Tag Archives: health

'Promising' dementia drug made from pigs' brains could help 200,000 sufferers

January 31, 2013   Alzheimer’s, Carers, dementia

The new drug called cerebrolysin improves concentration, memory and mood among those suffering with vascular dementia

  • The new drug is licensed in some countries but not in the UK or U.S.
  • No serious side effects were reported from taking the drug

By Jenny Hope

PUBLISHED: 00:46, 31 January 2013 | UPDATED: 03:32, 31 January 2013

 

The new drug called cerebrolysin improves concentration, memory processing and mood in patients

Dementia sufferers may benefit from a ‘promising’ new treatment made from pigs’ brains, say researchers.

The new drug – called cerebrolysin – improves concentration, memory processing and mood in patients with a certain kind of dementia known as vascular dementia, which affects up to 200,000 Britons.

No treatment has yet been specifically developed for vascular dementia.

But the new drug is licensed in some countries for dementia, stroke and traumatic brain injury – although not yet here or in the US.

Researcher Li He of the Department of Neurology at Sichuan University in Sichuan, China, said ‘Our review suggests that Cerebrolysin can help improve cognitive and global function in patients with mild to moderate severity vascular dementia.’

Cerebrolysin is a drug made from pig brain proteins that has produced some positive results from small vascular dementia trials.

Larger trials are now underway.

But the drug is not easy to administer, with regular intravenous infusions necessary, says the review.

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Health and social care will need half of Government spending unless changes made: King's Fund

January 31, 2013   Carers, disability, DOH, health

Health and social care could consume half of government spending in 50 years’ time if current trends continue, a think tank has predicted.

 

Currently nine per cent of the UK’s income is spent on health and social care, and this is predicted to more than double to 20 per cent by 2061

By , Medical Editor

7:30AM GMT 31 Jan 2013

By 2060, half of all Government spending could go on health and social care unless major changes are made, the King’s Fund has reported.

The new report states that population changes, increases in wealth and medical advances will increase pressure to spend more on health and social care in the future.

Currently nine per cent of the UK’s income is spent on health and social care, and this is predicted to more than double to 20 per cent by 2061. Taking into account economic growth, current levels of taxation and Government expenditure this would mean one in every £2 spent by the Government went on care.

Prof John Appleby, author of the paper, said that increases on this scale were not inevitable.

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How does depression affect the elderly?

January 24, 2013   Carers, Depression, health, Older care

 Guest Blog from Jason Tucker

Depression can affect anyone regardless of age or gender but it is particularly common in elderly patients. Although the onset of depression is often attributed to specific events, a particular incident or situation may simply be a contributory factor rather than the cause. Whilst a specific event or set of circumstances may contribute to the onset of depression, the illness will manifest itself in the same way regardless of the cause of the trigger. Studies have shown that the brain circuits of patients suffering depression show changes to the way the brain manages mood, appetite, sleeping and behaviour. Whilst depression can be a distinct illness and appear without any other illnesses, patients often develop depression as a result of other illness. Elderly patients may find they develop depression following the onset of another illness but Doctors are often able to treat the depression successfully.

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