Expert Interview

Interview of Nancy Murphy on Azheimer’s

Megan : Before starting with questions, we wanted to give you a brief overview of what we are doing. We are working on a project for our evolution class which focuses on the use of grid-computing and Alzheimer’s. Grid-computing is a technology that allows computers all over the world to network and work on solving complex problems. In particular, we are using Folding@Home, which is a grid-computing project which aims to “understand protein folding, misfolding, and related diseases.” There have been several scientific papers written from what this project has found. As Alzheimer’s is one disease they focus on, they hope to find more about causes and eventually cures. We are interviewing you tonight in order to learn more about Alzheimer’s that we might apply to our project.

Frank: Can you tell us about your experience with Alzheimer’s?
As an OT, I worked in a dementia program for veterans with dementia. I underwent a weeklong Certification training in the Claudia Alan Treatment, which is an active form of treatment.

Victor : Can you give us a brief background of the disease?
A specific form of dementia in which one of the primary symptoms is loss of memory, primarily short-term, with the long term memory intact. It is progressive and the earlier the onset, the worse the prognosis. It eventually involves motor skills to the point of inability to swallow or move on their own.

Frank: How does Alzheimer’s differ from other types of dementia?
Alzheimer’s follows a more specific course. It differs from vascular dementia by a marked decrease in abilities and then recovery. Alzheimer’s is more gradual. The only way to distinguish is after death through an autopsy.

Victor: Does Alzheimer’s run in families?
Yes, there is thought to be a genetic component, but all of the mechanisms are not yet understood.

Frank: How prevalent is Alzheimer’s?
There are around 5 million cases in the US.

Victor: Is there a cure or any possible treatments for Alzheimer’s?
There is not a cure at this moment but the most promising up and coming treatment looks to be stem cell research.

Megan: What do you think about the using grid-computing to find possible cures?
I think it’s a wonderful idea to use this; another source of information is sharing research with other countries and watching their trends.

Kevin: Do you see a relationship between evolution and Alzheimer’s?
Possibly ,because it seems to be much more prevalent now than before, so there must be an evolutionary aspect to it.

Megan: Is there any other information that you think would be interesting or helpful for us to know?
As the disease progresses, the victim goes backwards in development as in reverse development, such as:
Teen (emotional, lose inhibitions) -> childlike (need supervision) -> infancy (unable to feed oneself)