Dementia Matters

Dr. Jason Karlawish discusses society’s role in addressing care for individuals with memory loss, as well as current stigmas around Alzheimer’s disease, Wealthcare, and his cautious optimism for the future of Alzheimer’s disease research and care. This is the final episode in our four-part series with Dr. Karlawish on his new book, "The Problem of Alzheimer's: How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease Into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It.” Guest: Jason Karlawish, MD, co-director, Penn Memory Center Episode Topics: How do you live a good life when you’re slowly losing your ability to live life? 0:56 How do home and work fit in your life after a mild cognitive impairment diagnosis? 2:21 What are your recommendations on home looseness and time slips? 4:34 How can we improve care facilities? 10:04 What is Wealthcare? 11:19 Why haven’t caregivers been given greater support in our system? 13:32 What do you mean by time, task and truth in caregiving? 15:13 What are steps we can take to improve the care for individuals with mild cognitive impairments? 17:34 What do you mean by stigma in Alzheimer's disease? 19:37 What worries you about the effects of this stigma? 22:00 With a new presidential administration, what should be the top priorities as a country for preparing for Alzheimer’s and improving the lives of individuals with memory loss? 24:21 Learn more about Jason Karlawish's book Find Dementia Matters online Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

Dr. Jason Karlawish joins the podcast for the third installment in our series on his new book, "The Problem of Alzheimer's: How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease Into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It". In this episode, Dr. Karlawish discusses the healthcare system’s role in Alzheimer’s disease and what it needs to do better to care for individuals with dementia and help them live well. Guest: Jason Karlawish, MD, co-director, Penn Memory Center Episode Topics: What did you learn about the healthcare system in your work with Beverly and Darren Johnson? 1:33 What do we need in healthcare to better care for individuals with cognitive impairment? 3:25 Do we need more memory care specialists in the field, or can primary care physicians do this work? 5:32 How do we encourage more individuals into enter the geriatric care medical field? 7:38 How do we increase the number of memory centers and how should they function within our current healthcare system? 9:22 Why is it important to discuss delirium? 11:14 What does a multidisciplinary team offer in dementia care? 13:03 What services and supports do you envision for the healthcare system? 14:57 The importance of being respectful in communication and interaction with older adults. 18:06 What did you learn from working with Dr. Jeffrey Kaye from the Oregon Center for Aging and Technology (ORCATECH)? 20:34 What role does our government have in addressing this humanitarian crisis? 23:13 Learn more about Jason Karlawish's book Find Dementia Matters online Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

Dr. Jason Karlawish returns to the podcast to continue our discussion on his new book, The Problem of Alzheimer's: How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease Into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It. In this episode, Dr. Karlawish discusses pivotal cultural and political moments that influenced Alzheimer’s disease research, as well as the possibilities of drug treatments in the future. Guest: Jason Karlawish, MD, co-director, Penn Memory Center Episode Topics: Who is the unwitting revolutionary? 1:11 What happened to the early German scientists researching Alzheimer’s disease? 6:03 What essay was released in 1976 and why was it pivotal to Alzheimer’s research? 7:25  How did the changes in psychiatry, geriatric care and gender roles affect Alzheimer’s disease research? 10:42 What was the internal struggle over a name? 14:51 What were key moments in U.S. political history that influenced Alzheimer’s disease? 18:19 Where do you think the U.S. went wrong in approaching Alzheimer’s disease? 21:05 How is Alzheimer’s disease a humanitarian crisis? 22:43 What is your opinion on the drug approach for Alzheimer’s disease? 23:53  Do you have hope for a pill treatment in the future? 24:48   Learn more about Jason Karlawish's book Find Dementia Matters online Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

Physician and author Dr. Jason Karlawish joins the podcast for the first installment of a four-part series centered around his new book, The Problem of Alzheimer's: How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease Into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It. In the book, Karlawish blends history and science to detail the most important breakthroughs in diagnosing and treating Alzheimer’s disease. He also offers an argument for how we can live with dementia and proposes reforms we can make as a society that would give caregivers and patients better quality of life. In this episode, Dr. Chin and Dr. Karlawish discuss Alzheimer’s disease in a historical context and the disease's changing meaning. Guest: Jason Karlawish, MD, co-director, Penn Memory Center Episode Topics: Why did you choose to focus on the history of Alzheimer’s disease? 1:37 Why is it so important to use correct terminology in the clinic? 2:40 What do you say to patients when you diagnose Alzheimer’s disease? 3:54 How do you help people understand the meaning of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis? 5:39 Are there any specific experiences you’ve had when diagnosing patients? 7:25 What was the first breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research? 9:21 What did you discover about the history of Mild Cognitive Impairment? 11:27 Why are Bill Klunk and Chester Mathis so important to Alzheimer’s research? 17:50 Would Klunk & Mathis’ methods be allowed in present-day research? 21:41 What happened at the 2013 MEDCAC meeting and why is it significant? 22:32 Learn more about Jason Karlawish's book Find Dementia Matters online Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

In a recent study, health economist Lauren Nicholas, PhD, found older adults who go on to be diagnosed with dementia are more likely to miss payments on bills as early as six years before a diagnosis. Dr. Nicholas joins the podcast to discuss her research findings, how financial symptoms could be used as early predictors of dementia, signs that may indicate financial trouble due to dementia, and resources for managing your own or a loved one’s finances early. Guest: Lauren Nicholas, PhD, associate professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Episode Topics: How was the study designed? 1:00 Who did you look at for in the study? 5:09 What are your findings? 6:12 Do you think the financial impact is different based on the amount of family members? 9:24 What types of resources are available? 11:01 What do you hope this research will lead to? 13:32 What are clues to watch for financial trouble due to cognitive decline? 15:47 How do you see financial information being useful for understanding dementia in the future? 17:33 Find Dementia Matters online Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

Growing research has shown that music can have a profound impact on individuals with memory loss. Right to Music is an organization dedicated to promoting use of personal music by families and professionals caring for people with dementia and other cognitive challenges. Founder Dan Cohen joins the podcast to discuss how music can affect memory loss and tips for starting music therapy. Guest: Dan Cohen, founder, Right to Music Episode Topics: What inspired you to introduce music to people with memory loss? 1:10 What brought you to music? 2:36 What has research found around music therapy? 4:56 What do you believe it is about music that is unique? 11:31 Does genre of music matter? 14:16 How can music help bring people together? 17:00 How do you recommend a person start? 18:52 Do you have any additional tips? 20:20 Which songs help you on your playlist? 21:51 Find Dementia Matters online Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter  

Visiting the emergency department can be a challenging experience for individuals with memory loss and their caregivers. Dr. Manish Shah joins the podcast to discuss the difficulties people with dementia face in the emergency department and offers tips for making the most out of a visit. Guest: Manish Shah, MD, MPH, professor, BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Episode Topics: How many older adults visit emergency departments annually? 1:00 Why are adults with dementia twice as likely to seek emergency care compared to older adults who don't have dementia? 2:19 What are some of the difficulties that people with dementia may experience when they're in the emergency department? 5:10 Is there training for emergency department physicians to modify how they approach people with dementia? 7:22 Do you have any recommendations to offer that would improve the visit in the emergency department for people with dementia? 9:02 What is your team of researchers studying? 13:42 What kind of resources do these types of centers bring to your research or research like this? 15:45 What do you hope to accomplish with the funding that you've now received? 17:42 Why is it important to study and create these resources in emergency departments across the country? 19:24 Is there a day or a time that would be better for a person to go in? 20:29 Find Dementia Matters online Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter  

Dr. Lindsay Clark’s new study will evaluate the psychological consequences of disclosing amyloid test results to cognitively unimpaired adults. Dr. Clark joins the podcast to define amyloid accumulation and discuss how her study will examine the process of revealing amyloid results to research participants in Alzheimer’s disease research studies. Guest: Lindsay Clark, PhD, assistant professor, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Episode Topics: What is amyloid accumulation and its relationship to Alzheimer’s disease? 1:13 How are you measuring amyloid in living people? 3:14 Are newer methods like PET scans reliable? 5:56 Do patients learn the results of these scans? 6:20 Do research participants ever learn their results? 7:30 Who is the target population for studying amyloid scans? 8:44 Why does disclosing the results take so many careful considerations? 9:35 What do you think are the components of a good disclosure? 11:48 Are you disclosing specific numbers of the results? 14:16 Why does your study focus on amyloid PET scan results? 16:31 Do you believe the key concepts of disclosure can work with other biomarker studies? 18:33 Find Dementia Matters online Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

In this special holiday bonus episode, we are joined by poet laureate, writer, and senior outreach specialist, Dr. Fabu Carter, to discuss the impact of poetry on memory loss and a reading of her poem “For Our Beloved Elders with Memory Loss." Guest: Fabu Carter, PhD, MA, Senior Outreach Specialist, University of Wisconsin of Medicine and Public Health Episode Topics: What is the importance of poetry on Alzheimer’s Disease? 1:20 Reading of "For Our Beloved Elders with Memory Loss" 4:51

Recent developments have introduced a blood-based test that could predict Alzheimer’s disease, with more of these tests currently in development. Dr. Sterling Johnson joins the podcast to discuss the significance and accuracy of these blood tests, as well as the impact it will have on Alzheimer’s disease research and care. Guest: Sterling Johnson, PhD, professor of medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Episode Topics: What do biomarkers like brain imaging and cerebrospinal fluid tell us about Alzheimer’s disease? 1:18 What is the significance of a blood-based biomarker test? 6:08 What does the blood test tell us about brain health? 8:14 How accurate are the tests? 9:02 How are proteins like amyloid or tau found in the bloodstream? 10:28 What kind of precautionary steps should be taken before these tests can become readily available? 12:23 When do you think these tests will become available? 15:30 What do you think is the timeline for the tau protein blood tests? 16:26