March 31, 2015

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A March 30, 2015 International Business Times article reported on the increased need for funding to fight Alzheimer’s disease. According to the article, "In the U.S., leaders of a dozen Fortune 500 companies have joined the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease as a project of the nonprofit group USAgainstAlzheimer’s. George Vradenburg, founder of the parent organization, has lately made it his mission to collect CEOs of influential corporations who can advocate for more public and private dollars to fast-track Alzheimer’s disease research. He estimates that, globally, there is only about $700 million available for research into Alzheimer’s disease -- which is not even one-half of that which the federal government’s advisory council has requested for the U.S. alone by 2025. “It is clear beyond words that innovative medicine in this area is not going to come from government, so we turned our attention to engaging with business and industry,” Vradenburg says. The members are mostly pharmaceutical and health-care companies, but he convinced executives at the Bank of America Corp. that they should take up the cause, as well.”

ICYMIClick here to read a full recap of Dr. Newport’s personal experience using coconut oil to reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Newport believes coconut oil gave her a few more good years with her husband. The USF Health Byrd Alzheimer's Institute is now running the first-ever randomized clinical trial to determine whether anecdotal reports of the effectiveness of coconut oil in treating Alzheimer's can be verified. Jill Smith, USF Health Byrd Alzheimer's Institute Assistant Director for Clinical Research, also joined us on the call to discuss the ongoing trial, how you can participate, and when they hope to have results.


MUST READS AND LISTEN 

A March 30, 2015 New York Times article reported that researchers at Arizona State University used Ronald Reagan’s speeches to develop a method for detecting cognitive impairment before symptoms are clinically perceptible. According to the article, “The findings, published in The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease by researchers at Arizona State University, do not prove that Mr. Reagan exhibited signs of dementia that would have adversely affected his judgment and ability to make decisions in office. But the research does suggest that alterations in speech one day might be used to predict development of Alzheimer’s and other neurological conditions years before symptoms are clinically perceptible. Detection of dementia at the earliest stages has become a high priority. Many experts now believe that yet-to-be-developed treatments are likely to be effective at preventing or slowing progression of dementia only if it is found before it significantly damages the brain.”

MUST LISTENA March 31, 2015 PM ABC Australia radio segment reported that dementia is now the second leading cause of death in Australia. According to the article, “The number of elderly Australians is projected to almost triple by 2050. And by then, there's likely to be just under a million Australians suffering from some form of dementia. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, dementia deaths are rising and it's now the nation's second biggest killer after heart disease.”

A March 31, 2015 CNN Money article reported on the use of tracking devices to keep Alzheimer’s patients safe. According to the article, “A new company, called iTraq, developed technology to track everything from luggage and cars to pets and people. The credit card-sized device can be placed in a backpack, in a pocket or affixed to a bracelet or lanyard. It's raised nearly $240,000 on Indiegogo -- far surpassing its goal of $35,000 -- and will be available in beta in June. Instead of GPS, iTraq uses cell towers to locate the devices, which means it can be tracked over really far distances -- which is very important if someone has decided to hop on a bus or get in a car. iTraq is already seeing an interest from Alzheimer's caregivers, especially since it uses geo-fencing technology, which lets caregivers set a pre-defined area and receive an alert as soon as the device leaves it. What's more, the battery lasts a really long time -- up to three years on one charge…There are over 125,000 search-and-rescue missions for Alzheimer's patients every year. That is only set to increase as baby boomers continue to age -- by 2050, it's estimated the number of people with the disease could triple, from 5.1 million to 13.8 million, according to the Alzheimer's Association. About six in 10 will wander.”


CAREGIVING INSIGHTS 

A March 30, 2015 Wall Street Journal article profiled three couples facing Alzheimer’s disease and the physical and emotional toll they take on as caregivers. According to the article, “Some 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, a number that is expected to grow steadily, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Some 15 million relatives and friends help with the patients’ care. Primary caregivers change diapers and feed and bathe their husbands and wives, mothers and fathers. They juggle jobs and other family responsibilities, and deal with often exorbitant expenses and difficult end-of-life decisions…“My wife has Alzheimer’s please be patient,” reads the little white card Bill Clinton keeps in his wallet to show people. His wife, known as Dot, is 69. She can still walk around but often doesn’t make sense when she talks. Her personality, once vibrant and caring, has changed. “She can get verbally a little abusive sometimes but you know it’s not her,” says Mr. Clinton. “It’s the disease. We try to laugh about it.””


LONGREADS 

A March 30th Issue of The New Yorker featured an article about artist Lonni Sue Johnson and her life as a research subject after a disease obliterated her hippocampus. According to the article, “Cognitive science has often gained crucial insights by studying people with singular brains, and Johnson is the first person with profound amnesia to be examined extensively with an fMRI. Several papers have been published about Johnson, and the researchers say that she could fuel at least a dozen more…It is instructive to compare Johnson’s amnesiac work with that of famous artists who suffered from dementia. Willem de Kooning’s final canvases are spare abstractions whose ethereal lines convey none of the slathered fury of his most celebrated works; they seem like emanations of an altered mind but remain coherent works of art. Johnson’s tone remains joyful, yet her ability to express that joy has been dramatically fractured.”