NEW program! Alzheimer’s Research: Get Informed, Get Involved

Alzheimer’s Research: Get Informed,Get Involved is a series of education and awareness events brought to you by the Alzheimer’s Association®, Greater Illinois Chapter. These programs will feature local researchers who will discuss current trends, efforts and directions in dementia research. Information will be provided about the benefits of participation in research and local studies that are currently recruiting participants. Register today.

Alzheimer’s Research: Get Informed, Get Involved

Cost: Free

Alzheimer’s Research: Get Informed,Get Involved is a series of education and awareness events brought to you by the Alzheimer’s Association®, Greater Illinois Chapter. These programs will feature local researchers who will discuss current trends, efforts and directions in dementia research. Information will be provided about the benefits of participation in research and local studies that are currently recruiting participants. In addition, participants will be given the opportunity to enroll in the Alzheimer’s Association’s TrialMatch® program. Registration is required and space is limited, so please register today.

Thursday, April 23, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Silverado Orchard Park Memory Care Community
5520 Lincoln Ave., Morton Grove
Click here to register >>
Tuesday, May 5, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
St. John’s Hospital
619 E. Mason, Springfield
Click here to register >>
Wednesday, May 13, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Senior Resource Center
110 W. Woodstock Road, Crystal Lake
Click here to register >>
Wednesday, May 20, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
St. Mary’s Hospital
1800 E. Lakeshore Drive, Decatur
Click here to register >>
Wednesday, May 20, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Ela Area Public Library

Please check back soon for future program listings.
Alzheimer’s Association Greater Illinois Chapter Annual Research Symposium
Friday, October 23, 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Hamburger University and Hyatt Lodge at McDonald’s University
2175 Jorie Blvd Oak Brook, IL 60523
This full-day Symposium will focus on Alzheimer’s research, the leading role of the Alzheimer’s Association in dementia-related research, and the importance of participation in clinical studies. World-class researchers will be invited to the conference to discuss local, national, and global research with a special focus on translating research into care.
This Symposium is designed for clinicians, researchers, patients, families and caregivers and other professionals in the areas of healthcare, wellness and aging interested in connecting with others while learning more about Alzheimer’s disease research. Continuing education credit will be available for health care professionals. All participants will receive certificates of attendance.
Click here to view and download the sponsorship opportunities brochure >>
For more information contact Terrianne Reynolds at 847.324.0371 or by email treynolds@alz.org.

Online registration will open soon.

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It’s a fact that Alzheimer’s disease is an escalating epidemic

The number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias will grow each year as the size and proportion of the U.S. population age 65 and older continue to increase. By 2050, the number of people with Alzheimer’s may rise as high as 16 million. Learn other facts about Alzheimer’s by reading the Alzheimer’s Association 2015 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report.

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Alzheimer’s Association- Greater Illinois Chapter

Tuesday, April 14 from noon to 1 p.m. on
Hospice: Five Things Everyone Should Know

Presenter: Kirk Swanson Regional Hospice Coordinator, Transitions Hospice.
Understanding what hospice is (and isn’t) can help us ensure the best quality end-of-life care possible. Join us for a detailed discussion of what to expect from hospice, when to start looking for hospice care and how to choose a provider.
Audio conferences are held the second Tuesday of every month.
Click here to register or call 309.662.8392. Once signed up, registrants will receive information and directions for the call.

Cost: None.

Registration
Register online below or to register by mail or fax, click here to download form.

Dates and time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Program

Day

Register

Positive Responses to Challenging Behaviors in Persons with Dementia
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
[ click here ]

Music and Memory: Breaking through the Cloud of Dementia
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
[ click here ]

Listen to past Audio Conferences

Program and Date

Listen

Alzheimer’s Preparedness
[ click here ]

Asking for Help
[ click here ]

Beyond Computers and Internet Technology
[ click here ]

Beyond Medication – Non Medical Therapies to Enhance Quality of Life
[ click here ]

Family Dynamics – What is Your Role?
[ click here ]

Healthy Aging
[ click here ]

Music Activities
[ click here ]

Planning a Suceesful Day with a Person with Alzheimer’s
[ click here ]

Description:
Are you too busy to attend an educational program? Audio Conference is designed for those who aren’t able to attend a program outside the home or office.

Once registered, you will receive through the e-mail, a toll free telephone number with instructions. On the day of the conference you will call-in and join many others who are seeking the latest information on memory loss.

Positive Responses to Challenging Behaviors in Persons with Dementia
Chelsey Byers, MA Family Life Educator, University of Illinois Extension
Many individuals with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia will display difficult behavior during the course of their disease. These behaviors often lead to high stress for both the individual and the caregiver. Learn the basics behind these behaviors, their causes, and how to respond effectively to them.

Music and Memory: Breaking through the Cloud of Dementia
Jeanne E. Campbell, MA, LNHA, Administrator Mill Creek Alzheimer’s Special Care Center
In addition to bringing joy and calm to a person who is suffering, music can often help break through the cloud of dementia. Since it is processed throughout the brain, music can often be understood when other means of communication are not – even by people who may have been nonverbal for some time. Join us for a discussion on how to select and utilize music to improve the quality of life for a person with dementia.

– See more at: http://www.alzheimers-illinois.org/comm_education/conferences/audio_conf.asp#sthash.4IcygSTe.dpuf

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Please give monthly so this DOESN’T happen – Alzheimer’s disease

YoPlease give monthly so this DOESN’T happen – Alzheimer’s diseaseu probably noticed some upsetting news in the report I sent you last week: Alzheimer’s disease is growing so quickly that its incidence is expected to nearly triple by 2050.
If we don’t act now, our children and grandchildren will be twice as likely to have Alzheimer’s disease as you and me. I’m sure you agree that this is unacceptable.
We need you to help us fight this alarming future. Become a monthly donor today and join a very important movement of people committed to ending Alzheimer’s disease.

Your monthly donation will provide the consistent support we need to eradicate Alzheimer’s. As a thank you, we’ll send you our special lapel pin with the Alzheimer’s Association logo.
My heart aches to think of our children and grandchildren suffering from this debilitating disease. For their sake, please commit today to helping us stop this devastating disease.

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Positive Results from an Early-Stage Drug Trial Reported at AD/PD 2015

On Friday, March 20, positive early-stage clinical trial results for aducanumab (BIIB037, Biogen) were presented at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases in Nice, France.

There were two types of participants in the Phase 1b clinical trial: people with high levels of amyloid in their brain, and people with early Alzheimer’s disease. A total of 166 individuals were split into multiple treatment groups and a placebo group. Each treatment group received a different dosage of the drug for up to 54 weeks. The individual treatment groups were only 30-33 people each, with 40 in the placebo group.

Overall, the clinical trial had positive results. The drug had acceptable results on its primary endpoints for safety and tolerability, which is the main purpose for Phase 1 trials. Additional results showed a reduction of amyloid plaques in the brain and slowing of decline in memory and thinking abilities as well as function, the first clinical trial to show this result. Higher doses produced the most benefits. That said, this trial was not large enough, or conducted for a long enough period of time, to reliably measure effectiveness of the treatment.

An important feature of this clinical trial was the use of amyloid PET scans to identify and enroll only people with high levels of amyloid in their brains. The drug being tested is meant to clear amyloid plaques from the brain. It is therefore very important that study participants have the protein that the drug is seeking to clear from the brain. Previous drug trials have not always had an enrolled population with confirmation of amyloid present in the brain, perhaps one of the reasons it has been difficult to demonstrate effectiveness in previous Alzheimer’s disease trials.

The findings from this early-phase clinical trial of aducanumab are encouraging but additional testing is needed in larger numbers of people over longer periods of time. To that end, the company has announced it plans to move this drug into Phase III clinical trials.

Alzheimer’s Association Involvement

This trial is the first Phase 1b study to use amyloid imaging as an enrichment strategy, ensuring that all of the individuals enrolled in the study had the protein that the drug was meant to treat in their brain. The Alzheimer’s Association has been a leader in funding the discovery of amyloid PET and in establishing in its utility in the diagnostic process for Alzheimer’s disease.

Results from this clinical trial and others where the drug showed benefit in people in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s support the idea that treating Alzheimer’s earlier in the disease process shows the greatest potential for effective treatment and prevention. This, in turn, reinforces the need for more research into early causes and biological markers for Alzheimer’s disease in order to enable early intervention.

Alzheimer’s disease is a triple threat unlike any other disease – with soaring prevalence, lack of effective treatment, and enormous costs. Congress has taken a meaningful step toward finding effective treatments for Alzheimer’s. Under the Alzheimer’s Accountability Act, Congress required the National Institutes of Health to submit a professional judgment budget to Congress every fiscal year until 2025 to help guide them in allocating funding for Alzheimer’s research.

With a robust National Plan in place to fight Alzheimer’s disease, and annual budget guidance for Congress, it is imperative that the federal government act to significantly increase funding for Alzheimer’s research. The Alzheimer’s Association calls on Congress to continue its commitment to the fight against Alzheimer’s by increasing funding for Alzheimer’s research by $300 million in fiscal year 2016.

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