USA2 SPOTLIGHT

ICYMI: UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Meryl Comer and George Vradenburg talked with bestselling author Jonathan Kozol about his new book “The Theft of Memory: Losing my Father One Day at a Time" in the latest Alzheimer's Talks. Check out the webcast here. 

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An August 11, 2015 Mother Jones article reported that “death rates from neurological diseases like Alzheimer's have soared—and Americans are much likelier to die from these diseases than their peers in most other developed countries.” According to the article, “For adults between the ages of 55 and 74, overall neurological death rates barely budged, rising 2 percent for men and 1 percent for women. But here in the United States, things got dramatically worse—death rates from dementia and other brain-related illnesses like Parkinson's disease and motor neuron disease spiked, jumping 82 percent for men and 48 percent for women. American men and women in this age group now have the second-highest neurological death rates in the developed world, behind Finland. In the earlier period, they ranked 17th and 11th, respectively…The study's authors don't speculate much on what's driving the trends they identified; they suggest that lifestyle factors might play a role. Heather Snyder, director of medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer's Association, told me that there are significant but still-inconclusive links between cognitive decline and diet-related maladies like obesity and diabetes.”

An August 11, 2015 The Boston Globe article reported that “A study released Monday of 40 former NFL players between the ages of 40 and 65 found that those who began playing tackle football before the age of 12 faced a higher risk of altered brain development than those who waited until they were older.”

An August 10, 2015 The Washington Post article reported that “Cerebral Assessment Systems has received marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Cognivue, a cognitive-assessment tool that functions somewhat like a video game.” According to the article, “With the United States shifting toward an older society, the hope is that earlier detection can lead to earlier intervention to slow or arrest the disease, perhaps through medications working their way to the market or changes in lifestyle. In addition to Alzheimer’s, a person’s mental competency can be hindered by other conditions, such as untreated diabetes, thyroid conditions or toxic interactions among prescription medications…With Cognivue, patients sit before a video screen that shows a series of images, such as a group of dots, that move around and fluctuate in clarity. Using a rotary-shaped mouse called a manipulandum, the patients try to follow the dots with a wedge-shaped cursor. The task becomes more difficult, especially for people with early stages of dementia, as the dots move around, changing their direction, speed and intensity.”

An August 10, 2015 NPR article and audio segment profiled hope and controversy with the “brain fitness” gaming industry. According to the article, “The market for these "brain fitness" games is worth about $1 billion and is expected to grow to $6 billion in the next five years. Game makers appeal to both the young and the older with the common claim that if you exercise your memory, you'll be able to think faster and be less forgetful. Maybe bump up your IQ a few points…Gazzaley sees great potential to use these games for a range of psychiatric disorders: post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, Alzheimer's disease. He's hoping there will come a day when, instead of a pill, a video game might be prescribed to treat a kid with ADHD.”