MUST READS

A February 28, 2019 CNN article highlighted a new study which analyzed the genetic makeup of more than 94,000 people with Alzheimer's and discovered four new genetic variants (IQCK, ACE, ADAMTS1, WWOX) that increase AD risk. This was the second genome-wide association study on people with Alzheimer's compared to a control group. “Alzheimer's is a complex disease. It's not like Huntington's or Parkinson's, where one gene is altered and you get the disease. With Alzheimer's, it's multiple genes acting together,” said senior study author Dr. Margaret Pericak-Vance of the Hussman Institute. Also covered by NIH-NIA.

A February 25, 2019 The Conversation Project blog post by The New York Times bestselling author Katy Butler explored the use of advance directives. Both her parents signed boilerplate forms, but when her father developed dementia, the documents were of little use. According to Butler, “If there was one silver lining in my father’s difficult, medically-prolonged decline, it is this: It showed me the havoc dementia can wreak not only on the life of the afflicted person, but on family caregivers. And it encouraged me to think more explicitly about my values and the peculiar moral and medical challenges posed by dementia.” 

FAITH SPOTLIGHT

A February 28, 2019 Collegeville Institute Bearings post by pastor Cynthia Huling Hummel, who has Alzheimer’s disease, explored when it’s OK to lie to people with dementia, instead of correcting them. She terms this “therapeutic fibbing” and promises that, “God will understand and you will not spend any time in purgatory because of this. In fact, I believe that your kindness might just make God smile.” She continued, “I don’t need to be right, just loved… For my happiness, peace, and comfort, and especially in times of great distress, please lie to me.” Hummel is a member of ClergyAgainstAlzheimer’s.

SEX MATTERS

A February 28, 2019 National Institute on Aging article pointed to a new NIA-supported study which shows that older women with normal cognition had higher measures of tau in the entorhinal cortex than men. This may translate into a heightened risk for Alzheimer’s disease. According to the article, “More work is needed to gain a better understanding of sex differences in the biological processes of Alzheimer’s. Small studies such as this one are limited by recruitment procedures and survivor bias (the effects of women generally outliving men). But having similar results across two studies is intriguing and a promising direction for future research.”

YOUTH FOCUS

A February 24, 2019 AL.com article spotlighted the CARES (Caring for Adults through Respite, Enrichment and Socialization) program, which brings together Birmingham residents with dementia, and children from St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church Daycare, every month for an art class. CARES runs four mornings a week for people with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other memory/movement disorders. According to the article, “Children bring out something in dementia patients that no one else can, especially for patients that were formerly school teachers. “Seeing a child just lights them up,” [Program Director Pam] Leonard said. “That fills that need to be a helper, a mentor, a nurturer. They know they’re there to help them.””

RESEARCH AND SCIENCE

(ICYMI) A February 7, 2019 National Institute on Aging article focused on the search for early cognitive decline biomarkers to help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. USC researchers examined two markers involved in the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier. According to the article, “…Those with cognitive impairment had higher levels of soluble PDGFRβ and a greater breakdown in the blood-brain barrier of certain brain regions. Notably, both these measures were independent of beta-amyloid and tau protein levels. The findings suggest these measurements could pave the way for an early diagnostic test for cognitive impairment from Alzheimer's disease as well as other causes.”