September 01, 2015

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

USA2 SPOTLIGHT 

ICYMI Alzheimer's Talks: Research shows that depression is linked to a faster decline into dementia. Dr. Scott Mackin joined us on our August Alzheimer’s Talks to share his work on a new study, the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative - Depression Project. He discussed the challenges of studying depression and cognitive decline and the hope that by treating depression symptoms we can reverse some cognitive declines.Listen or read here.


MUST READS

An August 31, 2015 WBUR.org article highlighted the 43 million Americans who provide unpaid care for loved ones with diseases like Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “Being a caregiver is often a major time commitment, requiring an average of about 24 hours a week. (Twenty-three percent of caregivers spend 41 or more hours a week on caregiving, Caregiving in the U.S. 2015 found.)…It might be hard for a caregiver to access services like support groups because it would mean  leaving the care recipient home alone, Bonner said. So certain programs encourage the caregiver and recipient to attend together.When caring for someone with dementia, it can be challenging to communicate and keep your cool, Bonner said. How do you help manage the mood of someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia who becomes agitated or distressed?”

An August 31, 2015 The Guardian article profiled one Australian couple’s wait for marriage equality in the face of Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “Five years ago, the issue of marriage equality became all the more pressing for Anne Tudor and Edie Mayhew. While the couple of more than three decades believe the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia is inevitable within their lifetime, there is now an urgency to their hopes for that day to occur. In early 2010 Mayhew was diagnosed with the most common type of younger onset dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and was told she faced an ongoing deterioration of her memory and learning abilities. Now that Tudor, 65, and Mayhew, 64, have learned to accept and manage that diagnosis, the pair desperately hope they can marry before Mayhew forgets who Tudor, the love of her life, is.”


RESEARCH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY 

A September 1, 2015 CBS News article reported that a study “published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, found that in cognitively normal adults who later go on to develop Alzheimer's, being overweight in midlife - defined as age 50 - seems to accelerate the onset of the disease.”