Alzheimer’s disease in Florida

Walking improves your health
The Bradenton Herald
Walking can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Microchipping humans? Part 2
WINK-TV CBS (Ft. Myers/Naples)
More than those who care for Alzheimer’s patients are interested in getting microchips embedded for tracking purposes.

Put older drivers to the test
St. Petersburg Times Letter to Editor
A reader, Jackie Colson-Miller, thinks that anyone who has Alzheimer’s disease should no longer have a driver’s license.

Microchipping humans?
WINK-TV (Ft. Myers)
Microchips are being used to track down people who wander off, which is known to happen to Alzheimer’s patients.  Some worry about privacy concerns though.

Bill to create Silver Alert Program introduced to lawmakers
WFTS-TV ABC (Tampa)
The Silver Alert Grant Program Act of 2008, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Gus M. Bilirakis of Florida, aims to provide federal assistance to states to develop tracking programs for people with dementia who wander off.  It is before the House now.

Baby Boomers Redefining Food
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Salmon and similar fish have omega-3 fatty acids that help stave off Alzheimer’s disease.

Bipolar test stirs debate over at-home genetic tests
Florida Today
Medical ethicists and public health officials have concerns about genetic tests used to detect genes that make one more likely to develop conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

Aging Gracefully: Big party may overstimulate Alzheimer’s patient
Ft. Myers News-Press
Here are some tips for people who want to take grandparents who have Alzheimer’s to larger events like high school and college graduations that can disorient them since they tend to have a lot of people and noise.

Study links incontinence drugs with memory problems
Daytona Beach News-Journal (Associated Press)
Although it appears that incontinence medicine can worsen memory loss, there seems to be no additional effect for Alzheimer’s patients taking these drugs.

Alzheimer’s Researchers Find a Smoking Gun
WWSB-TV ABC (Sarasota)
Recent Alzheimer’s research seems to indicate that those who drink and smoke heavily and have high cholesterol in the 40s are more likely to develop the disease later on.

Study Finds Exercise Helps Protect the Brain
WWSB-TV ABC (Sarasota)
Findings in a Mayo Clinic study suggest that exercising in one’s 50s and 60s can help lessen the impact of mild cognitive impairment, typically caused by Alzheimer’s disease, in one’s 70s and 80s.

Ghostwriters for medical research criticized, reforms urged
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Associated Press)
Merck hired writters to draft studies for its painkiller Vioxx and paid other scientists to take credit for them.  Some of these reports included Alzheimer’s patients who died, and some think that those deaths were downplayed.

Most Early-Onset Dementia Not Alzheimer’s
WWSB-TV ABC (Sarasota)
Mayo Clinic neurologist Dr. Brendan J. Kelley states that new research indicates that early-onset dementia typically is not related to Alzheimer’s disease.

Caffeine could block cholesterol linked to Alzheimer’s
Florida Today
A study published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation suggests that caffeine consumption can help stave off Alzheimer’s disease.

New study says big bellies linked to dementia
Bradenton Herald
People who are obese and have a large belly have dramatically higher risks of developing Alzheimer’s disease later on in life than those who have a smaller belly and healthier weight.

SPOTLIGHT DIMS ON VITAMIN E
Charlotte Sun-Herald
Dr. Donohue informs a reader that Vitamin E doesn’t do as much as thought.  For instance, it hasn’t been proven to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Scientist unraveling Alzheimer’s mystery     
Florida Today
Florida Tech Professor Shaohua Xu is using atomic force microscopy to learn more about a protein that plays a major role in Alzheimer’s disease.