Scientists are making progress on Alzheimer’s
Yesterday on its Health Blog, The Wall Street Journal is reporting on advances in Alzheimer’s treatments.
Alzheimer’s is on the rise, but scientists are making progress on treatments they think may finally make a dent in the disease.
But as Forbes reports, researchers still aren’t certain about the cause of the illness. That gap in knowledge means that a range of drugs that aim to clear the brain of amyloid plaque, clumps of protein fragments that are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s, may never work.
It’s distressing to hear that they’re still so unsure about the disease, but at least they feel like they’re getting somewhere. Read the rest of the post here.
It’s even more distressing when you see the numbers that the Alzheimer’s Association report:
7.7 million Americans will have it by 2030.
71,696 Deaths from Alzheimer’s in 2005.
45% Increase in Alzheimer’s deaths since 2000.
$148 billion Yearly cost of treating and caring for these patients.
The print edition of the WSJ’s “Blog Watch” section last week listed a few Alzheimer’s-related blogs that they’ve been keeping an eye on:
-The Yellow Wallpaper
-MYSA.com’s Alzheimer’s blog
Are there any others that you think are good?
Filed under: Boomers
