The Myth of Alzheimers

Watching the future of Alzheimer’s - the NIA Alzheimer’s Disease Research Summit?

For the past day and a half I have been listening and watching the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Summit 2012: Path to Treatment and prevention Francis Collins started the conference with his usual pep talk about science. I have a new rule to propose the more people use words like “breakthrough”, “progress”, ” new opportunities”, “genetics” , “science” , “accelerate” and add your favorite powerful marketing messaging words the more we should be good scientifically skeptical. Today the conference concludes [...]

Finding a cure for Alzheimer’s - what price to pay when and will it buy happiness?

In a post quite a few years ago I criticized how Leon Thal, a leading academic drug developer in Alzheimer’s, promised to “half the time to a cure if we doubled the money for research.” Perhaps we should have invested then because the price tag and the hype has gotten greater. As governments like France, the United Kingdom and others develop their national strategies, we should wonder just what should the funding priorities be as [...]

Bexarotene - act locally, think globally, and value better

Danny posted his own reflections about the publicity associated with a mouse study of amyloid overproduction treated with a medication, bexarotene, already available on the market for treating a form of skin cancer. I agree with his reflections and wish to extend them with my own. Our friends at ABC News thought that the press release [...]

Breaking down the latest “Alzheimer’s breakthrough”: Bexarotene

Many readers will have caught the story in the news last week about researchers at Case Western Reserve University who found a “breakthrough” for Alzheimer’s and reported their findings in the journal Science. Reported widely in the popular media, the story went that researchers had used an FDA-approved cancer drug called [...]

I could not wait to ask a question of Dr. Richard Hodes, Director National Institute on Aging

So on this call that I mentioned in my last blog with leaders of the Department of Health and Human Services I listened to Dr. Hodes describe that AD was a public health need (well said, Richard) and a scientific opportunity” more extraordinary that ever” (how so precisely I wondered?). He said science was “well-poised to take advantage of recent developments [...]

We can’t wait: Taking action on “What”

As I type this I am waiting to join a call with leaders from the Department of Health and Human Services including the National Institute on Aging about the steps President Obama’s administration will take to “reduce the burden of this age-related disease of patients, families, and on the health care system.” I like that language [...]

Peter talks about how the new diagnostic guidelines compromise “Alzheimer’s” [VIDEO]

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Peter Whitehouse gives a TED Talk [Video]

Last fall, Peter was invited to give a TED Talk at the TEDxKatuah event in Asheville, North Carolina (embedded below). Peter structured his talk around The Myth, advancing his belief that narrative-based, life-long learning, sustainable community focused brain health initiatives are the best individual and public health approaches for addressing the [...]

Richard Taylor: Life can be awful, now it has gotten worse [guest post]

On Watching and Hearing the Wisdom of the new Federal Committee to write a plan to plan to write a plan (now to write a draft of a plan to plan to write a plan) of how the Federal Government should lead/fund/Create the efforts of a few to “create a world without Alzheimer’s on or [...]

Why have we Failed to Cure Alzheimer’s Disease?

A colleague just sent me an article in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease entitled “Why have we Failed to Cure Alzheimer’s Disease?”, which concurs with the premise of The Myth. The author, Amos Korczyn, a neurologist from the Sackler School of Medicine in Tel-Aviv, argues that the amyloid hypothesis has failed and that we need to [...]