Can Coconut Oil Treat Alzheimer’s?
We’ve received quite a few questions recently about whether or not coconut oil can be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease. This is a topic that comes up often, so I thought it would be helpful to provide some background: The claim This theory has to do with substances called ketones. The damage caused by Alzheimer’s disrupts the brain’s ability to use its primary energy source, known as glucose. The brain naturally gets a portion of its [...]
Why I Signed the Petition for a Strong National Alzheimer’s Plan
My mother had Alzheimer’s disease, and what it did to her was just terrible. Her mother had it too. A few years ago, my wife, a retired nurse, noticed that I was having short-term memory problems. When I got lost trying to find my way around a familiar hospital campus, we decided that I needed to be medically evaluated. That was in 2010, and I was diagnosed with an “early-stage” memory problem. A year later, [...]
A Night to Remember: Alzheimer’s Takes Center Stage at A Night at Sardi’s
Last month, close to 1,000 Hollywood luminaries came together to raise fun and funds for Alzheimer’s at the Alzheimer’s Association’s annual A Night At Sardi’s. During the last 20 years, A Night At Sardi’s has generated more than $20 million to support important research, develop programs to support family caregivers, and create campaigns to bring awareness to this disease. This year, I was on the “purple carpet” in Beverly Hills to interview celebrities attending the [...]
Scott Kirschenbaum on Making a Film in an Alzheimer’s Unit
In the fall of 2008, I wrote a screenplay I intended to film entirely in an Alzheimer’s Unit. After many weeks of rehearsals, I arrived at a troubling realization: I was not just making a challenging film—I was making the wrong film. Writing a fictional Alzheimer’s narrative—creating a neat and orderly plot whose course I could control, from a disease by nature chaotic and nonlinear—was impossible. In the way that a son or daughter doesn’t [...]
Caregiver Facts and Figures: A Bittersweet Reality
This post originally appeared on the ChicagoNow blog, “Ask Dr. Chill: Practical Answers to the Toughest Caregiving Questions.” It is being reposted here with the author’s permission. Almost eight years at the Alzheimer’s Association — five at the Utah Chapter and close to three at the National Office right here in Chicago — left equally enduring imprints on my mind and heart. The mental imprint is analytical, bridging science and people in the shape of a fervent belief [...]
Alzheimer’s 2011: A Year in Review
As 2012 begins, I would like to review some of the highlights of the Alzheimer’s Disease world this past year, and the new directions that we will likely be heading toward in 2012. This year we saw the publication of new diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer’ s disease formulated by committees sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association. The National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association also published guidelines for diagnosis [...]
There are some topics on our message boards that pop up to surprise us, while others follow a pretty predictable cycle. Every year, around the holidays, calls to our helpline and posts on our message boards indicate many family members notice the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease or advancing dementia. This is especially true of out-of-town family members who don’t see the person with dementia every day; they compare behaviors to previous times — [...]
Facing Early-Onset Alzheimer’s with Family, Humor & Love
November is National Family Caregiver Month, and I wanted to share some personal thoughts on the subject of caregivers. I was a caregiver for my father, who passed away from Alzheimer’s 15 years ago, and I was diagnosed with the disease two-and -a-half years ago. The past. It has been almost 25 years since my father started to exhibit the signs of dementia. Back in those days, Alzheimer’s was not well- known by doctors [...]
But she does a pretty good job of making me feel like she does. I believe she knows there is a connection. She keeps it very simple when she talks to me. Partly I think because she knows that she can’t quite remember but is still witty enough to know that she doesn’t want to make it any more confusing than it already is for her. I think she is past the most scary part— [...]
When Glen Campbell took the stage at the Grammy Awards and accepted his Lifetime Achievement Award, he did so as one of the more than 5 million Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. What is inspiring about the 75-year-old Campbell’s Grammy night appearance is that he has not retired from his love of making music despite his recent diagnosis. In fact, he is starting his Farewell Tour and is cutting a new album. Is music one [...]
As millions tune in to the Super Bowl this Sunday, I am cheering for one football wife who tackled her husband’s dementia with a game plan to keep their lives as normal as possible and in the process found her calling as a caregiving advocate. Her passionate plea to the NFL, one of the most powerful organizations in sports, resulted in the “88 Plan,” a break-through long-term care plan that gives security and support to [...]
Answer: One Resolution for Caregivers –52 Chances to Make It Work Ahh the New Year is here – the hectic pace of the holidays is over, the frenzy over buying gifts and seeing friends and family is done (at least for another 12 months). You can finally breathe. That is, unless you are one of the 65 million Americans who are caring for a loved one – that moment to put the world on “pause” [...]
We are lucky to be living in a time of significant scientific advancements — allowing us to live healthier, longer lives. But longer lifespans increase the likelihood of age-related health conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, affecting 5.4 million men and women (and growing). It is also the only top 10 killer in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even treated effectively. [...]
Gantenerumab, an antibody that binds to beta-amyloid, clears plaques in a matter of months, report scientists at F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Basel, Switzerland, in a study published online in Archives of Neurology. The Phase I study of 16 Alzheimer’s patients tested gantenerumab at two doses against a placebo over six months of treatment. Senior author Luca Santarelli and colleagues used positron emission tomography (PET) scans to visualize and compare levels of amyloid plaques in the [...]
As someone who works for the Alzheimer’s Association with support programs for caregivers, I decided to do a little research today on our Message Boards, where Alzheimer’s caregivers are able to communicate with each other about their concerns and get information and support from peers. For those who have been providing care to someone with Alzheimer’s disease for some time, the result will come as no surprise, but for those who are newer to caregiving, [...]
Dear Readers, The recent results from a clinical trial of insulin for the treatment of AD has garnered a great deal of media attention. Before discussing the research, it is worth reviewing insulin’s role in the brain. Insulin is critical for normal brain function, and abnormal insulin metabolism has been shown to contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Because patients with Alzheimer’s disease also exhibit decreased levels of insulin in the central nervous system, [...]
February 16, 2004. That’s the day we lost my grandfather. Well, my dad’s stepdad, but he was always considered my grandfather, affectionately P-Pa, from the time I was born. That year, I was in my final semester of college and didn’t expect the end so soon. The Diagnosis I’ll never forget my grandmother sitting us down to tell us the diagnosis. My sister and I were in our early teens. Alzheimer’s disease. Sure, we had [...]
New guidelines have been developed for the field of Alzheimer’s disease. They were published in the June edition of Genetics in Medicine, and jointly issued by the American College of Medical Genetics and the National Society of Genetic Counselors. The guidelines distinguish between genetic testing for dominantly inherited AD genes and that for the Alzheimer’s susceptibility gene, ApoE . The three early-onset familial AD genes — presenilin-1 (PS1), presenilin-2 (PS2) and amyloid precursor protein (APP) [...]
