April 24, 2017

Today’s Top Alzheimer’s News

USA2 SPOTLIGHT

An April 24, 2017 EurekAlert! article reported on a new survey about nurse practitioners and brain health, released by WomenAgainstAlzheimer's and the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health (NPWH). The findings show that further education of dementia signs and symptoms, as well as a standard method to assess brain health, can help nurse practitioners prioritize early diagnosis and establish a dementia care pathway for people with Alzheimer's or related dementias and their caregivers. According to Jill Lesser, President of WomenAgainstAlzheimer's and Chief Strategy Officer of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, “Alzheimer's remains like cancer was in the 1960's, a disease that strikes fear in patients and practitioners alike. Without honest, informed screening and diagnosis, we will continue to leave families in crisis and slow progress to a cure. Clinical trials need participants and brain health awareness and assessments will help us get there."

An April 21, 2017 Truth Out opinion piece by Jason Resendez of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s brings attention to April as National Minority Health Month, and notes the disproportionate health disparities that disrupt the daily lives of African Americans and Latinos. African Americans are twice as likely, and Latinos are 1.5 times more likely than white people to develop Alzheimer's or a related form of dementia. A combination of ageism, low-levels of public awareness and stigma have allowed AD to thrive in the shadows, and largely left minorities out of public awareness campaigns and action plans on health disparities developed by policy makers and health professionals.

MUST READS

[subscription required] An April 22, 2017 Wall Street Journal article reported that Novartis is testing an Alzheimer’s drug on folks who don’t have the disease. According to the article, “The Swiss drug giant is looking for people whose genes put them at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s, but who haven’t yet fallen victim to the mind-robbing disease. It hopes such early treatment proves more successful than past efforts to tackle the disease once it has taken hold.”

An April 21, 2017 NECN segment and article focused on Maria Shriver’s appearance at the Brain Health Fair in Boston to talk about women and Alzheimer’s disease. Of the 5.5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s, two-thirds are women. According to Shriver, “This is the ultimate women’s empowerment issue because if you don’t have your mind you cannot feel empowered.” 

An April 21, 2017 Boston Globe article focused on the progress being made toward medicines for neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s inside smaller entrepreneurial companies in the Boston area. More than 10,000 doctors and scientists converged on Boston for the annual convention of the American Academy of Neurology. According to Paul Bolno of Wave Life Sciences in Cambridge, “The biotechs are moving the science forward. There was a mass exodus of pharma companies from the neurological space, and that created an opportunity for companies like ours. The large companies are now on the sidelines trying to get back in.”

RESEARCH, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

According to an April 20, 2017 UT News article, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee received a $3.9 million, five-year award from the National Institute on Aging. The grant is to improve treatment of nighttime agitation for people with Alzheimer’s disease, which increases the burden and costs of care. According to Kathy Richards, Research Professor at the UT Austin School of Nursing, “Safe, effective treatments for nighttime agitation are lacking. One major cause for these past failures has been the ‘one size fits all’ approach. If we can find a better and more precise way to treat nighttime agitation, we can improve the quality of life for many persons who are living with Alzheimer’s disease.”