Alzheimer's Navigator

The Alzheimer's Association recently started a new website called the Alzheimer's Navigator.
It's for both families of those with dementia and those with dementia.
From the get started guide:

• Complete the Welcome Survey

  Are you caring for someone with Alzheimer's or living with the disease yourself? What sort of challenges do you face on a daily basis? Answer these questions to help identify your needs and interests.
  

• Answer focused surveys

  Based on your responses to the Welcome Survey, we will suggest additional surveys focused on the topics you want to know about, covering everything from care to safety to planning for the future.
  

• Receive a customized Action Plan See sample

  We'll deliver a tailored plan in an easy-to-use format.
  

• Implement your plan with help from local resources

  One click takes you to local community resources (www.communityresourcefinder.org) to help you complete your Action Plan.
  

I highly encourage everyone to try out this free, valuable resource.

successful vaccine/treatment for Alzheimer's

I was going to write about suicide today (a guy I know killed himself last week), but then I found an article that made me cry in a different way.  Scientists in Sweden have a vaccine that works for Alzheimer's disease that is also a treatment for mild to moderate AD.
I'm going to say it again, a little louder.


Scientists in Sweden have a vaccine that works for Alzheimer's disease that is also a treatment for mild to moderate AD.

The prevailing hypothesis about its cause involves APP (amyloid precursor protein), a protein that resides in the outer membrane of nerve cells and that, instead of being broken down, form a harmful substance called beta-amyloid, which accumulates as plaques and kills brain cells.....The new treatment, which is presented in Lancet Neurology, involves active immunisation, using a type of vaccine designed to trigger the body's immune defence against beta-amyloid...modified to affect only the harmful beta-amyloid. The researchers found that 80 per cent of the patients...developed their own protective antibodies against beta-amyloid without suffering any side-effects over the three years of the study. The researchers believe that this suggests that the CAD106 vaccine is a tolerable treatment for patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's. 


please, please, please let this be true. let this scourge end.