Mandy Moore Raises Awareness of Alzheimer’s On and Off Screen

She plays a character with dementia on the TV show This Is Us. In real life, the actor is joining the fight against Alzheimer's disease. * This article was originally published in Brain&Life Magazine. After filming her last scene for the 2019 Thanksgiving episode of This Is Us, a decades-spanning NBC drama, Mandy Moore rushed back to her trailer, shut the door, and burst into tears. “I had all this emotion pent up that I was holding back, and I had to let it go,” she recalls. In that episode, her character, Rebecca, finally admits to her son Randall that

Who Pulled the Plug on Hope for an Alzheimer’s Treatment?

Hope springs eternal… But does it really today in this age of personal and professional second-guessing and gotcha? If we wait for perfection, is there hope? Wrote Alexander Pope, in the 1700s, considered among the foremost English poets in the 18th century: “Hope springs eternal in the human breast; Man never Is, but always To be blest. The soul, uneasy, and confin'd from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come.” — An Essay On Man Pope, sadly, may not have been a poet before his time, but of his time. Time understandably changes perspectives—from the pure hope of

New Perspectives: A 14-Year-Old’s Advocacy on Alzheimer’s

My name is Sohta Cheung-Naito, and I am a rising ninth-grader living in Westchester, New York who is committed to advocating for families touched by Alzheimer’s disease.

My Story: What Congress Can Do to Support Brain Health Equity for Patients & Caregivers

My mother’s journey with Alzheimer’s disease over the past six years exemplifies the challenges facing people living with the disease, their caregivers and communities of color.

UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Data Brief Drawing New Attention to Brain Health Equity for Communities of Color

A new data brief from the UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Center for Brain Health Equity highlighted the 41 congressional districts associated with the top 25 counties that have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s among Black and Latino Americans in the Medicare program has drawn new attention to the social determinants of health present in the districts and counties most impacted by Alzheimer’s among people of color. During a virtual briefing to launch the data brief, leaders in Congress and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cited the need to promote early detection and diagnosis, support people living with the disease

UsA2’s 2020 Annual Report Chronicles a Decade of Impact

In the 10 years since we founded UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, we have seen enormous progress in the fight to stop Alzheimer’s disease. Our 2020 Annual Report features milestones from this past year as well as highlights from a decade of impact. Last month, after our Annual Report was completed, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first disease-modifying therapy and the first-ever therapy approved for mild cognitive impairment. This approval of Aduhelm is a true breakthrough moment in Alzheimer’s history, providing patients, for the first time, the chance to consider a therapy that slows the progression of their Alzheimer’s disease. While

Paid Family Leave Can Build Health and Economic Equity

The US is woefully unprepared to care for the growing population of older adults

We will no longer be silent: The role of the Black Church in supporting those with dementia and their care partners

On this National Day of Prayer, we will no longer be silent about dementia and how it impacts our community. As Black Americans, we need hope. We will speak up, share our stories, and support each other. It is true -- dementia does not discriminate, it has no color to it. This disease is happening way too often in the Black community. Older Black adults are particularly vulnerable to developing various forms of dementia. Black adults are twice as likely than older White adults to have dementia. We are such a hush-hush community, and that needs to stop today if

Why Women Are Our Best Bet in Alzheimer’s Research

For too long, Alzheimer’s research has overlooked one of the most fundamental factors in the disease: sex-based differences. Now, the case for change is even clearer. A new report from Women’s Health Access Matters (WHAM) finds that doubling National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for women-focused Alzheimer’s research would add over $930 million to the U.S. economy—a stunning 224% return on investment. This research approach could unlock the secrets of Alzheimer’s to benefit everyone. Sex-based differences are the gateway to precision medicine, offering new scientific avenues to accelerate progress. By understanding these differences, we have an opportunity to achieve breakthroughs

Memory: “A Bit of a Dunce”

“I could while away the hours, conferrin' with the flowers “Consultin' with the rain…. “And my head I'd be scratchin' while “my thoughts were busy hatchin' “If I only had a brain….” —Yip Harbung, lyrics, ‘If I only had a brain,’ Wizard of Oz, 1939 While we all have a brain, one not made of straw, memory itself can be deceptive. “While memory is king, it is also a bit of a dunce,” says close friend Lisa Genova, Harvard-educated neuroscientist, author of yet another New York Times Bestseller, “ Remember: The Science of Remembering and The Art of Forgetting", published