Historically, a bunch of symptom-defined diseases (e.g. hepatitis, diabetes, etc) have turned out to actually be a set of different diseases with different causes, different treatments but similar symptoms - and understanding that split has been a big milestone in treating them. This now might be the case for Alzheimer's as well.
prob. AD as defined at the moment is a set of "criteria" based on a number of things like time scales, and also some specific cognitive measures. I've always found things to be a little vague and there's probably a whole spectrum of different biological entities that can do these sort of things to you.
You can throw PETs, CSF tests etc at it but I never really have a high level of confidence calling it.
Basically people lose memory and certain cognitive functions...but anything could really do it.
At the moment the hodgepodge way I fudge it is: if it is a clearly progressive syndrome year over year, with an amnestic memory syndrome (vs. poor attentional state/registration), with language/naming involvement, and evidence of visuospatial neglect/apraxias, I tell them it may "likely" be AD. Otherwise I can't say if it is AD vs. vascular dementia.
There is a paper looking at accuracy of how we call things vs. post-mortem, and it is about 50/50 eyeroll. Sad but this is the limitation of science vs. mother nature at this state in time.
A ton of benefits. It's a very good habit to pick up. Not a wonder drug though.
>In 2013, researchers at Johns Hopkins identified 47 studies that qualify as well-designed and therefore reliable. Based on these studies, they concluded that there is moderate evidence that meditation reduces anxiety, depression, and pain, but there is no evidence that meditation is more effective than active treatment. [1]
Sorry, what? From the site: "Some research suggests that practicing meditation may reduce blood pressure, symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety and depression, and insomnia. Evidence about its effectiveness for pain and as a smoking-cessation treatment is uncertain."
I see "may" for some things, and "uncertain" for others. Nothing on that page says that it's been "thoroughly proven to be beneficial".
No, I wouldn't consider that at all definitive as a study, and the authors specifically note the following:
"This study is limited by the lack of a control group or active comparison clinical intervention that would provide a basis for making a stronger inference about how MBSR might modify the behavioral and neural bases of different types of emotion regulation."
So while MBSR may help some people, this tested one specific method and did not include a control group or test against any other treatment methods.
Now, I'm not suggesting that meditation - MBSR or other - can't be helpful for some people (possibly even the majority of people under certain conditions), but it certainly has not been studied enough to show clear benefits compared to other treatment methods.
