Paul Edwards Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 A retrospective study of nearly 17,000 patients has suggested that androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) is associated with an increased risk for the future development of Alzheimer's disease in men with prostate cancer,. Click here to read a report in the New Prostate Cancer Infolink about the study. Researchers can’t prove a direct cause-and-effect link between ADT and Alzheimer’s in an observational study like this. Some other unknown variable might be influencing the results........ Given that it’s a first-time association in a retrospective analysis, this study helps inform future research but it’s not appropriate at this point to make treatment decisions off of it......... If your doctor has put you on this medication for your prostate cancer treatment, you should continue it. Consult with your physician, but don’t stop taking your medication based on a study like this.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles (Chuck) Maack Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 I would say men should not get overly anxious just yet. Key word is "may" as well as their closing remarks that this requires more study. It could very well be that those men who did experience Alzheimer's would have experienced this ailment in any event. I was initially on continuous ADT for 5 years before moving to several series of on 12 months/off until PSA rose to 2.0, then on again for up to now 19 years playing the ADT game, and now at 83 years of age, my faculties have remained clear as well as recall. I guess I could say thankfully since this has enabled me to keep my website www.theprostateadvocate.com up-to-date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Edwards Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 Dr Mark Scholz comments on this research: "In summary, it is not clear from this JCO article whether the men labeled having Alzheimer’s disease had memory problems while still receiving ADT or whether they had true Alzheimer’s, i.e., long-term irreversible memory problems continuing after the ADT was stopped. There is one thing, however, this study does show: At worst, memory problems serious enough to be labeled as “Alzheimer’s” occur in in less than one out of every 200 men treated with ADT." Click on this link to read his comments in full. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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