Today’s Boomers

DOZENS OF NEW DRUGS ARE IN THE PIPELINE

This news comes as the Nation braces for an epidemic of Alzheimer’s, the harrowing form of dementia, that Americans told pollsters they fear more than heart disease, stroke or diabetes.

5.9 million people in the United States have the disease, and the greatest risk factor is age. 

Today, people are living longer and millions of Boomers will turn 65 in the next 4 years. 

One in eight people age 65 and older now have Alzheimer’s. Half of those 85 and older have it.

The Good News - there are 9 new Alzheimer’s treatments being tested for the effectiveness in a Phase III trial test series and dozens in the Phase II trials. The next generation drug will be designed to prevent, destroy and clean out deposits of beta-amyloid plaque that kill the brain’s nerve cells, leading to the loss of memory and reason.

Scientists are expected to announce the results as early as 2008. 

“Within three years, it’s all but certain we’ll have disease modifying drugs that fundamentally change the nature of Alzheimer’s.” says Sam Gandy, M.D., chair of the National Medical and Scientific Advisory Council of the Alzheimer’s Association and director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences in Philadelphia.

Neil Buckholtz, chief of the Dementias of Aging Branch at the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, MD, adds, “We’ve gone from drugs that help for a time with the symptoms of Alzheimer’s to trying to develop drugs that will actually slow down or reverse the disease itself.”

Gandy stated that if test results for the first new drug, Alzhemed, from Neurochem are positive, that the Food and Drug Administration may decide to fast-track the drug and we could see it approved next year.

However, should Alzhemed fail to significantly slow the progress of the disease, scientists are confident that one or more than four dozen other drugs now in human trials will succeed.

One promising drug is Flurizan from Myraid Genetics and the results from that test could be completed within 18 months.  The optimism regarding the drug trials are from the fruits of 20 years of scientific work on Alzheimer’s. 

Main Line Elder Care Associates wants to encourage you to get more information regarding these trials by contacting  the Alzheimer’s Association or www.alz.org  Also, to learn about clinical trials and studies in your area, call 1-800-438-4389.  

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE 

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease have a higher risk of becoming confused, wander away from home and to get lost. Therefore, individuals with AD or memory loss may become lost and thereby are at risk for a serious injury.

Main Line Elder Care Associates, Inc. recommends that these individuals be registered in the Alzheimer’s Association Safe Return Program. 1-800-272-3900 or www.alz-delawarevalley.org.

SAFE RETURN PROGRAM - Provides identification products such as bracelets or necklace ID, clothing labels, wallet cards, etc. They have a 24 hour toll free crisis line and a national photo database to assist the family to facilitate a successful reunion.

Main Line Elder Care Associates, Inc. endorses this program to help your family member with demntia who wanders because:

1. 59% of people with Alzheimer’s disease wander and become lost.
2. 46% may die if not found within 24 hours.
3. People with AD are often found with a 1/2 mile radius of where they were last seen.
4. People with AD are usually found a short distance from the road or an open field.
5. People with AD are often found in creek or drainage areas or caught in briers or bushes.
6. People with AD do not usually cry out for help.
7. People with AD do not usually respond to shouts from searchers.
8. People with AD leave few physical clues behold.

Please contact Main Line Elder Care Associates, Inc. for information regarding this program, care plans. educational training or for an appropriate placement facility for AD individuals at 610-688-2667 or www.info@mainlineeldercare.com.

Also, contact the Safe Return Program at the Alzheimer’s Association to register at 1-800-272-3900.