Alzheimer’s Disease, with Dr. Arif Kahn

*The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

The following podcast is provided by Athira Pharma and Answers for Elders radio, and welcome everyone to Answers for Elders radio. And we are here this week talking with the real theme, and that theme is we’re talking all about Alzheimer’s, Alzheimer’s awareness, how we can best deal with the impending scenario of this disease and all the things that have happened and of course, we had answered for elders. Are certainly devoted to the cause and whenever we see opportunities for advancements. This is really what the show is about. It’s to help support families out there and we are so honored today to have up front Dr Kahn and Dr Kahn. Dr Rf Kahn is actually the board certified psychiatrists and he’s the Professor Psychiatry for University of Duke University and but he’s also the professor of the Northwest Clinical Research Center and a lot of us and may have heard of that organization in Lvue because they’ve done so many clinical trials. and Dr Kahn, I really want to welcome you to our show. It’s such an honor to have you with us. So thank you for being thank you for asking you to be here and I’ll give a brief introduction to that. So essentially, where Alzheimer’s comes from, the word Alzheimer was a collegist in Germany hundred forty five years ago. He reported few cases where people had died prematurely, where you have people in their fift s and s. So when I read to medical school in the late s we didn’t know what Aldheimer this is really want, because it’s one of those things that happened with time in the sense that we live longer, it makes it more susceptible that that your brain is not going to stay the same way as it was in your twenty s and thirty it starts to lose this function, loses touch, and we used to call it at first ARD INC dementia, Fama strokes and Archid to things. But really by the S it was realized that some of the chemical parts of the brain ourselves start to each other. Is that farm and one of the chemicals that are known as a stiles calling was the one that could start to be degenerating. So the early tests were by positions at UCLA in the S to give a drug which enhances start calling action. So those are that early dog called card maacs as at those class of medication. So what they do is essentially is that they provide and external source of hostell calling. YEA, they degradation, that happens, but the DICA itself continues to progress. Right. So because of that, this is not a cure by any means. No doing. First and foremost think to decide is that brain is a highly insulated organ by nature, the way it is designed. There’s no blood in the brain, only circles finals for it. There’s no way to do a x Ray that actually tells you what happens at the cell level and polecular level. Yeah, and so blood taste and x ray is a really very, not very useful. You have to do is go and take a biopsy, and I don’t know if anybody who wants to do that. Essentially, our knowledge is limited because of that. Yeah, what’s happened is that? Yes, and now go ahead. I was just saying, you know, it’s fascinating to see, you know, how much we know now compared to you when I was caring for my own mother, who had vascular dimension. But it’s still important. Alzheimer’s is a form of dimension and most certainly I had an issue with my mom. You know, we need even less than we know now, which there’s been a lot of progression. And of course my mother passed away in two thousand and eleven. So you can imagine in ten years we’ve made a lot of strides, haven’t we? Yeah, you know, every year we get more and more knowledge. Ideas are coming through. So the first thing is to understand. Why do sells digener sure keep them alive, right, either keep them alive or get them enough functional capacity. Right. So they’ve been number of methods to do it. One is to give lives a mon of prope to injections. While you look at the DNA, the Inter like structures, to you know how the brain cells work. Right. Right now we have a company in Seattle called a traut essentially have a new more well, yeah, is that they’re using chemicals that embryos use well, and essentially that really allows the brain cells to start. A rejuvenate one came. So see, this is a complex prope you as an indiction every day. So the Dr Cot. I am interested because in the state of Washington alone, the statistics out by the Alzheimer’s Association says that there are currently a hundred and Twentyzero people in Washington state being cared for by close to three hundredzero unpaid family caregivers. It’s a huge segment of you know who actually suffers, and I know that we have a lot more depression here in this state. Does it makes me think about vitamin get makes me think about you know what is different? Do you know what’s different about this state and why we have such a higher degree the social life felt as bad, any more common in the Washington State? For what is difference is no disorder, really consorder. Got It, disorder incidents in San Diego right to the Bookland. I’m very high and something like a lost and we know, we do know, that depression and loneliness can contribute to the escalation of dimension Alzheimers. We do know that correct all those happens for the caregiver. It’s really this heart or all for a spouse was being there for forty years boarding suddenly see the person is integrate in front of their eyes. Yeah, extremely format. Yeah, so no, no coup. Thirty years that the person is extremely caught right. Who Develop Aus on about the fishing themselves, but the care of givers, right, the spouse, Uh Huh, the terrible spouse, is extremely important. So they need to be supported as you do. For Sally’s a very important word, and that is to be yea. You know, I belonged to a facebook group and Demon Dimension Alzheimer’s Support Group. Right, there’s probably fortyzero caregivers on this group across the country, you know, the world, and it always breaks my heart when somebody tell us my parent was just diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and I don’t know what to do. I’m overwhelmed and you see these posts all the time and it’s definitely overwhelming for families and you know, we what we try to do, obviously, is be there for the families with with answers and with with, you know, resources, just like what a theray has created in a clinical trial that you’re participating. And so tell us a little bit about that clinical trial. I know a term for it is thhen seventeen, but to our listeners we don’t know what happened. So just explain to us what the trial really is. Well, that number is up here, a number, Bo number, why than seventeen and different? Thanks. Is essentially a protein that you inject into your skin. And Look, because this sort of medication, if you take it bym out this time, I just simply share adjusted to take it as an injection one today and it gets into the brain and makes the cells that are degenerating not be generic as much ideally go back. So it stops. That the some incredible. That’s a certainly a big step. You know, certainly, that this potential evidence for that. So but given that the appea requires very strong evidence in phase three twelve. Yeah, vaccines nowadays. So that’s what you’re doing. You got to provide sufficient well designed control trial that it’s going to be going to be make it different. Well, and it’s certainly when you think about the ability to regenerate brain sales. That’s never happened before, has it? I mean this is something brand new. Yes, yes, it’s very difficult. Friend brain cells that such don’t you know replicated that they don’t divide them all. The Diet do make the sout go to go themselves, go back up to function. The sums, the news could rights and all those type things, but but essentially makes the most get back to functioning and there they would start waking up. Going Hey, wait a minute, I’m here right so so you know if you have. I know that you’re looking for participants in this clinical study and we’ve had a lot of response. We’ve had a lot of people because we’ve been featuring a theory and the research centers, but the credibility for this kind of study with being overseen by the University of Washington and people like you that are at the top of your field. This is an opportunity for families to really get involved in something that could be a huge breakthrough. You’re doing a study in primarily the Pacific northwest. There are some locations elsewhere. It’s you know, but not very many, but we would love to learn a little bit about what the process is really quickly. We have about a minute left and they sell. So all I need to do is call us, Research Center for far three, zero four, zero four, twenty four hours a day. Roll us has combing and to the poll on our website, wwom. That’s wonderful and we’re so thrilled for the work that you do and also to all of our listeners. We’ve been giving out this information. We also have information on answers for elderscom you can go to a Sarra a tire a clinical trialscom to sign up to find out it’s your loved one qualifies this. There’s there’s absolutely no loss to this everyone and we want to make sure that we can do our part to help eradicate this devastating disease for your loved one as well as your family and Dr Cohn, I am so thrilled to have you on the show. Thank you, and would you come back some time? We would love to have you talk a little bit more about Alzheimer’s in the future. We would love to have you. Thank you for any larning I’ll have to do. We would love that and thank you everyone. The preceding podcast was provided by a the reformer and answers for elders radio. For more information about the Alzheimer’s clinical trial, go to a thera clinical trialscom.