Ashwagandha, Curcumin and Other Amyloid Interfering Supplements

[cflegal]

I am working on wading through the whole issue and one day came across:

Dr. Burhenne’s Golden Milk Tea

Since I am looking at therapeutic rather than preventative use, I'm not sure about going with bulk turmeric over sticking with theracumin (which I need to up my dosage on, btw). I started with the Swanson but am very grateful for all the info here.

Can anyone help me with info about bulk usage and/or the tea recipe in particular? I made it one time and enjoyed it. Saving $$ is always a plus, just not worth sacrificing results.

Thanks much!

Drae

I can't help with your specific question but . . . tumeric and theracurmin are totally different but related. Turmeric contains a small amount of curcumin and is digested in the stomach. Theracurmin is concentrated curcumin in "nanoparticulate" form and crosses the gut lining and goes directly into the bloodstream. One of the modes of action of curcumin in the bloodstream is as an anti inflammatory. I find that my Theracurmin use (for about a year) has greatly eased arthritic pain in my knee and hip. But my main interest is in reducing the level of amyloid plaque in my brain. Since amyloid begins to build up before any cognitive symptoms, theracurmin can be preventive or curative depending upon your condition. I am interested in curative and am taking precisely the dose used in the UCLA study.

[cflegal]

Thanks for posting this Julie. I said I doubted we would see this kind of trial, and even though it is a small trial I am happy to be proven wrong. Gary Small is a bit of a controversial figure, as he has received a warning letter from the FDA about his attempts to market the PET scan used in the study. So consider this as much as a commercial for FDDNP as it is for theracurmin. Nonetheless, there is more science behind this the the majority of supplements on the market. Looking into if I should switch from Longvida to Theracurmin.

"The FDA caution was on commercial uses of the technology, not that the technology was faulty. UCLA has been using that scan for many years for research. It is the only scan that I am aware of that measures both amyloid and tau. I only hope that the current UCLA study for Longvida brand curcurmin will also use this scan approach."

[Grace]

Hi Circular,

Nearly all of the amyloid trials to date have failed, with the exception of aducanumab. I am only aware of one trial that actually worsened patients in a severe enough manner to stop the trial, and that was the gamma secretase inhibitor semagacestat. This class of drugs was always a risky proposition because of potential off target effects on the notch receptor.

Update (Biogen Press Release) CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 21, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB) and Eisai, Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) today announced the decision to discontinue the global Phase 3 trials, ENGAGE and EMERGE, designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of aducanumab in patients with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease and mild Alzheimer’s disease dementia. The decision to stop the trials is based on results of a futility analysis conducted by an independent data monitoring committee, which indicated the trials were unlikely to meet their primary endpoint upon completion. The recommendation to stop the studies was not based on safety concerns.

“This disappointing news confirms the complexity of treating Alzheimer’s disease and the need to further advance knowledge in neuroscience. We are incredibly grateful to all the Alzheimer’s disease patients, their families and the investigators who participated in the trials and contributed greatly to this research,” said Michel Vounatsos, Chief Executive Officer at Biogen. “Biogen’s history has been based on pioneering innovation, learning from successes and setbacks. Driven by our steadfast commitment to patients and our strong business foundation, we will continue advancing our pipeline of potential therapies in Alzheimer’s disease and innovative medicines for patients suffering from diseases of high unmet need.”

Detailed data from the ENGAGE and EMERGE studies will be presented at future medical meetings to inform ongoing research. ENGAGE and EMERGE are global Phase 3 multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group studies designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of aducanumab. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of monthly doses of aducanumab as compared with placebo in slowing cognitive and functional impairment as measured by changes in the Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB) score. Secondary objectives were to assess the effect of monthly doses of aducanumab as compared to placebo on clinical progression as measured by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), AD Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog 13), and AD Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living Inventory (ADCS-ADL-MCI).

As part of this decision, the EVOLVE Phase 2 safety study and the long-term extension of the PRIME Phase1b study of aducanumab will also be discontinued. Initiation of the aducanumab Phase 3 secondary prevention trial will be assessed while the data from ENGAGE and EMERGE are further evaluated.

About Aducanumab

Aducanumab (BIIB037) is an investigational compound being studied for the treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease. Biogen licensed aducanumab from Neurimmune under a collaborative development and license agreement. Aducanumab is a human monoclonal antibody (mAb) derived from a de-identified library of B cells collected from healthy elderly subjects with no signs of cognitive impairment or cognitively impaired elderly subjects with unusually slow cognitive decline using Neurimmune’s technology platform called Reverse Translational Medicine (RTM). Since October 2017, Biogen and Eisai have collaborated on the development and commercialization of aducanumab globally. In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation for the development of aducanumab, a process allowing priority reviews by the FDA for drugs deemed as having potential to treat serious conditions and tackle key unmet medical needs.

Source: http://investors.biogen.com/news-releas ... rge-trials

[TerriV]

What dosage are you taking?

[Julie G]

"The FDA caution was on commercial uses of the technology, not that the technology was faulty. UCLA has been using that scan for many years for research. It is the only scan that I am aware of that measures both amyloid and tau. I only hope that the current UCLA study for Longvida brand curcurmin will also use this scan approach."

Just curious, cflegal, where are you pulling that quote from? Could you please provide the link. Thanks.

[CoachMT]

What dosage are you taking?

Welcome to the Apoe4.info community TerriV! We're pleased to have you join the community! Great to see you are already engaging in the forums and asking fellow Apoe4.info members like cflegal, questions such as, "What dosage [of Theracurmin] are you taking?"

It sounds like you’ve had an opportunity to click around the site a bit already. If you haven’t seen it already, the primer is a great place to start. It was authored by a member physician who carries two copies of the APOE-ε4 allele, is regularly updated and provides information on the science behind the APOE-ε4 allele, tips on diet and lifestyle choices, biomarkers to check, and prevention strategies. You may also be interested in checking out the Our Stories forum to learn more about fellow forum members and to share your own story.

Great to have you join us! Please don't hesitate to ask questions. Best, Mandy

[TerriV]

Mandy, Thanks so much for the warm welcome! I'm not a shy person, so I'll be chiming in.. thanks again...
Terri

[cflegal]

"The FDA caution was on commercial uses of the technology, not that the technology was faulty. UCLA has been using that scan for many years for research. It is the only scan that I am aware of that measures both amyloid and tau. I only hope that the current UCLA study for Longvida brand curcurmin will also use this scan approach."

Just curious, cflegal, where are you pulling that quote from? Could you please provide the link. Thanks.

"I do not remember the specific source but I was particularly interested in UCLA's FDDNP-PET technology. My recollection is that the FDA guidance was related to claims that could be made relative to diagnosing sports traumatic brain injuries. A google search for FDDNP-PET will bring up more than you want to wade through."

[Magda]

What dosage are you taking?

Welcome TerriV,

When it comes to turmeric and cognitive performance the Natural Medicines website recommends:

"Small study shows that taking a specific brand of curcumin (Theracurmin, Theravalues Corp.) 90 mg twice daily for 18 months improves long-term memory and attention compared with placebo in middle-aged and older, non-demented adults with or without mild cognitive impairment. Reasons for the discrepancies may relate to the duration of treatment, the formulation of curcumin, or the cognitive function of patients at baseline."

Here is the link to the study mentioned in the text:
https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.libproxy.b ... t=Abstract

[jerryb]

Are there a lot of bad results from supplements documented? My wife had to discontinue the Bredesen Protocol due to side effects from either the supplements containing Ashgawanda or from the HRT . I assumed that since she is 78 the bad effects were due to the HRT. She had swelling in ankles, an exacerbation of previous g.i. Symptoms and extreme lethargy. Would these be consistent with what others have reported on supplements?
I am still using Tumeric liberally in recipes - is bioavailability not good when used this way versus pill form?