HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1991-01-09, Page 6rage 6 . Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, Jannary 9, 1991
Januar
is Alzheimer Awareness Mont
Antiin.
p
Studies of tsignilaritios between
Alzheimer's disease and rheumatoid
arthritis suggest at ahti-infra n—
k .. i t r coatml,
or even prevent the onset of, the
erosive bruin dage caused by
Alzheimer's.
The University of British Colum-
bia studies, led by neuroscientist
Dr. Patrick McGeer, have found a
surprisingly low incidence of
Alzheimer's in patients receiving
long-term anti-inflammatory drug
therapy for rheumatoid arthritis.
The lining of inflammation and
Alzheimer's occurred after large
numbers of immune system cells,
which the body uses in fighting
diseases involving inflammation,
were found in the brains of
Alzheimer's patients.
Alzheimer's, sometimes called
"death without a funeral", is "a.
malevolent disease which strikes the
elderly, robbing them of mental
faculties," says McGeer.
Though a person may be said to
have Alzheimer's disease on the
basis of deterioration of their ability
ty
remember, itisonlylooking
to ebe o0
g
at the characteristic pathology, or
physical evidence, that the diagnosis
n sis
is certain, d that, says 1VIcGeet,
it ' doneafter usually death.
tf
Though there was a time when
biopsies were done on living
patients to confirm the diagnosis,
this is seldom done now, because,-
McGeer says, "there isn't a purpose
to justify it."
Scientists think that the destruc-
tion of brain cells causes the
symptoms of Alzheimer's. The
cortex of the brain (the outer layer
of the large forefront of the brain)
contains between 10 and 14 billion
brain cells. During the progressive
erosion of Alzheimer's • disease, at
least two to three billion of these
ammati6n drugs may help 'in Alzheuner s
cells, or neatens, . may die, Mem"
says, The cortex is responsible for
consciousness and plays a Major
yob t'AraremioN »ems t
and intellect, and in initiating
voluntary movement.
Whether cell death b a direct
result of inflammation fir the
inflammation occurs as a result of
other factors causing cell death is
4tili a mystery. "Thera is evidi.. e
of auto -destruction in the brih,"
says McO faQut,as ye, fall
iF ¢4yiw((jyL: ppne}
one thing or another.
The discovery of apparent Mew,
matioa in the brains ofAlzheimer's
victims , s ledd the researchen to :cow.
pare the symptoms ptoms _ to those of
rheumatoid arthritis -- a vigorous-
itinannuation of the joints resultms
in hot, swollen joints 'that eventua1iy
deform.
say ato titta rz-aa 4141%4
of inflammation n ' rhemnatoid
tisthat you seri in, the brains'
of M��(ii■��y� pAlzheimer's � entsq Says
McGe rR '-
From
F m this be hypothesized there
would ' be a negative solation
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The Municipal Freedom of
Information and Protection of
Privacy Act ...is now in effect.
This Act covers all municipal corporations and a wide range of local
UoaIds - including those lir education, police, 11ea1UI, roads, public
utilities and conservation authorities.
Each of these organizations is required to have - for access by the
public a listing of the general classes of records and personal
information.
While the law provides for a right of .access to these records, limited by
certain specific exemptions, it also protects your personal information. Each
organization will have an individual - designated as the Information and
Privacy Coordinator who can assistyou• when making a request.
If, however,Y ou are not satisfied with decisions, the Okffice of the
Information and Privacy Commissioner (1-800-8770073) will be available
to review the case.
Information; about this Act, can be obtained from:
The Freedom of Information and
Privacy Branch,
Management Board Secretariat,
56 WVelle ley Street West,. I8th Floor,
Toronto, Ontario, M7A 1Z6
(416) 327-2187
Ontario
0
on rheumatoid aF t, which
°eb
Is peak onset at about 50 years
of., ne, -and AbilOhner's ,distase2
.an° 1 `` ""rwtit a
years of age. Those. Otho had
rheumatoid arthritis would be less
likely to :developAlzheimer's
became of'their long exposure to
anti-inflammatory therapy f the
a�ribriti$, �' withAlzheimer's
would be less likely to have had
rheumatoid arthritis; the presence of
Alzheimer's suggested no previous
anti-hdlaturnatory therapy.
do the scowl population,inor0
than 2.7 per Bent of people over 65
years of age have Alzheimer's.
McGeer and his research group
speculated that 4'people taking anti-
influlnmatory agents (such as ASA)
av id be . protected .against
Alzheimer's."
To test this theory they studied
the case histories of 7490
rheumatoid arthritis patients over
the age of 65 and noted how many
.
were on long -tern anti-inflam-
matory therapy and how many also
�Y
had Alzheimer's. Among this
sateY lepopulation, l5 the prevalence
of Alzheimer's was only 0.39. per
cent; most est of these cases were
among the smallou of patients
� P
who had had relatively little anti-
inflammatory therapy. . Of the vast
majority who had long-term anti-
inflammatory 'YtheraPYA only
0.09
Per
cent had Alzheimer's.
However, . the evidence is still
preliminary. McGeer points out he
is not suggesting that people, par-
ticularly the elderly, should start
taking large doses of anti-inflam-
matory agents in the believe that
they willbe protected ' against
Alzheimer's.
s. Because ofPotential
problems or - side effects, high
Tacitto
page 96
M!INTEE
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ALVIN ROBB 395.3174
WARREN ZINN 5284710
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workshop, treed lot fronts on mill
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ASHFIELD = 4 bedroom home dose t
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PRICED TO SELL - 4 bedroom
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'79,000.
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