Alzheimer's drugs appeal victory

From the BBC: Alzheimer's drugs appeal victory

The drugs cost about £2.50 a day The Appeal Court has ruled an NHS advisory body should have been more transparent in the way it made decisions over Alzheimer's drugs. Eisai, which makes Aricept, had challenged the process by which it and similar medicines were restricted to people with late stage disease. Three judges said the advisory body should have released details of how it reached its decision. However, the ruling does not mean the drugs will be more widely available. Today's decision is a damning indictment of the fundamentally flawed process used by NICE Neil Hunt, Alzheimer's Society NHS advisers, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), had said the drugs are not cost effective in early disease. That decision was upheld by the High Court earlier last year. But Eisai said nearly 100,000 patients a year with early-stage disease would be refused the medication if the restrictions remained. The company brought the case to the High Court with support from fellow drugs firms Pfizer and Shire, which manufactures other drugs affected by the NHS ruling, and the Alzheimer's Society. Evidence Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society welcomed the ruling. He said: "Today's decision is a damning indictment of the fundamentally flawed process used by NICE to deny people with Alzheimer's disease access to drug treatments." He urged NICE to review its ruling on the drugs to make them more widely available. "Time and quality of life has been snatched away from thousands of vulnerable people who learned they have this devastating disease this year." The legal debate centred on whether NICE followed a fair and transparent process in reaching its decision. After the ruling, Andrew Dillon, chief executive of NICE, said: "We will be considering very carefully the findings and the implications for the time it takes us to provide advice to patients and the NHS on the use of new treatments. "The ruling will increase the complexity of our drug appraisals in some cases and they may take longer as a result." NICE guidance in 2001 recommended the drugs - which can make it easier to carry out everyday tasks - should be used as standard. But advice published in November 2006, stated that the drugs should only be prescribed to people with moderate-stage disease. NICE said the drugs, which cost about £2.50 a day, did not make enough of a difference to recommend them for all patients and were not good value for money.

Weeding Proves I am a Weed

You would think that a guy who is cycling over 200 miles some weeks would be able to do a bit of weeding without killing himself but unfortunately that is not the case. After just about 20 minutes pulling up weeds yesterday my hamstrings are tighter than Dave at the bar. I had planned an 80 miler for today and foolishly thought maybe it would still be ok. I set off intrepidly into the wind and rain but soon realised I would do myself more harm than good. Instead I just settled for a very gentle 30 miler. At least it got the months total to over 600.

Mothering Mother by Carol D. O’Dell

Mothering Mother is a carer's memoirs about caring for an ageing parent who suffers with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Below is one of the many reviews:

"Mothering Mother is an authentic and "in-the-room" view of a daughter's struggle to care for an ageing parent. It will touch you and never leave you. You will be astonished at Carol's brutal honesty. Her ability to narrate the feelings of the moment—love, grief, humor and even those moments of bitter resentment—will both reassure and arm you for the day when you may face a similar choice."

Check out more here. Or Click on The Pic below to see an interview.

Training Regimes

The Joglers are taking different approaches to to their training. Strangely, despite these differing methods the fittest and fastest seems to be the fattest. Must be natural talent. :-)

Click on the image to see full size.

What gets my legs pumping

I have already mentioned many of the podcasts I listen to whilst riding but if you are flagging on the bike nothing gets you going like some decent music. Perhaps I should clarify that it doesn't have to be decent at all, it just needs to get you going and that can be anything from some junk on cBeebies to Rock Around The Clock to something trendy and up to date that I have never heard of. I know that I am opening myself up to ridicule here but I am going to list the tracks on my MP3 player that pick me up even when glycogen is low, the wind and rain are soaking through to my bones and I am feeling like Steve. So in no particular order:

Turning Japanese - The Vapours
A Town Called Malice - The Jam
Heaven Is a Halfpipe - OPM
Filthy/Gorgeous - Scissor Sisters
Duke of Earl - Darts
Jump Around - House of Pain
The Beautiful People - Marilyn Manson
Enter Sandman - Metallica
Switchback - Celldweller
Jailhouse Rock - Elvis
She's Not There - Santana
It's Gonna be a Beautiful Night - Prince

What do you listen to to get you going when there are still 15 miles to go and you just want to die?

Activity | Cycling | Whitestone, United Kingdom | MotionBased Dashboard

Activity Cycling Whitestone, United Kingdom MotionBased Dashboard
Another 50 miles in the bank today. (Click on above link). Legs are still a bit sore, but should improve soon, doesn't help with all the hills around here. Take today, a relatively flat ride by Devon standards, but still managed a 700ft climb, a vertical climb at that. And no doubt Nick and Steve will make some reference to the fact that i am not a climber.
I'm more of a David Millar rider, take the prologue and a couple of fast stages, but wave goodbye when the road goes up.
I have to thank my wife as well for putting up with me disappearing for long rides. Hasn't complained once!!! My daughter asks me every day, are you going to work today? and then, are you going for a bike ride? I know its for a good cause, but it can be hard getting out the door sometimes.
Down the gym in the morning and hopefully some evening rides this week.

Training Progress, Bribery and F1

The training is actually going well. I imagined I would be behind at this stage but I feel quite confident that things will be ok for the JOGLE.

I have been increasing the mileage gradually and adapting well. This week was my biggest yet. I managed 231 miles, all of which was commuting and am still feeling pretty fresh. Next week will probably be shorter in total miles but I will try and get in one or two longer rides.

I think I will have a few beers and some time off the bike tomorrow to celebrate in front of the Grand Prix. Lucky for me Noah, my oldest little boy, loves cars and will usually watch the Grand Prix with me rather than wanting Mr Tumble on or me to play Tigers or something. JJ the littlest of the two is not quite so understanding and will probably need bribing with food. I am above nothing after a run of nights though. I do hope Hamilton does something silly again. Go Alonso! Go Kovalainen!

My training progress is here if you fancy checking up on me.

Thanks Alison!

There is nothing better than achieving your goals and targets. All too often I have failed in this respect especially when it comes to weight loss. Acheiving the training targets I have set for myself for the JOGLE has been meaning that I have required the support of My wife - Alison. She has been great. Normally she has her work cut out as it is being married to a paunchy middle aged guy who wears lycra. Lately though I have been spending alot of time on the bike leaving her to deal with the kids and house etc on her own. She has complained not once. So I wanted to say thanks on here. I would not be able to get into shape without her support. This week I have been on the bike for 16 hours and that is a lot of time out of the house. So - Thank you Alison!

Steve and technology get married

Thanks to Nicks support I have come of age and managed to work some technology. Here is the Garmin thing from before I went to the states. Check out that elevation ladies!!

Activity | Cycling | Whitestone, United Kingdom | MotionBased Dashboard

Activity Cycling Whitestone, United Kingdom MotionBased Dashboard

Hell of Mid Devon

Have spent 3 hours today being pounded by the great road surfaces in Devon. A full suss mtb would be more appropriate. Could be that i wasn't up for todays ride, felt like hard work all the way. It was a tad hilly, into a head wind, and i rode a steady 25 miles last night, but i guess this is what it's going to feel like for a week in June!
Had a wicked descent, down Dunsford hill, from Mortenhampstead back to Exeter. One of those descents where its just pure joy hurtling down the road surrounded by the woods feeling at one with the bike and road!
I read somewhere recently that to help recover from long rides you should have a little snooze afterwards, ha, ha. My recovery was watching 20 mins of the end of the Chelsea v Man Utd game (nice result) always new Chelsea could catch 'em. And then 5 hours of gardening! Should make for an interesting ride tomorrow.
See ride details on above posting.

Expert Q and A on Alzheimers

From the New York Times : Tracing the Path from DNA to Dementia

Dr. Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad is director of the neuroscience and neuropsychology of aging program at the National Institute on Aging. In collaboration with the Alzheimer's Association, the institute runs the Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Initiative, which is collecting and banking genetic and cellular material from families in which multiple relatives have late-onset Alzheimer's, the most common form of the disease.

Seth Harwood is a Diamond geezer

Seth Harwood No 1 bestselling author of the Noir Crime Novel Jake Wakes Up actually approached me on Twitter and offered to give us a plug! This is a guy who is hitting the big time now as Jack Wakes Up has just been purchased by American publishing giant Crown. Really - thanks Seth damned descent of you! Check out my earlier post too. More about Seth and Jack Wakes up is here. (pic courtesy of smthng)

Big thanks to Scott Sigler The FDO™

Big shot No1 best selling author Scott Sigler mentioned us on his latest podcast. He has encouraged all his Junkies to drop by and insult us. Seems like they are all too polite though.

If somehow you are not familiar with Scott Sigler he is well worth checking out. Scott was one of the pioneers of podcasting novels and has definately taken it further than anyone else.


He writes horror fiction novels that mostly have a hard science slant to them. There are usually tentacles and monsters and always lots and LOTS of violence. So far Scott has podcasted the following books:

Earthcore, Ancestor, Infected, The Rookie and Nocturnal. In addition to this Scott has podcast some of his short stories in his Bloodcast feed. All are available to download for FREE. They are not free because they are no good oh no. In fact his horror fiction is right up there amongst the most gripping and involving I have ever read. Find out more about Scott here.

Its late and I'm sat in front of the computer

Here I am sat in front of the computer, just booking the hostels up. Yes Dave I haven’t done it yet. Flights booked. Its funny we have for the 3rd time the Loch Ness Marathon this year in October. Its great place and we’ll be riding some of the marathon route in June. When we go we stay at a place call the Glengarry Castle hotel It’s a proper Scottish and its great, I love the place. Anyway enough of the nostalgia. Trainings getting back on plan after the little trip to the states. Mind you I did swim and run whilst out there. In the hotel they had great exercise bikes. They had a screens in front of you and you choose a course and the resistance would adjust according to whether you where on the flat, climbing or enjoying going down hill. They even had gears, yes they did work and didn’t grind thank you!!

Been running most days in the mornings this week, only 20-30 mins with the dogs and have been to the gym tonight. Hectic day tomorrow, run with the dogs, gym and bike ride with Kate. A nice warm up for my 60 miler on Sunday. It’s a great route, drops me into Combe Martin, Ilfracombe, Woolacombe, Saunton, Braunton and some farting around to get the miles up before I get home. I’ve got the Gamin but having a few problems with the motion base as we have a Mac, I’m sure I’ll find a way to overcome this slight technical problem in the next 60 days…

We also have a new camera so expect some pics on Sunday

Hello Junkies!

Hello to all you Junkies visiting due to the FDO's words. Help us to stop this wicked illness by donating via the links on the right for justgiving.com or via the paypal button. No one wants to end up like Francis Parkmeyer or that A U Rookman dude from 7th Son. If you are too damn mean for that then just give us some abuse.

Diet Progress of Cactusnic

Progress has been slow since my earlier post about my oversized tummy. As usual things started with the best intentions but then slipped. I convienently forgot to update my skinnyr graph if it wasn't good news which is why it all looks so positive. Things are finally going in the right direction though. So they flippin should be with all the training, at the moment I am burning an average of an extra 10 - 14,000 calories per week.
My weight has fallen from 204lbs to 195 which is good but I still have another 38lbs to go. I hope now to be at sub 185 for the JOGLE.
There maybe a slight falling from the wagon tonight though as this pics shows what was awaiting me when I arrived at work tonight. Yum.

The Benefits of Food and Sleep

Back to the grindstone this week. I have cycled the 60 mile round trip to work for the first 1.5 of 5 nights (I am writing this on my break at work). I plan to drive tomorrow and get back on the bike for the last 2. Thats the plan any way...

It is definately getting easier as the weeks are going by so the training must be helping. Easier that is when I eat and when I sleep. Today I did very little of either. When I got back from work after heroically setting a fastest time this year I was all full of beans and high on endorphins. Feeling invincible as I do on these occasions I suggested to my beloved better half that she catch up on some sleep, which is in short supply for her too with the lil darlin's unpredictable sleep patterns. She greatfully grabbed a couple of hours whilst I decided, still full of endorphintastic enthusiasm to take the boys out after a quick Nutrigrain bar.

The trouble is after another 20mins or so the endorphin high started to fade and I suddenly felt VERY tired. Anyway the little guys kept me going untill I crawled back into the house at lunch time. I had not eaten anything at this point as, since my deli belly in the week, food is not appealing for some reason. I crashed straight into bed but only had 4 hours till I had to get up and ride in again. Prat. I could have stayed in bed and waited for the car but for some strange reason I didn't. Must have been a hypoglycemic delusion or something. Inevitably I woke up just in time to get out on the bike back to work but not in time to eat. The ride to work went by ok to start with, although I felt in a bit of a daze. Boy did I start to struggle after 20 miles though. I decided to stop on a railway bridge for a rather pleasant Nutrigrain Oat cake thingy which instantly doubled my days calories (As seen in the cheerful pics). That is all it did instantly though and I trundled the last 10 miles to work like... well... like Dave. The effects of tiredness are weird, in that state of mind my saddle felt uncomfortable, my helmet felt too tight, all the motorists were idiots, I was fat and unfit, the weather was bound to turn bad, Leo Laporte (on my mp3 player) was irritating and basically the world was against me. Come to think of it I felt a bit like Steve.

I am writing this at work after my lovely day. Only 12 hours and 30 miles till bed. At least the weight is coming off and I have a tail wind in the morning. :-)

Marathon men

It is said that cycling a hundred miles is equivalent to running a marathon. I have never run a marathon so cannot say if the two are comparable, but when you consider the Joglers are planning to average a marathon a day for nine days, the challenge starts to become a reality.

Then factor in the difficulty of cycling north to south against the prevailing south-west wind that we tend to get in the UK (except in Fife, where it always seems to be a head wind no matter which direction you cycle!) and the challenge gets even harder.

Probably the hardest challenge is getting sufficiently fit while working full-time and juggling family commitments.

Due to those commitments I am only able to join in the Jogle escapade for three days, but am delighted to contribute what effort I can for such a worthy cause.

More Podcast plugging

PG Holyfield creator of the fantastic Murder At Avedon Hill podcast has said he will give us a plug in the latest episode due to drop on 23rd April or there abouts. If you haven't tried Murder At Avedon Hill I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is a Murder Mystery set in the fantasy world of Caern. There are vampires, moonbeasts and allsorts thrown into the mix. The podcast is beautifully crafted with a fantastic cast of voice actors and music from Shira Kammen to give it a truly classy feel. You can find out more here.

I would also like to thank Chris Lester of the Metamor City podcast for giving us further pluggage in his last episode. Thanks Chris that was very kind of you. I wax lyrical about Metamor City here