So for any of you caregivers out there make sure your loved ones have their thyroid checked once per year….. By Kerry Runyeon Alzheimer’s Reading Room Original post from 1/11/10 Today I took mom to her Dr. to be enrolled in a new study for patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer disease. To qualify you basically have to be physically healthy, MMSE score of less than 12 I believe, not live in a nursing home, and have a caregiver willing to help you with the med and get you to the appointments. Mom’s MMSE score today was 10. The last time she was tested (last summer) it was 12. She had lab work drawn, EKG done (normal), and a mini physical. We were there 2 hours. She also has to have a CT scan which needs to be done this week. I will have to take her off her Razadine 2 weeks before she starts on the patch so I will do that on the 14th and she goes back the 28th and if all the above tests (lab CT scan) are ok she will start the new drug. All patients in the study will receive the drug however there is a low dose group and a high dose group and we will not know which group she is in. The drug (low dose) is already FDA approved for mild to moderate Alzheimer patients so this study is to see if there is any benefit for the later stage patient. The study lasts for 6 months with mom able to continue the medication (low dose) after 6 months if there is improvement. I don’t know if Lily will benefit from this but the medication she is on is not keeping her from gradually deteriorating so I thought why not? Hopefully we will see some positive indicators and if not at the very least she is helping in the fight against this horrendous disease. About 2 days after this post I found out Lily’s thyroid level was mildly out of range (TSH-6) so she did not qualify for the study. Her mini mental status exam was 10 which had dropped from 12 done sometime last year.

Original Source of Exelon Patch Study and the Thyroid