USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A The Washington Post obituary noted the passing of Dr. Harvey Gralnick from Alzheimer’s disease. Gralnick, researcher and former Chief of Hematology/Oncology at the National Institute of Health, is the late husband of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Founding Board Member Meryl Comer, who cared for him for 24 years. Donations can be made in his name to UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.

A February 6, 2020 World Economic Forum article labeled Alzheimer’s disease as the ‘most expensive chronic condition of the world’s growing aging population.’ According to the article, “There is a global demand-capacity mismatch for age-related non-communicable diseases.” It called out the launch of the new partnership between the Global CEO Initiative (CEOi) and the World Economic Forum as a ‘turning point’ in this AD ‘pandemic.’ UsAgainstAlzheimer’s is a convener of CEOi.

DEMENTIA AND THE ARTS

A February 7, 2020 CISION PR Newswire release spotlighted "Mother's Day Memories,” a new short film about families affected by Alzheimer’s disease. The film will screen at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival on February 14, 2020. It seeks to build empathy for those living with dementia.

MUST WATCH

In a February 6, 2020 Being Patient video, host Deborah Kan spoke with occupational therapist and dementia care educator Teepa Snow about how to improve quality-of-life for people with dementia and their caregivers. According to Snow, “Being able to pull back and say, “I need time away, he needs time away. What he’s really saying is that he needs time away from you,” it’s intense, and in that moment it feels like forever and always, but what might really be going on is that we’re spending too much time in conflict trying to live, and we need to live better by not trying to do so much together for so many hours.”

SEX MATTERS

A February 7, 2020 News 4 JAX article looked at why more women than men have Alzheimer’s disease. Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers focused on tau, finding its accumulation more widespread in female than male brains. UCLA scientists also found social sex differences in faster rates of memory decline among married women outside the work force versus married women who worked.