MUST READS

A January 17, 2018 The San Diego Tribune article looked at Alzheimer’s disease prevention, which has become the focus of much current research. Early detection is key to both slowing and preventing AD, and researchers are looking for signs of the disease before symptoms become obvious. The article interviewed Dr. Douglas Galasko and Dr. James Brewer, both from UC San Diego School of Medicine, about dementia, including memory screenings, and early detection and prevention. On January 30, the UC San Diego Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in La Jolla is providing no-cost memory assessments.

A January 16, 2018 Fortune commentary by Allan Hugh Cole, Jr. of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, University of Texas (Austin), who has Parkinson’s disease, voiced his disappointment that Pfizer is giving up on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s research and development. He acknowledges the risk, often without reward, that pharmaceutical companies face in seeking treatments and cures for complex brain diseases. According to Cole, “All is not lost. Many pharmaceutical companies continue to work on treatments for neurological diseases, as do many smaller biotech firms and academic medical research centers, and funding sources for these pursuits include private foundations as well as governments. The role that big pharma plays in research, while valuable, is often tenuous, because profit models for many diseases are not always apparent, at least in the short term.”

DISPARITIES SPOTLIGHT

A January 16, 2018 Spectrum News 13 article spotlighted a group of 150 Florida Alzheimer’s advocates who gathered in the state capitol Tallahassee. Joandry Marie Mendez, crowned Mrs. Central Florida 2018, has Alzheimer’s disease on both sides of her family, and is using her platform for good. Education and funding are sorely needed in the Latino community, as Latinos are 1.5 times more likely to develop AD. According to Mendez, “I know if I don't do something now or if I don't start getting this going, or if I don't start motivating people or influencing people, people might just put it on the back burner like this is something that doesn't exist, and no, this is here. This is very much present.” 

LIFESTYLE

A January 17, 2018 NewsMax Health article looked at healthy diet changes which include dementia-fighting compounds. According to Rebecca Katz, author of The Healthy Mind Cookbook, “The empowering news is that lifestyle habits – nutrition, exercise, sleep, stimulating cognitive activity, community and stress relief especially – are keys to health that we have in our hands.”

CAREGIVING CORNER

A January 17, 2018 News-Press article spotlighted Kim Campbell, who was married to country music legend Glen Campbell for 34 years until he passed away from Alzheimer’s disease last year. Now a caregiver advocate, she spoke at the New Hope Presbyterian Church in Fort Myers. Campbell shared the following anecdote, “While stopped at the gift shop, Glen Campbell saw the next day would be Mother’s Day. He told a band member, “I want to buy Kim something, look around. Pink, pink, Kim loves pink.” When Kim Campbell walked in, she saw her husband at a cash register with a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. “You have to embrace those things.” ”