Must reads

• A September 4, 2014 The Economist blog post highlighted a new report released by the independent Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England that "proposes a new approach that redesigns care around individual needs regardless of diagnosis, with a graduated increase in support as needs rise, particularly towards the end of life." According to the blog post, "Although the report deals with the British experience, which has its own peculiarities, it resonates for the rest of the western world. Increased longevity has its benefits but it does mean that those who might have been carried off by a heart attack in earlier times now survive to get the increasingly-common diseases of Alzheimer's or dementia. These diseases make it very difficult for people to survive in the modern world without help. Although many children struggle valiantly to care for their elderly parents, this is less common than it used to be; in part because of the atomisation of society, in part because any more women have full-time jobs."
• A September 3, 2014 Washington Post article profiled Alzheimer's disproportionate impact on women. According to the article, "It has long been known that more women than men get the deadly neurodegenerative disease, and an emerging body of research is challenging the common wisdom as to why. Although the question is by no means settled, recent findings suggest that biological, genetic and even cultural influences may play heavy roles."
• A September 3, 2014 Washington Post article reported on the launch of the "Alliance of Women Alzheimer’s Researchers (AWARE) to foster collaborative studies, professional networking and more gender-specific research." According to the article, "The group, which has about 150 members (including a few men) originated at an international conference held by the Alzheimer’s Association in 2012. The women met a year later. But the idea had been brewing for some time, as female researchers — aware of the special impact Alzheimer’s has on women and the need to conduct gender-specific research — attended symposiums featuring mostly male scientists."
• A September 3, 2014 Associated Press article (via Yahoo! News) reported that "Google’s ambitious health startup is teaming up with biotechnology drugmaker AbbVie in a $500 million joint venture that will try to develop new ways to treat cancer and other diseases such as Alzheimer’s." According to the article, "The alliance announced Wednesday calls for Google and AbbVie to each invest $250 million in the project. An additional $1 billion may be poured into the effort later. The two companies will split all expenses and any profits generated by the venture. Calico, a company hatched by Google last year, will manage a team of scientists who will work at a research-and-development lab in the San Francisco Bay Area. The location and size of the new lab haven’t been determined."