Must reads

• A December 18, 2013 Huffington Post article by USA2 co-founder Trish Vradenburg offered advice (sourced from USAgainstAlzheimer's supporters) on how to make the "holidays bright when Alzheimer's is in the picture." Advice included, "Keep your expectations reasonable. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Holidays won't ever be the way they used to be and every year will be different. But that doesn't mean they have to be bad. Enjoy the great moments you can still have."
• A December 18, 2013 The Oregonian opinion piece by Kathleen Cody and Dr. Jeffrey Kaye called on congress to "fulfill the strategy outlined in the National Alzheimer’s Plan and commit the necessary resources to ensure its successful implementation." According to the authors, "In this spirit, we urge our nation’s leaders to follow through with the same bipartisanship they showed when they passed the National Alzheimer’s Project Act and now dedicate the appropriate resources to put the plan into motion. It is the right thing to do — for both political parties." Kathleen Cody is the executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association Oregon chapter. Dr. Jeffrey Kaye is Layton Professor of Neurology and Biomedical Engineering and directs the NIA - Layton Aging & Alzheimer's Disease Center at OHSU.
• A December 18, 2013 The Telegraph (UK) article reported that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's father-in-law is suffering from Alzheimer's. According to the article, "Mrs Blair, wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, now travels from her London home to West Yorkshire at least one day a week to spend the night with her 82-year-old father."

• A December 18, 2013 The Scientist article reported on the increasing importance of charitable funding for research as federal budgets are slashed. According to the article, "US life-science researchers of all stripes continue to feel the funding pinch caused by October’s government shutdown and the budget-shrinking sequester. But as federal research grant programs have dried up, some researchers have sought other sources of grant money, including charitable organizations. In the 2012 fiscal year, universities, foundations, independent research institutes, and voluntary health organizations contributed to a $1.42 billion increase in non-governmental research funding over 2011, according to a new report from Research!America on the shifting science funding landscape."