USA2 SPOTLIGHT

Join the Women’s Health Empowerment Summit 2018 on May 16 in Washington, DC. Policymakers, thought leaders and fellow women's health champions will identify strategic opportunities in the current legislative landscape and align mobilization and advocacy efforts to advance women's health equity. You will learn about the Coalition for Women's Health Equity's efforts to eradicate disparities and discrimination in women's health, including prevention, research, access and treatment. WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s is a summit co-sponsor.

MUST READS

A May 13, 2018 Daily News article spotlighted former Mets legend Bud Harrelson, who has Alzheimer’s disease. Harrelson will speak, along with his family, at an educational conference in New York City on May 18, 2018, sponsored by the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, about the impact of the disease. Get more information on the free conference here.

MUST WATCH

A May 13, 2018 WHNT 19 News broadcast segment and article spotlighted ChristyCare in Huntsville, Alabama, a center which brings together local people with Alzheimer's disease to play games, do arts and crafts, and listen to live music. According to owner Christy Todd, “I saw a big need for this, but it took forever for the community to realize this was good for their loved ones because none of them want to come here in the beginning.”

VETERANS SPOTLIGHT

According to a May 11, 2018 Alzforum article, a new study from the University of California San Francisco looked at data on veterans, from Veterans Health Administration datasets, who had traumatic brain injury (TBI). They concluded what similar studies also found, that mild TBIs doubled the risk of dementia, even without losing consciousness, and more severe TBIs nearly quadrupled it. “This study provides the best information to date that military veterans are at risk for dementia as a consequence of injuries sustained during their service to the United States,” according to Kimbra Kenney at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and Ramon Diaz-Arrastia at the University of Pennsylvania.

LIFESTYLE

A May 14, 2018 Medical News Today article focused on the benefits of breathing-centered meditation to improve cognition. Controlled breathing affects levels of the noradrenaline neurotransmitter, a stress hormone. According to researcher Michael Melnychuk, PhD at the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland, "When we are stressed we produce too much noradrenaline and we can't focus. When we feel sluggish, we produce too little and again, we can't focus. There is a sweet spot of noradrenaline in which our emotions, thinking, and memory are much clearer."

PROFILES IN COURAGE

A May 12, 2018 NPR radio segment featured Pansy and Winston Greene, who have been married for 61 years. Pansy has Alzheimer’s disease and they are on a mission to raise awareness, especially for African-Americans, who are at heightened risk. According to Winston, "Too many people have Alzheimer's and everything is hush hush. And so by being advocates and talking about it, it may help anybody.”