9 minute read
Facing Alzheimer’s Disease
BY PAMILLA S. TOLEN
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Imagine living with a person for 20, 30, or 40 years, and during that time you accumulate a multitude of life experiences together. You may have had children, traveled, laughed together at memories from long ago, or just enjoyed each other’s company. Now imagine they do not remember any of it, or perhaps, do not even remember you.
Alzheimer’s is a disease that is most devastating to the family, friends, and caretakers of the one who suffers from it. It’s extremely traumatic for the patient, too, since it is a thief that steals everything—their memories, their personality, their life.
According to usagainstalzheimers.org “someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease every 65 seconds.” It is a disease most characterized as affecting the elderly. Today, it affects 1 in 14 people over the age of 65, and 1 in 6 over the age of 80. Only 5% of the population experiences early onset symptoms of the disease before 65.
The tragic deterioration of the mind, loss of memory of personal experiences and eventual loss of personal relationships is devastating beyond description. To watch a loved one slowly slip away into a place you cannot go is unbelievably sad and disheartening. Each person with Alzheimer’s experiences differences in how the disease progresses.
In some it is more rapid than in others, but the horrifying truth is that it always travels along the same path, slowly or quickly, and eventually ends in the same manner—death.
My experience with Alzheimer’s began in 2014 with my husband, Bob. At that time, he was 76. He had always been a highly active man. At one time, he had even built an entire second floor onto his house. He attained a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and could solve almost any mechanical problem with which he was faced.
Our marriage was a second one for both of us having each lost our first spouses in a tragic manner. My husband had died at 49 from cancer and his wife had been killed in an automobile accident. We had been married about 12 years when the first forewarning of something more serious occurred.
Until that time, Bob had gradually become forgetful of words. He was always a talker and never knew a stranger. But, in trying to express himself, he would often insert the word “thing-a-ma-jig” in place of a word that he could not remember.
At first, everyone, including me, just accepted it as getting older, not relating it to any serious problem with his memory. Then, one night we had gone out to eat at a restaurant and when the bill came, he sat staring at it for and long while. When I asked what the matter was, it became evident that he was trying to calculate the tip. After watching him write all over a napkin I finally offered to help and took the check from him. Bob was a mathematician and could figure equations in his head quickly. This was the first “red flag” I remember noticing that could not ignored.
The progression of the disease has been slow with him and, for about another year, he was still able to perform his normal routine. Unfortunately, two things happened within a short period of time that triggered the need to have a professional diagnosis. First, he was in our garage trying to repair a lawnmower that was not running correctly. He had taken several parts off the mower and when I found him, he was sitting on the floor of the garage examining the parts. What had at one time been a simple task for him was now insurmountable. He could not figure out how to put the mower back together again.
The next event finally brought me to the devastating reality that something was definitely wrong. He had always been exceptionally good at directions. His right-brain thinking allowed him to always know what direction he was travelling and, once he travelled there, he was always able to return without a map. As I frequently get lost, I appreciated this trait of his.
On that particular day, Bob had a dental appointment which was approximately 30 minutes from our house. He had travelled there many times over the years, but it required making several turns along the way. He had left for the appointment in a sufficient period of time to reach the dentist office well before his appointment time. He had been gone an hour when my phone rang. It was the dentist office asking if Bob had forgotten his appointment. At that point I became alarmed at why he had not arrived at his destination. I told the dental assistant he had left over an hour prior to that time and I would immediately try to find out where he was. I called his telephone number at once, and to my relief he answered. I asked where he was, and he informed me he did not know. I asked for a landmark. He told me he was at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. That location is only 10 minutes from our house. Bob had made a wrong turn and became immediately lost. Even more disturbing was the fact he had been driving around the same area for an hour, unable to get his bearings as to where he was. I asked why he had not called me and determined that he was too embarrassed from being lost. At that point, there was no sidestepping this turn of events. I called for an appointment with his doctor.
So, what is Alzheimer’s disease and how is it different from agerelated dementia? Alzheimer’s is the gradual deterioration of cognitive abilities due to a buildup of abnormal protein-derived plaques in the brain, which leads to the death of nerve cells. According to the Research Institute of the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, Alzheimer’s appears to begin in the center of memory and learning and spreads outward, denying the patient the ability to think clearly, which goes beyond forgetfulness as with age related dementia. It is characterized by being divided into four stages: very mild, mild, moderate and severe.
The very mild stage problems tend to come on gradually and many times are attributed to the aging process. This can include forgetting certain skills that were routine. For example, paying a bill twice, or continuously misplacing items, such as keys. These symptoms appear very subtly and over periods of time. The disease is usually first detected in the first mild stage when a person is unable to retain short-term thoughts. He or she may ask the same question or make a statement multiple times without knowing they were repeating themselves. Also, they may become increasingly frustrated at not being able to come up with the right word to express themselves.
As the disease progresses to the moderate stage, the ability to remember the names of people with whom you are familiar becomes very prevalent. Driving a car becomes impossible and, eventually, television shows or movies lose their appeal because of the inability to process and follow the storyline.
Currently, my husband emotionally distances himself from family when we are together. While he enjoys sitting with everyone, the once-talkative man that we used to laugh about not being able to get him to be quiet, does not contribute to the conversation at all.
What is ahead? While Bob is characterized at being in the moderate stage, it is evident that, without intervention, he will eventually move towards that final more severe stage when patients need full-time care. In that stage, he will no longer be able to bathe or use the bathroom without help and, afterwards, be unable to feed himself or converse at all. Death due to Alzheimer’s is certain because the brain not only ceases to retain any memories, it also forgets how to perform the functions we take for granted, such as breathing. The brain totally shuts down, along with bodily functions.
Notwithstanding the medical facts as we know them, there is hope. However, everything is still in clinical stages. In my research about this disease, I found some promising local trials that are ongoing now in Charlotte, NC. One is through New Hope Clinical Research with Kurian Abraham, MD.
The New Hope trial is a study for adults aged 50-90 who have been diagnosed with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s Disease. This trial, which is in Phase II is a randomized, doubleblind, placebo controlled multi-center study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of three dose strengths of the drug T3D-959.
According to T3D Therapeutics (drug developer) “This drug activates two nuclear receptors that are central regulators of normal glucose and lipid metabolism in the brain.” Preclinical studies support the belief T3D-959 may have the ability to improve the multiple abnormalities caused by Alzheimer’s disease, as well as the potential for reversing the course of disease.
Other studies are being done through AMC Research LLC (Formerly Alzheimer’s Memory Center) with Mohammad Bolouri, M.D. AMC Research is currently conducting four independent studies: • COR388 is for patients aged 55- 80 with probable Alzheimer’s.
According to Alzform.org “People with Alzheimer’s disease have elevated levels of the bacterial protease, gingipain, in their brain tissue.” The company has completed
Phase 1 clinical trials of their gingipain inhibitor, COR388, and will run a phases 2 and 3 to determine if it can improve cognition in people with mild to moderate
Alzheimer’s.” • BAN 301 is for patients aged 50-90, with Mild Cognitive Impairment/ early Alzheimer’s, and is in Phase 3 of clinical testing, according to
Eisia, the drug’s developer. This drug selectively binds to neutralize and eliminate soluble, toxic Aβ aggregates (protofibril) thought to contribute to the neurodegenerative process in
Alzheimer’s Disease. As such, it may have the potential to influence disease pathology and to slow down the progression of the disease.
With all the research being dedicated to this disease, which ranks sixth in the overall causes of death, a breakthrough may be imminent. I, along with all other Alzheimer’s patients and families, look hopeful to the future, awaiting its arrival.
For more information on the clinical trials, contact program coordinator, Tammy Rader, MBA, CEO at www.newhopeclincalresearch. com, email info@t3dtherapeutics.com, or Marissa McRae MS Psychology, with AMC Research, who handles the first-impression interactions at mmcrae@amcneurology.com.
