The latest news and developments from around the world on this modern-day scourge that is impacting the lives of millions of people. Find out about research on the newest theories for curing and preventing this disease, along with the new thinking on memory care treatments and settings. Click the headlines for original sources.
The Truly Staggering Cost of Alzheimer's Disease
Americans are spending $226 billion annually to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, and other dementias, rather than the cause of this disease itself. That's an endlessly frustrating revelation that if left unchecked, could pose a big threat to the healthcare system. According to the Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's disease could cost Americans $1.1 trillion -- yes, trillion -- by 2050.
What Ronald Reagan’s speech patterns can reveal about Alzheimer’s disease
Toward the end of his presidency, Ronald Reagan, once famed as “The Great Communicator,” began losing the luster on his oratory prowess. In November of 1994, five years out of office, doctors diagnosed him with Alzheimer’s disease. A new analysis suggests the signs may have been evident even before he left the White House.
Repurposed experimental cancer drug restores brain function in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease
Scientists have found that a compound originally developed as a cancer therapy potentially could be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease. The team demonstrated that the drug, saracatinib, restores memory loss and reverses brain problems in mouse models of Alzheimer’s, and now the researchers are testing saracatinib’s effectiveness in humans. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health as part of an innovative crowdsourcing initiative to repurpose experimental drugs.
Alzheimer’s disease hits women hardest as caregivers, patients
Two-thirds of the 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease are female. A woman age 60 is twice as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s as with breast cancer. Even after factoring in that women on average live longer than men, scientists don’t fully understand why this most common form of dementia strikes women more often than men.
Alzheimer’s Disease: Finding A Cure Will Take A Lot More Cash
Amid the looming health threats aging baby boomers face -- cancer, depression, diabetes and heart disease -- the one modern medicine is least prepared to treat is Alzheimer’s disease. With no cure in sight, researchers who have been scrambling for limited government funds are now looking elsewhere for money.