In particular, I wish there was more detail on the 100-cohort study where patients experienced "modest improvements" and how that's calculated. Is that average increase of X points on an MMSE, etc.
In my experience in my family, dementia is not a linear slide. My 85yo mother with Alzheimer's will sometimes present very well and you have to really get into conversational details to notice the dementia. On other days, she'll pick up a paperback and try to use it as a phone. Some days she's steady on her feet, some days coordinating all of those muscles is just too much.
Over the course of a couple years, you can track the decline, but it's not a straight line. "Modest improvements" makes me concerned that they measured a valley to a peak. It's only 6 months since the 100-cohort study.
I would guess that there are a lot of variables to eliminate too - eg is it possible that just having a surgery and recovering from anaesthesia can yield some of these benefits in some circumstances? Given that we don’t really understand how most inhaled anaesthetics fully work
I've witnessed dementia patients take a fall, and then be dramatically more confused the next couple days. I've also seen them get some kind of social exposure, sunshine, exercise, etc. and present better for several days afterwards. Measuring "how well is the mind working" isn't like reading a digital meter.
(Disclaimer: the non-paywalled part of the article did not mention side-effects or complications of the treatment so I don’t know what they are.)
I wouldn't assume you could. I guess that's why people study these things.
Being from Scotland I'd trust an NHS evaluation more than random news reports.
If your Alzheimer's is caused by poor drainage due to a one off blockage this would solve it completely, but if its due to something else this would probably just be temporary as the article notes.
The government shouldn't be in the business of telling people what they can do, or have done, to their own bodies.
And the surgeon is in prison according to the article.
Huh. You completely made that up. Where in the article does it say that? Here's the truth from the article:
> Last year, they restricted the procedure to more-formalized clinical research settings,
It is the hallmark of a lowlife to suppress research.
You need to think more.
> The rapid adoption, in the absence of hard evidence, prompted Chinese regulators to intervene. Last year, they restricted the procedure to more-formalized clinical research settings, rather than the ad hoc use that had proliferated previously. And Xie, the pioneer of the technique, has been in detention since September for undisclosed reasons.
Seems you missed out on 10-15 years of development. Regulation strictness these days rival western.
I favor trials, of course, but the ones suppressing it would rather just bury it.
And honestly, caution is valuable here. People with Alzheimer's are extremely vulnerable. As are their loved ones. Ensuring it's got rigorous data so caregivers can understand the tradeoffs seems important. Surgery at an advanced age is risky, no matter what.
We are not naive. We know when there is a conflict of interest. The intent to suppress is obvious.
Some conspiracies are real. When money is involved, they are doubly so.
Maybe dial it back a bit? You can be firm in your opinions and have more success in convincing others if you avoid vaguely worded accusations and the like.
Look up how double blind tests are done on things that involve surgeries (eg implants)
> And of the ones that are, the family wouldn't notice the dramatic cognitive improvement shown in this article, but they noticed it here?
Because they’re primed to look for that improvement because they’re told that is the expected outcome
It did cure some people, it yielded some improvements on average but it did yield extreme improvements in some people. That part isn't controversial.
> (and even if it were noticed: periods of lucidity are not rare. It would probably be ignored)
A year of being able to walk and talk normally when a patient could barely function at all would be noticed for sure.
Cure has a very specific definition. I don't think it applies here.