July 11, 2017

Today’s Top Alzheimer’s News

USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A July 6, 2017 UsAgainstAlzheimer’s blog post reprints the eulogoy of Rabbi Michael Lerner, given in honor of his sister and UsAgainstAlzheimer's Co-Founder, Trish Vradenburg, at the May service celebrating her life. The following are some highlights. " ‘Okay, let's take on the toughest thing. Let's end Alzheimer’s.’ She put the energy into that…” “A commitment to say that when people were saying it's impossible, she would always say, ‘No, no, no. It only hasn't happened yet.’ We have to fight for the impossible and make it possible. Most of the things, most of the fundamental transformations we've seen in this world have happened when people did that.” “Trish poured her energy into this incredibly important enterprise of trying to get the Congress to put enough money behind research so that we could end Alzheimer's. She was never one to accept the notion that what people are saying is unrealistic is really impossible.”

MUST READS

A July 10, 2017 Huffington Post article looked at sex-based differences in Alzheimer’s disease. Consideration of sex-specific factors is essential to the goal of early identification and prevention of the disease. There are different sets of risk factors that impact women versus men, which exert changes at different points in the lifespan. The interaction between risk factors, AD pathology, and sex in midlife may be particularly true for women that possess the APOE4 risk gene. 

A July 10, 2017 NBC News article reported on how sleep may affect the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Sleep helps the body clear away amyloid and tau, and interrupting sleep may allow too much of them to build up. "When people had their slow-wave sleep disrupted, their amyloid levels increased by about 10%,” said study leader, Dr. Yo-El Ju of Washington University in St. Louis.

DISPARITIES SPOTLIGHT

A July 8, 2017 The Chicago Sun Times article spotlighted the Canady’s, a prominent Chicago couple. Yvonne Leemon Canady passed away last week after an 11-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was in her 40’s when diagnosed with early-onset AD. According to her husband, Blanton, “I really want people to understand how devastating this disease is. I would say one thing to anyone with a loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s: You need to cherish every single day because every day is different. You don’t know what the next one is going to bring. I call it a ‘hellish’ disease.”

RESEARCH, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

A July 7, 2017 The Spokesman-Review article focused on the FDA’s new proposal to integrate computer modeling and virtual testing into the regulatory approval process to help bring new medications and medical devices to market more quickly and cheaply for conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. The average cost of developing a new medication is about $2.56 billion and much of that goes toward FDA proof of safety and effectiveness. The FDA is using computer modeling to build databases related to new treatments for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.