USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A November 6, 2017 The Kansas City Star guest commentary by Dr. Jasper Fullard brought attention to the need for more African-Americans to participate in Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials. UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Founding Board Member and Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation President John Dwyer is working to address the growing impact of AD on the local Kansas City community through research, education and engagement. According to Dwyer, “The first person to be cured of Alzheimer’s will be a clinical trial participant.” Visit here to see if you qualify for a trial in the Kansas City area.

MUST READS

According to a November 6, 2017 National Institutes of Health post, a new study supported by the National Institute on Aging shows a connection between abnormalities in the brain’s breakdown of glucose and the severity of amyloid plaques and tangles, and the eventual outward symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. According to NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, MD, “For some time, researchers have thought about the possible links between how the brain processes glucose and Alzheimer’s. Research such as this involves new thinking about how to investigate these connections in the intensifying search for better and more effective ways to treat or prevent Alzheimer’s disease.”

A November 5, 2017 NPR article spotlighted neuroscientist Joseph Jebelli's book, “In Pursuit of Memory: The Fight Against Alzheimer’s.” Jebelli experienced Alzheimer’s firsthand as a boy as his grandfather began showing symptoms, and eventually didn’t recognize him. “Are we simply a collection of our memories? Or is there something more fundamental to our beings? Jebelli frames these questions with chilling clarity but doesn't dare to claim he's answered them. Sensitive, humanizing, and poetic, In Pursuit of Memory provides a masterful overview of the disease, while delicately probing the existential ramifications of Alzheimer's — which Jebelli calls "the absence of a reflection altogether — a shadowy abyss that disengages a person from the world." "

RESEARCH, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

A November 4, 2017 StarTribune article reported that the Minnesota Historical Society is working on a mobile app, “My House of Memories,” to help professional and family caregivers for people with dementia draw-out stories, to create or reestablish emotional connections. It is also developing a caregiver training program on the best ways to spark conversation. The museum’s core mission states that all personal stories have value.