MUST READS

A January 31, 2019 USA Today article looked how someone who is incapacitated by Alzheimer’s disease, or another illness or condition, can protect their own interests and wishes. Discussing “what ifs” is important when someone is healthy and can easily communicate. According to the article, ““It is a subject we find difficult to discuss because our brains don't want to go there,” says Keith Moeller, Northwestern Mutual wealth management adviser, who notes that he’s created an “incapacity plan” to provide guidance to his family if he becomes incapacitated. 

MUST WATCH

In a January 29, 2018 The View segment, the women discuss issues rising to the surface in the wake of Dan Gasby going public about his relationship with a woman outside of his marriage to fashion and culture icon B. Smith, who has Alzheimer’s disease.

MUST LISTEN

Listen to ASU (Arizona State University) Now’s latest Thought Huddle podcast, “Alzheimer’s Disease: Holding Onto Humanity,” with host Mary Charlotte Domandi. She recounts personal experiences with her stepfather, who had AD, joined by guests Morgen Hartford of the Arizona Alzheimer’s Association, Diego Mastroeni of ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center, and Gary Glazner of the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project.

ALZ TECH

A January 29, 2019 Drug Target Review article focused on ALTEA, a new, non-invasive tool, currently in research beta stage, to detect Alzheimer’s disease in its most incipient stages. According to Valencia’s Polytechnic University doctoral student and software developer Rafael Ortíz, “With these parameters we can characterise and detect in what stage the disease is, and we can help reveal alterations that are invisible to the naked eye of clinical specialists.” 

DEMENTIA AND THE ARTS

A January 30, 2019 UCI Mind article interviewed Eric Doran of UCI MIND’s Down Syndrome Program about the new play, “Blurred at the Edges,” the true story of Dr. John Langdon Down, who first described Down syndrome. According to Doran, who served as the play’s creative consultant and content researcher, “Dr. Down was a pioneer for the humane and dignified care of persons with developmental and intellectual disabilities… As part of the Down Syndrome Program at UCI MIND, we aim to better understand how this genetic imbalance [extra copy of the 21st chromosome] may contribute to the pathology and dementia of Alzheimer’s disease in adults with Down syndrome with the ultimate goal of getting us closer to prevention or cure of this devastating disease.”

EVENTS AND RESOURCES

Check-out Due West United Methodist Church’s (Marietta, GA) offerings for people on the dementia journey. The 2nd Annual Ministering to Families Facing Dementia: A Worship for Faith & Community Leaders all-day workshop is on March 21, 2019. It is for faith and community leaders to learn how to better minister to families facing dementia. Register here. The Caregivers Ministry - Alzheimer’s Support Group offers meet-ups for spouses and family members of people with AD/dementia, and for people with ailing or elderly parents. The groups are designed to minister to people going through trying times in their lives and provide a supportive environment for healing.