Alzheimer’s impact is a societal and economic issue, health advocate says

* This article originally appeared on Cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Alzheimer’s disease afflicts nearly 6 million people in the United States, and sadly affects the many more millions of people who love them. Yet the chairman and co-founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s believes that most people -- especially those who could help make a difference -- don’t grasp the overall scope and impact of the brain disorder, which progressively destroys thinking and memory skills. “Political leaders here and abroad are not responding at the scope and scale needed to beat back this disease,” says George Vradenburg, an Oberlin College graduate who, with

New hope for patients with Alzheimer's: How one family is fighting the disease

*This article originally appeared on Today.com Like his mother Virginia O'Brien before him, Greg O’Brien is battling Alzheimer’s disease with all his might. O'Brien's mother did everything she could to stave off the disease as she cared for her cancer-stricken, wheelchair-bound husband. And she did somehow manage to keep things going until her husband, O'Brien's father, died from prostate cancer. It was from watching his mother live with Alzheimer’s that allowed O'Brien to recognize the signs in himself and prompted him to see a neurologist at age 59. Brain scans that revealed he had Alzheimer’s, too. Shortly after his own

Forming Your “Circle of Help”

The best way to defeat Alzheimer’s is to come together and gang up on the disease.

Growing Our Voices: Let’s Talk About Dementia

1994: President Ronald Reagan penned his now famous letter to the American public announcing that he was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The same year, m y dad , at 81, had just been diagnosed with “memory problems”; my son Mike was a sophomore in high school; and I was three years into a new marriage and at the top of my Human Resources career. Three years later my husband Richard, at 57, was diagnosed with Mild C ognitive I mpairment . Dad died in 2001 from what I later learned was vascular dementia and Richard in 2012

“A Devil of a Disease”: The Current Alzheimer’s Pipeline

This article was originally published by BioSpace on August 7, 2019. By Mark Terry As anyone following Alzheimer’s research knows, drug development for the disease has been a wasteland of failed clinical trials with literally billions of dollars thrown at drugs that have proved ineffective at preventing or halting the disease. In March 2019, in what many felt was a turning point for the industry, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen and its collaboration partner, Tokyo-based Eisai, announced they were discontinuing the global Phase III clinical trials, ENGAGE and EMERGE, of aducanumab in patients with mild cognitive impairment from Alzheimer’s and mild Alzheimer’s

My Birthday Wish

My name is Andres Martin and this week I turned 32 years old. I’m a proud father, husband, and veteran. Over the last couple of years, I’ve come to recognize how precious my birthdays are. My military service has taught me this, the birth of my daughter has taught me this, and my genes have taught me this. You see my family is from a region in Mexico that is host to the “Jalisco mutation,” a mutation which guarantees carriers will develop early-onset Alzheimer’s, and one for which I recently tested positive. My diagnosis answered a lot of questions. It

Welcome to the New Era of Alzheimer’s Research: How People with Alzheimer’s and Care Partners are Shaping the Future of Drug Development

This article was originally published by Lundbeck on July 17, 2019. By Mark Terry Leigh Callahan, PhD, is a respected epidemiologist and outcomes researcher who focuses on rheumatic disease. Her husband, John Winfield, MD, now retired, had a distinguished career as a researcher and rheumatologist. While their professional lives have focused principally on joints, they now find themselves at the leading edge of brain research. This is because John has Alzheimer’s, Leigh is his care partner, and together they are participating in a groundbreaking research project that seeks to generate patient/care partner insights and develop new meaningful, measurable outcomes that

Brain Health Redux

UsAgainstAlzheimer’s continues urgent call for a new approach to brain health across the lifespan

3 New Alzheimer's Studies' Goal: 'Preparing Us For A Cure'

This article was originally published in Forbes on July 21, 2019. George Vradenburg, the co-founder and chairman of the UsAgainstAlzheimer’s advocacy group is a man on a mission. And he is in a hurry. He’s not prepared to wait until 2025, the federal government’s deadline to recommend next-step solutions for Alzheimer’s disease through the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA). Instead, at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference this week, Vradenburg’s UsAgainstAlzheimer’s released Preparing Us for a Cure. It’s a collection of three new research studies on key areas of Alzheimer’s disease impacting the lives of patients, caregivers and communities. Vradenburg wants

Preparing Us for a Cure

During the 2019 Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), UsAgainstAlzheimer's is releasing "Preparing Us for a Cure," three research products on key areas of Alzheimer's disease that impact the lives of patients, caregivers, and communities. This research underscores the importance of ensuring that the American healthcare system, payers, and other market entities are prepared to quickly and effectively deploy treatments and a cure for Alzheimer's disease. 'Preparing Us for a Cure’ is all about readying our healthcare system so that when treatments and a cure are ultimately developed, patients and caregivers aren’t forced to wait 10 more years for the healthcare