Dementia has far more impact on a person’s finances and their family members’ caregiving demands, compared with other health conditions in older adults, study suggests.

In this episode of Minding Memory, we dive into the newest FDA-approved drug to treat Alzheimer’s – Lecanemab – with Ohio State University stroke neurologist Jim Burke. Dr. Burke discusses the benefits and drawbacks of the new Alzheimer’s drug and also the paradigm shift of how people (clinicians, patients, and the general population) are thinking about these news Alzheimer’s medications.

Needs related to housing, transportation, food, social support and more can be identified through AI/ML techniques

A link between vision issues in older adults and an increased likelihood of dementia.

People with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia account for a large percentage of emergency visits by older adults, but some of those crises could be prevented.

The majority of older adults with cognitive impairment are still driving, despite concerns raised by caregivers and others, a Michigan Medicine study in a South Texas community finds.

Three experts share knowledge on Alzheimer’s prevention, treatment and research

Interventional psychiatric care involving brain stimulation and infused or inhaled medicine can offer different options for patients.

In this episode, Matt & Donovan speak with University of Michigan School of Public Health Professor, Dr. J. Scott Roberts, who investigates the psychological and behavioral impact of genetic risk disclosure for Alzheimer's disease. In addition to being a professor in the Health Behavior & Health Education department at the School of Public Health, Dr. Roberts is also a core lead of the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Dr. Roberts’s research interests focus on the process and impact of risk assessment and disclosure for adult-onset disorders, as well as the ethical, legal, and social implications of advances in genomic science & technology.

In this episode, Matt & Donovan speak with a health economist, Dr. Lauren Nicholas(link is external), whose research investigates how missing a single credit card payment may be a very early indicator of a cognitive issue. Dr. Nicholas is an associate professor in the department of Health Systems Management & Policy at the University of Colorado School of Public Health and has published several studies that examined on how a financial issue might be among the first signs of cognitive decline.

In this episode, Donovan & Matt speak with Geoffrey Hoffman, a faculty member and researcher at the University of Michigan School of Nursing. Dr. Hoffman discusses the transition to the role of caregiver for partners of persons diagnosed with dementia – and the unique emotional burden and stress that they undertake. Dr. Hoffman also discusses using the Health & Retirement Study (HRS) to better explore the emotional stress and onset of depression in caregivers.

The findings may support the immune pathway as a bridge between diet and neurologic disease

In this episode we discuss what’s known about the association between personality type and cognitive function. Further, the idea of resilience—or what protects the cognition of individuals with a high level of neuropathology associated with cognitive decline—might have important implications for dementia prevention. Our guests are Dr. Eileen Graham and Dr. Dan Mroczek. Drs. Graham and Mroczek are both faculty at Northwestern University with interests in how personality factors influence physical and cognitive health over the life course.

Health data analysts are an elusive bunch in the wild. While we see their names periodically show up as middle authors on manuscripts or in the Acknowledgement section they work largely behind the scenes; yet they play a vital role in conducting research that use large data. In this episode we speak with several health data analysts to better understand the role they play in research and, for all the researchers out there, discuss how to make the process as smooth as possible when working with an analyst.

Health providers could help by discussing the topic with patients, analysis of National Poll on Healthy Aging data suggests.