1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,959 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff Lauren vog obam here. Today's episode is 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: a classic from the archive that deals with the difficulties 4 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: of diagnosing, treating, and curing Alzheimer's even though it's fairly common. 5 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vog obam Here. People are living 6 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,760 Speaker 1: longer now than ever before. But with this triumph comes 7 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: a truly unfortunate foe, Alzheimer's disease. Symptoms of the progressive 8 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: brain disorder, which is the most common cause of dementia 9 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: for older adults, typically start to show up around the 10 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: age of sixty, just when many people retire and plan 11 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: to start enjoying their golden years. The disease is incurable 12 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: and is listed as the sixth leading cause of death 13 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: for older people in the United States, but the National 14 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: Institutes of Health says more recent estimates indicate it should 15 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: rank third, behind only cancer and heart disease because many 16 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: cases are not reported correctly. Worse, alzheimer is the only 17 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: disease in the top ten causes of death United States 18 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: for which there is neither a cure, nor means of 19 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,680 Speaker 1: prevention nor treatment. To slow down the disease, we spoke 20 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: via email with David Lusk, founder of an issue advocacy 21 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:18,559 Speaker 1: consulting company called Key Advocacy. Lusk's mother, at age sixty five, 22 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: began exhibiting symptoms like short term memory loss, struggling with 23 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: basic paperwork, and making decisions with difficulty, but she was 24 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: not diagnosed until age seventy. In two thou eight, Lusk said, 25 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,399 Speaker 1: by early twelve, my mother no longer believed I was 26 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: her son. It was crushing to have my own mother 27 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:37,119 Speaker 1: thinks she wasn't my mother. And she even stopped saying 28 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: I love you. That is the most painful thing to 29 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: ever endure, never hearing your own mother saying she loves 30 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: you ever again. Lusk's mother died after following a pattern 31 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: of cognitive and emotional decline that has become sadly familiar 32 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: for people dealing with Alzheimer's. Lusk wonders if he will 33 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: get the disease himself someday, as it tends to run 34 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: in families. He said that back of your mind concern 35 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: and I try to ignore it, but there's also a 36 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: part of me that wonders if I'm not already walking 37 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 1: down the dark, fatal path. So many millions have and 38 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: will as the numbers of people with Alzheimer's skyrockets, it's 39 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: troublesome that a cure or effective treatment hasn't been found 40 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:16,839 Speaker 1: after so many years of research. It's not for lack 41 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 1: of effort. In fact, more than one hundred drugs have 42 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,239 Speaker 1: been studied in clinical trials since two thousand two, to 43 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:24,839 Speaker 1: the tune of billions of dollars in funding, but none 44 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: of these have proved effective enough for patient use. So 45 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: what gives? Why is it so hard to find a 46 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: treatment for Alzheimer's. We also spoke with Rebecca edelbay Or, PhD, 47 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 1: Director of Scientific Engagement for the Alzheimer's Association. She said, 48 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: some of the difficulty has been in being able to 49 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: identify really what the initiation of the diseases in people. 50 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: We've learned that some of the changes are occurring maybe 51 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: ten to twenty years before they're experiencing the cognitive difficulty. 52 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: That's the crux. We need to understand what's happening in 53 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: the brain before you're experiencing symptoms. We're really trying to 54 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 1: understand the biology underpinnings of the disease. This is where 55 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 1: researchers are most focused at the moment. Part of the 56 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: problem is figuring out which people to study ten years 57 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: before they're showing any signs of dementia. Edel Mayer said, 58 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: we're trying to I D people we believe to be 59 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: at risk, and maybe the candidates have a primary relative 60 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: that had full blown Alzheimer's. Maybe they have risk factors 61 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: poor cardiovascular health or difficulties with their sleep. All of 62 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: these things put you at risk for being someone to 63 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 1: develop Alzheimer's. Of course, not everyone with poor heart health 64 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: gets Alzheimer's. Edel Mayor notes that one of the ways 65 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 1: to try to find people at risk is through bio markers, 66 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: which are measurable substances that show up in a living 67 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: thing when a particular event is occurring. Checking people who 68 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: aren't yet symptomatic over a period of years and comparing 69 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: them against people with Alzheimer's and varying stages can shine 70 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: light on which biomarkers to look out for. Some potential 71 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: biomarkers which could eventually help to pinpoint those at risk 72 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: of Alzheimer's include blood and urine tests, genetic profiles, brain imaging, 73 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: and pre teens in cerebral spinal fluid. Identifying some of 74 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: these biomarkers might even lead to the development of preventative measures. 75 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: New evidence from one of the largest clinical trials of 76 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: its kind revealed in July the people who aggressively lower 77 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: their systolic blood pressure to below one twenty may reduce 78 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:21,039 Speaker 1: risk of cognitive impairment. Edel Mayer said, we can modify 79 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: some of our risk factors by very significantly controlling cardiovascular health. 80 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 1: What's good for your heart is going to be good 81 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:30,919 Speaker 1: for your brain. Other modifiable risk factors could be related 82 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: to diet, exercise, drugs that harm the brain, and even 83 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: sleep quality, but those require more study before definitive recommendations 84 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: can be made. In the meantime, continuing efforts are underway 85 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: to find a treatment. Edel Mayer says that it's crucial 86 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: to figure out how to quote remove those built up 87 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: proteins in the brain that we believe are inhibiting neuronal 88 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: communication in the brain. An additional area of study focuses 89 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: on better managing the behavioral systems of Alzheimer's that can 90 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: be so disruptive in day to day life, like sleep problems, agitation, 91 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 1: or even bouts of aggression. Better management of these symptoms 92 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,359 Speaker 1: would mean a better quality of life for patients and 93 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: their families. To improve detection, the Alzheimer's Association is planning 94 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: to release twenty recommendations to help doctors make timely diagnoses 95 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: and establish best practice protocols for how Alzheimer's should be handled. 96 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:24,359 Speaker 1: These guidelines are expected to be published in late For 97 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 1: Lusk's part, he says that if a treatment or cure 98 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: for this disease was discovered, he'd feel amazingly relieved to 99 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,920 Speaker 1: not have to dread a diagnosis of Alzheimer's, he said, 100 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: to no longer have to worry about that and have 101 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:39,280 Speaker 1: that concern. That would be a huge weight lifted off 102 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: my shoulders. Today's episode is based on the article why 103 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: is it so Hard to find a Cure for Alzheimer's 104 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,479 Speaker 1: on how Stuff Works dot Com, written by Aliyah Hoyt. 105 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio in partnership 106 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: with how stuff Works dot Com, and this produced by 107 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: Tyler Clang and Ramsay Yut. Four more podcasts from my 108 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 1: heart Radio visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 109 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.