• horse_battery_staple@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Surgery is best avoided especially around the spinal columns of the elderly.

    Economy of scale “should” bring the price of Alzheimer’s drugs down. The best cure is exercise when you’re young and good dental and sleep hygiene.

    • Sam_Bass@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 day ago

      I would imagine the drugs available in China are already cheaper than anywhere else. Far as the risk of that surgery, shunts are fairly routine at least in the USA where they are used on newborns that have hydrocephalus. I know because I had one. Can’t be that much more risky for someone in their 60s

      • horse_battery_staple@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        That’s not been my understanding as to the price of drugs.

        It’s not the surgery per se that’s the issue but the risk of encephalopathy. Aging bodies don’t fight infection as well as babies do. Also the other risks of stroke from clots, the stress on the pulmonary system from anesthesia and the costs of the at home care during recovery.