May 11, 2015

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

USA2 SPOTLIGHT 

Must Watch: A May 7, 2015 Fox News broadcast segment featured an interview with author and USAgainstAlzheimer’s partner Greg O’Brien about his journey as a patient advocate. 

Must ListenA May 5, 2015 Boomer Generation Radio segment interviewed Virginia Biggar, director of ClergyAgainstAlzheimer’s and Alan Horowitz, an attorney and expert on health care legal issues. 


MUST READS

A May 11, 2015 The Daily Beast opinion piece by James P. Pinkerton underscored the need to fund Alzheimer’s research and commit to finding a cure. According to Pinkerton, “Yes, diseases such Alzheimer’s are a middle-class issue—AD robs people, both patient and caregiver alike, of time, money, identity, and dignity.  Moreover, as the Alzheimer’s Association has documented, the current AD epidemic will be completely unaffordable in the decades ahead.   Unabated, AD costs will make a hash of everyone’s health insurance plan, public, private, or in-between.  Indeed, by mid-century, we will either go bankrupt or be forced to consider euthanizing our elderly—two grossly unacceptable outcomes…It’s that Kennedyesque “moon shot” determination—as JFK said in 1962, “to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills”—that will deliver the cure for Alzheimer’s and other dreaded diseases.  The prospect of a better life, for America and for the world, beckons.

A May 10, 2015 BoinBoing article highlighted a videogame designed to convey what it’s like to live with Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “Forget-Me-Knot is a depiction of Alzheimer's disease created by Alexander Tarvet. "Alzheimer's disease is a devastating condition for everyone affected and their loved ones, and through playing Forget-Me-Knot the player gets an immediate sense of the confusion the character feels," reports the BBC.”

A May 8, 2015 WCTV broadcast segment highlighted the impact of Alzheimer’s on caregivers. According to the article, “Currently, five million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer’s. However, there’s another part of this disease that often gets overlooked and it’s that of the caregivers. Think about it. For every one person with Alzheimer’s, there’s a vast circle of family, friends and others who are in charge of making sure that person is safe and feels loved.”