USA2 SPOTLIGHT

TAKE OUR LATEST A-LIST SURVEY!!! What financial, legal and insurance plans are important to have in place to protect you and/or your family? What are concerns about long-term care and end-of-life instructions? Planning can bring peace of mind, but it can also mean difficult and emotional conversations for AD families. Your insights will help us learn about the barriers to better preparation. A-LIST is an initiative of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.

MUST LISTEN

A June 5, 2018 WBEZ 91.5 “Morning Shift” radio segment welcomed Alzheimer’s experts Dr. David X. Marquez (Rush University Medical Center) and Constantina Mizis (Head of Latino Alzheimer's and Memory Disorders Alliance, a member of the LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's (LA2) Coalition) to talk about the explosion of Alzheimer’s disease in Latino communities in the U.S. Latinos are twice as likely to develop AD than whites, according to a 2016 study from from USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging at USC University of Southern California, USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, yet less likely to seek treatment. Marquez is an LA2 advisor. LA2 is a network of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.

RESEARCH AND SCIENCE

According to a June 5, 2018 University at Buffalo News Center article, researchers are looking beyond the “amyloid hypothesis” for the causes of Alzheimer’s disease. Biologist Shermali Gunawardena, PhD is studying axonal transport, a system which moves life-giving materials from one part of a nerve cell (neuron) to another, including brain cells. “We are looking at processes that occur before cell death, before you start to see plaques in the brain. A lot of the treatments being developed for Alzheimer’s are targeting beta-amyloid, but maybe we should be targeting processes that happen earlier on, before plaques are formed,” said Gunawardena.

CAREGIVING CORNER

Watch “The Last Stage of Alzheimer's: What You Need to Know” video chat from Being Patient. Dr. Liz Sampson, an expert in end-life-care, and Jasja Kotterman, who lost her mother to Alzheimer's, talk about what to expect in the last stage of Alzheimer's and the best way to care for a loved one.

VETERANS SPOTLIGHT

(ICYMI) A May 23, 2018 CNN article reported that the “VA MISSION Act,” to expand private healthcare for veterans, is named for Senator John McCain, who is battling brain cancer. The full name of the bill is the "John S. McCain III, Daniel K. Akaka, and Samuel R. Johnson VA Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act of 2018.” The bill provides $5.2 billion for the VA's Choice program and allows veterans to seek care from a private physician. Veterans are at heightened risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

DEMENTIA AND THE ARTS

A June 5, 2018 ABC 57 News broadcast segment spotlighted a new device, “Memesto,” which brings music therapy to people with Alzheimer’s or another dementia. It is a portable device, clipped onto the clothing of the user, which delivers personal messages and music. According to one woman whose husband used the device prior his death, “He’s much more talkative when the music is playing. He’s much more engaged."