MUST READS

A March 14, 2016 The Washington Post article reported that “HomeAdvisor recently released its “Aging in Place Survey Report” which lists the most common home repairs contractors are seeing with this [boomer] population.” According to the article, “The top five projects in the survey were related to safety and functionality. Seventy-six percent of aging-in-place projects included adding grab bars somewhere in the home…Home automation has become increasingly popular to an aging population. Many of the features include all-in-one remote controls and smart phone apps that control temperature, light and other elements of the home.”

A March 12, 2016 The Hill article reported that President Obama praised the late Nancy Reagan for her devotion to fighting Alzheimer’s. According to President Obama, “She brought her characteristic intelligence and focus to the twin causes of stem cell research and Alzheimer’s research.  And when I signed an order to resume federal stem cell research, I was proud that she was one of the first phone calls I made. Nobody understood better than Nancy Reagan the importance of pursuing treatments that hold the potential and the promise to improve and save lives.”

A March 11, 2016 UPI.com article reported that “Researchers found that any activity that gets you moving on a regular basis seems to help the brain increase gray matter.” According to the article, “ Regular physical activity, including gardening or dancing, may cut Alzheimer's risk by as much as 50 percent, a new study suggests. Researchers who analyzed lifestyle habits and brain scans of nearly 900 older adults found that any activity that gets you moving on a regular basis seems to help the brain increase gray matter. This, in turn, may keep dementia at bay, they suggested.”

RESEARCH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY 

A March 13, 2016 UPI.com article reported that “Toxic buildup of a protein in the brain's language centers may help drive a rare form of dementia that causes people to lose their ability to use language, a new study finds.”

A March 11, 2016 AlzForum.org article reported on the use of PET scans to differentiate between the accumulation of tau in the brain in Alzheimer’s and normal aging. According to the article, “Two recent papers say yes, and propose schemes for imaging-based staging that until now was possible only at autopsy. As reported in the March 2 Neuron, scientists led by Bill Jagust at the University of California, Berkeley, used the tau PET ligand AV1451 to reveal an age-related accumulation of tau in the medial temporal lobe in healthy older adults that tracks with weakening episodic memory.”