USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A March 2015 Association of Health Care Journalists Tip Sheet underscored the challenges that aging Latinos face including Alzheimer’s. The tip sheet listed Alzheimer’s as a top health concern for Latinos and included LatinosAgainstAlzheimer’s as a resource. According to the post, “Latinos develop the disease at earlier ages than whites, but are often diagnosed at later stages. This reflects not only a lack of understanding of dementia, but some of the shame and stigma within the community, which views this as a mental health problem, and a shaming one.” 

MUST READS

A March 15, 2015 Associated Press article (via The Washington Times) profiled an Indiana family’s struggle with an early onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis. According to the article, “He went to see a neurologist, then a psychologist. All along, he and his wife researched Alzheimer’s disease. The symptoms seemed to match up. He was diagnosed with the early-onset form of the disorder last November. Even though Alzheimer’s has no cure and is always fatal, the Crown Point man vows to meet it head-on. “I intend to fight this thing through. I don’t intend to give in to it,” said Unterfranz, 62, who has the tough-yet-fatherly air of a former football coach (which he is)…He initially thought his Alzheimer’s might have been caused by playing high-school and college football, where he says he got his “bell rung” more than a few times. But his doctors told him that likely wasn’t the cause. These days, Unterfranz’s memory ebbs and flows. He’ll have a normal day followed by one where he can’t remember what he’s talking about, mid-conversation…For now, the Unterfranzes, who live in a cozy, natural-light-filled house along the water in Lakes of the Four Seasons, are readying their legal arrangements, and plan to get some traveling done, including an upcoming Alaskan cruise. “You never know what the future holds,” John said, his 3-year-old grandson watching YouTube videos in the next room. “Within the next five years or something, hopefully we’ll have this solved.””

A March 14, 2015 UT San Diego article reported that a new report released by San Diego County found the “lifetime cost of care for San Diegans with Alzheimer’s disease is estimated to be as much as $27 billion, a number expected to soar to a high of $42 billion by 2030.” According to the article, “An estimated 60,000 people in San Diego are living with Alzheimer’s, a figure that will climb to 100,000 by 2030. The county’s Health and Human Services Agency calculated both the direct costs of care, such as medical treatment, hospitalizations and skilled nursing, and the indirect costs of caregiving for people with Alzheimer’s, including uncompensated services and lost wages for family members taking care of loved ones.”

A March 13, 2015 CNN opinion piece by Maria Shriver highlighted how “women can wipe out Alzheimer’s.” According to Shriver, “The truth is, we're right in the middle of an epidemic, but we as a nation are in denial. An Oscar for "Still Alice" is shining the brightest light yet on Alzheimer's, but light isn't enough anymore. Attention isn't enough. It's time to get serious. Alzheimer's is exerting a powerful impact on American families -- on our health, our finances, and our futures. And women are disproportionately affected. Why women? Back in 2010, when we published "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Takes on Alzheimer's," we reported that women were more than half the individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's and nearly two-thirds of the unpaid caregivers of those who had it. Now those numbers are far worse. Today nearly two-thirds of those with Alzheimer's are women -- that's more than 3.2 million women. And more than 60% of caregivers for people with Alzheimer's and dementia are women, with many having to reduce their own workload or even drop out of the workforce altogether to care for loved ones.”

A March 13, 2015 Yahoo! Health article reported on B. Smith’s battle with Alzheimer’s and her efforts to drive minority engagement with brain research. According to the article, “Smith is also on a new mission: Today, she and her husband Dan Gasby announced their partnership with the Brain Health Registry for an initiative to identify and recruit candidates for clinical trials, particularly minorities. The registry, which currently has over 10,000 members, is open to anyone age 18 and older, and is free to register. It aims to build a pool of candidates who can then be matched up with clinical trials happening all over the U.S. — a way to make the clinical trial recruitment process easier.”

NOTABLE LOSSES

A March 14, 2015 The Guardian article reposted an opinion piece by the late author Terry Pratchett and his life with dementia. According to Pratchett, “I regarded finding I had a form of Alzheimer’s as an insult, and I decided to do my best to marshal any kind of forces that I could against this wretched disease…What is needed is will and determination. The first step is to talk openly about dementia because it’s a fact, well enshrined in folklore, that if we are to kill the demon, then first we have to say its name. Once we have recognised the demon, without secrecy or shame, we can find its weaknesses. Regrettably, one of the best swords for killing demons like this is made of gold – lots and lots of gold. These days we call it funding. I believe the D-day battle on Alzheimer’s will be engaged shortly and a lot of things I’ve heard from experts strengthen that belief. It is a physical disease, not a mystic curse; therefore it will fall to a physical cure. There’s time to kill the demon before it grows.”

POLICY 

A March 12, 2015 Energy & Commerce Committee press release highlighted new research on an ultrasound treatment for Alzheimer’s. According to the release, “The Wall Street Journal reports on a recent study using ultrasound to treat Alzheimer’s in mice. The Journal explains, “If ultrasound does ultimately prove successful at clearing plaques in humans, it could potentially be a far cheaper Alzheimer’s prevention tool than many drugs.””

RESEARCH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY

A March 13, 2015 Bioscience Technology article reported that new research reveals that while amyloid kills in Alzheimer’s, it might heal in multiple sclerosis. According to the article, “Two groups have recently made strides with amyloid beta (aβ), the supposed main villain in Alzheimer’s disease. But while one group is tackling Alzheimer’s by reducing aβ, the other is tackling multiple sclerosis (MS) by using aβ. “It’s all fascinating,” Stanford University neurologist Lawrence Steinman told Bioscience Technology. “It is also tough.” For his work indicates amyloid may be both friend and foe--or a friend across the board, an anti-inflammatory that actually alleviates Alzheimer's up front, and may end up doing a lot more for MS in the clinic.”

A March 13, 2015 Science Blog article reported that “Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a gene variant that may be used to predict people most likely to respond to an investigational therapy under development for Alzheimer’s disease (AD).”