On TV Last Night

KVEW aired my interview last night.  You can see it here.

I thought they did a great job.  The only thing was that, while they included that I'm feeling better, I'd hoped they'd say a little more about my improved cognition.  But they had to boil more than an hour of interview down to about a minute.  So I think it was very effective.  I also noted from my book sales that a book store somewhere has picked up a few copies.

The Alzheimer's Association says that they're hoping to get me on TV in Seattle in April.  We'll see how that goes.   

Update -- My TV Interview

The TV reporter contacted me yesterday and said that they will not air my interview this week.  Because of breaking news they haven't edited it yet.  She said likely next week, and she'll let me know.  And when I know, I'll post information here.

My TV Interview

This afternoon I spent about an hour with a KVEW TV reporter at the gym.  She is doing a story--maybe a series(?)--on Alzheimer's disease, and she had already interviewed a prominent local neurologist.  I met her at the gym, showing up in my gym clothes.

During the interview she only asked a couple of leading questions and then allowed me to ramble on.  I think I was pretty coherent, with a good grasp of my facts about AD and my personal history.  After the interview she filmed me on the treadmill for about 10 minutes.  She called it the B-roll.  (I was familiar with the term, but didn't know what it meant.) 

She said the story was likely to air on Thursday, depending on other news.  She said they stream news on SBTV, but I couldn't figure out how to navigate to today's news.  She said she'd get me more information later, including something on their web page.


When I get more info on when and how to actually see the interview or see the story on their web page I'll post it here.

More Blood Tests for Alzheimer's Disease

It would appear that a reliable blood test for Alzheimer's disease is even closer.  This week's ALZforum described just such a test in an article, "Panel of Bloom Markers Signals Amyloid in the Brain."  My takeaway from the article was that there are now several viable paths to a blood test for AD, and the protocols are in relatively late stages of development.  In this latest article, the accuracy of the test seemed quite remarkable.

From the standpoint of most of us, we want to know whether or not we are developing AD.  However, if you go looking for long term care insurance, the results of the test will likely determine whether not you can get it.

Researchers will also want to find pre-symptomatic people with "positive" test results.  There is great interest in trying therapies on people in the very earliest stages of the disease.  It's believed that is the time in which the developing disease is most vulnerable to intervention.   

Snow Is Messing Things Up!

Last Sunday, I was to be interviewed by a reporter for KVEW TV.  Then this Friday (Feb 15) I was to speak at a meeting of a governmental Advisory Council at the TRAC in Pasco, WA.  But neither are happening, at least not on schedule.  The Pacific Northwest has had a bunch of snow and freezing rain, and a lot of activities are paralyzed.  The reporter will talk to me tomorrow about a reschedule, and the public speaking opportunity is postponed to April 17.

The TV interview will likely happen soon enough, but I'm disappointed in how far off they've had to push the speaking engagement.  Speaking to the Washington State Council on Aging in Seattle (Seatac) is contingent on a successful event in Pasco.

When the TV interview is done I hope to post a notice on when it will air.  As far as I can tell, KVEW is available on the internet through Hulu. 

Floss Your Teeth!

The health of your teeth and gums has long been known to affect a number of aspects of heath, and even fatal consequences can emerge from gum infections.  We all hate it, but we're encouraged to floss our teeth every day!

So what about Alzheimer's disease?  Can gum disease promote, or even cause AD?  Can gum disease be a complete explanation for AD??  This thought has been around for a while now, but it's finding new energy.  (Prompted by Dale Bredesen's research at UCLA, we bought a Water Pic, which is said to do a better job with gum health than conventional floss.)

On January 23, 2019, NewScientist magazine published a story on a possible relationship between gum disease and AD.  The article immediately began trending on the internet, and several friends and family sent me links about it (all appreciated).

While the article acknowledged that the relationship wasn't proven, it seemed to characterize the link as almost certain and possibly the whole story of AD etiology.  That someone was seriously considering that it might be the whole story on AD sure caught me by surprise. 

According to the article, the culprit is the bacterium P. gingivalis which is able to enter the brain in a way that bypasses the blood-brain barrier.  P. gingivalis has been found in the brains of people with AD, and it appears to be associated with the generation of beta amyloid proteins, one of the hallmarks of AD.  The function of beta amyloid has been debated for a long time, and many believe it results from a misguided cutting of a precursor protein.  The function of the precursor protein is also unknown.  Some believe the amyloid is a central feature of the destruction of brain cells in AD, while others believe it's an innocuous byproduct of the disease process.  Certainly, the amyloid hypothesis has come under serious scrutiny in the past year or so, as drugs that removed amyloid plaques failed to improve cognition.  The article quotes researchers who speculate that amyloids may exist simply to neutralize P. gingivalis.

A tantalizing idea is that it may be possible to develop a vaccine against P. gingivalis, and therefore against AD.  Wouldn't that be great?

The idea of a vaccine against AD is not new.  Here is an example of a lawyer, her Hawaii real estate developer husband, and her researcher mother who may be having success with a vaccine.  It's a family project.  However, it does not focus on P. gingivalis, and its theory seems to be rooted in the amyloid hypothesis.  We'll see how the trials work out, but early results seem to have been positive.

In considering the possible role of P. gingivalis in AD, the question arises regarding the obvious role of genetics.  In the case of younger onset version of AD the disease is entirely a consequence of genetics.  For the "sporadic" (common) version of AD the gene that codes for the ApoE4 variant of the ApoE protein certainly increases the probability of developing AD.  So how can you claim that infection by this bacterium is entirely responsible for AD, when we know that genetics plays such an important role?

There is an explanation.  A laboratory found that P. gingivalis breaks up ApoE proteins into constituent amino acids.  The ApoE4 protein contains more of a particular amino acid that, when released, may harm nerves.

This is all fascinating, but I have to admit to a level of skepticism.  The story seems to pat.  But -- who knows?  With the steady erosion of the amyloid hypothesis, maybe this does explain it all. 

Reaching Farther

I'm told that that my post on the Washington State Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association blog got very good attention.  In an email, the Director of Marketing and Communications told me, "Your blog post did very well, with almost 1,900 views the first day. That's pretty incredible and something we haven't seen in a long time!"

She thinks there is more that we'll now be able to do to get my story out.  Among other prospects, KVEW TV is planning to interview me on February 10 for a story on AD.

I have a firm commitment to speak to the 45 member Advisory Council for the SE WA Aging & Long Term Care Aging and Disability Resource Center on February 15.  If that goes well, they say I'll speak to the WA State Council on Aging meeting in Seatac (Seattle).