- (
) Increasing Alzheimer's Patients Spell Drug Profits
Some disturbing figures rolled out yesterday concerning growth rates of Alzheimer's patients. The number of people affected grew 10% in the past four years and is expected to grow to over 115 million by 2050. That's a doubling of cases every 20 years.The number is expected to grow because of the diets and activity levels amongst older individuals in developed countries. Apparently we're getting too much junk food and not enough exercise.
Numbers like that are scary to contemplate for many, especially families with relatives at risk, but they're statistics that pharmaceutical companies love hearing.
Which is why we thought we'd pull up a few of the leading Alheimer's drugs and the publicly listed companies that produce them: drugs like Aricept from Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Exelon from Novartis AG ADR (NYSE: NVS), and Namenda from Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX). More>>
- (
) Infection Could Hasten Alzheimer's Memory Loss
Catching a cold or any other infection could cause more memory loss in people with Alzheimer's disease, a new study suggests.Alzheimer's is a form of dementia generally diagnosed in some people over 65. While it can result in everything from mood swings to language breakdown and loss of bodily functions, the most familiar hallmark of the disease is memory loss.
. More>> - (
) Health Events
The screening is not recommended for persons who have been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Appointments required. Call (800) 486-8784.CAREGIVER PROGRAM: The University of South Florida Suncoast Alzheimer's Center will present What Caregivers Need to Know from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Johnnie B. Byrd Alzheimer's Institute, 4001 E. Fletcher Ave., Tampa. Topics will include understanding Alzheimer's disease, progress in treatment and communication strategies. Free; lunch provided; registration requested. Call (813) 974-4355 or (800) 633-4563.
SOCK HOP AND WINE TASTING: Whole Foods Market, 1548 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, will have a sock hop and wine tasting, including dance instruction, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday. Register at store exit lobby or sherrell.white@wholefoods.com. More>>
- (
) Sex and Dementia: Shrouded by Taboo
A man with Alzheimer's and his wife of many years finish lovemaking when he rolls over and tells her, “You'd better hurry up and get your things because my wife will be home soon."Sounds like a joke, but it's at least one woman's jarring reality relayed by the education director of Alzheimer's Association Colorado Chapter. Whenever I mentioned writing a sex and Alzheimer's story, many reflexively joked, “You mean there's a link?" Even a nationally renowned sexologist with expertise in chronic illness responded to my request for his take on the topic with: “I like one and not the other." Other jokes ranged from a gag about a wife's Alzheimer's or syphilis diagnosis to a proposed headline of “Honey, Did We Do It Yet Today?"
The funny thing is some people with Alzheimer's do forget their randy romp, immediately pressuring their partner for another round—which might be fun in another time and place, say the exhilarating days of lusty romance when your lover didn't call you by another's name, forget to wipe himself or brush her teeth, or forget how to pleasure you or even that he should. More>> - (
) Gary cop admits theft from elderly neighbor
Carter said Wiley knew that the 89-year-old Chentnik was "an endangered adult, who was suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease with depression, and that she was not competent to make financial decisions on her own behalf," Carter said in the statement.Wiley "exerted unauthorized control over money held in her credit union accounts by using an ATM/debit card to withdraw cash or purchase goods and services for his own personal use," according to the statement.
Wiley opened a joint checking account for Chentnik and himself during that time, the statement said, depositing the victim's monthly social security and pension checks, and transferring funds.
On Jan. 18, 2005, Wiley obtained a fraudulant quit-claim deed to Chentnik's home and then recorded the deed, claiming to have a Power of Attorney from Chentnik, the statement said. More>>