Post Tagged with: "Alzheimer’s"

Drugs that promised to halt Alzheimer’s have all failed. So why is no one testing other options?

5 by / on 10 Sep 2020, / in dementia

By Jerome Burne Among those […]

Healthy Eating: The Big Mistake by Dr Verner Wheelock with Marika Sboros (Columbus Publishing £12.99)

3 by / on 8 Jan 2018, / in low carb diet

‘I wish they’d make up their minds,’ you may find yourself muttering if you don’t follow healthy eating debates all that closely. ‘One moment they tell us to stop eating butter and eggs on pain of having a heart attack and to have marge and no more than an egg a week.

Medicine’s democratic deficit. Time for middle-aged, white, privileged males to move over

37 by / on 7 Aug 2017, / in evidence based medicine

It’s hardly news that things have not been going well for various professional elites lately. Economists so busy promoting the neo-liberal agenda they failed to notice the on-coming depression; politicians resolutely deaf to constituents’ complaints that generosity to those at the top had destroyed jobs and cut wages at the bottom.

Is it really codswallop that fish oil protects the brain? Probably not. Here’s why…

5 by / on 3 Sep 2015, / in dementia

If you aren’t confused about whether taking omega-3 will keep your brain sharp or is simply a waste of money, you haven’t been paying attention. Last week the media carried reports of a new study that found that taking a gram of fish oil a day didn’t protect elderly people from failing memory and poorer thinking skills.

Policy on Alzheimer’s: sure we want a cure, just so long as it’s not cheap

18 by / on 6 Aug 2015, / in dementia

Do you believe there is a new drug for Alzheimer’s just over the horizon? That there is no truth in the popular idea that B vitamins might cut your risk of getting this dreadful disease?
Well you are wrong on both counts but it’s not your fault, you’ve quite reasonably fallen for some very sophisticated marketing. Let me explain.

Less is more: How to save the NHS. Spend less on unnecessary drugs

10 by / on 18 May 2015, / in evidence based medicine

Here’s a radical idea. Why not use drugs for cases where they are appropriate, safe and effective. And don’t use them when they aren’t. Wild eh! It’s an idea that could save the NHS billions. Three clinicians I know are thinking along exactly these lines.

Alzheimer’s: the new radical life-style program that can reverse it

6 by / on 26 Oct 2014, / in dementia

The obvious problem with the recent government announcement that doctors will be paid for diagnosing people with dementia, is that there is no approved form of treatment. This is because research funding has all concentrated on finding a drug that will slow the disease down or even stop it in its tracks.

Why we shouldn’t believe New Scientist’s claim that supplements don’t work

7 by / on 7 Sep 2014, / in dementia, vitamins

Vitamins are attacked as being ineffective and possibly dangerous a couple of times a year in the press, usually following a study in a medical journal. The implication is that it is better to stick to drugs that have been properly tested and found to be safe and effective.
And a dietician usually adds that you won’t be missing out if you avoid supplement because you can get all the minerals and vitamins you need from a “healthy balanced diet” (HBD)… (Read More…)

Keeping my dad alert: an unconventional and successful approach to dementia

14 by / on 20 Aug 2014, / in dementia

When my father was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (which affects a different part of the brain from Alzheimer’s) a couple of years ago, his consultant advised my wife and me that there was no conventional medicine which could treat his condition. When we asked what we could do instead, her suggestion that we could explore “alternative” treatments … (Read More…)

Tackling Alzheimer’s: who benefits from current spending?

11 by / on 7 Jul 2014, / in dementia

Is putting all our eggs in the drug basket really the best way to beat Alzheimer’s? Just as we can’t rely on drug companies alone to beat antibiotic resistance, so we can’t rely on a pharmaceutical silver bullet for Alzheimer’s. Tackling antibiotic resistance needs heavy investment in drugs that will be used sparingly for a short time. The pharma model prefers drugs for as many people as possible for as long as possible. (Read More…)

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