Must reads

• A July 16, 2014 Associated Press (via ABC News) article reported that researchers have identified a new brain protein associated with Alzheimer's disease called TDP-43. According to the article, "The discovery could give a new target for developing drugs and other treatments for Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia. It also might help explain why many people have plaques and tangles in their brain yet show no symptoms of the disease. Autopsies on 342 brains revealed that people who had the new protein were 10 times more likely to have been mentally impaired when they died than those without it."
• A July 16, 2014 NBC News article reported on the importance of caregivers to focus on themselves as part of the care management process. According to the article, "They enrolled 260 family caregivers in a program that included education about dementia, caregiver stress, and where to get emotional support. It provided techniques for managing dementia patients, who can often be combative, as well as for relaxing, banishing unhelpful thoughts, planning for the future, and even having a little fun sometimes.It worked, they told the Alzheimer’s Association International conference in Copenhagen. After a year and a half to two years, the people who took part in the Strategies for Relatives (START) program improved on measurements of depression and anxiety, and costs for care actually went down."
• A July 15, 2014 AZ Central editorial praised the work of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute in the fight against Alzheimer's. According to the editorial, "Alzheimer's dooms its victims and forces loved ones to watch as husbands, wives, mothers and fathers slowly disappear, one memory at a time. There's hope — and a whole lot of science — behind efforts to change that. The Valley's Banner Alzheimer's Institute is at the forefront of those efforts."