November 04, 2013

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

One Alzheimer's caregiver says hope is just not enough and calls for more research funding, a police chief in the UK calls for a national dementia database, and the use of lasers in the battle against Alzheimer's (read more). 
 

Must reads

  • A November 2, 2013 Courier-Post opinion piece by Rosita Perez, whose mother is in a nursing home due to Alzheimer's, urged for increased funding for Alzheimer's research. According to Perez, "Like everything else in life, it comes down to money and research and it needs to be made more of a priority…Unfortunately, you do not truly understand this disease until it hits home. My mother is my home, my rock, and my best friend. I will fight to maintain her honor and dignity, but every day I have to remind myself that Alzheimer’s disease is 100 percent fatal. There is no cure, and hope is just not enough."
International 
  • A November 2, 2013 BBC News article reported that the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester has called for a national dementia database to help police coordinate emergency services. According to the chief, Peter Fahy, "It will enable the caring agencies to give a much better service when we receive a call and decide how to treat it."
Research and science 
  • A November 2, 2013 The Verge article reported that lasers might be useful in the fight against Alzheimer's. According to the article, "New findings from researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and the Polish Wroclaw University of Technology have raised hopes that doctors may one day be able to cure the ailments without needing to touch surrounding brain tissue. Such a technique could also replace the chemical-based treatments used to treat amyloid protein aggregates today, which involve toxic components that can put patients at risk. The researchers discovered that it was possible to distinguish aggregations of the proteins thought to cause brain disease with the help of multi-photon lasers."
  • A November 1, 2013 National Geographic profile highlighted trends in Alzheimer's research that some think are brining researchers closer to finding a cure. According to the article, "Every week brings reports of research furthering our understanding of Alzheimer's disease, which affects more than five million Americans today. The number of patients is expected to grow as baby boomers age.But applying these new findings to practical interventions to help patients already suffering cognitive impairment is tricky. "There are positive steps being taken in the field, but they are going to take years to come to fruition," says David Knopman, a neurologist and Alzheimer's disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota."