August 19, 2014

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

A new poll from GE Healthcare finds that 80% of Americans want to know if they have an incurable neurological disorder, Rep. Gus Bilirakis highlights the importance of medical innovation, a Michigan woman gets married in a nursing home to include her father with Alzheimer's (read more). 

Must reads

  • An August 19, 2014 Wall Street Journal article reported that a new global poll from GE Healthcare found "Three quarters of those polled said they would want to know what kind of incurable neurological disorder they had, with responses varying between 53% who wanted to know in China, to 80% in the U.S. and 94% in Brazil." According to the article, "People surveyed gave a range of reasons for wanting to know about their diagnosis, including the ability to start treatment to manage their symptoms, to make lifestyle changes such as keeping their brain active which might help with brain function, and to better plan for the future."
  • An August 18, 2014 The Hill opinion piece by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) underscored the importance of medical innovation and highlighted 21st Century Cures roundtables in Florida. According to Rep. Bilirakis, "Over 130 million Americans suffer from a chronic condition or disease. A mom whose child, stricken with Duchenne’s, struggles to jump rope; a grandmother, suffering from Alzheimer’s, has trouble remembering her granddaughter’s name; and a father afflicted with COPD struggling to breathe represent just a few of the millions of families whose personal battles inspire me to do everything in my power to advance treatments and cures…Whether it is from medical devices or medicine, treatments for patients suffering from chronic and rare diseases must be discovered on the ground level through basic science, then developed into a practical, usable, and marketable product, and finally delivered to the patients so the treatment may be effectively utilized."
  • An August 18, 2014 Associated Press (via People Magazine) article reported that "A Michigan woman who had been planning a traditional church wedding changed the venue to an Ohio nursing home so her father with Alzheimer's could walk her down the aisle."
  • An August 18, 2014 Wall Street Journal article reported that more hospitals are turning to art as a form of therapy for diseases like Alzheimer's. According to the article, "Researchers are learning more about the precise ways paintings and other works of art help patients and families in the healing process. With studies showing a direct link between the content of images and the brain's reaction to pain, stress, and anxiety, hospitals are considering and choosing artworks based on the evidence and giving it a higher priority than merely decoration for sterile rooms and corridors…Mayo also exhibits pieces on loan from Jacksonville's Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens. The institutions are collaborating on a program for Alzheimer's and dementia patients and their caregivers, who meet at the museum for conversations about art works as a means of soothing and relieving stress. A research study is planned to measure those effects."
Notable deaths 
  • An August 18, 2014 USA Today article reported that former Senator James Jeffords died at the age of 80. According to the article, "Jeffords, the last Republican to hold federal office elected from Vermont, retired from the U.S. Senate in 2006 while in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. He had been cared for at a facility near Washington, D.C."