60 MINUTES REPORT on a NEW EXPERITMENTAL TREATMENT for ALZHEIMERRS

60 Minutes is the greatest television program ever. There are many good reasons why it’s been a Sunday evening standout for the past 56 years. Last night, I watched one of the most amazing reports ever. It was about an experimental treatment for Alzheimer’s and people who are seriously addicted to drugs.

The star of the report last night was a neurosurgeon, Dr. Ali Rezai, who came up with a new technique for treating Alzheimer’s. Anyone who knows somebody with this horrific disease, understands the devastation this can causes for the individual and his or her family members. It also eventually causes death.

Anyone who reads medical reports on a regular basis, knows scientists and drug companies spent huge amounts of time and money, the past 30 years or so, trying to find a cure for the disease. Obviously, that hasn’t happened, at least not until now.

The new technique designed by Dr. Ali Rezai, does not utilize devastating brain surgery, which requires months of rehab. It is a painless procedure which uses MRI and Ultrasound. Once the procedure is over, the patient literally walks out of the operating room and goes home.

This is a summary of how the procedure works, written by me, someone who has no medical knowledge or expertise. But I’m going to try and explain how this works in simple, basic terms.

The brains of people with Alzheimer’s are filled with Amyloid Plaques. When using an MRI, doctors can sit at a computer screen and actually see the  massive Amyloid Plaque Buildup in the brain.

During this procedure, a million-dollar electronic hat is placed on the patient’s head. A team of doctors, sitting outside the operating room, can then use Ultrasound to try and destroy the Amyloid Plaques in the brain. Apparently, this is much harder than it sounds, and they can only destroy plaques a little bit at a time. In other words, the patient must undergo repeated procedures, and they aren’t always successful.

Last night, they interviewed a couple where the husband was suffering badly from Alzheimer’s, which was destroying his life. The wife said he couldn’t even dress himself properly.

After several procedures, an interview with the husband revealed he isn’t completely normal again, but he’s vastly improved. As the husband said last night, he has his life back. His wife was of course thrilled by the results of the ultrasound procedures.

Dr. Ali Rezai pointed out this is not yet a permanent cure. He said the patient would have to come back for periodic treatments, and they’re still in the experimental stage. He also pointed out there are serious risks to this kind of treatment, but he believes the rewards are worth the risk. But please remember, they are still in the early stages of this experimental technique, so they have a lot to learn, and who knows what will happen over the next few years?

In addition to Alzheimer’s patients, Dr. Ali Rezai decided to try the procedure on long-term, seriously addicted drug addicts. Apparently, long-term addicts develop something in their brains which makes it impossible for them to resist drugs. Dr. Ali Rezai thought they could treat that drug related part of the brain with Ultrasound, just as they do with Alzheimer’s patients.

They interviewed a man who was seriously addicted to drugs all of his life. He said, if exposed to drugs, he had zero resistance. After multiple ultrasound treatments, he can finally resist the temptation and is now drug free for the first time in his life.

If I remember correctly. Dr. Ali Rezai said they used ultrasound on 16 seriously drug addicted patients, and it worked for 12 of them

Obviously, this is still an experimental technique, but I think it’s one all of us should know about and monitor the progress, or lack thereof. For the first time in our lives, it appears as if we might find a cure for the devastating disease called Alzheimer’s. It certainly appears as if this will turn to be, at the very least, a viable treatment for the disease. Obviously, this would be critical for anyone who has a loved one in their family who is a serious drug addict, or they’ve been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.