Protein linked to arthritis could help treat Alzheimer's

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Published Date: 23 August 2010

By Lyndsay Moss

Health Correspondent

A PROTEIN found in patients with arthritis could be used to reverse the mental decline suffered by people with Alzheimer's, new research suggests.

The scientists found that people with rheumatoid arthritis may be protected against dementia because of their condition. (snip)

The researchers from the University of South Florida looked at the effects of a protein known as GM-CSF in mice bred with Alzheimer's symptoms.

They found that the protein, which is released in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, was able to "completely reverse" cognitive impairment in the mice.

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I'll have that extra pie please

I would never trade my amazing friends,
my wonderful life, my loving family for
less gray hair or a flatter belly.
As I've aged, I've become kinder
to myself, and less critical of
myself. I've become my own friend.
I don't chide myself for eating that
extra cookie, or for not making my bed,
or for buying that silly cement gecko
that I didn't need, but  looks so avante
garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat,
to be messy, to be extravagant. 

I have seen too many dear friends leave this
world too soon; before they understood the great
freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play
on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?
I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes
of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish
to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched
over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with
abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from
the jet set.
    
They, too, will get old. I know I am sometimes forgetful.
But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten.
And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken.
How can your heart not  break when you lose a
loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when
somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken
hearts are what give us strength and understanding and
compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and
sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

    
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my
hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be
forever  etched into deep grooves on my face.

So many have never laughed,and so many have died
before their hair could turn silver. 

As you get older, it is easier to be positive.
You care less about what other people think.

I don't question myself anymore..

I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old.
It has set me free. I like the person I have become.
I am not going to live forever, but while I am still
here, I will not waste time lamenting what could
have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall
eat dessert  every single day(if I feel like it).

                                          Author Unknown

           

I told a young man

I told a young man, “I know that IPODs exist, but that is about it.” I continued that it was a sign of my old age.
He asked me how old I was, “or can I ask that?”
I told him I didn’t mind and told him my age. He said, “That is not old. You are doing yourself a disservice to say you are old.” I told him that it depended on how you viewed age. “I am not ashamed of being old. Being old has its strengths and weaknesses. I do not know much about technical things, but I have strengths that you cannot even imagine.”
It is true. Age brings wisdom, delights, comforts, assurances, depth that youth cannot imagine. However, it might bring a few aches and pains, a little less energy, and a loss of flexibility. I may not understand the latest and greatest in the technical field, but I have not lost my ability to learn. So what are my weaknesses compared to my strengths? Nada, as I said before, I have strengths you cannot even imagine.
It is the aging bias that tries to keep older adults “in their place.” Don’t let it. Speak out!

Age is the great equalizer

On the same memory unit at your local nursing home you will find a caucasion man who was once quite wealthy but used up his money with private care to stay in his home, and then refined assisted living. He might be seated at the dining table next to another caucasion man who has been homeless for the last 40 years except when in and out of drug rehab programs. Also in the room is a black man who used to play dancing gigs over a five state area. There were some clubs where his band was not allowed to play, but he once played for the governor at the governor’s mansion. The fourth is a Hispanic gentleman who served his country in the military during the Korean War. At another table sits a woman who never missed a day of church before nursing home placement and even now does not a miss a chance to hear a good preaching. At her table sits a woman who once lived with her best friend, another woman. While both of them sold their bodies on the street, they found sincere love in each other’s arms. The third lady at the table is a retired school teacher. Each has seen good times and bad. Each eats the same pureed food and thickened juice. Their long term care is paid from different source, a pension, VA benefits, Social Security/Disability, all supplemented with Medicaid. Each has $60 spending money piling up to threaten their future Medicaid with the exception of the one who continues to smoke. They have forgotten their pride, they have forgotten their prejudices. They suffer in silence for the most part. From time to time you might catch a tear welling up as they remember the loved ones who have passed away or passed them on. Age plays no favorites.

Geriatric Education for all in Health Care

Geriatric medical care is similar to pediatric medical care in that the rules of thumb that work for the rest of population do not fit. The patient's issues are more complex and demand specialized understanding. When caring for my mother, steadily declining with Alzheimer’s and other issues common to aging, we met several instances of medical professionals who failed to get geriatric training. When her knee was in great pain, an orthopedist responded, “What do you expect at your age?” Then he told of his army days - how men with far worse pain walked through it. She felt defeated, shamed, and without hope for her joint issue. Then in her last days, when switching pain medications, her dosage was miscalculated and she was overdosed. Older patients commonly need lower dosages for similar effects. Hearing her symptoms, the on-call nurse told us to just give her more morphine for comfort. She recovered by withholding the morphine, working with her, then later starting it with a smaller dosage. Now I care for my father, who has another type of dementia. We visited a psychoneurologist who showed him his CAT scan and told him, "See, you have holes in your head; I will be talking to your daughter instead of you." The failure to provide dignity to this man was a failure of the system to provide geriatric training to its medical professionals. The elderly are quickly becoming a larger and larger percentage of the population. All medical professionals will increasingly have more patients in the older adult range. Please contact your representatives and ask them to make geriatric training a routine part of a medical professional’s education and required for continued certification.

Mother always said,

"Getting old is tedious." I agree, but there are some good points as well.