February 21, 2018

Today’s Top Alzheimer’s News

MUST READS

A February 20, 2018 News Medical Life Sciences article reported that researchers at the Vanderbilt Vision Research Center found that a therapeutic target to preserve vision in glaucoma patients could have treatment ramifications for Alzheimer's disease. According to David Calkins, PhD, “The dogma has been that, once started, neurodegenerative disease is a one-way path. What we have demonstrated is that the brain fights back. We found that individual neurons fight back to maintain signaling between brain regions, thereby slowing progression.”


RESEARCH, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

A February 20, 2018 Medical Xpress article spotlighted new data analysis amassed over years of cumulative Alzheimer's studies evidence. The analysis, from the Georgia Institute of Technology and funded by the National Institutes of Health, encourages researchers to refocus their investigations and ‘cast a broader net.’ According to principal investigator Cassie Mitchell, “Though the study had clear trends, it also had a good bit of variance that would indicate multiple factors influencing outcomes… When we see multifactorial diseases, we tend to think we'll need multifactorial treatments. That seems to be working well with cancer, where they combine chemotherapy with things like immunotherapy.”  


SEX MATTERS

In a TEDx Talks video posted February 16, 2018, pathologist and neuroscientist Antonella Santuccione Chadha shares medical facts about differences in numbers, symptoms and therapeutic approaches to brain disease affecting women or men. “Sex and Gender Differences in Brain Disease” addresses how neuroscience, drug developers and health professional should take these differences into account.


LIFESTYLE

A February 20, 2018 The Guardian article cited a new study (the largest of its kind) analyzing the French National Hospital Discharge database, which concludes that heavy drinkers (who drink enough to be hospitalized) are at risk for vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. It found “alcohol use disorders” were associated with a three times greater risk of all types of dementia. According to professor Robert Howard from University College London, “We have long known that alcohol is directly neurotoxic, thiamine deficiency in alcoholics devastates memory, alcohol-related conditions such as cirrhosis and epilepsy can damage the brain and that vascular brain damage is accelerated by alcohol. Surprisingly, we’ve not traditionally considered alcohol and its misuse as an important risk factor for dementia and we were clearly wrong not to have done so.”


CAREGIVING CORNER

A February 19, 2018 San Luis Obispo “Over the Hill” blog by Phil Dirkx talks about his late wife Mamie’s experience with Alzheimer’s disease. He recalls several scenarios from their life together, including Mamie’s confusion and admission of depression. Dirkx writes, “Soon came more confusion, a walker, a wheelchair, a nursing home and on this past Fourth of July, she died. We must find a cure.”


DEMENTIA AND THE ARTS

A February 20, 2018 Vancouver Sun article spotlighted the play, “Forget About Tomorrow,” by Vancouver playwright Jill Daum, inspired by her husband’s battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The play has garnered rave reviews from theatregoers. “It has kept my spirit alive for sure and there are some days that this is really keeping me alive. I have been strangely driven to do it through some really tough times. It has given me this goal to reach,” said Daum of the play.


CLINICAL TRIALS SPOTLIGHT

A February 15, 2018 Time Magazine Health article and video focused on the story of Peter and JoAnn Wooding. Peter has Alzheimer’s disease and is participating in a clinical trial of aducanumab at the Memory and Aging Program at Butler Hospital in Rhode Island. He carries one copy of the APOE4 gene, doubling or tripling his risk of developing AD as compared to someone without the gene. Doctors don’t expect the drug to reverse damage, but rather to stop the disease from progressing. According to Dr. Pierre Tariot of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, “If we can get some traction and slow the train down, that would be a tremendous therapeutic victory, even if we don’t completely stop the train in its tracks.”