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By Danny Yarnall

Elder financial abuse is a growing problem. The perpetrators are not just phone scammers and greedy relatives, but professionals whose duty is to care for a disabled older adult. They gain and exploit an older adults’ trust, resulting in major financial losses. Terry Ann McIntosh, 75, was one such victim.

McIntosh was scammed by a woman she hired as a home caregiver who gained access to her Bank of America account through phone representatives despite failing security questions. No one at the bank notified McIntosh, not even during her weekly visits to her branch, according to Bloomberg News.

Dr. Lisa Walke, Chief of Geriatric Medicine, is seeing PMC patients

As a part of a growing collaboration between the Penn Memory Center and the Division of Geriatric Medicine, Lisa Walke, MD, will begin seeing former patients of Dr. Soumya Bollampally, who left at the end of September.

“We’re ecstatic to have my colleague Dr. Lisa Walke caring for our patients. She’s an esteemed geriatrician,” said PMC Co-Director Jason Karlawish, also a geriatrician. “Dr. Wolk and I are also excited about the opportunities to build collaborations between the Penn Memory Center and Division of Geriatric Medicine.”

Beginning November 27, Dr. Walke will begin caring for Penn Memory Center patients every other Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to noon. She is not accepting new patients.

Biogen has announced it is bringing back an Alzheimer’s drug it previously deemed a failure and will now apply for regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

In a press release on October 22, 2019, the Boston-based biotech company reported that its drug aducanumab slowed cognitive decline in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease dementia and MCI due to Alzheimer’s disease. The reversal was based on new analyses of a larger dataset than was available after the trials were discontinued on March 21, 2019.

Biogen halted the trials based on the results of a “futility” analysis conducted by an independent data monitoring committee that concluded the drug was unlikely to yield a positive result.

The most recent review was conducted in consultation with the FDA, including data from patients that received the greatest exposure to a high dose of aducanumab between December 2018 and March 2019, according to STAT. 

The review showed aducanumab to be “pharmacologically and clinically active” and that it reduced patients’ clinical decline based on the results of scores on the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR). The CDR measure is performed by a clinician who interviews and examines the patient and a person who knows the patients well, such as a caregiver. 

“While we are all happy that this may ultimately turn into a viable treatment, we should also be cautious until the research community and the FDA has an opportunity to review these data with the company,” said Dr. David Wolk, co-director of the Penn Memory Center and principal investigator for the aducanumab trials at Penn.

Dr. Wolk and his colleagues at the Penn Memory Center explained that they do not have full details of the review and the dataset, so it is difficult for them to know how convincing the data are and the future of this drug.

The results of Biogen’s analysis have not been subject to the peer-review process. The company plans to present the data at the Clinical Trials for Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) meeting in December 2019.

Biogen is currently working with the FDA to determine when participants in past studies can resume taking the drug, if they choose to, and the steps necessary for the FDA to review the data describing the drug’s risks and benefits. Biogen plans to file for approval in early 2020.

Dr. Jason Karlawish, co-director of the Penn Memory Center, explained, “These are early days and it remains to be seen how this drug will impact a disease that just 40 years ago was considered rare. As we and our colleagues learn more over the coming months, the Penn Memory Center will update our community.”  

Dear Caregivers,

We hear about the challenges you face every day as you place the needs of your loved one above your own. The Penn Memory Center wants to put you first with a free day of relaxation and self-care as a part of its 3rd annual Caregiver Retreat. The retreat will take place Saturday, November 2, 2019, at Ralston House Wellness Center from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.

Treat yourself to a day of yoga, massages, meditation, creative art projects, and more. Lunch, coffee and snacks will be provided.

Parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis in the Ralston House parking lot (entrance on Ludlow Street), on Chestnut Street (metered parking) or in the parking garage at 34th and Ludlow streets.

You can RSVP to Alison Lynn at 215-360-0257 or alison.lynn@uphs.upenn.edu

Jordan Weiss, a PhD candidate in Demography and Sociology and a Penn Memory Center Scholar, received an award from the American Public Health Association (APHA) for his work examining recent trends in dementia and its risk factors.

The Laurence G. Branch Doctoral Student Research Award is an award which honors outstanding students for exceptional research during their training. Students must have completed a research project in areas of gerontology, aging and chronic illness and disability in adults, long-term care, or geriatrics. 

Jordan will be recognized for his achievement during the APHA’s Aging and Public Health Section Awards Ceremony in November. 

The Penn Program for Mindfulness is offering a six-week Mindful Writing course from October 16 – November 20. The classes will be held at 3930 Chestnut Street, University City, Philadelphia. 

The course aims to create a space for creativity through both meditation and writing, building positive writing habits, all in pursuit of allowing you to discover the stories you want to tell. The course will be taught by the author Susan Barr-Toman, author of the novel “When Love Was Clean Underwear”. A Pushcart nominee, her work has appeared in Purple Clover, Manifest-Station, Philadelphia Stories, Watershed Review, and r.kv.r.y. quarterly literary journal among others.

All writing will be done by hand so attendees need to bring a pen or pencil and some paper along with them to the course. The registration deadline is October 9th and the course fee is $325.

Register Here

More Mindfulness Programs by Penn Medicine