By Tina Rowley, R.N., C.S.A., from the Home Instead Senior Care office in Birmingham, Michigan.
- With my elderly parents – both age 80 – at risk for Alzheimer’s disease as a result of heredity and age, I’m always looking for the latest research. What’s new?
Exciting new research recently released about Alzheimer’s disease has uncovered an immunization that could offer a way to blunt or even prevent this devastating disease. Jordan Tang, Ph.D., who led the study at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, and other OMRF scientists immunized Alzheimer’s mice with a protein believed to play a key role in the disease-causing process.*
The mice who received the vaccination showed a significant reduction in the build-up of protein plaques which, when present in the brain for long periods of time, are believed to cause the cell death, memory loss and neurological dysfunction characteristic of Alzheimer’s.
The immunized mice also showed better cognitive performance than control mice that had not received the vaccine. The new research appears in The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
The next stage of the research, funded in part by a grant from the Alzheimer’s Association, will be testing in humans. “There currently is no effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, so we must explore every possible option to find a way to stop it,” he said.
According to researchers, the advantage of this vaccine – compared with others that have been tested – is that it stimulates the immune system more gently.
Contact the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org to learn more about the latest in research and treatment for this disease. In the meantime, encourage your parents to stay active and engaged in life.
Additional research has shown that the more seniors “exercise” their minds, the better able they are to stay on top of their game. If they are healthy enough to get out of their homes, encourage your parents to continue at least to do some of the hobbies they may have always enjoyed. Or recommend that they consider companionship assistance. There’s nothing better than conversation and socialization to keep the mind and body fit and healthy.
If companionship is difficult to find, consider a professional caregiving company such as Home Instead Senior Care, which employs CAREGivers, who are screened, trained, bonded and insured.
For more information about Home Instead Senior Care, contact Bert Copple at 248-904-8455 or visit www.homeinstead.com.
*For more information about the study, log on to http://www.omrf.org/OMRF/News_Releases/Releases/2007/20071112.asp.
