MUST READS

A January 16, 2019 NBC 5 DFW broadcast segment reported that UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth is recruiting trial participants to test a blood test which detects biomarker proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease. The test would be administered at a primary care physician's office to identify dementia patients earlier, easier and cheaper than what is currently possible. According to Pharmacology and Neuroscience Professor Sid O’Bryant, PhD, “Primary care doctors are overwhelmed with patients worried about their memory problems, yet they don't have a tool… So having a blood test they can run as part of their normal routine is really going to change the practice for those doctors and patients.”

A January 15, 2019 Mountain News article spotlighted a new $43 million brain health initiative, funded by the American Heart Association and The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group, among others. The initiative is comprised of three large-scale research teams convened to develop better prevention and treatment, and build a new understanding of Alzheimer’s disease by bridging the science of vascular and brain health.

MUST LISTEN

A January 16, 2019 Michigan Radio NPR radio segment interviewed Bruno Giordani, Associate Director of the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center. He speaks about different types of dementia and the role that lifestyle plays in the onset. 

ALZ TECH

(ICYMI) A December 30, 2018 Forbes article interviewed top tech ethicists about their hopes for 2019. According to David Ryan Polgar of All Tech Is Human, “Digital phenotyping will be a hotly debated ethical issue in 2019. Digital phenotyping is the emerging field of examining how people utilize smartphones and other digital devices (motor skills with scrolling, time of use, the volume of communication) to make correlative predictions regarding depression, suicidality, Alzheimer’s, and more. It’s what I like to call the canary in the smartphone.”

PROFILES IN COURAGE

A January 16, 2019 Cleveland Health & Fitness article spotlighted the Generation Program study at University Hospitals, one of several participating international sites seeking to prevent and cure Alzheimer’s disease. Sponsored by Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, the study is investigating drugs to remove plaque and prevent buildup. Participants must be aged 60-75, and undergo genetic testing to see if they have a specific form of the APOE4 gene. Get more information here on participating in the study.

DEMENTIA AND THE ARTS

A January 16, 2019 The Daily article spotlighted “The Artist Within” exhibition at Seattle City Hall, sponsored by Seattle non-profit The Art of Alzheimer’s. The exhibition consists of pieces by seven artists who live with dementia. Founded by Marilyn Raichle, her own mother with dementia started to paint at the age of 89. According to the article, “Raichle credited her mother as the inspiration for the preliminary “The Artist Within.” Each artist produced seven paintings that Raichle said represent “different views of the world,” and provide viewers with a greater understanding of each artist as “creative persons and members of [the] community.””

FAITH SPOTLIGHT

A January 15, 2019 Religion News Service article and video segment, part of a series on dementia and religion, addressed the question, “What if I forget about God?” According to the article, “[University of Louisville Geropsychologist and author Benjamin] Mast, a Southern Baptist elder, said clergy have often told him they grapple with how to help congregants whose families are coping with dementia. “The common refrain is, ‘Seminary didn’t prepare me for this,’” said Mast. He succeeded in having fellow Southern Baptists adopt a 2016 resolution that called for pastors to seek training about Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia and churches to expand their ministries to meet needs of caregivers and the people for whom they are providing care.”