Why ?

To see if round-the-clock tracking of older person’s activities can provide clues to impeding Alzheimer’s disease.

As Dr Jeffery Kaye explained at the recent Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Prevention of Dementia, “measuring how people fare at home – on bad days as well as good ones, not just when they’re doing their best for the doctor – may spot changes that signal someone’s at high risk long before they’re actually demented…If you only assess them once-in-a-blue-moon, you really are at a loss to know what they are like on a typical day.” (article)

Tiny sensor monitors are placed in doorways, walls, dishwasher, refrigerator, etc to track the every day routines of people like Elaine Bloomquist who volunteered for this project because she is all too familiar with Alzheimer’s disease. Her husband, his parents, and her mother all had Alzheimer’s disease.

So she has given Dr Kaye permission to spy in the name of science…

Post from: Blisstree

Can motion sensors predict Alzheimer’s disease?

The study found that ‘…men who were diagnosed with AD, on average, had about 1/2 the levels of circulating free testosterone as men who didn’t develop the disease. In some cases, the drop-offs in free testosterone levels associated with AD were detected up to 10 years before diagnosis.”

According to Professor Scott Moffat, head investigator on the study, “This is a big step forward in helping to understand how sex hormones affect the aging body and brain.”

So the logical question is “Would testosterone supplements given to such men help prevent Alzheimer’s disease?”

Unfotunately, this remains far from clear.

A 2005 study ‘Effects of Testosterone on Cognition and Mood in Male Patients with Mild Alzheimer’s Disease and Healthy Elderly Men” attempted to determine the “…effects of testosterone therapy on cognition, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and quality of life in male patients with mild AD and healthy elderly men.”

It’s conclusion indicated that while testosterone replacement therapy seemed to improve overall quality of life for Alzheimer’s sufferers, the therapy had minimal effects on improving cognition.”

A more recent ongoing Australian study is looking at the connection between testosterone levels and the protein beta amyloid, a key player in causing Alzheimer’s disease, and how testosterone replacement therapy might help.

You can listen to an interview about the study here. Or read the transcript here.

Post from: Blisstree

Do reduced levels of sex hormones affect men’s risk for Alzheimer’s Disease?

I came across an interesting article in the local paper the other day about how Playstation 3 owners are being offered the chance to participate in a supercomputer project.

So I did a little research and discovered that gamers can connect their Playstation 3 into the Stanford University’s supercomputer which is working to unfold complext protein molecules associated with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Apparently this is not a new concept. Since October 2000, over one million computers throughout the world have been working on similar projects (read more)

But the PS3 system allows the computer simulations to occur 10 times faster than personal computers.

Sounds like a great way of getting kids involved in more than just playing games on their Playstations.

Visit Stanford University’s folding@home website for information on how to get set up…

(photo by hfabulous)

Post from: Blisstree

What does Playstation 3 (PS3) have to do with Alzheimer’s Disease?

After doing lung capacity tests on these patients, the researchers followed up 5 years later and conclude there may be a possibility of using lung funciton as a predictor for dementia risk.  They also indicate that prevention of lung disease might be a factor in decreasing this risk. 

Additional information on the study as presented at the conference can be found at the Alzheimer’s Association site above.

Post from: Blisstree

Does Lung Function Predict Alzheimer’s?