The Lucknow Sentinel, 1991-01-09, Page 8M!INTEE
Gage 6 ' Itt l ow 4` a i+inte14p. ei esdyFyF. Jana 99 1991
Janu
ry is A1heimer
rareness
Anti -in ammation drugs may help in Alzheim
Studies of the similarities between
Alzheimer's disease and rheumatoid
arthritis suzgest .:that atati-inflam4
ss as -Aer Py u y .sora ;1,. ,
or even prevent the nset bf, tate
erosive brain da*age caused by
Alzheimer's,
The University of British Colum-
bia studies, led by neuroscientist
Dr. Patrick McGeer, have f+ A,d a
surprisingly low incidence off
Alzheimer's in patients receiv E g
long-term anti-inflammatory drug
therapy for rheumatoid arthritis.
The lining 'ef inflammation and
Alzheimer's occurred after large
numbers of immune system cells,
which the body uses in fighting
diseases involving inflammation,
were found in e brains of
AlzheimerD 5atients.
Alzheimer's, P �}�
z . -s�10 t'f'�sv u 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
to remember, it is only be looking
at the characteristic pN tholoy, e
r
physical evidence, that the diagnosis
is, certain, and that, says Mceer
,
"is usually done after death."
Though there was a time when
biopsies were done on living
patients to conium the diagnosis,
this is seldom done now, because,
McGeer says, s' "there isn't a purpose
to justify t.99
Scientists think that the destruc-
tion of brain cells causes the
symptom 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
6ells9 or neurotds, may die, McGeer
says. The cortex is responsible for
conscionsness,,.. d plays .
031e ill+ pet ePt on,,o d,, bought
and intellect, and in initiating
voluntary movement.
Whether cell death is a (e-ct
result of inflammation or the
inflammation occurs as a result if
ther factors causing cell death s
asaystary. 'Thera is evideliee infilarmadon of the joints wsulting
ott
cf ��a(uto-d��eA�sl ctionay¢ to the ,��'•y�brai•na" .�, rt 1 ', s a!kka jobs th P.efi EiIl _:.
ct
responsibility cannot be panned on 66Yon see all •of the same elements
ne thing or another, arthritis
�};; it �I oa in qq �r i.einnatoid
e e . Alzheimer's
9 a+t1 i i . . see in the• brains.
The discove � of apparent iamA �s that you s
ration m the bis of Alzhe mer s of Alzheimer's patients," says
victims led the researchers to cow. Waver.
psymptomsthe ..to those of From this be hYPothesized film
p
rheumatoid tl " , . vi,g0r'ous would a negative Co-elatMoa
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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
boards - including those in educatioti7 police, health, 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 assist you when making a request.
If, however, you are not satisfied with decisions, the Office of the
Information and Privacy Commissioner (1-800-387-0073) will be available,
to review the case.
Information, about this Act, can be obtained from:
The Freedom of Information and
Privacy Branch,
Managementoard Secretariat,
56 Wellesley Street West, 18th Floor, I
Toronto, Ontario, M7A 1Z6
f (416) 327-2187
Onitario
el a
between theumatold arthritis, which
Ips its -fit at about 50.
which , has its peak at about 70
years of age. Those who had
rheumatoid atoid akth tis would be less
likely to develop Alzheimer's
because of thein: long exposure to
anti-iuflauwnator' therapy for the
arthritis, Those with: Alzheimer's
would be less likely to have had
rheumatoid arthritis;. the presence of
Alzheimer's suggested no previous
anti-inflammatory therapy,.
In the genet population, more
than 2.7 per cent of people over t
years of age have Alzheimer's.
McGeer and his research group
speculated that "people taking anti-
inflammatory nflam story agents (such as ASA)
would o d 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-term anti-inflam-
matory therapy and how many also
had Alzheimer's. Among this
sample population, the prevalence
of Alzheimer's was only 0.39 per
cent; most of these cases were
among the small group of :patients
who had had relatively little anti-
inflammatory therapy. Of the vast
majority who had long-term anti-
inflammatory therapy, only 0.09.per
cent had Alzheimer's.
Flowever, the evidence is still
preliminary. McGeer points out he
ia not suggesting that people, par-
ticularly
ar-
i'cularly the elderly, should start
taking large doses of anti-inflatn-
oratory agents in the believe that
they will be protected against
Alzheimer's. Because of potential
problems or side effects,
high
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