USA2 SPOTLIGHT

(ICYMI) An August 29, 2019 Lifeline for Vets from National Veterans Foundation article highlighted the importance of paying attention to Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia for veterans. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is considered the “signature wound” of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and is nearly double the rate from Vietnam. Older veterans with TBI are 60 percent more likely to develop dementia, and a dementia diagnosis is twice as likely for veterans with post-traumatic stress. According to the report from VeteransAgainstAlzheimer’s (a UsA2 network), “…High rates of blast injuries and blast-induced neurotrauma are associated with irreversible, chronic brain tissue damage, including chronic neurodegeneration, long-term neurological deficits, and memory loss, according to a variety of scientific studies.”

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

A September 24, 2019 Forbes article referenced a new report from Dutch analytics company Elsevier, “Alzheimer’s Disease Research Insights: Impacts, Trends, Opportunities,” which finds that while the US presently leads the world in Alzheimer’s disease research, it collaborates less internationally than the other top research-producing countries. According to Maria De Kleijn-Lloyd, “…We see an increased interest in behavioral topics. There are more articles being written on the behavioral topics. A lot of research is on continuing to find a cure, but there is increasing emphasis on topics like sleep, exercise and keeping the brain active.”

RESEARCH AND SCIENCE

According to a September 23, 2019 Yahoo! Finance article, INmune Bio will present the company’s strategy for treating Alzheimer’s disease by targeting the immune system at AAIC’s Satellite Symposium in Sydney, Australia this week. “Neuroinflammation is now widely recognized as a key therapeutic target in Alzheimer’s disease. We believe that neuroinflammation plays a critical role in neurologic disorders like Alzheimer’s and our drug candidate, XPro1595 is starting clinical trials to test this hypothesis,” said C.J. Barnum, PhD.

A September 20, 2019 Medical News Today article spotlighted a wearable cap, from NeuroEM Therapeutics, which fights Alzheimer’s disease by disaggregating toxic protein formed in the brain via electromagnetic waves. A small clinical study found that seven out of eight participants saw an increase of more than four ADAS-cog scale performance points after two months of use. According to study researcher Dr. Amanda Smith, “These results provide preliminary evidence that [transcranial electromagnetic treatment] administration we assessed in this small [Alzheimer's disease] study may have the capacity to enhance cognitive performance in patients with mild to moderate disease." Also covered by Science Alert, and WTSP 10 News.

PATIENT AND CAREGIVER VOICES

A September 20, 2019 The Philadelphia Inquirer article by writer turned Alzheimer’s advocate Phil Gutis, who has early-onset AD, wrote about a travel mistake on Philly public transit, the resulting emotional wave it sent through him, and coming to grips with his changing condition. “I’m resisting Alzheimer’s with everything I’ve got. I continue to advocate and write about the disease. I’ve steadily increased my exercise and am now about 20 pounds lighter than I was at diagnosis. My blood pressure is looking better, my type 2 diabetes is almost gone, and I’m hoping to improve other biomarkers through continued weight loss and exercise. Yes, some days it is tempting to just give up. But I’ve never been that kind of person. I’m not going quietly,” wrote Gutis.