This is an intriguing paper. See Table 2.
High levels of BMAA were found in the brains of
people with ALS and AD, but none was detected
in all but a very few controls.

http://tidenetwork.org/wp-content/up.../Bradley-1.pdf

BMAA is a toxic amino acid produced by cyanobacteria
(blue-green algae). Cyanobacteria occur in massive
blooms in both freshwater and sal****er, as recently
occurred in Lake Erie. They also are common soil
bacteria, so may present a risk in agricultural crops,
though the major route of exposure for people is
contaminated drinking water. BMAA was present in 90%
of blue-green algae species tested.

http://www.serrano.neves.nom.br/lsm/...e/ciano_02.pdf

This seems like a good reason not to drink tap water.
I wonder if we'll see an epidemic of ALS and Alzheimer's
in Toledo in a few years.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weathe...harmf/31210317

Mark Thorson > wrote in
:


> This seems like a good reason not to drink tap water.
> I wonder if we'll see an epidemic of ALS and Alzheimer's
> in Toledo in a few years.
>

You're going to see an epidemic of Alzheimer's in the _world_ in a few
years, but it won't necessarily be caused by algae. The primary risk
factor for developing AD is age, and as life expectancy is increasing and
the boomers are aging, there are going to be a lot more people who will
live long enough to get the disease. By age 85, 1 in 3 people have AD or
some other related dementia.

On 2014-10-17, Alan Holbrook > wrote:

> some other related dementia.

A key fact!

Alzheimer's can only be diagnosed after death, so the blanket
assignment of this malady by most everyone who might become forgetful
is totally unfounded. There are MANY types of dementia, but it
benefits the Alzheimer's Association to lump everyone under this
single disability, as it makes them the biggest single recipient of
charitable funds in this arena.

Even after my mom passed on, in July, and the state of CO required a
autopsy, Alzheimers was not indicated. Whether my mom actually had
Alzheimer's and was not tested for it, or had a different strain of
dementia, I do not know at this time.

nb

"notbob" > wrote in message
...
> On 2014-10-17, Alan Holbrook > wrote:
>
>> some other related dementia.
>
> A key fact!
>
> Alzheimer's can only be diagnosed after death, so the blanket
> assignment of this malady by most everyone who might become forgetful
> is totally unfounded. There are MANY types of dementia, but it
> benefits the Alzheimer's Association to lump everyone under this
> single disability, as it makes them the biggest single recipient of
> charitable funds in this arena.
>
> Even after my mom passed on, in July, and the state of CO required a
> autopsy, Alzheimers was not indicated. Whether my mom actually had
> Alzheimer's and was not tested for it, or had a different strain of
> dementia, I do not know at this time.
>

why did they require an autopsy?

On 17 Oct 2014 14:59:21 GMT, notbob > wrote:

> On 2014-10-17, Alan Holbrook > wrote:
>
> > some other related dementia.
>
> A key fact!
>
> Alzheimer's can only be diagnosed after death, so the blanket
> assignment of this malady by most everyone who might become forgetful
> is totally unfounded. There are MANY types of dementia, but it
> benefits the Alzheimer's Association to lump everyone under this
> single disability, as it makes them the biggest single recipient of
> charitable funds in this arena.
>
If you think that type of brain research extrapolates only to
Alzheimer's disease you're not as smart as you think you are.



--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On Fri, 17 Oct 2014 08:01:42 -0700, "Pico Rico"
> wrote:

>
> "notbob" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > Even after my mom passed on, in July, and the state of CO required a
> > autopsy, Alzheimers was not indicated. Whether my mom actually had
> > Alzheimer's and was not tested for it, or had a different strain of
> > dementia, I do not know at this time.
> >
>
> why did they require an autopsy?
>
I will hazard a guess and say it's because she didn't die of a known
cause (such as cancer) and she didn't die in a hospital.

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

notbob > wrote in :

>
> A key fact!
>
> Alzheimer's can only be diagnosed after death, so the blanket
> assignment of this malady by most everyone who might become forgetful
> is totally unfounded. There are MANY types of dementia, but it

You're not only NotBob, you're not correct, either. There are now tests
that can diagnose AD in living people. PET scans can, and do, show the
plaques and tangles lesions that are the iindicators of Alzheimer's.

Alan Holbrook wrote:
>
> notbob > wrote in :
>
> >
> > A key fact!
> >
> > Alzheimer's can only be diagnosed after death, so the blanket
> > assignment of this malady by most everyone who might become forgetful
> > is totally unfounded. There are MANY types of dementia, but it
>
> You're not only NotBob, you're not correct, either. There are now tests
> that can diagnose AD in living people. PET scans can, and do, show the
> plaques and tangles lesions that are the iindicators of Alzheimer's.

And you're wrong. With the use of a tracer like this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_compound_B

PET scans can image amyloid deposits, not neurofibrillary
tangles. However, this is only used for research, not
diagnosis, because a) amyloid deposits are not well
correlated with dementia, though NFTs are, and b) it's
not approved by the FDA for this use. There is another
compound which can be used to image amyloid deposits
on PET that has been submitted for FDA approval, but
unless it's been approved very recently it's still in
the process.

I think it will be a long time before we see this used
for diagnosis, because of the poor correlation between
amyloid deposits and dementia. Some people without
dementia carry around quite a high load of amyloid,
and until we can figure out how to interpret imaging
of amyloid on PET I think the FDA will be reluctant
to approve a diagnostic test based on this. We might
see it approved as an adjunct to other tests, but we
don't have other tests, so that too will have to wait.

Mark Thorson wrote:
>
> not approved by the FDA for this use. There is another
> compound which can be used to image amyloid deposits
> on PET that has been submitted for FDA approval, but
> unless it's been approved very recently it's still in
> the process.

It was approved a few months ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florbetaben_(18F)