Early detection and possible approach to preventative treatment

Alzheimer's, cardiovascular, and other chronic diseases; biomarkers, lifestyle, supplements, drugs, and health care.
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SusanJ
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Early detection and possible approach to preventative treatment

Post by SusanJ »

Did anyone else see this one?

Being of the inflammatory/autoimmune type, I might dig a bit more into this guy's research when I get a chance. Not a big fan of NSAIDs long-term, but if he has the research...
Contrary to the widely held belief that Abeta 42 is made only in the brain, Dr. McGeer's team demonstrated that the peptide is made in all organs of the body and is secreted in saliva from the submandibular gland. As a result, with as little as one teaspoon of saliva, it is possible to predict whether an individual is destined to develop Alzheimer's disease. This gives them an opportunity to begin taking early preventive measures such as consuming non-prescription non-steroidal drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen.


https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 140239.htm
circular
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Re: Early detection and possible approach to preventative treatment

Post by circular »

I keep toying with the idea of baby aspirin, mainly since my hsCRP is high, but then I think I should see if addressing my dental infections brings it down. Heck, can it hurt if coated and taken with food? I wonder why they recommend ibuprofen over aspirin? Or maybe curcumin is doing the same thing?
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
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SusanJ
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Re: Early detection and possible approach to preventative treatment

Post by SusanJ »

I thought the same thing about curcumin. They are all anti-inflammatories.

Like you, I try to do everything to keep inflammation low, but sometimes my joints have a mind of their own...
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Re: Early detection and possible approach to preventative treatment

Post by rianlees »

Interesting thread on inflammation, turmeric, ibuprofen and aspirin. I have seen data demonstrating a lower risk of breast cancer in women on aspirin- as I'm sure you are aware- managing inflammation is paramount. I do tend to lean toward small dose aspirin with food is pretty safe. I might even experiment on myself.
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SusanJ
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Re: Early detection and possible approach to preventative treatment

Post by SusanJ »

So McGeer has done some research using a modified aspirin form he calls NOSH-aspirin.
Hydrogen sulfide (H2 S) and nitric oxide (NO) have been described as gasotransmitters. Anti-inflammatory activity in the central and peripheral nervous systems may be one of their functions. Previously we demonstrated that several SH(-) donors including H2 S-releasing aspirin (S-ASA) exhibited anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective activity in vitro against toxins released by activated microglia and astrocytes. Here we report that NOSH-ASA, an NO- and H2 S-releasing hybrid of aspirin, has a significantly greater anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effect than S-ASA or NO-ASA.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23918470

Just cell studies so far, so we'll see where it goes.

He argues in another paper that the complement system is the underlying cause of so many runaway immunity problems including those in AD, so helping the complement system self-regulate is his target. Looks like a lot of his work looks at how to target the complement system to dampen inflammation.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?te ... ick+McGeer

Here's a stroll down his research memory lane from 2011.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3228970/
Orangeblossom
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Re: Early detection and possible approach to preventative treatment

Post by Orangeblossom »

I take a mini aspirin every day as my genetic testing said something about being a person who it might help protect against bowel cancer. It is very cheap and easy to get from the chemists. I wonder of Curcumin may also be helpful, don't they call it / use it as aspirin in Asia?
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Re: Early detection and possible approach to preventative treatment

Post by NF52 »

Canadian neuroscientists say daily ibuprofen can prevent Alzheimer's disease

As a result, with as little as one teaspoon of saliva, it is possible to predict whether an individual is destined to develop Alzheimer's disease. This gives them an opportunity to begin taking early preventive measures such as consuming non-prescription non-steroidal drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen.

"What we've learned through our research is that people who are at risk of developing Alzheimer's exhibit the same elevated Abeta 42 levels as people who already have it; moreover, they exhibit those elevated levels throughout their lifetime so, theoretically, they could get tested anytime," says Dr. McGeer. "Knowing that the prevalence of clinical Alzheimer's Disease commences at age 65, we recommend that people get tested ten years before, at age 55, when the onset of Alzheimer's would typically begin. If they exhibit elevated Abeta 42 levels then, that is the time to begin taking daily ibuprofen to ward off the disease.
This article seems like an incredbile overstatement of the science behind the actual published article. (See below). I don't see how Dr. McGeer has shown that it is possible to predict whether an individual is destined to develop AD.
The researchers who are spending 5 years of a clnical trial to test my blood, see my MRIs and PET scans, judge my cognition, and collect ALL my health records (yes, I did just have a shot of botox documented for a clinical trial!) can only "predict" that my "destiny" is a 30-60% chance of AD based on my Apoe 4/4 status.

For Dr. McGeer to claim that if I had only taken a daily ibuprofen starting 10 years ago I could "ward off" AD is irresponsible: I would ask him to show the clinical, observational, prospective or restrospective study that shows that correlation, much less showing that all other confounding variables that might "ward off" AD have been accounted for.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases ... 032618.php

In fact, in writing, all he claims is to have found a possible PREDICTOR of RISK.
Here's a bit of the actual abstract (I didn't have access to the entire article.)
We then quantitated the Aβ42 in a series of samples with ELISA type tests. Control cases showed almost identical levels of salivary Aβ42 regardless of sex or age. All AD cases secreted levels of Aβ42 more than double those of controls. Individuals at elevated risk of developing AD secreted levels comparable to the AD cases. The results establish that salivary Aβ42 levels can be used to diagnose AD as well as to predict the risk of its future onset.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/277 ... t=Abstract

Questions: How many patients? How were they selected? Were scientists "blinded" as to who was healthy and who had MCI? what does "comparable" mean in any statistically significant sense? What was the "confidence interval?"
My translation of the last sentence: Levels of beta amyloid in people at risk of AD [that would include me, as a 4/4] can be used to predict that they are at risk of AD. Nothing in this review proves that these people go on to develop AD, and that this is in fact a proven, prospective biomarker. My biomarker for Lp(a) "proves" that I am at a statistical risk of aortic stenosis and coronary artery disease right now! My coronary calcium scan shows that my cardiac age is 39, and I have zero calcium. Biomarkers are not the same as outcome events! Sometimes they are not even valid biomarkers; they are just data points.


And there's nothing in the abstract, or any other research article I could find published in the last 8 years, that tied salivary function and AD to taking a daily ibuprofen to ward it off.

Here's a fall 2017 article that seems to be saying that many salivary functions ("homeostatis" and "impaired..function of the salivary glands" are associated with dementia.
Antioxidant Defence, Oxidative Stress and Oxidative Damage in Saliva, Plasma and Erythrocytes of Dementia Patients. Can Salivary AGE [Advanced Glycation Endmarkers] be a Marker of Dementia?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29053628
We show that in dementia patients the concentration/activity of major salivary antioxidants changes, and the level of oxidative damage to DNA, proteins and lipids is increased compared to healthy controls...In conclusion, dementia is associated with disturbed salivary redox homeostasis and impaired secretory function of the salivary glands. Salivary AGE may be useful in the diagnosis of dementia.
Finally, this is a summary of the state of the research on saliva biomarkers (among others mentioned in a larger article) in the fall 2017 EPMA Journal, which described itself as "a journal of predictive, preventive and personalized medicine (PPPM)" .
Specific protein biomarker patterns for Alzheimer’s disease: improved diagnostics in progress
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5607150/
Recent comprehensive reviews on AD biomarkers exist , and specifically about saliva, suggesting early diagnosis of MCI and AD based on salivary lactoferrin, an iron- and also Aβ-binding glycoprotein.
It should be noted that the literature on saliva biomarkers for AD is still very limited (42 articles are currently available on PUBMED for saliva and Alzheimer’s), however, for the purpose of this review and future improved diagnostics it is worth mentioning some, as follows.

As a starting point, saliva is believed to be essential for the preservation of oral health and function, thus, unstimulated and stimulated submandibular salivary gland secretions were collected from non-medicated and otherwise healthy patients suffering from dementia and of the AD type (early disease stages) and compared to age-matched healthy controls. Results showed significantly lower salivary flow rates in the dementia sufferers, suggestive of a selective impairment in submandibular gland function in essentially healthy patients with early-stage dementia. ...
In general related to body fluids, future studies are warranted combining proteomics, metabolomics [39] and genomic evaluations with large cohorts.
4/4 and still an optimist!
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SusanJ
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Re: Early detection and possible approach to preventative treatment

Post by SusanJ »

NF, I agree after looking further at his research. Don't know who wrote the press release, but it's a stretch for sure.
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Re: Early detection and possible approach to preventative treatment

Post by CoachDD »

I had done a bit of research as my husband works to manage his high blood pressure - he was advised to take a baby aspirin daily (and does so since his cardiologist recommends it). . . P.S. This is a site I refer to often:

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/baby-a ... ption-most
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/aspiri ... ternatives
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/aspiri ... -you-about
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Re: Early detection and possible approach to preventative treatment

Post by NF52 »

Smart hubby, CoachDD!! Baby aspirin to prevent cardiac events is well-established!
Ibuprofen to prevent Alzheimer's--not a thing--yet.
4/4 and still an optimist!
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