USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A March 11, 2015 statement by USAgainstAlzheimer’s urged HHS Secretary Burwell to attend the World Health Organization's first-ever ministerial meeting on dementia. According to USA2 Chairman George Vradenburg, “When the World Health Organization convenes the first-ever Ministerial Conference on Global Action Against Dementia later this month, it is critical that the United States be represented by Secretary Burwell, who leads the execution of our nation’s strategy to address Alzheimer’s.”

MUST READS 

A March 12, 2015 BBC News article reported that Terry Pratchett, renowned fantasy writer, died of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 66. According to the article, “Sir Terry wrote more than 70 books during his career and completed his final book last summer. He "enriched the planet like few before him" and through Discworld satirised the world "with great skill, enormous humour and constant invention," said Mr Finlay. "Terry faced his Alzheimer's disease (an 'embuggerance', as he called it) publicly and bravely," said Mr Finlay. "Over the last few years, it was his writing that sustained him. His legacy will endure for decades to come.””

A March 11, 2015 NPR article reported that “Many scientists are failing to live up to a 2007 law that requires them to report the results of their clinical trials to a public website, according to a study in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.” 

MINORITY IMPACT

A March 12, 2015 The St. Louis American opinion piece by Jesse Swanigan called on the African American community to fight back against Alzheimer’s. According to Swanigan, “I want to make a difference. The time is now for the African-American community to fight back. Currently, we are two times more likely than white Americans to develop Alzheimer’s. Compared to the general public, African Americans have a greater risk of developing diabetes and high blood pressure which are substantial risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease. I urge the African-American community to help us change the trajectory of this disease.”Jesse C. Swanigan is a senior lecturer in Finance at the University Of Missouri – St. Louis.

CAREGIVING

A March 12, 2015 The Atlantic article reported that a “A New York care facility has launched an after-hours camp-style program to entertain [Alzheimer's patients] until the morning—and help their caregivers get some sleep.” According to the article, “Many people with dementia are more alert at night than they are all day—just when their caregivers need to sleep. Rather than try to alter this mismatch, Elderserve At Night embraces it. The program is the brainchild of David Pomeranz, the executive director of the Hebrew Home, who opened the program in 1996. He says the idea came to him after hearing heartbreaking stories from struggling families. “People were sleeping in front of doorways because they were concerned that mom or dad would wander out of the house,” Pomeranz says. Those families desperately needed a safe place for their loved ones at night—and a decent night’s sleep. And the Hebrew Home set out to meet that need.”

RESEARCH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY

A March 11, 2015 The Los Angeles Times article reported on new research linking sonic waves to memory restoration in mice with Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “In mice bred to develop Alzheimer's disease, stimulating the forebrain with scanning ultrasound over six-to-seven weeks appeared to activate specialized immune cells in the brain -- called microglia -- to sweep up and dispose of excess amyloid, the new research found.”

A March 12, 2015 Time article reported that “Researchers at John Hopkins University have found that low doses of a drug more commonly used to treat epilepsy can reverse a condition that increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.”

A March 11, 2015 Montana Kaimin article reported that a University of Montana researcher has found that “children who are consistently exposed to air pollution are more likely to develop neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.” According to the article, “Lilian Calderón-Garcidueñas, who teaches courses about use and abuse of drugs at UM, is conducting breakthrough research with collaborators who found children in Mexico City who are exposed to pollutants are more likely to have a lower IQ. Previous studies have shown that air pollutants enter the brain both directly and indirectly and impact its metabolic performance. By doing MRIs, Calderón-Garcidueñas and her team have been able to detect structural changes in the brain.Previous studies have shown that by the age of 11, children in Mexico have two major protein changes in the brain that are consistent with Alzheimer’s, and the changes grow more obvious with age.”