June 30, 2016

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

USA2 SPOTLIGHT 

ICYMI: A June 16, 2016 Alzheimer’s News Today article highlighted UsAgainstAlzheimer’s advocacy to advance a senate bill “that could deliver nearly $1.4 billion in federal funds to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research in 2017.” According to the article, “UsAgainstAlzheimer’s (UsA2) pushed especially hard throughout 2016 for lawmakers to increase funding. In January, UsA2 sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget and then carried out a sign-on letter to the appropriation committee in support advocacy initiatives.  The letter was signed by 30 Senators urging the appropriations sub-committee toward the additional funding. In a press release just prior to the senate appropriation committee’s approval, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Co-Founder and Chairman George Vradenburg referred to Alzheimer’s disease as a “cancer-size problem” and he applauded the work of the appropriations subcommittee.”


MUST READS

A June 29, 2016 Tampa Bay Business Journal article reported that the University of South Florida unveiled its new mobile Memory Research Suite. According to the article, “Built to be hauled by semi trucks, the suite was created to move around Florida, especially retirement communities and assisted living facilities…Currently, there are no drugs that would alter the course of the disease. The Memory Research Suite would aim to help by decreasing the amount of time it takes to enroll people in a clinical study. Right now, the time from the enrollment of the first participant to the last can take up to two years — and that's before even one person receives medication to test.”

A June 29, 2016 FiveThirtyEight.com article explored “Why Most Alzheimer’s Research Is Done On Early-Onset Patients Like Pat Summitt.” According to the article, “So how do you treat such a varied disease? And how do you spot it before it begins to take a major toll? This is where people who share Summitt’s early-onset diagnosis become important. Although 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, only about 200,000 of those are diagnosed before age 65. Summitt was 64 when she died. But this small cadre is the group most-studied by scientists. These people are special because their Alzheimer’s is more likely to have a strong genetic component than the kind that strikes in old age. Among their number are a sub-subset of people whose Alzheimer’s is dominantly inherited. People with these genes make up about 1 percent of Alzheimer’s patients worldwide. They will definitely get Alzheimer’s, they’ll get it early, and they have a 50 percent chance of passing it on to their children.”

A June 29, 2016 NextAvenue.org article highlighted Pat Summitt’s Alzheimer’s legacy including raising awareness of how the workplace deals with dementia. According to the article, “Of course, Summitt wasn’t the first person to grapple with Alzheimer’s in the workplace. When the news broke, human resources company Harris, Rothenberg already had reported a 100 percent increase in calls related to Alzheimer’s at work between 2009 and 2011. Summitt’s announcement further raised awareness. “When someone like Pat Summitt, the winningest coach, comes out publicly and says ‘I have Alzheimer’s,’ people think ‘if it can happen to her, maybe I can talk about it,” says Beth Kallmyer, vice president for constituent services for the Alzheimer’s Association. “When a famous person like Pat Summitt or Glen Campbell says ‘I have Alzheimer’s,’ it normalizes it and allows people to go talk with their doctor. Especially with the baby boomers aging, there are more people reaching the age that is the greatest risk for the disease.” Kallmyer compares today’s Alzheimer’s to cancer in the 1950s and 1960s.”

A June 29, 2016 Yahoo! Finance article and video segment explored the future of Alzheimer’s research and development. According to the article, “Companies, led by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly (LLY) and biotech leader Biogen (BIIB), are developing antibodies that target what’s known as “beta amyloid,” a sticky protein that clumps together and forms nerve-killing plaque in the brain. The thesis from researchers follows that removing the plaque from the brain could slow or end Alzheimer’s disease progression. However, clinical trials thus far have fallen short.”

A June 28, 2016 Alzheimer’s News Today article reported that “In an effort to promote education about Alzheimer’s disease and help local communities plan for this emerging public health crisis, Eli Lilly and Company has started an expansion of its “Community Conversations on Alzheimer’s” series with a panel discussion at the U.S. Conference of Mayors June 24-27 in Indianapolis.”

A June 28, 2016 Alzheimer’s News Today article reported that “Muses Labs has partnered with the George Washington Center for Integrative Medicine (GWCIM) to offer Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients in the Washington, D.C. area the MEND Protocol (Metabolic Enhancement for Neuro-Degeneration), a comprehensive adherence program supporting patients and their caregivers that helps to improve patient outcomes.”