MUST READS 

A June 22, 2015 Forbes opinion piece by Henry Miller and Gilbert Ross highlighted the “steady progress” of Alzheimer’s research and underscored the need to invest in early detection. According to the authors, “Arguably the most urgent and seemingly intractable of all the healthcare issues facing us today is Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which is marked by progressive, inexorable loss of intellectual and social skills and ultimately, death…There are few more gruesome ends to life, and while many forms of cancer and heart disease—the major killers of Americans—are treatable, and even preventable, such is not the case with AD. Once symptoms begin, the future is inscribed in stone, with only the time-frame subject to some variability…If we wait for the emergence of the degree of functional impairment that defines AD, or perhaps even of mild cognitive symptoms, it is may be too late to slow or reverse the underlying disease process. Therefore, if a disease-modifying drug or effective lifestyle intervention were available, we would want to intervene as early as possible.  And in order to gauge the efficacy of such interventions, we need reliable early predictors of subpopulations who are highly likely to get AD eventually.” Gilbert Ross is a physician and the Executive and Medical Director of the American Council on Science and Health. Henry I. Miller, a physician and molecular biologist, is the Robert Wesson Fellow in Scientific Philosophy and Public Policy at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution; he was the founding director of the FDA’s Office of Biotechnology.

A June 21, 2015 InForum article profiled a father and son as they face early-onset Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “Alzheimer's is considered "early-onset" if the patient is under the age of 65. About 200,000 Americans have been diagnosed with it, most in their 40s and 50s, but some as young as their 30s. It accounts for just 5 percent of all Alzheimer's cases, and it often progresses more quickly than older-onset cases. Doctors advised Darin to seek 24-hour care for his father, so Darin got his dad set up in assisted living at Eventide Sheyenne Crossings in West Fargo. After some concerns about Billy potentially wandering away, he was put into the memory care unit there. Darin and his family visit as much as possible. Lisa brings crossword puzzles to help Billy exercise his brain.”

A June 19, 2015 Star Tribune editorial underscored the need to tackle Alzheimer’s as a “growing public health threat to Minnesotans.” According to the editorial board, “Minnesotans are noted for their longevity, with an average life expectancy of 81.1 years, second only to Hawaii among U.S. states. And the state is home to a baby boomer cohort so large that its over-65 population is expected to double by 2030. Those demographic realities make Minnesotans particularly vulnerable to a costly, debilitating disease that afflicts one of every nine Americans older than 65 and one of three older than 85. Medical research is the only hope for changing that trajectory, said state Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester, a champion for Alzheimer’s funding. Until effective treatments are found, efforts to erase stigma and create ‘dementia-friendly communities’ are in order. Act on Alzheimer’s is a vigorous new group worth watching.”

POLICY AND POLITICS

A June 22, 2015 Genengnews.com article profiled the “top eight congressional challengers of research funding.” According to the article, “Below are eight members of Congress who since last year have emerged, intentionally or otherwise, as roadblocks to funding NIH and other biopharma-related agencies. Five of the eight are Representatives; the other three, Senators. The disparity reflects the policy emphasis by leaders of the House of Representatives on controlling federal spending, even if it means cutting into research and the agencies that fund it. That’s not to say the Senate doesn’t have fiscal conservatives, but they are fewer, even within the chamber’s current Republican majority. One key fiscal conservative retired after last year: Tom Coburn’s annual “Waste Book” reports included examples of NIH grants deemed wasteful, as GEN detailed in 2013.”

A June 19, 2015 New York Times Well blog post highlighted Sen. Clair McCaskill’s efforts to raise “concerns about dietary supplements that claim to protect against dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and urged 15 major companies and retailers to explain why they sell dubious supplements.”

CAREGIVING 

A June 19, 2015 U.S. News & World Report article highlighted caregiver dementia. According to the article, “For years, we’ve read that Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia. That’s not entirely true. The leading cause is “caregiver dementia,” which strikes an estimated 100 million overwhelmed and stressed-out caregivers worldwide. The term was used initially in the 1980s, and while not an official medical diagnosis, it includes symptoms such as disorientation, forgetfulness and depression…Caregivers are a hearty bunch, but we won’t be for long, unless we take notice when multiple alarm bells ring. If we don’t heed the warnings soon enough, many of us will die before those for whom we are caring. We lucky ones will wonder, as my husband and I did, if we were getting Alzheimer’s while trying to keep up with my father’s care. Seriously! There was a time we were looking for home-care options … for us! The onset of caregiver dementia is real and it strikes primary caregivers. Those who heed the call and take action will survive.”

ENTERTAINMENT 

A June 20, 2015 Variety article highlighted a unique partnership between Eli Lilly and CNN to promote Glen Campbell’s “I’ll Be Me” documentary. According to the article, “Watching the documentary is bound to be an emotional experience for someone who has a friend or family member who suffers from the disease, said Phyllis Barkman Ferrell, Eli Lilly’s global Alzheimer’s disease team leader. ‘We don’t want it to feel like a pharmaceutical direct-to-consumer advertisement,’ she said, adding: ‘We didn’t want to have that emotional experience interrupted.’ The deal is the latest by CNN that attempts to create very unique kinds of advertising tied directly to a specific piece of programming. In March of last year, the network enlisted Allstate to serve as a “presenting sponsor” of the eight-part series “Chicagoland.” In the first ad break of the first episode, Tom Wilson, Allstate’s chairman, president and CEO, appeared and spoke directly to viewers about the show. Also reported on by The Boston Globe.