MUST READS

An October 26, 2015 HealthDay article reported that “Health care and caregiving costs for dementia patients in the final five years of life are far more burdensome than they are for patients with cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.” According to the article, “The study found that total "social costs" -- such as government spending, private insurance and out-of-pocket expenditures for dementia patients -- were 57 percent greater than costs associated with death from other conditions.”

An October 26, 2015 Journal Sentinel opinion piece by Ron Gundermann called on policymakers to protect Medicare Part D to ensure innovation continues for diseases like Alzheimer’s. According to Gundermann, “Together, fewer new drugs in the pipeline and restricted access to current prescriptions — the inevitable consequences of government interference — actually make for a future with more expensive healthcare. In a system with lower "negotiated" prices, patients won't receive the cutting-edge medicines most effective at treating and preventing illness. Their condition will worsen. And they'll likely end up requiring much more costly medical interventions later on. We should not take actions that will result in reduced research by manufactures for new medications and ultimately cures for Alzheimer's and other diseases. That would be penny wise and pound foolish. Wisconsin needs to send a message to its lawmakers: Don't mess with a good thing. They should preserve Part D as is.” Rob Gundermann is the public policy director of the Alzheimer's and Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin.

An October 26, 2015 Forbes.com article highlighted the challenges of caring for a loved one with dementia. According to the article, “An article in the journal Health Affairs reports that while people with dementia account for only about 10 percent of older adults living at home or in residential care, 41 percent of family caregiving hours are spent assisting loved ones with Alzheimer’s and similar diseases.” 

RESEARCH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY 

An October 26, 2015 Reuters article (via Business Insider) reported that “Research published on Tuesday showed that withdrawing the commonly used drug donepezil in moderate-to-severe patients doubled their risk of moving into nursing care within a year, although it made no difference during the following three years.”

An October 26, 2015 Consumer Affairs article reported that “A neuroscientist at Florida Atlantic University says he has developed a simple, three-minute test to identify the onset of Lew Body disease (LBD), a little-understood condition but the second-most-common cognitive disease after Alzheimer’s.”