Today's Top Alzheimer's News

John Murry advocates for Alzheimer's research funding, Alzheimer's and Father's Day, and music therapy for dementia sufferers (read more).

Must reads

A June 11, 2013 HuffingtonPost.com opinion piece by John Murry, Founder and President of the YG Network, argued that the U.S. is at risk of losing its competitive edge. According to Murry, "The United States is losing its competitiveness in the world economy. Sadly, instead of leading the innovation charge in the twenty-first century, we are becoming victims of policies that restrict our entrepreneurial roots...Whether liberal or conservative, we all agree that government should get much more bang for its buck when it comes to deciding what to fund. Targeted investments can help kick-start innovation. Using taxpayer dollars to find cures to specific diseases that plague us all, such as Alzheimer's or cancer, would save trillions of dollars in the long run. These savings can be used to finance a stronger education system and pay down our national debt."

A June 11, 2013 Genengnews.com article highlighted the efforts of researchers "seeking new tools against Alzheimer’s," including later-stage drug efforts. According to the article, "Obama’s proposals for an extra $50 million for Alzheimer’s research in FY 2013 and $80 million in FY ’14 are steps in the right direction, though not much more—not when NIH spends $3 billion a year on AIDS and $5.6 billion on cancer. Given today’s tight budgets, however, any more money the agency spends on Alzheimer’s will likely come at the expense of some other equally worthy disease or program."

Human interest

A June 11, 2013 Star Tribune (MN) opinion piece by Patti Hareid reflected on celebrating Fathers Day with an Alzheimer's sufferer. According to Hareid, "So happy Father’s Day, Dad. I have no expectations that you will know me or the cause for this celebration. But in the course of exchanging nods and smiles maybe we will connect, if only for moment, and I will find some sense of us that endures reflected in those expressive blue eyes — a Father’s Day gift for your daughter."

A June 11, 2013 BBC News article and radio vignette reported on an effort in Wales to establish a singing group for people with dementia and Alzheimer's. According to the story, "Organizers said Alzheimer sufferers will often remember all of the words to an old song, even if they cannot hold a conversation."

International

A June 11, 2013 Xinhua (China) article reported that the Australian government announced new funding for Vitamin B12 Alzheimer's research. According to the article, "The Australian government will deliver [a] fund for new dementia research on the impact of Vitamin B12 levels, Minister for Health Tanya Plibersek and Minister for Mental Health and Ageing Mark Butler announced in a statement on Tuesday...These projects will focus on things like how a lack of Vitamin B12 contributes to age-related memory loss, reasoning and decision making, the specific type of protein that may be toxic to brain cells, potential new drug targets for Alzheimer's treatment and so on."

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