Autoimmune Dementia
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My mom came down with auto immune hepatitis over a decade ago. Her condition cascaded into diabetes and finally dementia.
Brand new research from the Mayo Clinic connects a few dots that should afford Mom better treatment.
Auto immune experts over at Mayo reported that the inflammation in the body that is linked to illnesses like diabetes and auto immune hepatitis also may affect the brain. This brain inflammation is a main culprit behind dementia.
The importance of this discovery is in the fact that we know a lot about treating inflammation. As a matter of fact, in the process of doing the research, the good doctors at Mayo Clinic showed that treatments to reduce inflammation were able to improve the condition of 64% of the patients they studied. That is nothing less than impressive.
In the case of my mom, she has been receiving strong immunotherapy treatment all along to fight back the inflammation in her liver. Now we know that this treatment has likely been helping her brain, too. This new Mayo research will also help us to think twice before lowering her current dose of anti-inflammatory medications, which is an option her doctor has been discussing with us.
The Mayo Clinic's Dr. Sean Pittock calls autoimmune neurology a "21st Century Subspecialty." It is reflective of the past decade's explosion in dementia research and knowledge.
A personal lesson has been the importance of caregiver education. Our doctor is both caring and competent. He was very appreciative of the printout I gave him on this research, saying it could be helpful for him in treating other patients, as well. That made sense. The amount of information on the Internet now doubles every two years. There is no way for even the best family doctor to stay on top of all information relevant to all patients. It is up to us, the caregivers, to pursue all there is to learn about the specific conditions of our loved ones. It is not just because we care. It is because no one else can.
If you would like a PDF printout of the study, click here.
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Source:
Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Autoimmune Dementia: Clinical Course and Predictors of Immunotherapy Response
October 2010 vol. 85 no. 10 881-897
Authors:
1. Eoin P. Flanagan, MBBCh,
2. Andrew McKeon, MBBCh,
3. Vanda A. Lennon, MD, PhD,
4. Bradley F. Boeve, MD,
5. Max R. Trenerry, PhD,
6. K. Meng Tan, MD,
7. Daniel A. Drubach, MD,
8. Keith A. Josephs, MD,
9. Jeffrey W. Britton, MD,
10. Jayawant N. Mandrekar, PhD,
11. Val Lowe, MD,
12. Joseph E. Parisi, MD, and
13. Sean J. Pittock, MD
.
