MUST READS 

An April 16, 2016 The Los Angeles Times article highlighted the impact of Alzheimer’s on caregivers. According to the article, “Caregiver stress is a very real thing. The person who has Alzheimer's, they don't experience stress in the same way that a caregiver does. For them, every moment is new. The caregivers are the ones that worry about the future and worry about the past and worry about the present. They're constantly worrying about finances, what is going to happen next, it never lets up. But they feel like, 'I don't have the disease, I'm not entitled to the attention.' They start to feel less important, less significant. On an airplane, when they give you the lecture about the oxygen mask, you're told to put on your own mask first before you help a young child or the elderly or the disabled. And I use that analogy a lot. Caregivers have to take care of themselves first. They are entitled to have their feelings understood and nurtured and discussed.”

An April 16, 2016 The Arizona Republic article reported on the efforts of the Alzheimer's Prevention Registry to recruit study participants. According to the article, “The Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative, led by Phoenix-based Banner Alzheimer's Institute, is recruiting volunteers to sign up for one of two lists, which were created to form a pool of potential research participants for medical studies. More than 213,000 people have signed up for one list, the Alzheimer's Prevention Registry. The registry is available to anyone 18 and older whether or not they have a family history of Alzheimer's or dementia. Volunteers are asked to provide their name, email address and ZIP code. Those who sign up for the list will be provided information about research studies but are not obligated to participate.”

An April 16, 2016 StarTribune article profiled Alzheimer’s researcher William H. Frey. According to the article, “Although he’s at the center of a potentially game-changing discovery in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, Frey, 68, is treating himself preventively with a healthy Mediterranean diet and lots of exercise. He knows what’s at stake; he has lost at least a dozen family members to related brain disorders. When he started Alzheimer’s research in 1977 at what is now Regions Hospital in St. Paul, no one in his family had dementia. But then his grandparents got sick. And his aunts and uncles. And his father. His work became personal.”

An April 15, 2016 AlzForum.org article highlighted the NOVA documentary “Can Alzheimer’s Be Stopped?” and the importance of clinical trials. According to the article, “From Alois Alzheimer’s initial description of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles to the latest clinical trials, Holt narrates the arc of Alzheimer’s research through the voices of leading researchers. A young Alison Goate describes the discovery of APP mutations with John Hardy. Francisco Lopera explains how he and Ken Kosik found the world’s largest kindred with autosomal dominant disease. Eric Reiman articulates the opportunity autosomal-dominant Alzheimer’s present for prevention trials.” 

Must Watch: An April 15, 2016 WAPT.com broadcast segment interviewed B. Smith and her husband Dan Gasby about their new life with Alzheimer’s.