Communities and organizations across America are banding together with a unified message for families dealing with dementia: “You are not alone.” That’s the central theme behind Dementia Friendly America, an initiative announced last month at the White House Conference on Aging.

Six pilot communities are taking the lead by reaching out to the underserved and informing the rest of the public about the roles they play.

“Alzheimer’s disease and dementia can be devastating to American families, but we are not powerless to support those living with the disease, their caregivers and loved ones,” said Senator Bill Frist, national spokesperson for Dementia Friendly America. “Starting in these communities, we’re building a nationwide effort to educate Americans about dementia, equip business owners and first responders to recognize and assist those with memory loss, and empower people with Alzheimer’s and dementia to engage independently and safely in community life for as long as possible.”

Read more from Sen. Frist in his Forbes column.

Of all life’s day-to-day chores, managing finances is among the most cognitively demanding. Jason Karlawish, MD, co-director of the Penn Memory Center and professor of Medicine, Medical Ethics and Health Policy and Dan G. Blazer, MD, Ph.D – discuss how declines in financial capacity are among the first signs that an older adult is suffering from cognitive impairment, which means that not only doctors but the banking and financial services industries are also diagnosing it.

Alzheimer’s disease may cause different changes in the brain of African Americans than in white Americans of European descent, according to a study published in the July 15, 2015, online issue of the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The research, conducted by Lisa L. Barnes at the Rush University Medical Center, suggests that African Americans are less likely than Caucasians to have Alzheimer’s disease alone and more likely to have other pathologies associated with dementia.

To read more, click here

Movie screening of “Still Alice” and discussion in partnership with the Delaware Valley Alzheimer’s Association at the The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. The Penn Memory Center will have a resource table to display information about how people can participate in Alzheimer’s disease research.

When: Thursday, July 16th 2015

Where: Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, 2100 Arch Street

Time: 6:30pm

RSVP HERE

For more information about GenPhilly, click here

A study in the April 2015 issue of Alzheimer’s & Dementia led by researchers from University City College London and the U.S. – including David Wolk, MD, co-director of the Penn Memory Center – found that one in four persons under 60 did not report memory loss as a first sign of Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers analyzed data from the NIH supported NACC study – a national database of participants attending Alzheimer’s disease Center’s across the United States – to show these notable differences between how Alzheimer’s presents in older adults compared to younger adults.

In explaining the importance of the study, Dr. Wolk said “these findings that symptoms other than memory loss may be how the disease presents in younger adult are not only vital for helping to diagnose Alzheimer’s, they also suggest differences in how Alzheimer’s develops and progresses, differences that could have an impact on developing treatments.”

To read more, click here

Patty Jackson of 105.3WDAS recently interviewed Reisa Sperling, MD of Harvard Medical School and Stephanie Monroe, the director of African Americans Against Alzheimer’s Disease about the A4 Study. Sperling and Monroe addressed the need for older African Americans to get involved in the clinical trial. Listen to the interview below.

The A4 Study is actively recruiting participants at the Penn Memory Center. For more information, contact Study Coordinator Jessica Nuñez at 215-662-4379 or jessica.nunez@uphs.upenn.edu

Keeping tabs on personal finances is not always a top priority. But in older adults, when that skill slips, it might indicate cognitive aging or a neurodegenerative disease. Jason Karlawish, MD, a professor of Medicine, Medical Ethics, and Health Policy shared with WHYY radio at the Institute of Aging’s annual retreat, which this year focused on financial security.

To listen, click here

According to a new study published in the online issue of Neurology, researchers found that seniors who consumed the most nutritious food had a nearly 25% reduction in the risk of memory decline compared to those with the least healthy diets.

To read more, click here

The National Institutes of Health released recommendations today that provide a framework for a bold and transformative Alzheimer’s disease research agenda. Developed at the recent Alzheimer’s Disease Research Summit 2015: Path to Treatment and Prevention, the highly anticipated recommendations provide the wider Alzheimer’s research community with a strategy for speeding the development of effective interventions for Alzheimer’s and related dementias.

To read more, click here

Convened by the National Adult Protective Services Association, the National Center for Victims of Crime and the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, in collaboration with national and international partners.

To register, click here

A Penn Institute on Aging retreat this week addressed cognitive aging and financial decision-making and what can be done to protect elders from fraud and abuse. Co-sponsored by the Penn Healthy Brain Research Center, the speakers included experts in dementia, brain research and age-friendly banking.

Studies show that the ability to perform simple math problems, as well as handling financial matters, are typically one of the first set of skills to decline in diseases of the mind, like Alzheimer’s. Research has also shown that even cognitively normal people may reach a point where financial decision-making becomes more challenging. A New York Times article explores this issue of cognitive decline and financial decision-making.

You can read the article here.

The New York Academy of Sciences​ podcast series on dementia is now available for download and features interviews with Penn Memory Center​’s Jason Karlawish, MD.

The first episode of the five-part podcast series begins to answer questions such as:  What is Alzheimer’s? How is it different from other forms of dementia? Is it an inevitable part of aging? The podcast series features interviews with leading dementia experts from multiple sectors: academia, health care, public policy, and beyond.

You can download the free podcast at the NYAS website: http://bit.nyas.org/1G7PsAF or on iTunes: http://apple.co/1HZjU4E.

Every 67 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease. More than 5 million Americans are living with the disease. Learn the facts. Watch the Alzheimer’s Association’s video “Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures 2015”:

http://www.alz.org/facts/overview.asp

A Penn Medicine blog post looks at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on cognitive aging which was released last week.

Writer Lee-Ann Donegan says, “The subject of aging is something I’ve thought about a great deal this week, having just celebrated a milestone birthday. But the thing that gets me upset much more than my own aging, is the aging of my parents and older relatives. This week, the Institute of Medicine (IOM), an independent organization that advises the government and the public on health decisions, published a report on a relatively new concept known as “cognitive aging.” ”

Ms. Donegan spoke with Jason Karlawish, MD, acting co-director of the Penn Memory Center, about the report.

“The report differentiates the processes of cognitive aging from those of neurodegeneration,” says Dr. Karlawish, one of 16 authors of the report, all of whom are national leaders in aging research and practice.

In addition to explaining cognitive aging, the report also provides actionable steps supported by research that people can take to maintain cognitive health as they age.

Read the IOM’s entire report, Cognitive Aging: Progress in Understanding and Opportunities for Action.  

The Institute of Medicine has released Cognitive Aging: Progress in Understanding and Opportunities for Action, a report on the public health dimensions of cognitive aging. The report, released on April 14, 2015, is timely. The U.S. population is rapidly aging and individuals are becoming more concerned about their cognitive health. Older adults view “staying sharp” as perhaps one of their most important health care goals.

Prepared by the Committee on the Public Health Dimensions of Cognitive Aging, the report assesses examined definitions and terminology, epidemiology and surveillance, prevention and intervention, education of health professionals, and public awareness and education.

Jason Karlawish, MD, associate director of the Penn Memory Center and director of the Penn Prevention Research Center’s Healthy Brain Research Center — a member of the CDC supported Healthy Brain Network dedicated to surveillance, education, awareness and empowerment that promotes brain health — was a member of the report committee.

“This report is a beginning,” Dr. Karlawish explained. “ Over the last 30 years we have made substantial progress in understanding the causes of neurodegeneration. Alzheimer’s disease has gone from a hidden disorder, to a front and center national concern. Now, we need to pay the same attention to cognitive aging.”

Cognitive aging is a process of gradual, ongoing, yet highly variable, changes in cognitive functions that occur as people get older. Age-related changes in cognition can affect not only memory but also decision-making, judgment, processing speed, and learning.  “Among our key findings was that both human and animal models show how in cognitive aging, neurons are not working as well, but they’re not dying.” Dr. Karlawish noted that this is important because “Synapses may be sick, but there’s a chance they can get well again.”

The report’s findings and recommendations address steps individuals, health care professionals, communities and society can take to promote cognitive health:

• Increasing research and tools to improve the measurement of cognitive aging.

• Promoting physically activity; reducing and managing cardiovascular disease risk factors, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking; and regularly discussing and reviewing with a health care professional the medications that might influence cognitive health.

• Expanding public communications efforts around cognitive aging with clear messages that the brain ages, just like other parts of the body; cognitive aging is not a disease; cognitive aging is different for every individual (there is wide variability across persons of similar age); some cognitive functions improve with age, and neurons are not dying as in Alzheimer’s disease (hence, realistic hope is inherent in cognitive aging); and finally, there are steps that patients can take to protect their cognitive health.

• Developing and improving financial programs and services used by older adults to help them avoid financial exploitation, optimize independence, and make sound financial decisions.

• Health care systems and health care professionals should implement interventions to insure optimal cognitive health across the life cycle including programs to avoid delirium associated with medications or hospitalizations.

• Determining the appropriate regulatory review, policies and guidelines for products advertised to consumers to improve cognitive health, particularly medications, nutritional supplements, and cognitive training.

The report, a slide set,  and a four-page key point summary, are free and available for download at www.iom.edu/cognitiveaging.

Nature Medicine recently looked at efforts to improve patient access to results from clinical trials in which they’ve participated. In an April 7, 2015 article published online, writer Shraddha Chakradhar highlights the Penn Memory Center’s annual Thank You Breakfast for research participants, and spoke with Jason Karlawish, MD about the PMC’s efforts to loop patients back in to the research process.

Shraddha Chakradhar writes: Before instituting the breakfasts, Karlawish was struck by how participants viewed themselves in the research process. “Participants often used comparisons to being a research monkey or guinea pig and other nonhuman animals to describe their role in the research process,” Karlawish says. “It was as if their humanity was in some sense removed, but they were still willing to participate” in research, he adds.

You can read the full article here.

Steven E. Arnold, MD, director of the Penn Memory Center  and David Wolk, MD, assistant director of the Penn Memory Center, both recently gave presentations at Surrey Services for Seniors in Devon, PA. Dr. Arnold’s presentation “Conundrums in Research on the Aging Mind” and Dr. Wolk’s presentation, “How Early Can we Diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease?” are available for viewing on YouTube. You can find the links below:

Conundrums in Research on the Aging Mind

How Early Can We Diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease?

Surrey Services for Seniors is a non-profit organization offering comprehensive resources, services and activities in Broomall, Devon, Haverford and Media, PA. Their mission is to help older adults live at home with independence and dignity and continue as active members of the community. The PMC presentation series at Surrey continues in April and May:

Friday, April 17, 2015 from 9:30 a.m.– 11:00 a.m.

Cognitive Aging and Cognitive Fitness: a Proactive Approach, Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton, Ph.D.

How can we maximize our cognitive health as we age? We will review the changes expected with typical aging and how we can use compensatory strategies and changes in behavior to maintain cognitive health.
Friday, May 15, 2015 from 9:30  a.m. – 11:00 a.m 

Caring for the Dementia Caregiver: Promoting self-care to achieve better outcomes for the person with dementia, Felicia Greenfield, LCSW

Family caregivers of people with dementia are at increased risk of adverse health including increased stress, anxiety and depression. Self-care for the caregiver is essential for improving not only the health and well-being of the caregiver, but of the person with dementia as well.

To register for these lectures, please call 610-647-9172.  Lectures are free to the public and are held at:

Surrey Services for Seniors
60 Chestnut Avenue
Devon, PA 19333
610-647-6404

The Institute on Aging will host its Visiting Scholars Series featuring Dr. Ann Marie Kolanowski on April 29, 2015. Dr. Kolanowski will present “Behavioral Health In The Nursing Home: Building A Web One Thread at a Time” at the University of Pennsylvania-Smilow Translational Research Center in the Rubenstein Auditorium at 3:00pm.

To register,  please visit  http://www.med.upenn.edu/aging/event-registration.shtml or call 215-898-7801.  This event is free and open to the public; registration is requested.

The Smilow Translational Research Center is located at 3400 Civic Center Boulevard and the Rubenstein Auditorium is on the 1st floor.  Smilow is adjacent to the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine (PCAM).  For driving directions and parking suggestions, please visit: http://www.pennmedicine.org/perelman/visitor_info/directions.html.

In a Philadelphia Inquirer Op-Ed column about novelist Harper Lee and the surprise news that a second novel of hers will soon be published, Jason Karlawish, MD points to the growing public-health problem of older adults with impaired cognition and the potential for exploitation and abuse that can arise. You can read the column here.

Registration has opened for the 2015 Frontotemporal Degeneration Caregiver Conference

The conference will be held on Friday, July 24, 2015 from 8am – 4:30pm in the Biomedical Research Building II/III Lobby and Auditorium.

The Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center invites you to attend a day-long conference for caregivers of persons with FTD and related conditions such as ALS and Corticobasal Degeneration. This conference is open to family caregivers,health professionals, scientists, students and others with an interest in FTD. This conference will include presentations by Dr. Murray Grossman and a team of experts in the field of FTD.

To Register:
There is no charge to attend this event, but space is limited. Pre-registration is required via http://ftd.med.upenn.edu
Program time: 8:00-4:30 PM includes lunch and morning and afternoon refreshments.

Any questions or concerns can be directed to Christine Ray at rayc@mail.med.upenn.edu or 215-349-5873.

Jason Karlawish, MD addressed the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s (NCRC) Annual Conference –  “Creating a Just Economy” – on March 27, 2015 with his presentation, “The Need for Financial Capability to Build Assets and Wealth.” NCRC promotes access to basic banking services to create and sustain affordable housing and job development in underserved communities. To read about the conference, click here.

Members of Penn Memory Center’s caregiver support group are featured in a Wall Street Journal article about the physical and emotional toll on caregivers as the disease progresses in their loved ones. PMC’s Felicia Greenfield, LCSW, leads the group.  You can read the WSJ article here. For information about the support class, please click here.

Tonight, March 11, 2015, is  the night for “The Aging Brain and Alzheimer’s Disease: Let’s Talk About Your Brain” at The Franklin Institute, 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Join experts in aging and Alzheimer’s disease from Penn Memory Center for a discussion of the ‪#‎aging‬ brain, ‪#‎Alzheimer‬‘s disease and the impact on families and communities.

Presenters include:
John Trojanowski, M.D., Ph.D.
Director of the Institute on Aging and Co-Director, Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, University of Pennsylvania

You can read the Philadelphia Inquirer story here.

A National Institutes of Health public-private partnership aimed at accelerating Alzheimer’s disease drug development  launched its “Big Data” portal on Wednesday, March 4, 2015, enabling researchers to share and analyze large biomedical datasets. The first wave of data was also released.

The venture brings together NIH, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and industry and academic scientists from a variety of disciplines with a goal of  translate knowledge faster and more successfully into new therapies.

“This is an important initiative that could lead to novel targets for AD drug discovery,” says John Q. Trojanowski, MD, PhD, director of Penn’s Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center.

You can visit the The AMP AD Knowledge Portal here.

A film documenting the year in the life of a woman with Frontotemporal Degeneration will debut on Tuesday, March 10th at 8 pm on WHYY TV Philadelphia.  View a short trailer of Looks Like Laury, Sounds Like Laury here.

The New York Times reports that Federal investigators have found evidence of overuse of psychiatric drugs by older Americans with Alzheimer’s disease, and are recommending that Medicare officials take immediate action to reduce unnecessary prescriptions.The findings were released on Monday, March 2, 2015 by the Government Accountability Office. You can read the report here and you can find the New York Times article here.

The Aging Brain and Alzheimer’s Disease: Let’s Talk About Your Brain

The Franklin Institute

March 11, 2015
7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Join experts in aging and Alzheimer’s disease from the Penn Memory Center for an evening at the Franklin Institute. We’ll discuss the aging brain, Alzheimer’s disease and the impact it has on families and communities.

Presenters include:

John Trojanowski, M.D., Ph.D.
Director of the Institute on Aging and Co-Director, Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, University of Pennsylvania

Felicia Greenfield, L.C.S.W.
Associate Director for Clinical and Research Operations, Penn Memory Center, University of Pennsylvania

Staff from the Penn Memory Center will be on hand talk about our programs and services including PENN Care Management (our geriatric care management program), Cognitive Fitness, research opportunities and more.

Ticket Prices:
Free for Franklin Institute members
$5.00 for non-members

For more information, click here. To register for this event, please call 215-448-1200.

Dr. Jason Karlawish, associate director of the Penn Memory Center, will speak at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Ethics Committee Educational Seminar on Thursday, March 5 at 4pm. The topic will be “Ethical Issues in the Care of Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment.”

For more information contact James Kirkpatrick, MD at james.kirkpatrick@uphs.upenn.edu or Mary Walton, MSN, RN, MBE at mary.walton@uphs.upenn.edu.

To download a flyer, click here.

CME Information:

Title: Ethical issues in the care of older adults with cognitive impairment
Presenter: Jason Karlawish, MD
Series: Ethics Education Seminar Series 2014-2015
Date: 3-5-2015
URL: http://penncmeonline.com/eess2014-2015//node/39626

**How to Submit Your RSS Attendance Electronically**: We offer two methods for electronically submitting your attendance at Regularly Scheduled Series:
a) SMS text messaging or b) via the web.

For complete instructions on both processes, please visit:
http://penncmeonline.com/electronic-attendance-instructions

Penn CME
http://penncmeonline.com/eess2014-2015/

If you’re like many Americans, getting a good night’s sleep can often seem out of reach. A new study in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that practicing mindfulness meditation can significantly improve the quality of one’s sleep. As Anahad O’Connor points out in The New York Times – Well – Health, this can be particularly relevant to Americans older than 55, about half of whom have some form of sleep trouble. You can read the JAMA study here.

A group of musicians, all suffering, to varying degrees, from dementia, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, call themselves The Fifth Dementia and jam together twice a week. PBS NewsHour visited with the musicians and their families to learn how music has made a difference in their lives, by helping them stay active and connected. You can read the report and watch a video here.

The students of the Penn Neuroscience Graduate Group are hosting a Neuroscience Public Lecture entitled “Degeneration in the Aging Brain,” on Thursday, March 12th in Smilow Auditorium at 6:30pm. This FREE event will feature 3 fifteen minute TED-style talks from Penn Neuroscience faculty Virginia Lee, Alice Chen-Plotkin, and Harry Ischiropoulos. A reception will follow.

Registration and more information can be found here (https://nggglia.wordpress.com/neurolecture/).

Date: Thursday, March 12th, 6:30pm (Check-in begins at 6pm)
Location: Smilow Center for Translational Research Auditorium, 3400 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA, 19104