October 06, 2017

Today’s Top Alzheimer’s News

USA2 SPOTLIGHT

An October 6, 2017 News 4 JAX video segment and article reported on the increased risk service members face of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. These “invisible wounds” can be their biggest challenges. The new VeteransAgainstAlzheimer's study finds that more than 750,000 older veterans in the US have AD or other dementias. According to Alex Balbir of the Wounded Warrior Project, “We will probably [have] many more studies in the future to really understand how much greater at risk this population of warfighters is to developing Alzheimer's as well as dementia.”


An October 5, 2017 The Frederick News-Post article spotlighted UsAgainstAlzheimer's advocate Kathy Siggins’ 17 year fight to get a fundraising stamp in support of Alzheimer’s disease research. The US Postal Service announced this week it will release a semipostal or “charity stamp” in November for National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. The Alzheimer’s Semipostal, priced above the standard first-class postage rate, will donate funds to the Department of Health and Human Services for Alzheimer’s disease research. 


MUST READS

An October 6, 2017 Medical Xpress article reported that care for people with frontotemporal degeneration (FTD), the most common dementia for people under 60, is nearly $120,000 annually, roughly twice the cost of caring for a senior with Alzheimer’s. These findings are from a study at the Florida Atlantic University College of Medicine. According to Susan Dickinson of the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, “For years, we have known about the extraordinary economic burden shouldered by FTD caregivers, but now we have the numbers to prove it. This study shows that the financial toll of FTD is even more devastating than we imagined."


According to an October 5, 2017 Reuters article, more than half of elderly patients with dementia are prescribed at least one potentially inappropriate medication. European researchers studied more than 2,000 people with dementia. According to Dr. Christopher Soosay from London-based Dementia Specialists LLP, “This is an interesting and useful study which confirms what most dementia specialists have been aware of for a long time.”