August 17, 2015

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

MUST READS

An August 16, 2015 Fox News opinion piece by Ann Hedreen highlighted the importance of volunteering in Alzheimer’s medical research. According to Hedreen, “But I learned an important lesson: if you want to volunteer, make sure it’s something you’ll be able to stick with. Before my mother was well into the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease, it never occurred to me that participating in medical research was a type of volunteering I could and should consider. But when I called the nearest Alzheimer’s research center to see if I could set up some interviews for the documentary film my husband and I were making, the nurse who returned my call suggested I consider volunteering as a control subject. And so I did. I took memory tests. I was given a neurological exam. And—the scariest part—I agreed to undergo a spinal tap, which I discovered was not painful and not scary, except for the anticipation. My big job was to curl up on my side and lie still. After I was numbed with a local anesthetic, a doctor drew a few tablespoons of cerebrospinal fluid from my spine. That fluid became 50 samples for use in Alzheimer’s research. Unlike candy-striping, volunteering for medical research was something I could do. And it felt so, so useful.”

An August 16, 2015 The Columbus Dispatch article highlighted the importance of early Alzheimer’s diagnosis. According to the article, “Too many people with Alzheimer’s disease go years with symptoms but no diagnosis. Along the way, they lose opportunities to slow the disease and live life on their terms.The reasons for that can vary, experts say. Patients and families can be reluctant to bring up memory loss. And doctors don’t always share their suspicions with patients, in the interest of protecting them or because they don’t think there’s any treatment that will help. But people living with Alzheimer’s and doctors and others who work with them say that there are plenty of reasons to make the diagnosis as soon as possible. The medications that are available don’t offer a cure, but they slow disease progression the most when patients take them earlier.”

An August 16, 2015 The San Diego Union-Tribune article underscored Alzheimer’s impact on children. According to the article, “As wrenching as Alzheimer’s is on family members, its emotional toll is compounded for children, experts say. And with those diagnosed with dementia growing each year — the estimated 60,000 San Diego County residents with Alzheimer’s or other dementias is expected to increase to 100,000 by 2030 — so is the number of younger people confronting it. Often too young or too immature to grasp the mental and behavioral changes they see in a grandparent, elderly relative or in a rare case like Alex’s, in a parent, children and teenagers can experience grief, trauma and fear of the unknown. Nonetheless, they shouldn’t be treated with kid gloves, professionals say.”


RESEARCH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY 

An August 17, 2015 North Bay Business Journal article profiled the efforts of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging to battle Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “The disease, a focus of research at Novato-based Buck Institute for Research on Aging, ruins neurons and incrementally sabotages its victims’ mental acuity, blurring especially short-term memory. Some victims eventually cannot recognize their own family members or lose the ability to swallow…Scientists at the Buck Institute, on a budget of only $32.5 million, are racing to learn about Alzheimer’s and tame the brain disorder that wrecks memory and thinking, and causes enormous suffering in victims and their families.”

An August 17, 2015 NPR.org article reported on a game called Project Evo that “some scientists believe you can improve a range of cognitive skills and, by extension, relieve a range of symptoms associated with cognitive disorders.” According to the article, “In fact, the creators believe their game will be so effective it might one day reduce or replace the drugs kids take for ADHD. But this kind of goal requires a totally different business model; before they can deliver their game to players, they first have to go through the Food and Drug Administration — the FDA…Drug companies are keeping an eye on these games, too. Pfizer partnered with the Project Evo team to see if the game could help improve the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The drug manufacturer believes it could alleviate some of the problems with drug trials — helping to make them faster, cheaper and more efficient. Right now, screening for Alzheimer's is subjective. Patients and families fill out forms on mood and attention. The results are often inaccurate. Some of the people recruited for drug trials end up not having Alzheimer's at all. Dr. Michael Ehlers, Pfizer's chief scientific officer for neuroscience, says Project Evo could help them identify better candidates more quickly.”

An August 16, 2015 The Star (Canada) article reported that Toronto doctors are “using MRI scans to measure how blood vessels react to higher carbon dioxide levels — a test they say could provide early warning of dementia and stroke.”