Alzheimer's patient tries experimental treatment

Bud Kimsey could've sworn he left the car right there.

He walked through the parking lot looking for it, first this way, then that, outside Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale. But his car was gone, and he was stranded.

Where could it be? What should he do? Embarrassed, tiring in the hot sun, he called his wife Linda. Alarmed, she came to get him right away, and over the next hour, managed to retrace his steps.

Bud, who is 69, had gone to the mall for glasses, then driven to a nearby Red Lobster for lunch, but because he didn't have enough money, he walked back to the mall and forgot where he'd left the car.

It was the first definite sign Bud was losing his memory.

So after the incident with the car, he underwent more tests that confirmed he had one of the most dreaded diseases in our aging population: Alzheimer's.

Since then, Bud's gotten lost three times walking home in Streamwood from a nearby store, and had to call his wife each time.

"We've lived here 45 years," Linda said. "For him to go the wrong way coming home was a big thing to me. That's definitely a sign that maybe he's getting worse."

Despite Bud's failing memory, the Kimseys are taking part in an experimental treatment that gives them hope.

As part of a clinical trial at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, Bud is getting the drug bapineuzumab by infusion every 13 weeks.

Researchers were excited to learn in March, from a previous study published in the journal Lancet, that the medication reduced by 25 percent the plaque buildup in the brain that is thought to cause Alzheimer's.

People with Alzheimer's have twice as much beta amyloid plaque in the cerebral cortex as healthy people. But a rival theory blames toxic buildup of the protein tau.

So the Kimseys are part of a much broader phase III study of 4,000 people nationwide, to see if the medication actually slows down the disease and wards off dementia.

If so, the medication - called "Bappy" for short - would be the first drug aimed at treating the root cause of the illness.

Bud initially did not know if he was getting the drug or a placebo, but now is getting the drug, and he and his wife believe it is helping him.

Kimsey's physician, Dr. Concetta Forchetti, and Dr. Raj Shah at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago are also working together on a trial of another Alzheimer's treatment, a nutritional drink called Souvenaid, which showed encouraging results in one previous limited trial.

Another study uses magnetoencephalography, or MEG, to look for glitches in the brain's electrical activity in Alzheimer's patients.

Both doctors say researchers are making progress in cracking the riddle of the disease.

"There are a lot of ideas being generated now to help people with Alzheimer's disease," Shah said. "It's an innovative time in the field. It may be a hopeful time for patients in many ways."

Race for a treatmentThere is no cure for Alzheimer's, which is why development of better treatments is so crucial. There are, so far, only two federally approved medications.The first type are cholinesterase inhibitors, which help memory and learning and delay the worsening of symptoms by six to 12 months in about half the people who get it. They're usually prescribed for mild to moderate cases, and include Aricept, Exelon and Razadyne.The other medication is Namenda or memantine, to regulate glutamate in the brain, which helps process information and thereby may delay symptoms in moderate to severe cases.Both medications affect the symptoms, not the cause, of the fatal disease.Alzheimer's is a problem that touches many people in a country with a long life expectancy like the United States.While only 2 or 3 percent have it at age 60, its frequency increases with age, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates as many as half of all people over 85 end up with Alzheimer's, or 5 million people in all.Symptoms can range from mild forgetfulness to, in its advanced stages, chronic irritability, inability to dress and eat without help, cognitive difficulties, lack of recognition of family members, loss of memory and death.So far, Bud Kimsey has mild to moderate symptoms, but never knows when that may change.Out of left fieldGraves McKinley Kimsey - or "Bud," as everyone calls him - was born and raised in rural Alabama, where he was a standout youth baseball player until arm surgery ended his playing days.As an adult, he came to Chicago and worked as a mail carrier for 32 years. He married Linda and they had a daughter and grandchildren, and he coached boys baseball for most of that time.His proudest moment on the field came when the Babe Ruth teenage team he helped coach in Elgin won the state title. He still runs into men who played on that team, and they happily reminisce about their glory days.Bud's wife Linda, 65, a retired office worker for a trucking company, gets help from an Alzheimer's support group at the Lutheran Home in Arlington Heights.She cooks for Bud, and gives him his daily pills for diabetes each day because he's afraid he might make a mistake."It is scary to think what might be down the road," she said. "I'm not looking for a cure, but if this medication can make him a little better or keep him where he is, that would be a great help."Like many caregivers for people with Alzheimer's, she never knows what her husband will be like from day to day."It's a Jekyll and Hyde situation," Linda said. "You can have days or weeks when he seems totally normal, then days where he's just out of it."On a good day, Bud will call his brothers in other states and chat happily, recalling specific events from years past. On a bad day, he'll be agitated, and can't remember anything his wife tells him. He plays lottery tickets but sometimes mixes up which ones are new.Bud is also diabetic, and when his doctor asked once if he'd had a certain test, he recalled that yes, he'd had it in 2005. When the doctor checked his chart and found he was right, he asked how he had remembered."That's the year we won the state championship," Bud replied matter-of-factly.Despite all he's been through, Bud remains an upbeat guy. Personal testimonials are no proof a treatment works, but his experience with bapineuzumab has made him a believer in it."It's getting much better now," he said. "This new medicine has made me a different guy. I can go places and not get lost. Overall, I'm quite happy with where I'm at, and I think its going to get better."True15131141Dr. Concetta Forchetti, medical director of Memory Disorders Center at the Alexian Neurosciences Institute, checks on Alzheimer's patient Bud Kimsey while he gets his infusion.Bob Chwedyk | Staff PhotographerTrue <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Stories</h2><ul class="links"><li><a href="/story/?id=380048">Alzheimer's therapies unproven, but patient respect goes a long way <span class="date">[05/17/10]</span></a></li></ul></div></div></div>