USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A December 16, 2019 UsAgainstAlzheimer’s release praised the announcement that Congress agreed upon a $350 million increase to the NIH for Alzheimer’s and dementia research in 2020. The legislation should be voted on this week in the House and Senate. According to UsA2 Co-Founder George Vradenburg, “After years of disappointment in drug development efforts, Alzheimer’s research may be on the verge of important breakthroughs. A promising therapy is expected to be submitted for FDA approval in 2020 and other drugs are moving through the development and regulatory pipeline to treat Alzheimer’s or its symptoms.”

MUST READS

A December 17, 2019 MD Mag article reflected on the past decade in Alzheimer’s disease research and where we go from here. Among advancements made, improvements on amyloid PET scan technology allow for increasingly accurate diagnosis in living patients. Researchers continue to chip away at understanding dementia, AD’s primary symptom, including that approximately 30% of people with dementia do not have AD. Clinical trials, research funding and drugs in the AD pipeline have all increased. However, the U.S. healthcare system and medical community are ill equipped to manage the present and future, broad range of Alzheimer’s needs in the aging population.

BRAIN HEALTH

A December 16, 2019 Being Patient article pointed to a review of 11 studies which finds that yoga may be good protection against Alzheimer’s disease. Past studies have focused mainly on the benefits of aerobic exercise on cognitive health, which has been shown to stimulate neurons, reduce dementia risk and slow aging. The study concluded that yoga appears to cause beneficial changes in the hippocampus and amygdala. According to study author Professor Neha Gothe of the University of Illinois, “From these 11 studies, we identified some brain regions that consistently come up, and they are surprisingly not very different from what we see with exercise research. For example, we see increases in the volume of the hippocampus with yoga practice.”

RESEARCH AND SCIENCE

A December 11, 2019 Medical Xpress article looked at continuing research from MIT to better understand how increasing the brain’s 40Hz “gamma” rhythm power can impact Alzheimer's disease. “GENUS” (Gamma ENtrainment Using Sensory) stimuli, light flickering or sound buzzing at 40Hz, strengthens the brain’s rhythm and changes gene expression and activity of multiple brain cell types, resulting in a decline of amyloid and tau protein buildups. According to the article, “GENUS affects more than neurons. [Li-Huei] Tsai's lab [MIT] has found that microglia change their gene expression, their physical form, their protein-consuming behavior and their inflammatory response depending on the Alzheimer's model involved.”

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

A December 15, 2019 Alabama News Network broadcast segmentspotlighted the Autism and Alzheimer’s Outreach Group thrift store in Selma, whose profits purchase Project Lifesaver bracelets for people with AD and autism. The bracelets help law enforcement locate people who have wandered. According to Director Oscar Wayne Calloway, “People don’t know the need until it’s too late so many times. Don’t wait ’til they’re gone and you’re not able to find them. When you start seeing that they’re wandering, then its time to get a bracelet.”