Must Reads

A November 5, 2015 The Hill opinion piece by Jim Patterson applauded Mike Huckabee for focusing on cures for diseases like Alzheimer’s in his campaign. According to Patterson, “Under a Huckabee administration, real health education and real research dollars could produce real results in the lives of tens of millions of Americans. This is a message of hope from the man from Hope, Ark…The campaign to educate America on the great economic and personal opportunities possible by reducing or overcoming the devastation of cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes should be a national one. Mike Huckabee is a winner in his battle against diabetes; he can wage a winning national campaign on these critical health issues for all Americans.” Patterson is a longtime Washington diplomat.

A November 4, 2015 Vox.com article highlighted the power of music to summon memories in Alzheimer’s patients. According to the article, “Listening to familiar songs can trigger memories. But the emotions churned up by these memories can be quite painful, carrying with them the aftershocks of trauma. Music therapists know there is never a guarantee that music will unleash a happy reminiscence…If we want person-centered dementia care to replace the warehousing and sedation of Alzheimer's patients, music therapy is a large part of the conversation. Music's special ability to reach people with dementia does more than afford us the opportunity to understand the disease better — it presents us with a mandate. In the case of people like Marian, the information we gain through music pushes us to consider agitation not from the irritated caregiver's perspective but as the outward manifestation of the patient's inner state, one that can be addressed therapeutically. Yes, hearing a familiar song prompts reminiscence. But to take full advantage of that knowledge, we ought to go a step further. The meaningful work is what happens next.”

A November 5, 2015 BU Today article profiled Ernest Gonzales, a Boston University School of Social Work assistant professor of human behavior and a Peter Paul Professor, and his belief that “society needs to both recognize the valuable economic and social contributions of older people and provide more ways for older people to contribute through working, caregiving, and volunteering.”

Research, Science, and Technology

A November 4, 2015 NPR.org article reported that a new study finds that “special brain cells that track an animal's location also can track time and distance." According to the article, “Scientists have known for many years that areas of the brain involved in navigation are also involved in memory. And they've also known that these areas, the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, are among the first to be affected by Alzheimer's disease. ‘People with Alzheimer's disease often have navigational problems,’ Eichenbaum says. Without a working GPS system in their brains, he says, ‘they can't put themselves into the environment that they're in so they seem to be lost.’ The goal of the new rat study was to learn more about the link between navigation and memory, Eichenbaum says. So his team monitored grid cells while each rat ran on a treadmill.”

A November 4, 2015 WebMD.com article reported that “the drug raloxifene doesn't help the declining memory and thinking skills of women who have mild to moderate dementia due to Alzheimer's disease, a small study suggests.”

Industry Spotlight

A November 4, 2015 FierceBiotech article reported on Biogen’s new “moonshot R&D strategy” focused on neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “The company detailed its overall research strategy at its R&D day Tuesday, maintaining its commitment to "avoid incremental gain" as it pours money into programs directed at Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases. Biogen's latest cuts, announced last month, came alongside a pruning of the pipeline and are meant to save the company about $250 million each year, and management has promised to put some of that cash into its next generation of therapies.”