June 04, 2018

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A June 1, 2018 WGBH (Boston’s Local NPR) “All Things Considered” radio segment featured UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Board member and journalist/author Greg O’Brien, with journalist Maria Shriver. According to O’Brien about his personal experience with AD, “It's like having a sliver of your brain shaved every day. So where am I today, about 60 percent of my short-term memory can be gone in 30 seconds. More and more I don't recognize people I've known all my life, including my wife on two occasions. And I experience penetrating, horrific, Stephen King-type hallucinations and fly into an inexorable rage when the light in the brain goes out.”

MUST READS

A June 4, 2018 Boston Globe opinion piece by Adam Rosenberg was penned from the International Bio Conference in Boston. Despite many medical achievements to celebrate in the last year he writes, “But my particular field — neurodegenerative diseases — has had little cause to celebrate.” However he looks toward optimism to fight Alzheimer’s disease, “I believe the Alzheimer’s field represents the very best of the biopharma spirit of innovation, for this reason: We are not giving up.”

According to a June 1, 2018 Endpoints News article, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WIS), the main author of the “right-to-try” law, is displeased with statements made by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb regarding implementation. The FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Director Janet Woodcock said, “We are reviewing the legislation and will work to implement it in a manner consistent with Congressional intent and with FDA’s public health mission.”

A News Medical Life Sciences article looked at the connection between pollution and Alzheimer’s disease. Studies find higher beta-amyloid protein levels in the brains of people with AD who live in polluted areas, and that long-term exposure (to polluted air and smog) may contribute to dementia. Chronic oxidative stress, caused by the dissolution of environmental toxins and chemicals in the blood, is a strong risk factor for Alzheimer's.

RESEARCH AND SCIENCE

A June 4, 2018 Dark Daily article reported that scientists in Germany and Japan are developing blood tests to detect Alzheimer’s disease decades before symptoms appear. The tests detect specific biomarkers found in people with AD and seek to be minimally-invasive. The tests identify high levels of amyloid-beta.

DEMENTIA AND THE ARTS

A June 4, 2018 Broadway World article spotlighted a concert to support Alzheimer’s disease awareness, “When Broadway Goes Dark, Van Dyk Goes Live.” Broadway stars Major Attaway, Catherine Brunell, Leslie Kritzer and James Moye will perform a medley of show tunes for New Jersey seniors and caregivers. According to Bob Van Dyk of Van Dyk Health Care, "We wanted to give our seniors and their caregivers a special night out. It's a challenge for our elderly to catch a Broadway show, so we're bringing Broadway to them. What better way than to do it when Broadway performers have the night off."