Seth Rogen Speaks to Congress About Alzheimers!

This video made me cry. I re-lived certain emotions I went through regarding my grandma and watching her disease with dementia and Alzheimer progress. Seth Rogen and his wife amaze me. Please watch this link and share it! Please check out the foundation that Seth Rogan and his wife have started Hilarity for Charity!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHqx3-mfHAY
http://www.hilarityforcharity.org/

Dementia tops cancer, heart disease in cost

By Marilynn Marchione, Associated Press

Cancer and heart disease are bigger killers, but Alzheimer's is the most expensive malady in the U.S., costing families and society $157 billion to $215 billion a year, according to a new study that looked at this in unprecedented detail.

The biggest cost of Alzheimer's and other types of dementia isn't drugs or other medical treatments, but the care that's needed just to get mentally impaired people through daily life, the nonprofit RAND Corp.'s study found.

It also gives what experts say is the most reliable estimate for how many Americans have dementia — around 4.1 million. That's less than the widely cited 5.2 million estimate from the Alzheimer's Association, which comes from a study that included people with less severe impairment.

"The bottom line here is the same: Dementia is among the most costly diseases to society, and we need to address this if we're going to come to terms with the cost to the Medicare and Medicaid system," said Matthew Baumgart, senior director of public policy at the Alzheimer's Association.

Dementia's direct costs, from medicines to nursing homes, are $109 billion a year in 2010 dollars, the new RAND report found. That compares to $102 billion for heart disease and $77 billion for cancer. Informal care by family members and others pushes dementia's total even higher, depending on how that care and lost wages are valued.

"The informal care costs are substantially higher for dementia than for cancer or heart conditions," said Michael Hurd, a RAND economist who led the study. It was sponsored by the government's National Institute on Aging and will be published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia and the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Dementia also can result from a stroke or other diseases. It is rapidly growing in prevalence as the population ages. Current treatments only temporarily ease symptoms and don't slow the disease. Patients live four to eight years on average after an Alzheimer's diagnosis, but some live 20 years. By age 80, about 75 percent of people with Alzheimer's will be in a nursing home compared with only 4 percent of the general population, the Alzheimer's group says.

"Most people have understood the enormous toll in terms of human suffering and cost," but the new comparisons to heart disease and cancer may surprise some, said Dr. Richard Hodes, director of the Institute on Aging.

"Alzheimer's disease has a burden that exceeds many of these other illnesses," especially because of how long people live with it and need care, he said.

For the new study, researchers started with about 11,000 people in a long-running government health survey of a nationally representative sample of the population. They gave 856 of these people extensive tests to determine how many had dementia, and projected that to the larger group to determine a prevalence rate — nearly 15 percent of people over age 70.

Using Medicare and other records, they tallied the cost of purchased care — nursing homes, medicines, other treatments — including out-of-pocket expenses for dementia in 2010. Next, they subtracted spending for other health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes or depression so they could isolate the true cost of dementia alone.

"This is an important difference" from other studies that could not determine how much health care cost was attributable just to dementia, said Dr. Kenneth Langa, a University of Michigan researcher who helped lead the work.

Even with that adjustment, dementia topped heart disease and cancer in cost, according to data on spending for those conditions from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Finally, researchers factored in unpaid care using two different ways to estimate its value — foregone wages for caregivers and what the care would have cost if bought from a provider such as a home health aide. That gave a total annual cost of $41,000 to $56,000 per year for each dementia case, depending on which valuation method was used.

"They did a very careful job," and the new estimate that dementia affects about 4.1 million Americans seems the most solidly based than any before, Hodes said. The government doesn't have an official estimate but more recently has been saying "up to 5 million" cases, he said. 

The most worrisome part of the report is the trend it portends, with an aging population and fewer younger people "able to take on the informal caregiving role," Hodes said. "The best hope to change this apparent future is to find a way to intervene" and prevent Alzheimer's or change its course once it develops, he said.

Alzheimer's genes: Are you at risk?

I have often wondering after watching my grandma's Alzheimer's disease if I could be at risk in the future as well for this awful disease. I found this article to be very interesting. Wanted to share with my followers.

What role does genetics play in developing Alzheimer's? Are you at risk?

Alzheimer's genes are genes that make you more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. Genes control the function of every cell in your body. Some genes determine basic characteristics, such as the color of your eyes and hair. Other genes can make you more likely to develop certain diseases — including Alzheimer's.

Researchers have identified several Alzheimer's genes — genes that are associated with Alzheimer's disease. But genetic risk factors are just one part of the Alzheimer's story, a complex narrative that scientists continue to try to unravel.

Most common late-onset Alzheimer's gene

While some rare forms of Alzheimer's occur before the age of 65, the most common variety of Alzheimer's usually begins after the age of 65. The most common gene associated with this late-onset Alzheimer's is called apolipoprotein E (APOE).

APOE has three common forms:

• APOE e2 — the least common — appears to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's.
• APOE e4 — a little more common — appears to increase the risk of Alzheimer's.
• APOE e3 — the most common — doesn't seem to affect the risk of Alzheimer's in either direction.

Genes aren't only factorBecause you inherit one APOE gene from your mother and another from your father, you have two copies of APOE gene — for example, one APOE e3 gene and one APOE e4 gene. Having at least one APOE e4 gene increases your risk of developing Alzheimer's. And if you have two APOE e4 genes, your risk is even higher.

But not everyone who has an APOE e4 gene — or even two APOE e4 genes — develops Alzheimer's. And the disease occurs in many people who have no APOE e4 gene. This indicates that the APOE e4 gene affects risk, but it is not a causative gene. Other genetic and environmental factors are likely involved in the development of Alzheimer's.

Other late-onset genes

As research on the genetics of Alzheimer's progresses, researchers are uncovering links between late-onset Alzheimer's and a number of other genes. Several examples include:

• SORL1. Some variations of SORL1 appear to increase the production of amyloid-beta fragments, which form structures called amyloid plaques in the brain. These plaques are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.
• CLU. This gene helps regulate the clearance of amyloid-beta from the brain. The association of this gene with Alzheimer's reinforces the theory that an imbalance in the production and clearance of amyloid beta is central to the development of Alzheimer's.
• CR1. A deficiency of the protein this gene produces may contribute to chronic inflammation in the brain. Inflammation is another potential contributing factor to the development of Alzheimer's.
• PICALM. This gene is linked to the process by which brain nerve cells (neurons) communicate with each other. Smooth communication between neurons is important to the proper functioning of neurons and to the formation of memory.

Researchers hope that discovery of these genes will help them learn more about the basic mechanisms of Alzheimer's and consequently, ways to treat and prevent the disease. But similar to APOE, these genes are risk factors, not direct causes. In other words, having a variation of one of these genes may increase your risk of Alzheimer's. But knowing whether you have such a variation doesn't help predict whether you will ultimately develop Alzheimer's.

Early-onset Alzheimer's

A very small percentage of the people who develop Alzheimer's disease have the early-onset variety, which is classified as beginning before the age of 65.

Scientists have identified three genes in which mutations cause early-onset Alzheimer's. If you inherit one of these mutated genes from either parent, you almost certainly will experience Alzheimer's symptoms before the age of 65. The genes involved are:

• Amyloid precursor protein (APP)
• Presenilin 1 (PSEN1)
• Presenilin 2 (PSEN2)

Mutations of these genes cause the production of excessive amounts of a toxic protein fragment called amyloid-beta peptide. As these fragments stick together and deposit in the brain as amyloid plaques — and somehow induce changes in another brain protein called tau — the brain cells start dying and the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's begin.

However, some people who have early-onset Alzheimer's don't have mutations in any of these three genes. That suggests that this early onset form of Alzheimer's disease is linked to other genetic mutations that haven't been identified yet.

Genetic testing

Most experts don't recommend genetic testing for late-onset Alzheimer's. In some instances of early-onset Alzheimer's, however, genetic testing may be appropriate.

In the case of APOE, knowing whether you have the e4 variety really doesn't tell you much. Although many people with APOE e4 develop Alzheimer's, many don't. Conversely, some people with no APOE e4 genes get Alzheimer's. Most clinicians discourage testing for the APOE genotype, as the results are often difficult to interpret.

Testing for the mutant genes that have been linked to early-onset Alzheimer's — APP, PSEN1 and PSEN2 — may provide more certain results and have implications for current and future therapeutic drug trials. But it's also important to weigh the emotional consequences of having that information. There also may be eligibility implications for certain forms of insurance, such as disability, long term care and life insurance.

Even without genetic testing, doctors can diagnose Alzheimer's with 90 percent accuracy.

Researchers and genes

Researchers suspect that there are dozens more genes that affect Alzheimer's disease risk that have not yet been identified or confirmed. Scientists study the genetics of Alzheimer's disease because understanding the basis of a disease may provide clues about how to combat it. Such information may prove vital in the development of new ways to treat, or even prevent, Alzheimer's disease in the future.

The Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Study, sponsored by the National Institute on Aging, is examining genetic information from families that have at least two siblings who have developed Alzheimer's after the age of 60. If your family is interested in participating in this study, visit the web site for the National Cell Repository for Alzheimer's Disease (NCRAD).