The Tangled Neuron

An Unforgettable Fund Update

Over on the east coast of Florida, Patty Doherty has been raising money to support Alzheimer's research through The Unforgettable Fund.  She and her supporters are funding two more interns in Malcolm Leissring's lab at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.  Check out her blog to learn more!

The Alzheimer's Project: A Four Part Documentary

The Alzheimer's Project, a new four part documentary on Alzheimer's, will air on HBO May 10-12.  My friend Chuck Jackson and his care partner Marianne will be featured in the Caregivers segment.  There is also a segment more focused on people with memory loss, one on science and one hosted by Maria Shriver on what it feels like to be the child or grandchild of someone with Alzheimer's.

These segments, along with 15 supplemental films and a glossary, will be available on the HBO site after May 12th.  A companion book is in the works.

The HBO site says this project is "changing the way America thinks about Alzheimer's disease."  We'll see if these documentaries really help us take a fresh look at memory loss.

The 7th Annual Mild Cognitive Impairment Symposium: Part 4

The criteria for diagnosing Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are not very specific, so whether or not you are diagnosed with MCI depends somewhat on your doctor’s judgment.   Scientists are working to determine which tests are best for detecting MCI, and whether the current criteria for the diagnosis can firmed up.

The fourth report on last month’s Mild Cognitive Impairment Symposium in Miami is about new neuropsychological tests and brain scans for diagnosing MCI.

Some Good Discussions on Alzheimer's Genetics

If the report on genetics I posted yesterday interests you, you may want to read more on this topic.  Some interesting discussions are at:

• The Alzheimer Research Forum [thanks to Don Moyer for alerting me to this piece]
• The Myth of Alzheimer's Blog
• The New York Times.

The 7th Annual Mild Cognitive Impairment Symposium: Part 3

There’s a great deal of interest in genetic testing to assess the risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other common diseases.  Although some scientists argue that we don’t yet know enough to really estimate risk based on a genetic test, some companies offer testing and risk assessment now.

Should someone diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment undergo genetic testing to find out if he has a neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s?  The third report from the Mild Cognitive Impairment Symposium is a summary of a presentation on this topic by Dr. Owen Ross, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.

The 7th Annual Mild Cognitive Impairment Symposium, Part 2

The term Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is used to describe a level of memory loss that is somewhere between normal aging and dementia.  It doesn’t specify what might be causing the impairment, so it’s not surprising that symptoms vary widely among people diagnosed with MCI.  

The second report from the Mild Cognitive Impairment Symposium is a summary of presentations on these symptoms and a discussion of how the symptoms are classified.

Appreciation and Respect for People with Memory Loss

A lot of our conversations about memory loss include phrases like “fight against this terrible disease” and “loss of sense of self.”  When I talk with people who have mild to moderate memory loss, though, many are more positive about their lives.  They mention how much they enjoy gardening, the arts, animals, family and friends.  Some say the “silver lining” of their memory loss is that they’ve become more appreciative, more spiritual and more able to live in the moment.

This less fearful view is starting to be reflected in the media.  Last year, Newsweek published a piece about “pleasant dementia.”  A recent Speaking of Faith interview and a new book by Dr. John Ziesel also present some positive aspects of memory loss.

The 7th Annual Mild Cognitive Impairment Symposium

Ranjan Duara, MD

Last week, researchers gathered in Miami for the 7th Annual Mild Cognitive Impairment Symposium, organized under the direction of Dr. Ranjan Duara, Medical Director at the Wien Center for Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach and Associate Professor of Medicine, Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Miami.

The first of a series of Tangled Neuron reports on the Symposium covers the keynote speech of Dr. Ron Petersen, Director of the Mayo Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.  I’ll be posting more information on this meeting in the next few days.