[Please vote!] On September 17th, our partners, The Youth Movement Against Alzheimer’s, will fly to New York to present its innovative intergenerational respite care model as one of 12 MIT SOLVE finalists in the Brain Health category. The program, YouthCare, pairs undergraduate students with individuals living with Alzheimer's to provide family caregivers with respite care. Please vote today for the Youth Movement team. 

MUST READS

An August 31, 2017 STAT article focused on inflammation as a culprit in causing or aggravating a wide range of diseases, including Alzheimer’s. Inflammation is an unnecessary state of hyperactivity in the body, where the immune system’s reserve capacity is thrown into overdrive, sending the wrong cellular signals to various parts of the body. Anti-inflammatory drugs often come with dangerous side effects. According to Dr. Clay Semenkovich from Washington University in St. Louis, “The problem is if you block inflammation, you’re blocking a primordial mechanism by which we are protected from the organisms that share the planet with us.” 

According to an August 31, 2017 New America Media article, age-related dementia, or cognitive decline, is not inevitable. The “Dementia is Not Inevitable” study in the Gerontological Society of America’s Journal of Gerontology concluded, “Dementia is a common, but not inevitable, phenomenon in extremely aged people such as centenarians.” It has been found that even when cognitive decline is diagnosed, art therapy including painting, photography, music, songwriting, theater and dance, helps bolster the brain’s functioning, build resistance to cognitive decline, stimulate creativity and enhance quality of life.

An August 30, 2017 New Scientist article [subscription required] reported that scientists are starting to study menopause, looking for clues about  Alzheimer’s disease. Menopause affects mood, memory and concentration in ways so similar to AD that it may signal the start of the disease. Therapies created to artificially boost hormone levels to treat menopause could protect the brain, potentially staving off dementia later in life.

YOUTH FOCUS

An August 30, 2017 KPBS video segment and article told the inspiring story of 9-year-old Tate Phillips of La Jolla (San Diego), who spent time throughout his summer break at the Jewish Family Service’s Balboa Avenue Older Adult Center. About 80 percent of the participants have Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Phillips would sing, dance and make music with the seniors. “He makes everybody feel loved and wanted. He gets up and dances with everybody, and calls everybody by name. It just makes me feel young again,” said Center participant, 74-year-old Anita Berger, who has AD.

DISPARITIES SPOTLIGHT

An August 31, 2017 University of Kentucky article spotlighted a paper published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, encouraging researchers to address the challenges associated with studying dementia in Blacks/African-Americans. The paper addresses barriers that hinder minority recruitment for dementia research, including misconceptions and unintended bias. According to lead author Eseosa Ighodaro, PhD, "Race is, in many senses, a social construct that evolves over time due to social policy, cultural beliefs, and political practices, and risks misinterpretation of the differences between individuals who identify with certain racial/ethnic groups.” 

RESEARCH, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

An August 30, 2017 HealthLine article highlighted a new virtual assistant from researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada, ACT@Home, programmed to help people with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers. The program uses a mix of artificial intelligence and psychological models to help people complete simple tasks like hand washing, taking into account their mindset and attitude. According to lead researcher Jesse Hoey, “That idea of being very passive, of stepping in only when it’s necessary... it's one of the biggest things we learned from the caregivers… That feeling of dependence, it weakens their sense of who they are, and it can make them feel more powerless.”