USA2 SPOTLIGHT

Listen to the Help for Alzheimer’s Families “Living With Hope” chat with UsAgainstAlzheimer’s advocates Geri and Jim Taylor. Geri has early-stage AD and she and her husband and care partner, Jim, discuss practical tips for living with Alzheimer’s, strategies for remaining independent, pursuing their passions and making a difference.

Take our latest “It’s Personal” A-LIST Survey and make your voice heard. The issue of fidelity to a sick spouse with Alzheimer’s is in the headlines. We invite you to weigh in and join this timely, personal and emotionally charged conversation. A-LIST is an initiative of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.

RESEARCH AND SCIENCE

A February 25, 2019 MIT Technology Review article spotlighted a clinical drug trial at Weill Cornell Medicine testing a novel gene therapy for people with APOE4, a major hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Participants will receive huge doses of the APOE2 gene, to try and slow AD and ultimately prevent it. According to the article, ““There are those in the field that believe strongly that amyloid does it,” says [study lead Ronald] Crystal, while others think it’s another protein called tau, tangles of which are found in dying neurons. “Probably the answer is that it’s very complex,” he says. “The approach we took is to ignore all that and think about it from a genetic point of view.””

A February 24, 2019 Ladders article spotlighted a new study from Yale University researchers which suggests that depression may expedite cognitive decline due to aging. They utilized a new brain scanning method, with the ability to scan synapses in living tissue, on young adults and seniors and found that depressed people have lower synapse density than people without depression, resulting in lowered attention retention. According to the article, “Linking depression and anxiety to Alzheimer’s and dementia isn’t a novel consideration in the science community. But examining the shared cognitive damage they induce in an attempt to treat both has sparked some interest.”

EVENTS AND RESOURCES

According to a February 25, 2019 News 3 Las Vegas article, the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America is holding a conference on Thursday, February 28, 2019 to provide information about Alzheimer’s disease and memory screenings. The event is free and open to the public. More information can be found here, and register here.

Academic investigators (in the United States and Canada) are encouraged to apply for the ADDF-Harrington Scholar Program. The program seeks to accelerate research to prevent, treat or cure Alzheimer's disease. Award recipients will receive research funding, and project support from pharmaceutical industry experts. April 12, 2019 is the Letter of Intent deadline, and July 19, 2019 is the Full Proposal deadline.