An Alzheimer's Disease Research Center
By Chloe Elmer
Four years ago, frustrated by a series of inconclusive visits to other doctors, Eli and Janet Caplan scheduled an appointment with the Penn Memory Center, where Janet finally received the diagnosis they needed to hear: Alzheimer’s disease.
“I would give everything I have not to have known the Penn Memory Center,” said Eli Caplan, “but since I’m one of the unfortunate persons to have a loved one afflicted with the most scourging disease — Alzheimer’s — I’m grateful to be here.”
By Chloe Elmer
New technologies can help secure a more definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease but may not yet be available to the average person.
Imaging Dementia—Evidence for Amyloid Scanning — the IDEAS study — is testing whether the amyloid PET scan should be made available to Medicare patients.
By Chloe Elmer
Sometimes, in traveling, the fastest route to a destination requires the traveler to abandon familiar side roads in favor of a newly constructed highway.
In Alzheimer’s disease research, that highway is biomarker-based research. In a special report for the Alzheimer’s Association, Penn Memory Center Co-Director Dr. Jason Karlawish wrote that biomarkers are changing the future of Alzheimer’s disease research.
“In the history of medicine,” Karlawish wrote, “one means to progress is when we make the decision that our assumptions and definitions of disease are no longer consistent with the scientific evidence.”
The Penn Memory Center (PMC) seeks a passionate, collaborative individual to join our team as Coordinator for Multicultural Recruitment and Retention. A core mission of the PMC is diversity in research, education, and training, with a particular focus on Philadelphia’s African-American community.
(To apply for this position, visit https://jobs.hr.upenn.edu/postings/30822)
There’s more than one way to define elder justice.
Elder justice could mean tackling financial abuse by training financial professionals to recognize red flags in clients’ behavior. It could also mean teaching caregivers and EMTs to recognize signs of neglect.
A new series of webinars from the Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative features a diverse collection of professionals sharing how their experiences and expertise can help care for older adults.
Upcoming webinars include:
For a complete list of the webinars with descriptions and links to registration, click here.
Photos by Chloe Elmer
The copper-art exhibit “Carl Duzen: Copper // Denying Dementia Its Due,” was given a warm welcome by around 100 people during a reception Wednesday night at the Main Line Art Center. Carl Duzen, 80, a Penn Memory Center patient who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2014, was joined by wife Susan Jewett, 70, to greet attendees and talk about their co-created art.
By Chloe Elmer
No one wants to be the “bad guy” when it comes to telling older adults what they should or should not be doing at their age.
Family members and caregivers for elderly persons are usually the first to notice signs of their loved ones losing their ability to drive; however, they often don’t want to be the one ultimately responsible for taking the keys.
In a recent Philadelphia Inquirer article on the topic, Penn Memory Center Co-Director Dr. Jason Karlawish calls the issue of seniors driving dangerously a “public health issue.”
Speaking at the Wharton School of Business AXA graduate summit, PMC Co-Director Dr. Jason Karlawish told an audience of banking and financial service industry professionals that they were on the “front lines” when it comes to detecting cognitive impairment.
Karlawish spoke of whealthcare, where health and wealth meet, and how one of the first things that people who are impaired lose is the ability to manage money. He added that banking and financial service industries are often on the front lines of screening and detection for impairment, and those involved in the industry should be aware of how to handle certain situations.
By Queen Muse
For many years, a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease was often not given until signs of serious memory and cognitive problems were apparent. Today, patients can be diagnosed earlier in the disease process as with Mild Cognitive Impairment or mild stage Alzheimer’s disease dementia. In the future, routine diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease will likely rely on gene and biomarker testing and occur before symptoms even begin.
Early diagnosis brings opportunities to prevent cognitive and functional losses and to plan for these losses, but a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease can also bring challenges.
Penn Memory Center Co-Directors Jason Karlawish, MD, and David Wolk, MD, each addressed the role of biomarkers in Alzheimer’s research during this year’s Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) in London.
The annual conference brings together 5,000 researchers to network and discuss their research, findings, and theories in relation to Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and other types of cognitive impairment.