USA2 SPOTLIGHT

Alzheimer's Talks: Neuroscientist Dr. Jeffrey Iliff and his team have been at the forefront of research on how the brain clears waste and what it may tell us about how Alzheimer’s develops. This month on Alzheimer’s Talks, he’ll join us to share his groundbreaking research on the possible links between sleep and Alzheimer’s. Join us on Tuesday, August 16, from 4 to 5 p.m. ET for a fascinating conversation about this exciting research. Sign up here.

MUST READS

An August 8, 2016 New York Times Well blog highlighted how individuals living with dementia are holding "on to love through shared stories.” According to the article, “The Tompkinses participated in an unusual eight-week storytelling workshop at Northwestern University that is helping to keep the spark of love alive in couples coping with the challenges of encroaching dementia. Every week participants are given a specific assignment to write a brief story about events in their lives that they then share with others in the group. The program culminates with a moving, often funny, 20-minute written story read alternately by the partners in each couple in front of an audience.”

An August 8, 2016 Economic Times article reported on a Facebook app to help unpaid caregivers. According to the article, “Studies have shown that caregivers have higher rates of depression, anxiety, insomnia and cardiovascular disease. So a team of researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis is looking for volunteers to participate in a pilot study to see if an innovative Facebook web app can help provide much-needed support to unpaid caregivers of people with Alzheimer's. Those selected will use a social microvolunteering web app that was specially designed for use in.”

An August 7, 2016 Sacramento Bee article highlighted research progress in the fight against Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “Johnson’s treatment is one of hundreds of clinical trials underway here and nationwide focused on Alzheimer’s and dementia. Amyloid, the sticky protein that attaches to brain cells and causes Alzheimer’s, is at the forefront of new therapies. Although none of the clinical therapies are yet FDA-approved, some are in the final phases with promising results, say researchers…During the past three decades, “remarkable progress” has been made in understanding the neurobiology of chronic brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, notes a 2012 report by a national group of Alzheimer’s researchers, part of the U.S. plan to defeat the disease. “Research on the aging brain and dementia has moved from relative obscurity to the forefront of neuroscience,” the report read.”

An August 6, 2016 press release by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) included the following statement: “Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease that exacts a tremendous personal and economic toll on individuals, families, and our health care system. In addition to the human suffering it causes, Alzheimer’s costs the United States an estimated $236 billion a year, including $160 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid, yet we are spending just a fraction of that amount on research,” said Senator Collins. “While we have made significant progress in increasing funding for Alzheimer’s research, today’s announcement indicates that we must continue to do more to meet the goals we established through the National Alzheimer’s Project Act. With adequate funding to support the exciting research underway, we can achieve a world where Alzheimer’s can be treated effectively, cured, or prevented by 2025.”