USA2 SPOTLIGHT

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RESEARCH AND SCIENCE  

An April 2, 2019 EurekAlert! video and article highlighted the research of Linda Van Eldik of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky, who has been working on therapeutics for Alzheimer’s addressing inflammation. The NIH and ADDF are helping to underwrite human trials of MW-151, which her team developed as a once-daily pill taken to stave-off dementia. “So the way that our drug works is that it blocks the inflammation that happens in a cell type in the brain called the glial cell. It keeps the good inflammation but it targets specifically that bad inflammation that can then kill the nerve cell… Research is very risky but we have a lot of hope that this drug may be able to go forward successfully,” said Van Eldik.

ALZ TECH

An April 3, 2019 NBC News article focused on the growing trend of robotic animals helping comfort people with dementia. One such example, Tombots, are prototype puppy robot companions of the “next generation of social robots designed with seniors’ needs” to help combat loneliness and social isolation. Studies on robopets for dementia patients showed lowered levels of depression and agitation. They are low-maintenance, ideal for people who cannot care for a pet. According to Tombot lead Tom Stevens, “They were either too simplistic, or they were ridiculously expensive. There was nothing in the middle that was both advanced and affordable.”

ETHICS

According to an April 4, 2019 Cosmos article, a study out of Sweden found that people with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) have a significantly elevated risk of committing criminal or socially inappropriate behavior, which may serve as an early warning sign of dementia. According to the paper authors, “These results suggest that criminal and socially inappropriate behaviours may be more prevalent and criminal behaviours may be more recurrent in patients with FTD than in those with AD. These findings may help with the clinical diagnostic process.”

PROFILES IN COURAGE

An April 3, 2019 NBC 11 Webcenter broadcast segment spotlighted Rosalys Peel, who is releasing her memoir, “Mike & Me,” based on her experience with her husband Mike’s Alzheimer’s disease. According to Rosalys, “I was so frightened with the diagnoses and you know I was afraid he would harm me, run away and get lost and those things never happened. And I certainly thought he wouldn’t know me by the end of the day, and he did. And that story needs to be told that is possible to stay in love at the end of the day.”