Brain drain pain

Hope and expectation for mental health treatment

It appeals to the survival instinct in us all, as an inherent aspect of the human condition, to attain an answer which reverses the ageing process and, who knows, perhaps one day makes us immortal.

More than that, advancing our understanding of how the brain functions as we age and what can be done to counter this offers an incredible opportunity to provide many with better quality of life.

Medical scientists would, understandably, urge caution when interpreting results of their research into mental and physical health and longevity, often to the frustration of those suffering.

And they would laugh you out of the room about the immortality bit..so an elixir of everlasting life is still, alas, probably unlikely.

Nonetheless, a study out this week has been reported with enthusiasm by the media: Older mice who have been injected with the blood plasma of young mice show signs of improved cognitive function, including improved memory and a reverse of the ageing process. Dr Tony Wyss-Coray, of Stanford University School of Medicine said:

“There are factors present in blood from young mice that can recharge an old mouse’s brain so that it functions more like a younger one,”

This comes at a time when fasting diets have become popular with everyone from models and actresses to the Chancellor, George Osborne — and thousands of other, ‘normal,’ people too..the obvious weight loss potential is one reason (the credentials for this, in terms of long- term efficacy, are still debated) but there is some very interesting science to suggest an even greater potential benefit from calorie restriction.

Studies conducted, again mainly in rodents so far, have shown that the body responds positively under food deprivation by activating a ‘fasting’ gene which causes a repair and recovery mode in the subject, as opposed to the default growth and development phase. This is useful because cancer, in the form of tumours, come about as a result of cellular replication and multiplication. If this process is halted, or slowed, it logically suggests less opportunity for a cancer to develop.

Again, much patience is advised by most scientists, who say that far more trials (particularly on human subjects) are needed before the real possibilities of any breakthrough are fully understood — and the implications of health risks vs potential benefits are weighed up.

But with Alzheimers an increasingly common condition found in our ageing population (as medical advances in other areas have raised the average life expectancy — to 82 years in women and 79 years for men) there is a desperate need for progress to help our brains stay as healthy and active as our bodies.

There is a crisis of underfunding to research into Dementia which the Alzheimers’ Society say is meaning many thousands of people are and will suffer, with still woefully inadequate treatment available.

Over 800,000 people are affected by Alzheimers in the UK and anybody who has had to watch and try to care for an older parent or grandparent as they suffer the indignity, frustration and despairing relentlessness of the condition will attest, anything that can be done must be done. It is estimated that 60,000 people die as a direct result of Alzheimers and that 30,000 lives per year would be saved by delaying the onset by just 5 years.

With such an encouraging target investment should be forthcoming but figures show funding into research for prevention and cure is still a fraction of that spent on cancer, at £66m per year. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to double this by 2025 to £122; whilst an admirable intention it fails to match the scale of the problem.

One consequence of the awareness raising work from Alzheimers Society and many others, is recognition of the importance of looking after the brain, especially for later life.

It has begun to enter the public consciousness and preventative and palliative measures such as brain training puzzles and taking up a hobby or study which keeps the mind active are ever more popular; a mini-industry has sprung-up which offers some innovative solutions.

Of course, these activities are good for everyone, not just those hoping to ward off Dementia, and can be a valuable way to treat the mind like you might the body (in the gym) and ‘condition’ it to stay healthy and work better for longer.

In a week when AstraZeneca, a major drugs manufacturer based in UK, is under threat of takeover from US giant Pfizer we must be ever more vigilant and determined to see investment continue to flow into R & D for mental health drugs and care.

There will be over 1 million people with dementia in UK by 2021; there continues to be incredibly creative and promising research done by scientists and doctors, such as those described above.

Without money and support they will remain just that — research — and never become the implementable treatment that improves quality of life for people of all ages.