Today’s Top Alzheimer’s News
USA2 SPOTLIGHT
A Bioanalysis Zone article highlighted UsAgainstAlzheimer’s research urging the FDA to update its current approval standard for Alzheimer’s drugs, so that a proven benefit from a single therapeutic end point should be sufficient. It is hoped that it could be the catalyst needed to increase investment for drug discovery and development in Alzheimer’s. Also covered by Pink Sheet(subscription only).
A May 20, 2017 Salud Hispana Kansas City radio segment (in Spanish) highlighted the impact of Alzheimer's on the Latino community in Kansas City, and the research of the KU Alzheimer's Disease Center. The segment features LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's Director, Jason Resendez, and Dr. Jaime Perales of the University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Center.
MUST READS
A May 19, 2017 WebMD article focused on the town of Columbus, GA, in the midst of a 3-year citywide initiative. The Columbus Memory Project, based at the Columbus Memory Center, intends to prevent memory loss and prevent or delay the start of Alzheimer’s disease. The project aims to make Columbus the first city to screen every senior citizen for memory loss and thousands more for their chance of getting Alzheimer's disease from their genes. Neurologist Jonathan Liss, MD is funding the project with $100,000 of his own money.
A May 19, 2017 The Orange County Register article reported on the “new” approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease, which combines early genetic testing, research, medicine and healthy behaviors, including keeping cholesterol low and staying active (mind and body). With simple changes in lifestyle, some people can reduce risk by 30%. With medicine and a healthy lifestyle, patients can delay symptoms for 15 to 20 years. According to Dr. William Shankle, Director of the Memory and Cognitive Disorders Program, Hoag Neurosciences Institute, “There also are very good studies that show that lifelong learning helps increase connections in the brain,” and that active minds in middle age can mirror brains of people in their 20’s.
According to a May 19, 2017 Reuters article, an individualized music program designed for nursing homes, called Music and Memory, helped patients with dementia who listen to music tailored to their tastes and memories, use less anti-anxiety and anti-psychotic medication and improve their behavior. “We think that familiar music may have a calming or pleasurable effect and reduce the need for caregivers to use medications to control dementia behaviors,” said Kali Thomas, Assistant Professor at Brown University in Providence.
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
A May 20, 2017 The Telegraph article focused on Joseph Jebelli, whose grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease when Jebelli was 17. This sparked his interest to become a neurobiologist specializing in AD research. He recently wrote the book, In Pursuit of Memory, which recounts the history of the disease, and the strides being taken to understand and ultimately cure AD. Jebelli says, “This is a really exciting time for Alzheimer’s. We are finally targeting the underlying causes, not just treating symptoms.”
EVENTS AND RESOURCES
Join on Tuesday, June 13, 2017 in Chicago for an ensemble reading of Act One of the acclaimed off-Broadway play, Surviving Grace, with Diane Rehm, Loni Anderson, Marilu Henner and Mike Ditka. From UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Co-Founder, Trish Vradenburg, it is a quasi-autobiographical play, which was produced at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Off Broadway at the Union Square Theater in New York City. The touching and funny play tells the story of Trish’s mom, Bea Lerner, and her battle with Alzheimer’s.