USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A May 5, 2015 NEA Art Works Blog highlighted art based interventions for dementia and an upcoming Alzheimer’s Talks. According to the blog, “Dementia is one of those times when the potential for meaningful moments in life are overshadowed by the realities of decline. Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common type of dementia, has been described as “the long good-bye,” “a loss of self.” One of its hallmark characteristics, of course, is the inability to recall events, people and places that connect and orient us to our immediate communities of family, friends, and former selves…I use the phrase “meaningful moments” to describe the flashes of joy and purpose, however fleeting or small, that I have seen in people with dementia participating in cultural arts programs such as Anne Basting’s “Timeslips” or Gary Glazner’s interactive poetry sessions. Cultural arts (e.g., dance, theater, poetry, music) can be been described as the practice of creating perceptible forms expressive of human feeling. These arts are concerned with creativity, imagination, and expression of feelings rather than some targeted outcome (e.g., improving cognition). Rather than remembering a person or place, the person with dementia reacts in the moment.” Please join us for a teleconference on Combating Alzheimer's with Poetry and Storytelling on Wednesday, May 13, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Signup here.

RESEARCH CONVERSATIONS   

A May 6, 2015 Brain Blogger interview with Dr. Dean Sherzai, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention Program at Cedars-Sinai, “aims to shed light on preventing Alzheimer’s Disease with both therapeutics and lifestyle modifications.” According to Dr. Sherzai, “Prevention is a part of the Alzheimer’s spectrum that rarely has been talked about, due somewhat to the fact that we only recently have begun to identify many of the factors that influence risk. The insidious nature of the disease – with onset starting many years before its seemingly irreversible symptoms appear – has reinforced a sense that Alzheimer’s strikes at random, without warning and without recourse. Now, with the growing recognition that its course can be changed if the disease is diagnosed early enough, we are working to make innovative early detection screening technologies available.”

A May 5, 2015 Harvard Gazette interview with Dr. Rudolph Tanzi, the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Child Neurology and Mental Retardation at Harvard Medical School, highlighted his take on the “the past, present, and promising future of research into Alzheimer’s disease.” According to Dr. Tanzi, “I think Biogen will lead the way in terms of showing how to get amyloids out, but the antibodies they’re making are very expensive. So if you want to prevent this disease in 5 to 10 million people, as the baby boomers get older, it’s going to be tough for health care to cover. What they’re doing is opening the door with proof of concept. People like us are making little white pills that do the same thing. Hopefully — if we’re successful and it’s safe and it works — it will become what I would consider the statin for Alzheimer’s. I envision a day when you’re 40 years old, you get your brain imaged, if your amyloid looks like it’s too high for your age, then you start taking a drug that brings your amyloid back down.”

RESEARCH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY

A May 6, 2015 Yahoo! Health article highlighted research that points to nutrition as a preventative measure against Alzheimer’s and its implication for millennials. According to the article, “Alzheimer’s is not a disease that strikes suddenly. Like diabetes or heart disease, research shows it is a slow decline toward a devastating end. With all the buzz surrounding prevention, doctors and scientists are just beginning to turn toward the one component in cognitive decline every person, at every age, can control: nutrition. Over the past several months, research on diet and dementia have emerged to some fanfare…One of the strongest advocates for the millennial generation is Max Lugavere. The 32-year-old filmmaker is working on a documentary about the prevention of cognitive decline called Bread Head. Lugavere thinks that his generation is uniquely positioned to truly change the trajectory of their mental health for the long-term. “We’re inherently optimistic about the future, and we’re really plugged into what’s happening in the world,” he explains. “I’m really obsessed with this topic. I was pre-med in college, and also interested in psychology, so the role of nutrition is really fascinating to me. I’ve always been really interested in how nutrition can sway a disease.”

A May 5, 2015 Medical Daily article reported on new research linking Alzheimer’s and diabetes. According to the article, “It’s no secret developing obesity can also increase our risk for diabetes and heart disease. However, the relationship between a neurological condition, such as Alzheimer’s disease, and a metabolic condition, such as diabetes, is a bit more complicated. Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a new link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s.”

POLITICS 

A May 5, 2015 Real Clear Politics article reported on Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign announcement which included a mention of Alzheimer’s. According to a transcript of Huckabee’s remarks, “Real health care reform will focus on prevention and cures rather than costly intervention. Hope comes from finding cures for cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer's the same way we once lined up at the courthouse in the 50's and took our vaccines and eradicated polio. Cures could give real hope to families who hear a dreaded diagnosis and are sentenced to a slow and agonizing death. Alzheimer's Disease alone will cost well over $1 trillion by 2050. Focusing on cures instead of treatment saves money, lives, and families. I remember President Kennedy telling us we'd send a man to the moon and bring him home within the decade. President Kennedy didn't live to see that come true, but I did, and it made me believe America could do anything it set its mind to. As President, I'd launch a curative approach to health care and save money and lives-not government programs.”