Glen Campbell diagnosed with Alzheimer's

[patman]

Dad is 87 and has it.

Been touch and go since 85.

Probably started at 83 or so.

Hope I die before it gets me.

[Dave W]

I work in a Pathology and Research institute. This kind of discussion has come up here (my workplace) before. The guys and gurls here tell me that a lot of research facilities actually know ways of combating and stabilising the advancement of Alzheimers. The problem is that they dont completely understand what causes it (depending who you talk to) and that implementing the knowlege they have has various legal issues depending on where in the country/world you are. Regardless, there is documented evidence of successful treatment using these methods.

Not enough documented evidence. I'm sure you're aware that results have to be repeatable before any treatment is accepted as valid. That hasn't happened yet. Even so, that's not what I would call a cure, although any help would be welcome.

Something as simple as coffee might help.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20110621/ARTICLE/110629891/2055/NEWS?p=1&tc=pg

If it does, I'm safe.    Seriously, articles like these are really unfortunate because they're so preliminary. It's a correlation, like learning a second language. But correlation is not causation. There may be an explanation for the correlation, maybe not. So far it's just what some researchers believe, and as one of them said, it's a logical avenue to pursue. A lot more research needs to be done.

[Chaser001]

The articles about coffee are preliminary, but that doesn't mean they have to be ignored.  As for the foreign language thing, what I've read about it so far seems pretty convincing.   Time will tell.  I'm doing well with the coffee thing, but if I'm going to learn a foreign language I need to really hurry up.  Besides, learning a foreign language can be very rewarding.  Like most Americans, though, I've never excelled at that sort of thing.  I may give it another shot. 

[Dave W]

Peter Falk just died. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's several years ago.

The articles about coffee are preliminary, but that doesn't mean they have to be ignored.  As for the foreign language thing, what I've read about it so far seems pretty convincing.   Time will tell.  I'm doing well with the coffee thing, but if I'm going to learn a foreign language I need to really hurry up.  Besides, learning a foreign language can be very rewarding.  Like most Americans, though, I've never excelled at that sort of thing.  I may give it another shot. 

They don't have to be ignored, I choose to ignore them. You don't have to, of course.

Most articles about published studies are really press releases disguised as articles, and they often severely misrepresent what the study actually found.

Even when the article is accurate, the fact is that most studies (in any area) are never able to be duplicated and are never accepted by the medical or scientific community. That's why you read about so many studies that seem to conflict with each other -- many of them are never confirmed to be accurate.

Even if the coffee study found what the article says it found, and even if it is confirmed by other researchers, that's still a long long way from proving an effect in humans.

[OldManC]

On a brighter note I'm adopted  

I'm in the same boat! My birth father's dad died young but his mother was in her mid 90's (and still sharp) and he's 70 this year and still working like a mad man, sailing, traveling, etc. We can do our best to take care of what we were given, but in the end it's a crap shoot as to whether we'll go easy or hard.

[Highlander]

Coffee seems to have had a very checkered history re good/bad for us

My paternal side has had a good run and the only record of this issue was with a 95 year old great aunt and she lived to 99 - she used to brew her tea (four heaped spoons of loose tea) in an aluminium milk-pan by boiling it for at least 10 minutes - a common joke was that it was served in chunks...

Life ain't fair...