USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A June 12, 2018 Future of Personal Health opinion piece by UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Founding Board Member, bestselling author and Alzheimer’s advocate Meryl Comer implores us all to join our collective voice to “transform our country’s response to Alzheimer’s.” According to Comer, “For the longest time, the missing piece in Alzheimer’s research was hearing from those who are closest to the disease. That’s why we have just launched the A-LIST, an online cohort of patients and caregivers already 6,000 strong and growing, which was built on the premise that everyone living the Alzheimer’s journey has an important story to tell. We will turn those stories into data… We’re calling it data with soul.”

Help Bring About the CHANGE We Need in Alzheimer’s: Ask Your Senators and Representative to Cosponsor the CHANGE Act! Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Representatives Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Linda Sánchez (D-CA) just introduced the CHANGE Act, a groundbreaking new bill that fights Alzheimer's on multiple fronts. It promotes timely detection and diagnosis, promotes innovative approaches to supporting family care partners and removes regulatory barriers to disease-modifying treatments.

SAVE THE DATE for the 2018 UsAgainstAlzheimer’s National Alzheimer’s Summit in Washington, D.C., September 24-26, 2018. Join us for three important, informative and engaging days that bring together the very best minds in Alzheimer’s and dementia research and policy. The Summit will highlight our efforts to identify common goals, link partners, and unite communities in the fight against Alzheimer’s. We are dedicated to building a collaborative framework to catalyze the large-scale change needed to stop Alzheimer’s and ensure a brain healthy future for all communities. Register here.

YOUTH FOCUS

Starting TODAY, cast your vote for The Youth Movement Against Alzheimer’s (YMAA) YouthCare program, a finalist in the MY LA2050 Activation Challenge. YouthCare is the most affordable intergenerational respite and memory care program that partners trained college student volunteers and persons with early-stage dementia in a community-based setting. YMAA is a co-convener of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Youth Against Alzheimer's Coalition.

DISPARITIES SPOTLIGHT

A June 19, 2018 Star-Telegram article looked at why, on average, Mexican-Americans develop cognitive loss and Alzheimer's disease nearly a decade before non-Hispanics. Dr. Sid O'Bryant of the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth is focusing his research on this dilemma, with the help of a $12 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. According to O'Bryant, “It’s a precision medicine approach to understand how the environment, and the social-cultural — but also the biological — mechanisms may be different among Mexican-Americans."

PROFILES IN COURAGE

A June 15, 2018 NBC King 5 News broadcast segment told the story of Joel and Nancy Johnson. Nancy was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's at age 52. While reading “Still Alice,” she realized what was happening to her. According to the segment, “Nancy wants to stay at home as long as possible to continue making memories with her family but knows it can't last forever.”