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Quotes about Alzheimer's Drugs from the world's top natural health / natural living authors

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"For example, antidepressants typically increase the availability of serotonin (the happy mood molecule) or norepinephrine (a stimulating and energy-giving neurotransmitter); stimulants increase dopamine effects (the pleasure Figure 7: A neurotransmitter "communicating" with another cell and reward neurotransmitter that is responsible for attention and focus); alzheimer's drugs increase acetylcholine (which is responsible for memory and focus); and anxiety drugs increase GABA (which puts the brakes on your excitatory neurotransmitters)." - Mark Hyman MD, The UltraMind Solution: Fix Your Broken Brain by Healing Your Body First (Get the book.)

"Judith Levine, an author from Brooklyn who wrote a book about her father's dementia called Do You Remember Me}, once wrote this note to me after seeing me quoted in a New York Times article in which I expressed skepticism about current Alzheimer's drugs: "I was excited to see your name in the Times, finally going public about what so many of us already knew about AD drugs. Much of the response implies that the docs who doubt drugs are robbing sufferers and their families of hope." - Peter J. Whitehouse and Daniel George, The Myth of Alzheimer's: What You Aren't Being Told About Today's Most Dreaded Diagnosis (Get the book.)

"However, I also want you to understand what study results really show for alzheimer's drugs, so that you understand the limits of what these drugs can really accomplish and for how long. All of the studies, as discussed here, consistently show about a five-point change on the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale—Cognitive Subsection (ADAS-Cog, a 70-point measure of memory and cognition), a measure of Alzheimer's-related cognitive impairment, which translates into about a 7% increase in cognition. Let's take a look at what this really means." - J. Douglas Bremner, Before You Take that Pill: Why the Drug Industry May Be Bad for Your Health (Get the book.) "These results are no better than those of donepezil or any of the other alzheimer's drugs. Side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, insomnia, and dizziness. GALANTAMINE Galantamine (Reminyl) is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor that modulates the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. This receptor binds the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which plays a critical role in learning and memory. In one study, 978 patients with Alzheimer's were randomized to take either placebo or galantamine at different doses for five months." - J. Douglas Bremner, Before You Take that Pill: Why the Drug Industry May Be Bad for Your Health (Get the book.) "Galantamine did not have a better effect on cognition than that of other previously studied alzheimer's drugs. As with Cognex, a third of patients developed nausea or vomiting, and about a third of patients dropped out because of side effects. Galantamine was not associated with liver abnormalities, unlike Cognex. WEIGHING THE RISKS Study results that are just now emerging are cause for more concern regarding Alzheimer's-specific drugs." - J. Douglas Bremner, Before You Take that Pill: Why the Drug Industry May Be Bad for Your Health (Get the book.)

"Just before NICE produced its consultation document about the value of alzheimer's drugs to the NHS, health minister Dr Stephen Ladyman told the Observer newspaper he would personally ensure NICE should find in favour of them. 'I can understand why the public is so worried,' he said. 'If you have someone in your family who has a form of dementia and you have drugs which do work, then you are going to find this decision baffling." - Jacky Law, Big Pharma: Exposing the Global Healthcare Agenda (Get the book.) "And the alzheimer's drugs, the cholinesterase inhibitors - Aricept, Exelon, Reminyl and Ebixa - are a classic example. Now a $1.8 billion business, they work by boosting levels of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter believed to be important in memory and learning processes. But while these drugs do help this memory-robbing disease initially, eventually they become less effective. Also, because they don't act on the plaques and tangles in the brain that are thought to lead to Alzheimer's, the disease continues its grim progress." - Jacky Law, Big Pharma: Exposing the Global Healthcare Agenda (Get the book.) "Where the alzheimer's drugs were concerned, the discrepancies were greater. Studies into the cost-effectiveness of Aricept, for example, came up with CQGs ranging from £21,000 to £139,000 ($37,800-$250,200). With Exelon, they ranged between £16,000 and £46,000 ($28,200-$82,800). Those conducted by the NICE secretariat itself found a range from £32,000 to £52,000 ($57,600-$93,600), leading it to conclude the drugs were outside 'the range of cost-effectiveness that might be considered appropriate for the NHS'." - Jacky Law, Big Pharma: Exposing the Global Healthcare Agenda (Get the book.) "Although the alzheimer's drugs are not expensive by recent pharmaceutical standards, costing the NHS around £2.50 a day (£75 a month, [$135]) per patient, or £54 million ($97.2 million) a year in total, what is interesting is how the public voice is beginning to filter through. Ladyman got involved, partly because he was in a marginal seat and partly perhaps because he had talked to his elderly constituents, looked at the evidence, and thought, why not up the ante for these suffering families. How much real benefit patients and their carers get from the drug will always remain a moot point." - Jacky Law, Big Pharma: Exposing the Global Healthcare Agenda (Get the book.)

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