Alzheimer

Question: What causes Alzheimer's disease? Since it does sometimes run in families, do you think it might be contagious? Answer: There doesn't appear to be one specific cause for Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia. It occurs due to a complex mix of genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Two factors are well known: advancing age and family history. If you are lucky enough to make it to 85 years of age, there's a 50-50 chance of getting Alzheimer's disease.

A radioactive compound that lights up plaques in the brain to help diagnose Alzheimer's disease has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in patients being evaluated for Alzheimer's and other causes of cognitive decline. The imaging agent, Amyvid, was developed by a Philadelphia biotech start-up, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc., now owned by Eli Lilly & Co. It can show amyloid deposits in the brain that are visible on positron-emission tomography (PET) scans.

Deborah Hoffmann, who is both dutiful daughter and filmmaker in tonight's "P.O.V. " presentation, "Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter," certainly has reason to complain. Her mother no longer knows she's her mother and occasionally struggles to remember exactly how they met. In the past 17 years, Alzheimer's has robbed Doris Hoffmann, now 87, of most of her adult memories. At first, she could not remember that her husband of nearly 50 years had died, and in conversation, would refer only to vague concerns about his health.

Scientist that he is, Frank Baldino is not the type of corporate president to shamelessly blow his own horn. He speaks matter-of-factly about data and studies. He uses no lofty phrases. Sweeping statements are few and far between. That manner belies the fact that Baldino, and the scientists who work with him at Cephalon Inc. near West Chester, are in the forefront of efforts to unlock the secrets of neurological problems such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke and spinal-cord injuries.

The last shovels of dirt covered the casket just before darkness on Long Island a little more than a week ago. Earlier in the day, a huge gathering of family members and friends arrived at Cox's Funeral Home in Queens to mourn the death of Lilly Mary Williams. Formally, Williams was my mother-in-law, but actually she was one of my closest and best-loved friends. She understood the meaning of social intimacy throughout her life and graciously shared her gifts with the young and old. It seemed ironic to most who knew her that she was stricken by Alzheimer's disease, a relentless degenerative brain disorder that strips its victims first of their memory, then cognition and finally physical functioning.

After almost 46 years of marriage, Margaret Wagner doesn't know her husband anymore. She doesn't know her children or her 11 grandchildren. Or anyone else. Still, George Wagner wants to see his 65-year-old wife as much as possible, despite the Alzheimer's disease that has ravaged her mind. That would be much easier if she could live in the county-run Fair Acres Geriatric Center in Lima, instead of 85 miles away in the Easton Nursing Center. But Fair Acres has refused to admit Margaret Wagner because they say her behavior might be too difficult for it to handle.

DEAR ABBY: I'm writing in response to "Friend in Arizona. " She wrote that after her friend "Blanche" was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Blanche asked not to be "paraded around for others to gawk at" after she reached a certain point. You advised that continuing to take her friend to church every Sunday was going against her wishes. I disagree. I'm an LPN and specialize in Alzheimer's. I have been doing this for more than 25 years. One thing we strive for is a sense of normalcy.

When he entered Swarthmore College in 1986, Bill Martin did not plan to become a psychology major, let alone get heavily involved with laboratory experiments that might eventually aid in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Martin started out majoring in political science, with an eye toward law school. And he very well might have followed that course if he had been able to sign up for a particular class during his freshman year. "By the time I went to register, it was closed out," said Martin, a senior running back in football and the team's leading rusher this season.

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc., a local biotech start-up rooted in a doctoral student's desire to find an early diagnosis for Alzheimer's disease, is being purchased by Eli Lilly & Co. for an initial $300 million. The deal calls for investors to receive an additional $500 million if certain commercial and regulatory milestones are reached, including Food and Drug Administration approval for Avid's groundbreaking diagnostic chemical, florbetapir F 18. Florbetapir is a radioactive compound that binds with amyloid plaque, which is present in the brains of all Alzheimer's patients.

BILOXI, Miss. - Glen Campbell is having a great time. Make no mistake, it is tragic that Alzheimer's disease is slowly stripping away the memories and abilities that define one of music's greats. But day to day, surrounded by family and friends, encouraged to play his guitar and sing and golf and joke, Campbell, 75, is often smiling. "I'm really not worried about anything," he said. "You know those people who say, 'Oh, geez, I wonder what's going to happen tomorrow?' Tomorrow's cool.