August 27, 2015

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

USA2 SPOTLIGHT 

An August 26, 2015 post by the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) highlighted its partnership with UsAgainstAlzheimer’s to urge Congress to increase funding for Alzheimer’s research.” According to the post, “The only way we’ll end Alzheimer’s is by fully funding research for a cure. Congress is considering Alzheimer’s funding right now, but they won’t act unless we all speak up and demand it."


MUST READS

An August 26, 2015 ThinkProgress article reported that “nearly 60 percent of those with dementia live in underdeveloped countries.” According to the article, “In a press release, Glenn Rees, Alzheimer Disease International chairperson, called on governments around the world to connect people with adequate treatment and develop a medical breakthrough. Researchers say that without it, the dementia-afflicted population will double every 20 years.”

An August 26, 2015 The Washington Post transcript of an August 25 Donald Trump news conference included Trump’s remarks about Alzheimer’s disease. According to Trump, “Right, sure. I'm very strong toward funding for Alzheimer's and helping -- it's a terrible situation and they haven't made much progress, unfortunately. But I'm very, very strong in trying to find an answer for Alzheimer's, big problem.”


RESEARCH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY 

An August 26, 2015 PhRMA The Catalyst blog post highlighted a video and infographic that outlines the challenges of developing new treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “Our new video explains how through failure, comes success. For example in the past 16 years, there were more than 100 unsuccessful attempts to develop medicines to treat Alzheimer’s disease, 96 for melanoma and 167 for lung cancer. During this same period, 3 medicines were approved to treat Alzheimer’s, 7 for melanoma and 10 for lung cancer.” Watch the video here. 

An August 26, 2015 Medical Daily article reported that IBM’s Watson computer correctly identified at-risk patients who went on to develop psychosis. According to the article, “Among the benefits of computer programs is they are non-invasive, they noted. The next medical condition the team will examine is Alzheimer’s disease, by focusing on one well-known risk factor: minimal cognitive impairment (MCI). Generally, before patients begin the sharp decline once Alzheimer’s takes hold, they go through a period of MCI, where their memory and mental abilities ever so slowly erode.”

An August 26, 2015 National Geographic article highlighted a new book by science writer Anil Ananthaswamy that explores how neuroscience is helping to answer the question “Who Am I.” According Ananthaswamy, “Alzheimer’s is a very severe condition, especially during the mid- to late stages, which starts robbing people of their ability to remember anything that’s happening to them. They also start forgetting the people they are close to. When you look at it from the perspective of the self, what Alzheimer’s is doing is eroding your narrative or autobiographical self. This is the story we tell others about who we are, and the story we tell ourselves. It’s not necessarily something we’re consciously thinking. It is a narrative built upon episodes that have happened in our lives.”