condemn until you have been in that position. It may not be 'curable' but if the quality of life can be improved for a longer period of time, take my word - it would be worth it.
My grandma has another form of dementia called Pick's Disease, and I promise you, your dad and great-grandma were lucky to at least get Alzheimer's, because Pick's Disease is MUCH worse. Trust me.
I'm not sure what this will help, my mother had a fuzzy memory so the doctor put her on Alzhiemrs drugs, the drugs have some of the same side effects that Alzhiemers has, like loss of memory, hallucinations, adgitation, etc etc. So my question has always been how would you know if the symptoms you see in a person on these drugs is Alzhiemers or the drugs themselves.
Go Power3 ... we are waiting more news ....
What they won't tell you is that Alzheimer's is caused from the same protein prion that causes Mad Cow disease. This prion can stay dormant for decades usually showing up in a persons "old age". Can eating a hamburger give you Mad Cow aka alzheimer's - you bet it can. Get a clue folks. It may be too late for us all. One ounce or prion can infect 100,000,000! It's serious and we're being lied to to protect the beef industry. Ask Oprah, remember when they tried to sue her? She found out the TRUTH behind the "beef" we're eating. Sick isn't it!!
The O'Bryant et al. study provides further evidence of the role of inflammation in the causation of Alzheimer's disease. As this article suggests, and which is also supported by research at http://nrimed.com/pub.html , their findings make a strong case for continued study of targeted anti-inflammatory therapies for AD .
I am participating in the Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk this Saturday.
Please sponsor me and help find a treatment/cure:
http://memorywalk2010.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=335298&lis=1&kntae335298=C29A4CD9187744C78197F186C56FBC6B&supId=303686704
Thanks!
Rebecca