Must Reads

• A July 17, 2013 New York Times article reported on research that links seemingly normal "memory slips" to dementia and Alzheimer's. According to the article, "Studies presented Wednesday at an Alzheimer’s Association conference in Boston showed that people with some types of cognitive concerns were more likely to have Alzheimer’s pathology in their brains, and to develop dementia later. Research presented by Dr. Amariglio, for example, found that people with more concerns about memory and organizing ability were more likely to have amyloid, a key Alzheimer’s-related protein, in their brains." Also covered by the Associated Press.

• A July 17, 2013 New York Times article reported on falling rates of dementia in Europe. According to the article, "And this recent report from Denmark does sound promising. Researchers there compared two groups of nonagenarians born 10 years apart and found that not only did those born in 1915 live longer than those born in 1910, but they also scored significantly better on cognitive tests and measures of mobility…Another study appearing in the The Lancet found that in England and Wales, dementia rates in a sample of those over age 65 had dropped by a quarter over the past two decades…What the Danish and English studies do show, though, is that the phase of life we label old age can get better over time, even for the very old. That the environment has an impact and the environment can change. That, as Dr. Christensen said, “we are moving in the right direction.”"

• A July 17, 2013 Fox Business article reported that "Drug giant Elan (ELN) scored fast track designation from U.S. regulators on Wednesday for its treatment designed to reduce symptoms in patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease."

• A July 17, 2013 Nature article reported on NIH's efforts to recycle drugs through its translational science center. According to the article, "On Monday, Stephen Strittmatter began recruiting for a clinical trial to test a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The study is also part of a bigger test for the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its fledgling translational research centre. Strittmatter’s team is one of nine that won funding last month from the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) in Bethesda, Maryland, to see whether abandoned drugs can be aimed at new targets. Strittmatter, a neuro­biologist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, hopes that a failed cancer drug called saracatinib can block an enzyme implicated in Alzheimer’s."

• People With Early-Stage Alzheimer's Mentor Medical Students To Increase Knowledge And Reduce Stigma [Alzheimer's Association Press Release] (7/17/13)