USA2 SPOTLIGHT

An October 11, 2019 Journal of Applied Gerontology abstract spotlighted a new paper from UsAgainstAlzheimer’s A-LIST, Mayo Clinic and Weill Cornell Medicine, “Integrating Family Caregivers of People With Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementias into Clinical Appointments: Identifying Potential Best Practices.” According to the abstract, “Family caregiver engagement in clinical encounters can promote relationship-centered care and optimize outcomes for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD)… We describe what caregivers of people with ADRD and people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) consider potential best practices for engaging caregivers as partners in clinical appointments.”

An October 11, 2019 STAT News First Opinion piece by LatinosAgainstAlzheimer’s Lead Jason Resendez, and AfricanAmericansAgainstAlzheimer’s Lead Stephanie Monroe, outlined four steps the health care system, researchers and policymakers can take to diversify Alzheimer’s disease research and prepare for America’s shifting demographics. Latinos and African Americans are disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s. UsAgainstAlzheimer’s “Non-Pharmacological Therapies in Alzheimer’s disease: A Systemic Review” analyzed more than 300 peer-reviewed studies of non-drug interventions for AD and dementia, and the impact on communities of color. According to the piece, “Just under 4% of them focused on communities of color. Overall, just 5% of the studies included even a general strategy for recruiting underrepresented communities.”

MUST WATCH

An October 11, 2019 PBS News Hour broadcast segment focused on Judi Polak, who has Alzheimer’s disease. She is participating in a clinical trial at the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute at West Virginia University utilizing ultrasound to break through the blood-brain barrier safely and reversibly to try and treat AD. “Now you can deliver much less doses, which improves the safety profile, and you can deliver it more targeted to the area it needs to go to,” said study lead Ali Rezai.

RESEARCH AND SCIENCE

According to an October 14, 2019 Medical Xpress article, an international team of researchers discovered differences of epigenetic marks in the blood of Finnish and Swedish twins, where one twin has Alzheimer’s disease and the other is healthy. According to the article, “The researchers observed that the strength of the mark was influenced not only by the disease, but also age, gender and APOE genotype, which is known to associate with the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, the mark was stronger in those twins with Alzheimer's disease who had been smoking.”

PATIENT AND CAREGIVER VOICES

An October 14, 2019 Next Avenue article suggested that Alzheimer’s and other dementias may provide temporary, or even permanent, positive impacts, including healing long-standing family rifts. According to the article, “Granted, such beneficial outcomes are likely more the exception than the rule. But increased awareness and improved communication around these diseases are helping many spouses and children cope, and sometimes find some light in the darkness.”