Support Alzheimer’s research! ACA’s Jr. Board will host a % of sales event at the Taco Mama in Edgewood, Monday, April 26, from 5 – 9. 10% of your purchase will support ACA’s Pre Doctoral Scholars Program in Alzheimer’s Research at UAB.
Support ACA’s No Match for Mom campaign! With our major spring fundraiser postponed until May of 2022, friends of ACA have donated $30,000 towards a matching campaign! Your donation, by May 9, will be matched to help families living with Alzheimer’s across the state. ACA supports over 300 families each month with respite care, continence supplies, Ensure, Project Lifesaver bracelets, education and support. No gift is too small and all gifts will help us reach our $30,000 goal for these essential services! https://alzca.org/mom/
Don’t miss Rita A. Jablonski’s webinar, “This stuff really works: Successful strategies for preventing and managing difficult dementia behaviors,” Thursday, April 29, 9 am-noon. Free for caregivers, $75 for healthcare providers and nurse educators (CEU costs). Rita is a local dementia expert and Director of Research and Scholarly Development, Office of Research and Scholarship, UAB School of Nursing. See attached flyer.
April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month. The Parkinson’s Foundation hosts a podcast every other Tuesday, called Substantial Matters: Life and Science of Parkinson’s. Episodes focus on a range of topics relevant to your daily life, including new medications, exercise, clinical trials and nutrition.
Zoom Support Groups available online:
ACA’s Coffee Talk with Miller & Vance, Tuesday, April 20, 11 – noon CT. Call (205) 871-7970 or mpiggott@alzca.org. Join us on zoom:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86450491838
CJFS CARES, Mondays at 1:30 pm, contact Pam Leonard, pam@cjfsbham.org.
Founders Place at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Tuesday’s at 10 am, contact Susan Logan, susanlogan65@gmail.com
Pell City, 1st Tuesday of each month, 2:00 pm, contact Bit Thomaston, Ethomaston50@gmail.com
West Alabama Area Agency on Aging, Caregiver Support Group, Tuesdays, contact Nikki Poe, nikki.poe@westal.org.
Leeds, 2nd Thursday of each month, 6:30 pm, contact Bit Thomaston, ethomaston50@gmail.com
United Way Area Agency on Aging of Jefferson County, 3rd Tuesday of each month 11:30-12:30, contact Valarie Lawson,vlawson@uwaaa.org
Asbury United Methodist Church 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 1:00, contact Maggie Dunaway at mdunaway@asburyonline.org.
CJFS CARES, Thursdays, 7:30 pm, contact Pam Leonard, pam@cjfsbham.org.
Alzheimer’s News:
CaringDaily has rounded up a list of great suggestions for Mother’s Day gifts including activities, comfort, senior-friendly technology, music and household aids. Dozens of Thoughtful Mother’s Day Gifts She’ll Love – DailyCaring
From Being Patient: Imagine if a cure for Alzheimer’s could come from nature – the ocean to boot! Looking to the ocean for disease therapies isn’t a novel approach. For example, in the 1950’s, a Caribbean sea sponge was found to contain a molecule that could slow down the replication of viruses — a discovery that later led to drug developments for diseases like HIV, SARS and even remdesivir, currently used to treat COVID-19. So it is not so far-fetched that a Shanghai pharmaceutical company has formulated a drug based on algae. Green Valley has received FDA approval to enter phase three clinical trials in the United States. The drug, oligommanate, is being tested to understand if it can improve cognition in human trials. Instead of targeting the brain, oligommanate actually targets the gut, balancing the good and bad bacteria, hypothetically minimizing the chances of neuroinflammation.
In a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and the first-large scale study of its kind, scientists found that a 25g serving of processed meat a day correlates to a 44 percent increased risk in developing dementia. But, if you have been eating processed meats don’t fret just yet, as researchers also found that eating unprocessed red meat (beef, pork or veal) could be protective of your brain health — those who consumed 50g a day were 19 percent less likely to develop dementia.
A cancer drug used in various types of leukemia to prevent infection is showing promise in Alzheimer’s disease, results of a phase 2 randomized trial suggest. Investigators found sargramostim provided measurable disease-modifying and memory-enhancing benefits in patients with mild-to-moderate AD. Cancer Drug Promising for Alzheimer’s Disease (medscape.com)
Dr. Rudy Tanzi has leveraged a new approach to genome studies — whole-genome sequencing to discover 13 more gene variants that appear to be linked to Alzheimer’s. The vice chair of neurology and director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s genetics and aging research unit, is a household name in the world of Alzheimer’s research for co-discovering a number of gene variants linked to early-onset Alzheimer’s and familial Alzheimer’s.
13 New Gene Variants Linked to Alzheimer’s in Pioneering Genome Study – Being Patient
Jack Hanna, the zoo director famous for making TV talk show appearances with live animals, has been diagnosed with dementia. Doctors think it is Alzheimer’s disease, the family said in a statement. “His condition has progressed much faster in the last few months than any of us could have anticipated,” his daughters said. “Sadly, Dad is no longer able to participate in public life as he used to, where people all over the world watched, learned and laughed alongside him,” they said. Hanna, 74, known as Jungle Jack, was director of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio, where he remains director emeritus.
The Humans of Dementia Storytelling Contest is accepting submissions until April 22. This year’s contest, for high school or college in the U.S. or Canada is focusing on intergenerational storytelling and will accept written and photo submissions featuring individuals currently living with or who have passed away from Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia.