Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The middle-aged, always ripe for picking

There's the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, famous for medicalizing human nature as mental illness treatable by drugs. Then there's NAMI, famous since 1979 for finding customers for pharma. Now there is The National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association, two more of pharma's good buddies. Where there is fear, there is pharma.

From the New York Times

For the first time in 27 years, the definition of Alzheimer’s disease is being recast in new medical guidelines that reflect fast-mounting evidence that it begins ravaging the brain years before the symptoms of dementia

The guidelines, to be issued Tuesday by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association, divide the disease into three stages: a phase when dementia has developed, a middle phase in which mild problems emerge but daily functions can still be performed, and the most recently discovered phase, in which no symptoms are evident but changes are brewing in the brain

The drive to diagnose Alzheimer’s before it has progressed into profound dementia is also reflected in a bill introduced in Congress this month, which would create specific Medicare cost codes for Alzheimer’s diagnosis, including steps involving discussions between the patient’s doctor and caregivers, a recognition that keeping family members well-informed can result in better planning and care.

“Early diagnosis is really the key to this,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts and a sponsor of the bill. “Oftentimes family members notice the symptoms in their loved ones, but it’s only years later that they get diagnosed or understand what resources are available.”

The drive to diagnose Alzheimer’s before it has progressed into profound dementia is also reflected in a bill introduced in Congress this month, which would create specific Medicare cost codes for Alzheimer’s diagnosis, including steps involving discussions between the patient’s doctor and caregivers, a recognition that keeping family members well-informed can result in better planning and care.


“Early diagnosis is really the key to this,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts and a sponsor of the bill. “Oftentimes family members notice the symptoms in their loved ones, but it’s only years later that they get diagnosed or understand what resources are available.”

I remember my father turning to me with tears in his eyes, asking me if there was any medical breakthrough that I might know about that would help my mother with her dementia. I was not able to offer any help. I was going through my own struggles with Chris's recent diagnosis, and didn't have a clue about how to help him, either. By the time I read about what Dr. Abram Hoffer had to say about dementia and schizophrenia, my mother's dementia was well progressed. I took Dr. Hoffer's advice for Chris and me. We both got results. All this to say, that when pharma trumpets a new discovery, chances are there is another option that doesn't involve expensive medications that produce undesirable side effects. I have no idea if my intake of megadose B-3 and other vitamins will prevent dementia in the end, but neither do I have any idea whether pumping myself full of pharma's latest bright idea will prevent it either. The first option is cheap and non-invasive. The second option raises concerns.

Rather than sit in fear of early dementia, why not check out what Dr. Abram Hoffer has to say about megadoses of niacin (vitamin B-3) as a way of preventing dementia/alzheimers? Here is a link to a previous post that goes into a bit more detail as to what is involved in the niacin treatment. Anyone seriously wanting to pursue what Dr. Hoffer has to say about dementia can do further research through Hoffer's books and references on the web.

8 comments:

  1. Is Alzheimer's a made up disease? Do we use it as a catchall for dementia? So far, I've counted up a couple of different ways a person can become demented later in life: B12 deficiency; normal pressure hydrocephalus; stroke or mini strokes. I'm sure there are others.

    The more I hear about Alzheimers in the media, honestly, the more dubious I become. A physician once told me that you can't really positively diagnose Alzheimer's except by autopsy upon death.

    B'ham

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  2. B'ham - I tend to agree with you. What really is Alzheimers? I haven't done any research on Alzheimers, but originally, wasn't it a very early dementia? When you live a long time, you dementia is the by-product. My sister suggested an autopsy when my mother died, and I thought, what for? She was 89 after all. Thanks for the B12 information. I think a lack of B vitamins contributes to these "nervous" conditions, like schizophrenia, like dementia. Dr. Hoffer used to write about vitamin B deficient families.

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  3. Rossa - Thanks so much for posting this and the link to your previous post. I just lost my grandmother a few days ago to what had been diagnosed as Alzheimer's 14 years ago. My last visit with her just a few days before her death has really made me rethink exactly what's going on in dementia - I now think it's equal parts deficiencies (as you mentioned), as well as some sort of spiritual suffering/opportunity for healing. Which makes me think, indeed, it is very similar to what we experience in psychosis, schizophrenia, etc.

    My grandmother was more present, grounded, and strong in her last days than she had been in her entire life (or at least the 36 years that I knew her). She clearly spent these years doing some major work elsewhere. Who knew?? I was so moved, I wrote a tribute to her immense courage and determination:
    http://www.rockpapershutup.com/2011/04/to-grandmother-i-never-knew-until-now.html

    Since I suspect my mother and I may be vulnerable to the same dementia, I can't wait to check out Hoffer's work based on your recommendation. Like hell would we ever go the pharmaceutical route!

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  4. Ah, yes, I just checked out Hoffer's site...this is why Empower Plus has proven so priceless in my recovery. By taking it, I'm essentially on a high daily dose of much of what Hoffer recommended for "bipolar." :) (Will be passing his site and your post along to my mother!)

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  5. Natalie,
    I'm going to check out Empower Plus. Thanks for the tip (and again to B'ham for the B12.)
    Also, I commented on your tribute to your grandmother, which is probably in your spam box. I began to wonder if I wasn't being sufficiently sympathetic since my comment didn't appear, but then,I thought, nah, Natalie's not like that, it must be in her spam box. I am sorry about your grandmother, but glad to read how much you appreciated her.

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  6. Dr. Hoffer has special instructions for the over sixties, which may have been overtaken by the Empower Plus, (I'm thinking of your mother) or maybe not. He experimented on his own mother and his older relatives. When his mother was in her sixties, he began to notice that she was slightly "losing it" and he got going on her. He says that the over sixties should be on straight niacin (the kind that makes you flush, because at this age your brain cells need the flush.) Otherwise, the same advice goes. If you need further info just e-mail me privately. I no longer have his book, but I think I first read all about this in How to Live with Schizophrenia. I'm almost sixty and I've started to take the niacin that makes you flush. I take it at night before I go to bed and hardly notice it. Anyway, Hoffer's mother lived on into her late eighties and did not suffer dementia. She died of something else.

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  7. Rossa - Thanks so much for the additional info, I'm going to be pushy with my mother about this since she's already got some memory issues going...kids need to be pushy sometimes too, yes? :) I'll definitely email you if need be.

    And as for your comment on my post - aahh! Blogger drives me crazy sometimes...it's not in my spam, which means it's floating in the ether somewhere. For what it's worth, I don't moderate comments, and I've only ever deleted one (which was downright hateful). If you feel like giving it another go, I'd love your thoughts as always!

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  8. Natalie - I am really enthusiastic about the benefits of niacin. I became quite coherent and focused in my thoughts after about three days of taking it. I was really going downhill before that. It energized my brain. If your mother wants to contact me, I would be more than pleased to give her the recipe.

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