July 22, 2016

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

MUST READS

A July 22, 2016 WBUR.org article reported that “Researchers have linked three genetic risk factors associated with Alzheimer’s disease to an immune cell dysfunction in mice, shedding light on a biochemical mechanism behind the genes.”

A July 22, 2016 Chicago Tribune article underscored the need for caregivers to take care of themselves. According to the article, “Caregivers for dementia patients are under tremendous stress, McFarland said. Of all caregivers, 83 percent are unpaid, family members, neighbors, friends. Caregivers typically don't go to the doctor themselves because they may be taking care of their own children and their parents. Because of the stress levels, caregivers suffer physical ailments and develop illnesses themselves. They are at an increased risk of infection, isolation and depression.”

A July 22, 2016 New York Times photo collection explores a photographer’s relationship with her grandmother with Alzheimer’s. According to the description, “When the photographer Muyi Xiao lost her grandmother, Aimei Li, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, she felt a sense of separation — not just because her grandmother was several thousand miles away in China, but also because of the emotional distance that had grown between them as she was suffering from the disease. In response, Xiao developed a project, “Forget Me Not,” comprised of two parts, approached from two different perspectives. In the first part, Xiao documents Suzy, a woman of no relation to the family, who is currently suffering from Alzheimer’s.”

A July 22, 2016 Boston Herald article highlighted the need for brain donations to advance research for diseases like Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “The brain bank at Belmont’s McLean Hospital is facing a dire shortage of healthy gray matter — receiving just one nondiseased brain donation in nearly a year — and scientists say the lack of specimens threatens to stymie research for critical diseases such as Alzheimer’s and ALS.”

A July 21, 2016 Boston Globe article profiled George Scangos, the outgoing chief executive of Biogen, Inc. According to the article, “Many on Wall Street say Biogen needs to be more aggressive in buying smaller biotechs with drugs that can revive its growth prospects in the next five years, as it presses forward with developing high-risk therapies for Alzheimer’s, spinal muscular atrophy, and other neurodegenerative diseases for which there are now few, if any, effective treatments.”