LECOM Health offers Erie's first treatment for Alzheimer's, dementia
That treatment being given to an Erie man who said the diagnosis is not only a heavy burden for the patients, but families as well.
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Amyloid-targeting therapies, also known as ATT, is being offered in Erie for the first time by LECOM Health.
It's a new class of medicine that targets patients with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's dementia.
'There's significant side effects and there's a significant process to screen patients so we got to pick the right patient to be safe,' Dr. James Lin, president of LECOM Institute for Successful Living.
Jay Estes is the first patient in the area to receive this treatment that will take place over a span of eighteen months.
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'I'd gone to several tests and they're all telling me that I'm fine and my wife and we both know that I'm not fine,' he said
'They've shown significant reduction in terms of the plaquing in the brain as well as improving function,' Dr. Lin said.
Estes said the diagnosis is not only a heavy burden for the patient but also the family.
'I would forget things I would talk to my wife and I would forget what she told me be driving along go the wrong way and have to turn around and go back,' Estes
'We watched his father go through it and he was at the Soldiers and Sailors Home for probably four years and he didn't know any of us and it was very difficult to go see him. So at least we know that he's doing everything he can to prevent that happening,' said Diane Estes, Jay's wife.
Dr. Lin said there's a protocol that medical staff follows for patient safety.
One aspect of that protocol is a patient navigator who is every step of the way from the pre-screening process to the day of infusion.
'It's a new treatment option there's a lot of questions there are a lot of risks involved it's not a cure-all I think we're kind of looking for that cure so just explaining that,' said Jennifer Kline, patient navigator.
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'We've already seen some cognitive improvement that we test him pre-imposed an MRI shows that he's having improvement in terms of plaquing so we're very cautiously optimistic that this is really going to work,' Dr. Lin explained.
With the treatments underway, Estes said he is back to enjoying activities that he loves.
'Yeah we went to Florida and I played golf three times and went fishing and I feel a lot more energetic,' Estes went on to say.
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