November 19, 2024 • 33 mins
Join us on a journey as we explore the fascinating world of Alzheimer's and dementia with Dr. Diana Kerwin, founder and president of Kerwin Medical Center. With over two decades of experience, Dr. Kerwin shares her personal story, recounting a pivotal moment during her residency that ignited her passion for tackling memory impairments. This episode sheds light on the subtle signs of memory loss, providing clear guidance on when to seek medical evaluation. Dr. Diana emphasizes the importance of persistence in receiving a proper assessment, offering invaluable insights for those concerned about their brain health.
We venture into the realm of Alzheimer's clinical trials, highlighting their vital role in advancing treatment options. Discover the significance of annual wellness visits and memory evaluations for understanding brain health, especially within the framework of Medicare. We address the misconceptions surrounding clinical trial participation, clarifying that those involved are not mere "guinea pigs" but valued contributors to future breakthroughs. Dr. Kerwin also spotlights the importance of diversity and inclusion in research, advocating for ethical practices and community engagement to make studies more accessible and inclusive.
Rounding off the discussion, we examine lifestyle factors that can bolster brain health, such as exercise and the MIND diet, underscoring the potential of these strategies to reduce health risks. Dr. Kerwin offers a hopeful glimpse into recent advancements in Alzheimer's treatment, acknowledging the progress made in slowing disease progression. As we hold out hope for future breakthroughs, listeners are encouraged to stay informed and connected through additional resources and episodes, equipping families and communities to navigate the challenges of Alzheimer's and dementia together.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everyone to the Journey Out podcast, where
we were designed to be thehelping hand for everyday people
who are on their Exodus journey.
I am one of your hosts, bree.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And I'm Antoine.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
And, as you see, we have a very special guest
sitting in between us.
So we know that November is amonth filled with important
national holidays, in particular, national Alzheimer's Disease
Awareness Month, and so today wewanted to invite a very special
guest who is the founder andpresident of Curran Medical
Center, a practice that focuseson finding a cure for
Alzheimer's and other relateddementia diseases.
She has more than 20 yearsexperience in Alzheimer's and
(00:32):
dementia research and is boardcertified in internal medicine
and geriatrics and licensed inTexas, california and Wisconsin.
So let's jump right in what ishome care?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
How do I navigate health care?
What do I do when I feel downand depressed?
I'm stressed.
Am I enough?
What can I do?
Speaker 1 (00:48):
What is this going to cost?
All right, so welcome to theshow, ms Diana.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
It's a pleasure to be here andsee both of you, so thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Awesome.
So tell us just a little bitabout your backstory, how you
got started and what got you toKern Medical Center today.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Great.
I get asked that a lot why Iwent into brain research and
Alzheimer's disease research inparticular.
And what I recall is I was inmy training as a resident at
Northwestern University inChicago and I remember in my
internal medicine residencyclinic you would see patients
and I had a clinic at theVeterans Hospital, the VA, and
(01:31):
one of my veterans who becameone of my regular patients.
I noticed that he obviously hadmemory impairment and he would
come in with his wife and as aninternist you're prescribing
blood pressure medicines,cholesterol medicines and
telling him remember to takethis medicine every day.
And I realized like after twovisits the wife was the one that
was really going to beremembering for him and that he
(01:54):
had short-term memory impairment.
And I asked the wife I said hasanybody talked to you about his
memory loss or anything?
She said no, no one's evermentioned it, no one's talked to
us about it.
And I said well, that to mebecame something that I realized
I really wanted to practice inthat area of recognizing
patients that have thoseimpairments and I wanted to
(02:15):
change the way that's approached, get it diagnosed and then get
the right treatments for thosepatients.
And then what happened is, as Igot into Alzheimer's research,
you realize that there reallyweren't a lot of treatments
available.
As I was diagnosing patientswith Alzheimer's and other
dementias.
There really wasn't a bigarsenal of tools that a
physician could do to make thesituation better or to stop the
(02:37):
memory loss or to cure it.
And so that's when I said Ireally would like to do clinical
trial research which isdeveloping new medicines to
treat Alzheimer's disease, andthat's where Kirwan Medical
Center came about.
I said I really want to do itwhole, like 100%, and put all of
my efforts into clinicalresearch and developing new
(02:57):
therapies for Alzheimer's,hopefully contributing to
finding the cure.
But I wanted to have a centerthat was very easily accessible
to patients and was comfortable,because research can be very
foreboding and people arehesitant to participate.
So I wanted to have a verywelcoming center that was really
focused on the patient whowanted to participate and we
(03:19):
could help them participate inthe process of finding cures.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Right.
And so one thing that kind ofstuck out to you, just that
interaction with that patient,right, and he was dealing with
memory loss, but he probablydidn't understand that he was
going through that.
So tell me, when should someonebe concerned about memory loss,
whether it's them or a loved?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
one.
Yeah, and that was you bring upa great point, because, if you
notice, the wife was there andit's not usual for you to bring
a family member to your doctorvisits but she knew she had to
go because he wouldn't remember.
So I think the times thatmemory loss should be concerning
is oftentimes the patientthemselves is not aware that
they're forgetting things.
(03:59):
Normally, when you forgetsomething, you realize you
forgot something.
You know I misplaced my keys.
I have to retrace my steps.
I can't remember where.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I parked Guilty Guilty.
Yeah, you know you have to like, but you realize you forgot it,
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Someone who's having memory loss won't realize
they're even forgetting.
They'll say, oh, someone tookmy keys Right, you took my keys.
Someone took my car.
Someone took my car that's whyit's not parked here.
Someone put my purse in thefreezer.
So it's usually the combinationof the people around them
notice that their memory isdeclining and know it's a change
.
The patient themselves usuallydoesn't recognize it.
(04:35):
So the times that you should beconcerned are when people
around you notice it and youhaven't.
That would be a sign that youshould have it evaluated If you
are noticing that you're havingdifficulty remembering things
that you used to be able toremember easily, like people who
are really good aboutremembering birthdays and
sending out cards.
All of a sudden they're notsending out cards anymore
because they're forgettingbirthdays, or someone who used
(04:57):
to be really good at their mathand accounting now can't balance
their checkbook or write acheck, or is missing paying
bills, or they stop rememberingto take their medicine things
like that.
Those are times where you wantto bring that to your doctor and
say you know, can we look intothis?
And I the one thing that I willsay, just having practiced in
medicine for many years andworking with many good doctors
(05:20):
even really good doctorssometimes won't know what to do
with memory evaluation.
So you really have to push themand ask them and say could you
please look in?
Maybe one of these medicines ormaybe something in the blood
work is causing this.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
So for some people that have a loved one that's
been forgivable or something, orthey've been forgivable, does
it necessarily mean that theyhave dementia, and if so, what
is dementia and what doesdementia mean?
Speaker 3 (05:45):
So we'll start with the definitions, I think,
because that's a big area ofconfusion even within medicine,
If you ask a few differentdoctors, they'll have different
definitions of dementia.
So dementia first is to justunderstand it's kind of a very
vague term.
It means something's happenedto this person and their brain
function is not the way it wasmost of their life.
(06:08):
Something's changed it.
Now the reason I say that sobroadly is there are lots of
things that can cause dementiaand Alzheimer's is just one of
them.
So that's why, like you couldhave someone, could have a bad
stroke and after that strokethey have difficulty remembering
or they have difficultyspeaking.
That would be a type of adementia.
(06:28):
That would be a stroke-relateddementia.
But Alzheimer's is one type ofdementia.
So the question as far aswhether or not someone has
dementia really depends upon howextensive is the change in
their brain function, so that ithas to be pretty extensive to
meet the definition for dementia.
It has to be impairment intheir memory or impairment in
(06:49):
their ability to find words orto speak or to make decisions.
That is now affecting theirdaily life.
So maybe they're not safe tostay at home by themselves
because they've, you know,walked out of the house on a 110
degree day in the middle ofsummer and don't have any water
with them and walk for a fewmiles Like people are making bad
decisions.
(07:09):
That could be the sign thatthis is a dementia, versus
something that's more mild, likesome forgetfulness, and it
affects them a little bit intheir daily life, but they can
still function by themselves.
It's really that function pieceand I know with what you do.
You see where families need tobring in more help because the
(07:30):
person can't be left alone, sothey need more assistance to
keep them safe.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Right, and I think another thing that's always
questioned is is dementia,alzheimer's?
They're the same thing?
Talk to me just a little bitabout that, because they're not.
They're two separate things.
So tell me just a little bitabout that because they're not.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
They're two separate things.
So tell me just a little bitabout that.
And that's where it gets reallyconfusing for people, because
I've had patients come to myoffice and oftentimes the family
brings them and says you know,the doctor says they have
dementia.
That means it's not Alzheimer'sright.
And that's not necessarily thecase.
So dementia, as I said, canhave multiple, many different
causes.
No-transcript.
(08:30):
So Alzheimer's disease does notalways progress to a dementia
stage.
It can be actually silent.
You can have Alzheimer'sdisease in the brain tissue.
If we did a blood test or aspecial type of scan, we can see
Alzheimer's in the brain tissue, but the person may not have
forgetfulness yet.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Right.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
But if it progresses more, at some point in the
future they will develop enoughmemory impairment that they will
have what's called a dementia.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Right If that is clear.
And I think honestly we won'tknow these things until we do
testing, until we go to ourproviders and talk with them.
I must be very honest, I thinkone big stigma, especially for
us people of color we're notgoing to the doctor to get any
clarification for any of that,let alone kind of go through a
(09:20):
clinical trial and try to, youknow, try to participate in that
and to try to find the rightmedications to fit these things.
So is there testing that can bedone and what recommendations
do you have for that testing?
Speaker 3 (09:34):
So the first thing about doing any testing at all,
or even addressing it and forthis is for any patient, but
especially we're finding thatcertain racial backgrounds are
at higher risk.
So African-American.
Black, latino, hispanic higherrisk of Alzheimer's disease.
It's affecting thosecommunities and those families
(09:57):
and those patients more, andoftentimes there's barriers to
health care in general, and sogoing the next step of getting
the right diagnosis becomes evenmore challenging.
But it is important to have itevaluated, and the reason for
that is there are newmedications available to treat
it.
But also you have a right toknow what's affecting your
(10:20):
health.
You have a right to know whatyour diagnoses are, what is
available to you, and then youhave the right to say I don't
want to do that or yes, I wantto do more.
I think you have a right toknow, and I think that's the
piece where I think theevaluation should be done.
The doctor should have a cleartalk with you about what they
don't know and what they do know, what's available and then the
(10:41):
patient should have the abilityto say yes or no, or the family
should be able to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
So how do a person talk to their doctor about that,
if a person is dealing withmemory loss or things of that
nature?
So how do you communicate thatwith your doctor?
Speaker 3 (10:54):
And it's a hard one because, like I said, I mean all
doctors, most doctors have goodintention, but sometimes, when
it's not in their area ofexpertise or comfort, they may
not want to talk about itbecause it's an area they don't
know much about.
But you have to just kind ofsay well, can we, you know,
check and make sure.
Or one way to start isoftentimes, and not always, but
dementia sometimes can run infamilies and you can say you
(11:16):
know my, I remember mygrandmother, my grandfather had
something like this.
I feel like I might be showingsome signs.
What can we do to evaluate menow, Like, what could we do?
Or can we go ahead and just dosome blood tests, maybe check my
medicines?
Let's check my memory and someof this the patient themselves
may be reluctant to do it.
It's not easy to have yourmemory tested.
(11:38):
It feels like someone'squestioning if you're smart or
not, and memory is notintelligence.
But we oftentimes think peoplethat remember everything are
really smart.
but you can be smart in lots ofdifferent ways so people don't
like that, but it's important tohave it tested to see like
maybe there's an early sign thatyou're you haven't picked up on
yet.
Um, so have talk to the doctorabout you know.
(11:59):
Can we just do a brain healthcheckup?
Can we just check and make suremy my thyroid level is, my
vitamin levels are normal, makesure I'm on the right
medications?
The other piece is we'relearning there's a very strong
connection between the heart andthe brain and brain health.
So you could even approach thedoctor to say you know how's my
blood pressure, my cholesterol,my diabetes control?
(12:22):
Can we talk about.
Can I exercise?
Because that would be good formy body and my brain.
What type of diet could I eat?
Because those are things thatsometimes primary care doctors
are more comfortable with.
And that's one way, because ifyou do have good blood pressure
control, good cholesterol, gooddiabetes sugar control, that can
actually help slow down orlower the risk of developing
(12:42):
Alzheimer's later on.
So that's one thing that peoplecan do for themselves.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Right and really what we're hearing is just being an
advocate for yourself and yourloved ones.
Just really take, go on thatextra mile to really care for
yourself but take control ofyour health.
It's super important to be ableto do that and have those open
and honest conversations, eventhough it's kind of hard or you
don't kind of know where to gowith this.
I love those questions that yougave because it's kind of
(13:08):
practical.
You know you can go into anysituation and be able to kind of
navigate that, so I love that.
But they get a diagnosis.
They say, hey, you know, yeah,dementia, alzheimer's.
What do we do now?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
And that's where some , if the doctor can't do that
evaluation, then you just sayyou know, could I have a
referral?
Maybe to another doctor, onething that most people, and most
people who are worried abouttheir memory, tend to be
Medicare age 65 and older Noteverybody.
There are some people in their50s and early 60s, but 65 and
(13:42):
older, if you are a Medicarerecipient.
There is something called theannual wellness visit that the
doctor should be doing once ayear and part of it includes a
checkup on their memory and partof it is the annual wellness
visit.
Doesn't tell the doctor thatthey have to do memory testing,
but it says they have to atleast ask about it and they
should send them for testing ifthere's a concern.
(14:03):
So that's one thing.
You can ask for, the annualwellness visit once a year.
I think that's probably a goodplace to start.
The one thing our center does doshort memory evaluations for
people that are interested inlearning about what's available
for prevention or research, andagain, that doesn't mean you
(14:23):
have to participate.
What I like about it is it's away for us to tell them about,
give them a short informationabout their brain health at this
point in time, of shortinformation about their brain
health at this point in time.
So they have that informationbecause, like I said, they have
a right to know if there is anearly impairment and then decide
to do what they want to do withit.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Well, tell me this what should people know about
getting tested, going throughthis, what you call it forgive
me clinical trials?
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
So tell me, what should people know, what should
they expect, and how does itwork?
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Sure.
So the first thing aboutclinical trials.
There's lots of different typesof clinical trials.
Some of them are looking atways to prevent dementia or
Alzheimer's.
Some of them are looking at newways to diagnose it, like blood
tests, different brain scans.
Some of it are developing newdrug treatments that eventually
would be approved for the doctorto prescribe.
(15:17):
But the first thing aboutresearch and anything in
medicine is you have the rightto get all the information and
make the decision, and so theone thing about research like
the first thing that we do istell them about what's going to
happen.
It's called informed consent.
We're going to do some memorytesting with you.
We're going to draw some blood.
This is what might happen withthe blood test.
(15:39):
We're going to give you theseresults and then this is what
you can do with it.
You can either ask about whatclinical studies might be
appropriate for you and whichone you might want to do.
You can talk to your familyabout it and come back.
So usually it is for theclinical research process.
When it is something withinAlzheimer's, it typically tends
to have informed consent, andthen it has some getting your
(16:00):
medical history.
What medicines are you on, likewhat you would normally do at
the doctor's office.
But the things that are alittle bit different are you do
get some memory testing and,like I said, there usually is
some blood work done or bloodtests.
Sometimes there's imaging doneand then if you're in a study
where the medication is beingdeveloped, that medication may
be given during the course ofthe study.
If the person consents to be inthe study, they would receive
(16:24):
that medication and then gettested along the way to see is
the medication doing anything?
Is it helping?
Is it improving their memory?
Is it slowing down theprogression?
And some of the studies can goon for as short as six months.
Some of them can be two tothree years.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
And this can be for someone that don't have dementia
and just wanted to know, maybe,if that trait or if they
basically going down that road.
Maybe am I saying that rightand it also can be for someone
with dementia, correct?
Okay, great.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
That's the one thing is, a lot of times there's
multiple different studies goingon at once and a patient can
only be in one study at a time.
So they might choose to be in aprevention study, where they're
just tested but no drug isbeing developed no medication is
being developed, or they couldbe in a study where they are
receiving a medication toprevent Alzheimer's, or they
(17:15):
could have a diagnosis ofAlzheimer's already and they're
in a study to determine can thismedication be developed to slow
down the progression or stopthe progression.
So there's lots of differentways and I think the one thing
about research is anyone whodoes want to participate, you
know, learn about it.
And again, like I said, theyalways have a right to say I
don't want to do it, at any timein the study.
(17:35):
You can even go into the studyand then say you know what, I
don't want to do this anymore.
I thought I did, but andthere's no obligation there and
it's really you're part of ateam and what they're bringing
to the the development oftreatments for other people is
significant.
They're help.
They're really helping others.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
They're really helping others.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
They're helping their family members potentially have
treatments in the future thatmay help them.
What they get in return is theyget a lot of interaction with
medical personnel that know thedisease.
So what we find is patientsthat are in the studies
oftentimes just enjoy coming inbecause they get to see the
staff Sometimes it's once amonth, sometimes every couple of
weeks talk about how they'redoing, how they're feeling, tell
(18:17):
us you know their doctorchanged a medicine so that we
can update their record.
So sometimes it's just theyreally are part of an important
piece of the scientific team andnot just a guinea pig or that
type of.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
And so and so talk to me a little bit about that,
because actually we were at wereat an Alzheimer's event
probably a couple of weeks agoand we talked.
They talked about clinicaltrials and kind of what the
progression looked like, and onelady from the crowd she was
really why do we have to beguinea pigs or what?
So speak to me a little bitabout that stigma and just kind
(18:52):
of how we can combat that.
You know just as a whole.
You know we want to be able tomake sure that we can combat
that.
You know just as a whole.
You know we want to be able tomake sure that we have
medications that's able to workfor everyone, you know, not just
the select few.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
So talk to me a little bit about that.
No, it's a really importantpoint for us to know that a
medication or drug is going towork for everybody.
We need to have a really robust,diverse set of participants in
studies robust, diverse set ofparticipants in studies,
unfortunately, because there issome historical bad actors that
didn't provide informed consentand that is the really biggest,
(19:25):
I think, mistake or injusticethat was done was not telling
somebody that they were in astudy or not telling them that
there was a medication availableto treat them and it was
withheld from them.
And those are the historicalpieces that we actually are
taught.
To be a researcher, you have toactually get training that
tells us about all of thesehistorical things that happened.
(19:47):
They were predominantly in theblack community that were bad
and they were bad actors and thepoint is that you know that
shouldn't happen again.
We should have enough awarenessand that's where that informed
consent becomes.
That is number one Informedconsent, meaning every
individual person has theability to say at any time I
don't want to do this or I dowant to do it, but you have the
(20:10):
responsibility.
You must tell me everythingavailable to me.
You must tell me.
If there's a new treatment outthere, you need to tell me about
it.
If there's new information thatcomes out about this drug or
other drugs, you must tell me.
And we do.
That is part of thecertification as a researcher,
is my role as an investigatorand I tell participants when
they come into a study is myrole is number one their safety
(20:33):
oversight while they're in thestudy.
But number two is I'm here toinform them anything that's
happening that could that theyshould know about new data, new
information, safety information,a new drug comes out, whatever
it is, I have an obligation totell them and that's their right
, and so part of I think forpeople to know is that we don't
want them to be guinea pigs.
(20:53):
We want them.
They're participants, they'reimportant and they have rights
and we're there to respect theirrights and fulfill our
obligation to be sure that theyaren't just treated like just to
give data or information.
They are part of you know.
They're our responsibility totake care of while they're in
the study.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Well, that's a lot of good information and I think
that's good for people to knowand understand that.
Hey, they are a part of thisstudy and they have the right to
information as they're goingthrough it, you don't have to go
in blind.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Yeah, you don't have to go in blind.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
So that's great.
So, with that information, howdo you get those people involved
?
How can they get involved?
Speaker 3 (21:29):
We'd love I mean one part of opening Kerwin Medical
Center.
I wanted to set it up the way Ithought it should be done, that
it should be accessible andopen and even for people who
don't want to participate, theycan still get information from
us.
They can call us up, askquestions.
We're there as a resource.
But if you are interested, alot of times it's just starting
(21:50):
on our website.
They can just put in their nameand information and have a call
back from one of our staff andone of our staff can tell them
about what's going on at thecenter right now.
Or we try to have events withcommunity partners, like you two
here, so that we can get outinto the community and give good
information and give people theopportunity to ask questions
and the opportunity to come backand say I'd like to hear more,
(22:11):
I'd like to participate.
What do I need to do next?
So the one thing about reachingeveryone, though, is it kind of
does take all of us.
We need our community.
Sometimes you might need totell your neighbor hey, have you
thought about contacting thecenter?
I noticed you're having sometrouble with someone, your
friend at church or whoever itis.
We all need to kind of helpthem be aware that there is this
(22:35):
piece available if they wantedto participate and be part of it
.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
And I think also too, in factoring, if you want to
join a clinical trial or dosomething like that, you want to
think about just the atmospheresurrounding the researchers and
the team that's going to bedoing it, because it's the same
thing with you.
It's warmth there.
Sometimes it can be so cold.
You don't see the people whoare doing the research.
You don't see all of that.
(23:00):
You guys go to events.
Y'all are out, y'all have yourmobile bus that comes out and
just do various things in thecommunity.
So just tell me a little bitabout that and why that was
super important for you to justreally be a staple in the
community instead of just beingbehind the scenes and just doing
the research.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Yeah, that came about somewhat with just my
experience over the years inmedicine.
Especially when you're inacademic medicine, like you're
at a university, you get used tobeing in your center and
everyone has to come to you andthat's really difficult for a
lot of people.
Sometimes it's transportation,sometimes it's child care,
sometimes it's they have to workand our hours aren't compatible
(23:38):
with them getting to a visit.
So when I started to see thatand you think that, well, people
can get to you, we'll providerides or whatever, that's not
always the answer.
You have to really learn whatis the barrier for those that
person and then break down thatbarrier.
So that's where you's where thereason why we're opening up the
office in Oak Cliff tomorrow is.
(23:58):
You know, my primary office hasbeen at Presbyterian Hospital
on Walnut Hill.
It's a well-known hospital.
It's in the hospital.
It's easy to get to if you livein that area.
And what I was finding as I wentout into the community and
you'd go even 20 minutes away toOak Cliff or South Dallas and
they're like we would never goup there it's the traffic or
(24:18):
reliable car, or I don't want totake a Lyft or an Uber because
I don't know where I'm goingonce I get there, so I said well
then we need to come to you, weneed to put a center in Oak
Cliff so that hopefully now it'smaybe only five or ten minutes
from you or where you're livingor where you're going to the
store or to your doctor orwhatever, and it's much more
convenient for you to get there,because then if you want to
(24:38):
participate, we are there foryou, it's accessible and that's
that's, that's the beauty of it,and I and I just I applaud you
for that because you didn't, youdon't have to do that.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
And a lot of times, a lot of uh, clinical trials and
research teams, they don't dothat because it's easier to just
do what they're doing.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Or stay where they're at.
They don't come to where thepeople need the resource or the
information.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
And so, listen, I just applaud you because you go
the extra mile and so I justappreciate that first and
foremost.
And then also you have families, people who are participating
in these trials.
They're learning hey, my momhad Alzheimer's dementia.
They're going to come to youand say I'm trying to see if I
might have a gene or a trait andthat can be a very just what is
(25:27):
it?
Personal Is that the word?
I'm kind of intimate, kind ofsituation and having someone who
is really tied to the community.
It's not about anything else,but giving you what you need is
just imperative.
So I love that.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
And I appreciate you.
And before we go I know youtouched on this a little bit
earlier, but can you touch on ita little bit more what is a
good way to prevent or reducethe likelihood of someone having
dementia or Alzheimer's?
Yeah, sure.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
So the good I guess this is the kind of the hopeful
piece is.
That is kind of that goes backto that piece about autonomy and
you taking control of your ownhealth.
I think part of it is knowingthat we do know that you can
reduce your own risk if you takecare of your heart.
So the vascular risk factor sogo to your doctor, get your
blood pressure checked, yourcholesterol, make sure your
(26:11):
diabetes is controlled, yeah.
And then the other two thatpeople have to incorporate into
lifestyle is we know thatexercise, if it's safe for you
to exercise and this is whereyou have to check with your
doctor first, 30 minutes a day,about five days a week, just 30
minutes of like a good walk, orif you have trouble with
arthritis and walking isdifficult, you know, maybe it's
(26:33):
a stationary bike or something.
It's just something to get theheart rate up a little bit, and
it's 30 minutes a day.
It doesn't have to be all atsomething, it's just something
to get the heart rate up alittle bit and it's 30 minutes a
day.
It doesn't have to be all atonce, it could be 10 minutes
three times a day or whatever itis.
Park a little bit farther awayfrom the store and walk in
things like that.
We know that that actuallyhelps reduce your risk over time
and it's never too late tostart Again.
It's just a safety thing.
Are you safe to walk?
Make sure you're not falling ortripping or at injury to walk?
(26:54):
Make sure you're not falling ortripping or at injury.
And then the other piece is diet, and this is the one that I
struggle with a little bit,because the diet is called the
MIND diet, the M-I-N-D diet, andpeople can look it up and we
give information about it.
But you have to be able to getto those foods too, and they're
not exotic, but they have to besomewhat available at a grocery
store near you.
So it's things like a good,healthy fish like salmon, trout,
(27:19):
like sardines, anchovies whichsounds strange, but those are
the healthier fish because theyhave higher in a certain vitamin
called.
DHA and omega-3 fatty acids.
So it's a good fish or chicken.
It's not a lot of red meat,usually not a lot of pork, and
it's not fried food.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
So it's not it's got to be something that's I know we
got to cut it all out, Wellmaybe we need to cut this
segment out.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
No, that's great information because our diet
plays a big part in how our lifeend up involving towards the
end of you know as we get olderput it that way.
So thank you for that Sure.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
No, fried chicken.
What about coffee?
Coffee's okay.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Coffee's okay.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
I'm okay, no, no.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
I'm okay.
I'm okay, let me caveat that alittle bit.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Thank you, Dianne.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
So coffee by itself is okay.
When we start doing coffeelatte, double splash, splish,
squirt, whatever it is yes.
Lots of sugar and cream andthings like that.
That starts to where it gets alittle bit less.
So sugar plays a part in a lotof it Sugar is not part of a
healthy brain diet?
(28:30):
So you try to away from sugars,so keep it black and not a ton.
It's usually two cups of coffee, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Okay, I'm going to cut it down and I'm going to do
no sugar no creamer.
I'm going to do this.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Okay, doesn't taste as good.
It doesn't.
I got to get used to that.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Got to get used to that.
So tell us, how can they learnmore about what's going on the
new office in Eau Clive?
Where can they go to just getall the information for Kerwin
Medical Center?
Speaker 3 (28:57):
So probably the easiest place to start is if you
want to start online.
Just go to kerwinmedicalcom andour website will come up.
It has information about us,about what we do, it has
information about studies, Ifthey're interested in just
hearing more, and I think justone thing for people to know is
that you're never obligated Justby putting in your information.
(29:18):
We don't give your informationto anybody else.
But you will get a call back, oryou can email and we'll email
you back and get you theinformation that you're looking
for, and then you can decide ifyou want to hear more, if you
want to come into the office andhave a visit.
And that's really where it'skept open-ended for somebody, so
they can really just kind ofget what they want and make sure
their questions are answered.
So that's a good place to start.
(29:40):
They can email us at enrollE-N-R-O-L-L at kirwinmedicalcom
and that's just an email thatgoes to one of my staff members.
That'll respond and again, ifthey want to come in for a visit
, they'll get them scheduled Onthe website.
It'll also tell us our twolocations.
We have one location atPresbyterian Hospital on Walnut
Hill and then we also have thenew location opening tomorrow at
4315 South Lancaster Road andthat's our Oak Cliff location.
(30:04):
So tomorrow's our grand opening.
We're ribbon cutting at threeo'clock and we'll probably start
seeing patients there like assoon as maybe Friday or Monday
it's ready.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
One more question how close do you think we are to
curing this disease?
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Yeah, it's a great question.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
I'm sorry to put you on the spot.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
We are.
So I started doing this and Iknew that during my lifetime
we'd have some big breakthroughs.
I've been doing it for 20 yearsalready, so it took a while to
get here.
What we have currentlyavailable definitely has made an
impact that's different.
Like today, I tell peoplealthough we haven't found the
cures yet, the medications thathave been approved in the last
(30:51):
two years actually do slow downthe disease to the point where
the disease is not the samedisease as what your grandmother
or aunt or whoever had yearsago.
We can now slow it down to thepoint where you may not reach
those late stages of dementiathat everyone fears, that fear
of being completelyincapacitated, being dependent
upon or a burden to your family.
(31:13):
The medications can do that.
They don't cure it, but becausethey slow the progression, it
gives that person many moreyears of independence.
So we're not at the cure yet.
That'll be the next step.
But we have to make theseincremental things.
You can't slow down a trainlike that we got to slow.
Or you can't stop a train likethat.
We have to slow it down firstbefore we can reverse it.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
So we're slowing it down first, and we need people
to participate in these trials,so that's important.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Every medication, every trial, everything counts,
and so it's getting us to thebigger goal of ending
Alzheimer's as a whole.
So I thank you for your time.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Thank you for asking me Really.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
appreciate you for coming and just giving us
invaluable information for notonly us but our community.
So I just thank you so much andeverything that you do at Kern
Medical Center.
So to gather all of what wetalked about today, please click
the link in our bio taking youover to our podcast website to
be able to download everythingwe discussed today transcribed
just for you, under thetranscript tab.
If you've enjoyed what youheard today and would like to
(32:13):
hear more, please subscribe andfollow us on YouTube at the
Journey Out, and as well asfollow us on all podcast
platforms.
On our podcast website, you cansupport the Journey Out podcast
with a monthly donation of yourchoosing, helping us to
continue to provide theseepisodes every week, and your
contribution is more thanappreciated and we thank you.
And with that, that's a wrap ontoday's episode of the Journey
(32:34):
Out.
We pray that the thingsdiscussed today have been a
helping hand for you and yourloved ones hoping the journey
out.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
We pray that the things discussed today have been
a helping hand for you and yourloved ones, hoping that it
positively brings you out of oneseason to the next, starting
your Exodus journey, and I knowthis was a lot of information,
but I hope you take thisinformation to be a resource to
your family and your community.
Thank you, guys.
I love you.
Welcome everyone to the Journey Out podcast, where
we were designed to be thehelping hand for everyday people
who are on their Exodus journey.
I am one of your hosts, bree.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And I'm Antoine.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
And, as you see, we have a very special guest
sitting in between us.
So we know that November is amonth filled with important
national holidays, in particular, national Alzheimer's Disease
Awareness Month, and so today wewanted to invite a very special
guest who is the founder andpresident of Curran Medical
Center, a practice that focuseson finding a cure for
Alzheimer's and other relateddementia diseases.
She has more than 20 yearsexperience in Alzheimer's and
(00:32):
dementia research and is boardcertified in internal medicine
and geriatrics and licensed inTexas, california and Wisconsin.
So let's jump right in what ishome care?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
How do I navigate health care?
What do I do when I feel downand depressed?
I'm stressed.
Am I enough?
What can I do?
Speaker 1 (00:48):
What is this going to cost?
All right, so welcome to theshow, ms Diana.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
It's a pleasure to be here andsee both of you, so thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Awesome.
So tell us just a little bitabout your backstory, how you
got started and what got you toKern Medical Center today.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Great.
I get asked that a lot why Iwent into brain research and
Alzheimer's disease research inparticular.
And what I recall is I was inmy training as a resident at
Northwestern University inChicago and I remember in my
internal medicine residencyclinic you would see patients
and I had a clinic at theVeterans Hospital, the VA, and
(01:31):
one of my veterans who becameone of my regular patients.
I noticed that he obviously hadmemory impairment and he would
come in with his wife and as aninternist you're prescribing
blood pressure medicines,cholesterol medicines and
telling him remember to takethis medicine every day.
And I realized like after twovisits the wife was the one that
was really going to beremembering for him and that he
(01:54):
had short-term memory impairment.
And I asked the wife I said hasanybody talked to you about his
memory loss or anything?
She said no, no one's evermentioned it, no one's talked to
us about it.
And I said well, that to mebecame something that I realized
I really wanted to practice inthat area of recognizing
patients that have thoseimpairments and I wanted to
(02:15):
change the way that's approached, get it diagnosed and then get
the right treatments for thosepatients.
And then what happened is, as Igot into Alzheimer's research,
you realize that there reallyweren't a lot of treatments
available.
As I was diagnosing patientswith Alzheimer's and other
dementias.
There really wasn't a bigarsenal of tools that a
physician could do to make thesituation better or to stop the
(02:37):
memory loss or to cure it.
And so that's when I said Ireally would like to do clinical
trial research which isdeveloping new medicines to
treat Alzheimer's disease, andthat's where Kirwan Medical
Center came about.
I said I really want to do itwhole, like 100%, and put all of
my efforts into clinicalresearch and developing new
(02:57):
therapies for Alzheimer's,hopefully contributing to
finding the cure.
But I wanted to have a centerthat was very easily accessible
to patients and was comfortable,because research can be very
foreboding and people arehesitant to participate.
So I wanted to have a verywelcoming center that was really
focused on the patient whowanted to participate and we
(03:19):
could help them participate inthe process of finding cures.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Right.
And so one thing that kind ofstuck out to you, just that
interaction with that patient,right, and he was dealing with
memory loss, but he probablydidn't understand that he was
going through that.
So tell me, when should someonebe concerned about memory loss,
whether it's them or a loved?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
one.
Yeah, and that was you bring upa great point, because, if you
notice, the wife was there andit's not usual for you to bring
a family member to your doctorvisits but she knew she had to
go because he wouldn't remember.
So I think the times thatmemory loss should be concerning
is oftentimes the patientthemselves is not aware that
they're forgetting things.
(03:59):
Normally, when you forgetsomething, you realize you
forgot something.
You know I misplaced my keys.
I have to retrace my steps.
I can't remember where.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I parked Guilty Guilty.
Yeah, you know you have to like, but you realize you forgot it,
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Someone who's having memory loss won't realize
they're even forgetting.
They'll say, oh, someone tookmy keys Right, you took my keys.
Someone took my car.
Someone took my car that's whyit's not parked here.
Someone put my purse in thefreezer.
So it's usually the combinationof the people around them
notice that their memory isdeclining and know it's a change
.
The patient themselves usuallydoesn't recognize it.
(04:35):
So the times that you should beconcerned are when people
around you notice it and youhaven't.
That would be a sign that youshould have it evaluated If you
are noticing that you're havingdifficulty remembering things
that you used to be able toremember easily, like people who
are really good aboutremembering birthdays and
sending out cards.
All of a sudden they're notsending out cards anymore
because they're forgettingbirthdays, or someone who used
(04:57):
to be really good at their mathand accounting now can't balance
their checkbook or write acheck, or is missing paying
bills, or they stop rememberingto take their medicine things
like that.
Those are times where you wantto bring that to your doctor and
say you know, can we look intothis?
And I the one thing that I willsay, just having practiced in
medicine for many years andworking with many good doctors
(05:20):
even really good doctorssometimes won't know what to do
with memory evaluation.
So you really have to push themand ask them and say could you
please look in?
Maybe one of these medicines ormaybe something in the blood
work is causing this.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
So for some people that have a loved one that's
been forgivable or something, orthey've been forgivable, does
it necessarily mean that theyhave dementia, and if so, what
is dementia and what doesdementia mean?
Speaker 3 (05:45):
So we'll start with the definitions, I think,
because that's a big area ofconfusion even within medicine,
If you ask a few differentdoctors, they'll have different
definitions of dementia.
So dementia first is to justunderstand it's kind of a very
vague term.
It means something's happenedto this person and their brain
function is not the way it wasmost of their life.
(06:08):
Something's changed it.
Now the reason I say that sobroadly is there are lots of
things that can cause dementiaand Alzheimer's is just one of
them.
So that's why, like you couldhave someone, could have a bad
stroke and after that strokethey have difficulty remembering
or they have difficultyspeaking.
That would be a type of adementia.
(06:28):
That would be a stroke-relateddementia.
But Alzheimer's is one type ofdementia.
So the question as far aswhether or not someone has
dementia really depends upon howextensive is the change in
their brain function, so that ithas to be pretty extensive to
meet the definition for dementia.
It has to be impairment intheir memory or impairment in
(06:49):
their ability to find words orto speak or to make decisions.
That is now affecting theirdaily life.
So maybe they're not safe tostay at home by themselves
because they've, you know,walked out of the house on a 110
degree day in the middle ofsummer and don't have any water
with them and walk for a fewmiles Like people are making bad
decisions.
(07:09):
That could be the sign thatthis is a dementia, versus
something that's more mild, likesome forgetfulness, and it
affects them a little bit intheir daily life, but they can
still function by themselves.
It's really that function pieceand I know with what you do.
You see where families need tobring in more help because the
(07:30):
person can't be left alone, sothey need more assistance to
keep them safe.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Right, and I think another thing that's always
questioned is is dementia,alzheimer's?
They're the same thing?
Talk to me just a little bitabout that, because they're not.
They're two separate things.
So tell me just a little bitabout that because they're not.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
They're two separate things.
So tell me just a little bitabout that.
And that's where it gets reallyconfusing for people, because
I've had patients come to myoffice and oftentimes the family
brings them and says you know,the doctor says they have
dementia.
That means it's not Alzheimer'sright.
And that's not necessarily thecase.
So dementia, as I said, canhave multiple, many different
causes.
No-transcript.
(08:30):
So Alzheimer's disease does notalways progress to a dementia
stage.
It can be actually silent.
You can have Alzheimer'sdisease in the brain tissue.
If we did a blood test or aspecial type of scan, we can see
Alzheimer's in the brain tissue, but the person may not have
forgetfulness yet.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Right.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
But if it progresses more, at some point in the
future they will develop enoughmemory impairment that they will
have what's called a dementia.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Right If that is clear.
And I think honestly we won'tknow these things until we do
testing, until we go to ourproviders and talk with them.
I must be very honest, I thinkone big stigma, especially for
us people of color we're notgoing to the doctor to get any
clarification for any of that,let alone kind of go through a
(09:20):
clinical trial and try to, youknow, try to participate in that
and to try to find the rightmedications to fit these things.
So is there testing that can bedone and what recommendations
do you have for that testing?
Speaker 3 (09:34):
So the first thing about doing any testing at all,
or even addressing it and forthis is for any patient, but
especially we're finding thatcertain racial backgrounds are
at higher risk.
So African-American.
Black, latino, hispanic higherrisk of Alzheimer's disease.
It's affecting thosecommunities and those families
(09:57):
and those patients more, andoftentimes there's barriers to
health care in general, and sogoing the next step of getting
the right diagnosis becomes evenmore challenging.
But it is important to have itevaluated, and the reason for
that is there are newmedications available to treat
it.
But also you have a right toknow what's affecting your
(10:20):
health.
You have a right to know whatyour diagnoses are, what is
available to you, and then youhave the right to say I don't
want to do that or yes, I wantto do more.
I think you have a right toknow, and I think that's the
piece where I think theevaluation should be done.
The doctor should have a cleartalk with you about what they
don't know and what they do know, what's available and then the
(10:41):
patient should have the abilityto say yes or no, or the family
should be able to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
So how do a person talk to their doctor about that,
if a person is dealing withmemory loss or things of that
nature?
So how do you communicate thatwith your doctor?
Speaker 3 (10:54):
And it's a hard one because, like I said, I mean all
doctors, most doctors have goodintention, but sometimes, when
it's not in their area ofexpertise or comfort, they may
not want to talk about itbecause it's an area they don't
know much about.
But you have to just kind ofsay well, can we, you know,
check and make sure.
Or one way to start isoftentimes, and not always, but
dementia sometimes can run infamilies and you can say you
(11:16):
know my, I remember mygrandmother, my grandfather had
something like this.
I feel like I might be showingsome signs.
What can we do to evaluate menow, Like, what could we do?
Or can we go ahead and just dosome blood tests, maybe check my
medicines?
Let's check my memory and someof this the patient themselves
may be reluctant to do it.
It's not easy to have yourmemory tested.
(11:38):
It feels like someone'squestioning if you're smart or
not, and memory is notintelligence.
But we oftentimes think peoplethat remember everything are
really smart.
but you can be smart in lots ofdifferent ways so people don't
like that, but it's important tohave it tested to see like
maybe there's an early sign thatyou're you haven't picked up on
yet.
Um, so have talk to the doctorabout you know.
(11:59):
Can we just do a brain healthcheckup?
Can we just check and make suremy my thyroid level is, my
vitamin levels are normal, makesure I'm on the right
medications?
The other piece is we'relearning there's a very strong
connection between the heart andthe brain and brain health.
So you could even approach thedoctor to say you know how's my
blood pressure, my cholesterol,my diabetes control?
(12:22):
Can we talk about.
Can I exercise?
Because that would be good formy body and my brain.
What type of diet could I eat?
Because those are things thatsometimes primary care doctors
are more comfortable with.
And that's one way, because ifyou do have good blood pressure
control, good cholesterol, gooddiabetes sugar control, that can
actually help slow down orlower the risk of developing
(12:42):
Alzheimer's later on.
So that's one thing that peoplecan do for themselves.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Right and really what we're hearing is just being an
advocate for yourself and yourloved ones.
Just really take, go on thatextra mile to really care for
yourself but take control ofyour health.
It's super important to be ableto do that and have those open
and honest conversations, eventhough it's kind of hard or you
don't kind of know where to gowith this.
I love those questions that yougave because it's kind of
(13:08):
practical.
You know you can go into anysituation and be able to kind of
navigate that, so I love that.
But they get a diagnosis.
They say, hey, you know, yeah,dementia, alzheimer's.
What do we do now?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
And that's where some , if the doctor can't do that
evaluation, then you just sayyou know, could I have a
referral?
Maybe to another doctor, onething that most people, and most
people who are worried abouttheir memory, tend to be
Medicare age 65 and older Noteverybody.
There are some people in their50s and early 60s, but 65 and
(13:42):
older, if you are a Medicarerecipient.
There is something called theannual wellness visit that the
doctor should be doing once ayear and part of it includes a
checkup on their memory and partof it is the annual wellness
visit.
Doesn't tell the doctor thatthey have to do memory testing,
but it says they have to atleast ask about it and they
should send them for testing ifthere's a concern.
(14:03):
So that's one thing.
You can ask for, the annualwellness visit once a year.
I think that's probably a goodplace to start.
The one thing our center does doshort memory evaluations for
people that are interested inlearning about what's available
for prevention or research, andagain, that doesn't mean you
(14:23):
have to participate.
What I like about it is it's away for us to tell them about,
give them a short informationabout their brain health at this
point in time, of shortinformation about their brain
health at this point in time.
So they have that informationbecause, like I said, they have
a right to know if there is anearly impairment and then decide
to do what they want to do withit.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Well, tell me this what should people know about
getting tested, going throughthis, what you call it forgive
me clinical trials?
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
So tell me, what should people know, what should
they expect, and how does itwork?
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Sure.
So the first thing aboutclinical trials.
There's lots of different typesof clinical trials.
Some of them are looking atways to prevent dementia or
Alzheimer's.
Some of them are looking at newways to diagnose it, like blood
tests, different brain scans.
Some of it are developing newdrug treatments that eventually
would be approved for the doctorto prescribe.
(15:17):
But the first thing aboutresearch and anything in
medicine is you have the rightto get all the information and
make the decision, and so theone thing about research like
the first thing that we do istell them about what's going to
happen.
It's called informed consent.
We're going to do some memorytesting with you.
We're going to draw some blood.
This is what might happen withthe blood test.
(15:39):
We're going to give you theseresults and then this is what
you can do with it.
You can either ask about whatclinical studies might be
appropriate for you and whichone you might want to do.
You can talk to your familyabout it and come back.
So usually it is for theclinical research process.
When it is something withinAlzheimer's, it typically tends
to have informed consent, andthen it has some getting your
(16:00):
medical history.
What medicines are you on, likewhat you would normally do at
the doctor's office.
But the things that are alittle bit different are you do
get some memory testing and,like I said, there usually is
some blood work done or bloodtests.
Sometimes there's imaging doneand then if you're in a study
where the medication is beingdeveloped, that medication may
be given during the course ofthe study.
If the person consents to be inthe study, they would receive
(16:24):
that medication and then gettested along the way to see is
the medication doing anything?
Is it helping?
Is it improving their memory?
Is it slowing down theprogression?
And some of the studies can goon for as short as six months.
Some of them can be two tothree years.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
And this can be for someone that don't have dementia
and just wanted to know, maybe,if that trait or if they
basically going down that road.
Maybe am I saying that rightand it also can be for someone
with dementia, correct?
Okay, great.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
That's the one thing is, a lot of times there's
multiple different studies goingon at once and a patient can
only be in one study at a time.
So they might choose to be in aprevention study, where they're
just tested but no drug isbeing developed no medication is
being developed, or they couldbe in a study where they are
receiving a medication toprevent Alzheimer's, or they
(17:15):
could have a diagnosis ofAlzheimer's already and they're
in a study to determine can thismedication be developed to slow
down the progression or stopthe progression.
So there's lots of differentways and I think the one thing
about research is anyone whodoes want to participate, you
know, learn about it.
And again, like I said, theyalways have a right to say I
don't want to do it, at any timein the study.
(17:35):
You can even go into the studyand then say you know what, I
don't want to do this anymore.
I thought I did, but andthere's no obligation there and
it's really you're part of ateam and what they're bringing
to the the development oftreatments for other people is
significant.
They're help.
They're really helping others.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
They're really helping others.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
They're helping their family members potentially have
treatments in the future thatmay help them.
What they get in return is theyget a lot of interaction with
medical personnel that know thedisease.
So what we find is patientsthat are in the studies
oftentimes just enjoy coming inbecause they get to see the
staff Sometimes it's once amonth, sometimes every couple of
weeks talk about how they'redoing, how they're feeling, tell
(18:17):
us you know their doctorchanged a medicine so that we
can update their record.
So sometimes it's just theyreally are part of an important
piece of the scientific team andnot just a guinea pig or that
type of.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
And so and so talk to me a little bit about that,
because actually we were at wereat an Alzheimer's event
probably a couple of weeks agoand we talked.
They talked about clinicaltrials and kind of what the
progression looked like, and onelady from the crowd she was
really why do we have to beguinea pigs or what?
So speak to me a little bitabout that stigma and just kind
(18:52):
of how we can combat that.
You know just as a whole.
You know we want to be able tomake sure that we can combat
that.
You know just as a whole.
You know we want to be able tomake sure that we have
medications that's able to workfor everyone, you know, not just
the select few.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
So talk to me a little bit about that.
No, it's a really importantpoint for us to know that a
medication or drug is going towork for everybody.
We need to have a really robust,diverse set of participants in
studies robust, diverse set ofparticipants in studies,
unfortunately, because there issome historical bad actors that
didn't provide informed consentand that is the really biggest,
(19:25):
I think, mistake or injusticethat was done was not telling
somebody that they were in astudy or not telling them that
there was a medication availableto treat them and it was
withheld from them.
And those are the historicalpieces that we actually are
taught.
To be a researcher, you have toactually get training that
tells us about all of thesehistorical things that happened.
(19:47):
They were predominantly in theblack community that were bad
and they were bad actors and thepoint is that you know that
shouldn't happen again.
We should have enough awarenessand that's where that informed
consent becomes.
That is number one Informedconsent, meaning every
individual person has theability to say at any time I
don't want to do this or I dowant to do it, but you have the
(20:10):
responsibility.
You must tell me everythingavailable to me.
You must tell me.
If there's a new treatment outthere, you need to tell me about
it.
If there's new information thatcomes out about this drug or
other drugs, you must tell me.
And we do.
That is part of thecertification as a researcher,
is my role as an investigatorand I tell participants when
they come into a study is myrole is number one their safety
(20:33):
oversight while they're in thestudy.
But number two is I'm here toinform them anything that's
happening that could that theyshould know about new data, new
information, safety information,a new drug comes out, whatever
it is, I have an obligation totell them and that's their right
, and so part of I think forpeople to know is that we don't
want them to be guinea pigs.
(20:53):
We want them.
They're participants, they'reimportant and they have rights
and we're there to respect theirrights and fulfill our
obligation to be sure that theyaren't just treated like just to
give data or information.
They are part of you know.
They're our responsibility totake care of while they're in
the study.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Well, that's a lot of good information and I think
that's good for people to knowand understand that.
Hey, they are a part of thisstudy and they have the right to
information as they're goingthrough it, you don't have to go
in blind.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Yeah, you don't have to go in blind.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
So that's great.
So, with that information, howdo you get those people involved
?
How can they get involved?
Speaker 3 (21:29):
We'd love I mean one part of opening Kerwin Medical
Center.
I wanted to set it up the way Ithought it should be done, that
it should be accessible andopen and even for people who
don't want to participate, theycan still get information from
us.
They can call us up, askquestions.
We're there as a resource.
But if you are interested, alot of times it's just starting
(21:50):
on our website.
They can just put in their nameand information and have a call
back from one of our staff andone of our staff can tell them
about what's going on at thecenter right now.
Or we try to have events withcommunity partners, like you two
here, so that we can get outinto the community and give good
information and give people theopportunity to ask questions
and the opportunity to come backand say I'd like to hear more,
(22:11):
I'd like to participate.
What do I need to do next?
So the one thing about reachingeveryone, though, is it kind of
does take all of us.
We need our community.
Sometimes you might need totell your neighbor hey, have you
thought about contacting thecenter?
I noticed you're having sometrouble with someone, your
friend at church or whoever itis.
We all need to kind of helpthem be aware that there is this
(22:35):
piece available if they wantedto participate and be part of it
.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
And I think also too, in factoring, if you want to
join a clinical trial or dosomething like that, you want to
think about just the atmospheresurrounding the researchers and
the team that's going to bedoing it, because it's the same
thing with you.
It's warmth there.
Sometimes it can be so cold.
You don't see the people whoare doing the research.
You don't see all of that.
(23:00):
You guys go to events.
Y'all are out, y'all have yourmobile bus that comes out and
just do various things in thecommunity.
So just tell me a little bitabout that and why that was
super important for you to justreally be a staple in the
community instead of just beingbehind the scenes and just doing
the research.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Yeah, that came about somewhat with just my
experience over the years inmedicine.
Especially when you're inacademic medicine, like you're
at a university, you get used tobeing in your center and
everyone has to come to you andthat's really difficult for a
lot of people.
Sometimes it's transportation,sometimes it's child care,
sometimes it's they have to workand our hours aren't compatible
(23:38):
with them getting to a visit.
So when I started to see thatand you think that, well, people
can get to you, we'll providerides or whatever, that's not
always the answer.
You have to really learn whatis the barrier for those that
person and then break down thatbarrier.
So that's where you's where thereason why we're opening up the
office in Oak Cliff tomorrow is.
(23:58):
You know, my primary office hasbeen at Presbyterian Hospital
on Walnut Hill.
It's a well-known hospital.
It's in the hospital.
It's easy to get to if you livein that area.
And what I was finding as I wentout into the community and
you'd go even 20 minutes away toOak Cliff or South Dallas and
they're like we would never goup there it's the traffic or
(24:18):
reliable car, or I don't want totake a Lyft or an Uber because
I don't know where I'm goingonce I get there, so I said well
then we need to come to you, weneed to put a center in Oak
Cliff so that hopefully now it'smaybe only five or ten minutes
from you or where you're livingor where you're going to the
store or to your doctor orwhatever, and it's much more
convenient for you to get there,because then if you want to
(24:38):
participate, we are there foryou, it's accessible and that's
that's, that's the beauty of it,and I and I just I applaud you
for that because you didn't, youdon't have to do that.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
And a lot of times, a lot of uh, clinical trials and
research teams, they don't dothat because it's easier to just
do what they're doing.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Or stay where they're at.
They don't come to where thepeople need the resource or the
information.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
And so, listen, I just applaud you because you go
the extra mile and so I justappreciate that first and
foremost.
And then also you have families, people who are participating
in these trials.
They're learning hey, my momhad Alzheimer's dementia.
They're going to come to youand say I'm trying to see if I
might have a gene or a trait andthat can be a very just what is
(25:27):
it?
Personal Is that the word?
I'm kind of intimate, kind ofsituation and having someone who
is really tied to the community.
It's not about anything else,but giving you what you need is
just imperative.
So I love that.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
And I appreciate you.
And before we go I know youtouched on this a little bit
earlier, but can you touch on ita little bit more what is a
good way to prevent or reducethe likelihood of someone having
dementia or Alzheimer's?
Yeah, sure.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
So the good I guess this is the kind of the hopeful
piece is.
That is kind of that goes backto that piece about autonomy and
you taking control of your ownhealth.
I think part of it is knowingthat we do know that you can
reduce your own risk if you takecare of your heart.
So the vascular risk factor sogo to your doctor, get your
blood pressure checked, yourcholesterol, make sure your
(26:11):
diabetes is controlled, yeah.
And then the other two thatpeople have to incorporate into
lifestyle is we know thatexercise, if it's safe for you
to exercise and this is whereyou have to check with your
doctor first, 30 minutes a day,about five days a week, just 30
minutes of like a good walk, orif you have trouble with
arthritis and walking isdifficult, you know, maybe it's
(26:33):
a stationary bike or something.
It's just something to get theheart rate up a little bit, and
it's 30 minutes a day.
It doesn't have to be all atsomething, it's just something
to get the heart rate up alittle bit and it's 30 minutes a
day.
It doesn't have to be all atonce, it could be 10 minutes
three times a day or whatever itis.
Park a little bit farther awayfrom the store and walk in
things like that.
We know that that actuallyhelps reduce your risk over time
and it's never too late tostart Again.
It's just a safety thing.
Are you safe to walk?
Make sure you're not falling ortripping or at injury to walk?
(26:54):
Make sure you're not falling ortripping or at injury.
And then the other piece is diet, and this is the one that I
struggle with a little bit,because the diet is called the
MIND diet, the M-I-N-D diet, andpeople can look it up and we
give information about it.
But you have to be able to getto those foods too, and they're
not exotic, but they have to besomewhat available at a grocery
store near you.
So it's things like a good,healthy fish like salmon, trout,
(27:19):
like sardines, anchovies whichsounds strange, but those are
the healthier fish because theyhave higher in a certain vitamin
called.
DHA and omega-3 fatty acids.
So it's a good fish or chicken.
It's not a lot of red meat,usually not a lot of pork, and
it's not fried food.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
So it's not it's got to be something that's I know we
got to cut it all out, Wellmaybe we need to cut this
segment out.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
No, that's great information because our diet
plays a big part in how our lifeend up involving towards the
end of you know as we get olderput it that way.
So thank you for that Sure.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
No, fried chicken.
What about coffee?
Coffee's okay.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Coffee's okay.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
I'm okay, no, no.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
I'm okay.
I'm okay, let me caveat that alittle bit.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Thank you, Dianne.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
So coffee by itself is okay.
When we start doing coffeelatte, double splash, splish,
squirt, whatever it is yes.
Lots of sugar and cream andthings like that.
That starts to where it gets alittle bit less.
So sugar plays a part in a lotof it Sugar is not part of a
healthy brain diet?
(28:30):
So you try to away from sugars,so keep it black and not a ton.
It's usually two cups of coffee, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Okay, I'm going to cut it down and I'm going to do
no sugar no creamer.
I'm going to do this.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Okay, doesn't taste as good.
It doesn't.
I got to get used to that.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Got to get used to that.
So tell us, how can they learnmore about what's going on the
new office in Eau Clive?
Where can they go to just getall the information for Kerwin
Medical Center?
Speaker 3 (28:57):
So probably the easiest place to start is if you
want to start online.
Just go to kerwinmedicalcom andour website will come up.
It has information about us,about what we do, it has
information about studies, Ifthey're interested in just
hearing more, and I think justone thing for people to know is
that you're never obligated Justby putting in your information.
(29:18):
We don't give your informationto anybody else.
But you will get a call back, oryou can email and we'll email
you back and get you theinformation that you're looking
for, and then you can decide ifyou want to hear more, if you
want to come into the office andhave a visit.
And that's really where it'skept open-ended for somebody, so
they can really just kind ofget what they want and make sure
their questions are answered.
So that's a good place to start.
(29:40):
They can email us at enrollE-N-R-O-L-L at kirwinmedicalcom
and that's just an email thatgoes to one of my staff members.
That'll respond and again, ifthey want to come in for a visit
, they'll get them scheduled Onthe website.
It'll also tell us our twolocations.
We have one location atPresbyterian Hospital on Walnut
Hill and then we also have thenew location opening tomorrow at
4315 South Lancaster Road andthat's our Oak Cliff location.
(30:04):
So tomorrow's our grand opening.
We're ribbon cutting at threeo'clock and we'll probably start
seeing patients there like assoon as maybe Friday or Monday
it's ready.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
One more question how close do you think we are to
curing this disease?
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Yeah, it's a great question.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
I'm sorry to put you on the spot.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
We are.
So I started doing this and Iknew that during my lifetime
we'd have some big breakthroughs.
I've been doing it for 20 yearsalready, so it took a while to
get here.
What we have currentlyavailable definitely has made an
impact that's different.
Like today, I tell peoplealthough we haven't found the
cures yet, the medications thathave been approved in the last
(30:51):
two years actually do slow downthe disease to the point where
the disease is not the samedisease as what your grandmother
or aunt or whoever had yearsago.
We can now slow it down to thepoint where you may not reach
those late stages of dementiathat everyone fears, that fear
of being completelyincapacitated, being dependent
upon or a burden to your family.
(31:13):
The medications can do that.
They don't cure it, but becausethey slow the progression, it
gives that person many moreyears of independence.
So we're not at the cure yet.
That'll be the next step.
But we have to make theseincremental things.
You can't slow down a trainlike that we got to slow.
Or you can't stop a train likethat.
We have to slow it down firstbefore we can reverse it.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
So we're slowing it down first, and we need people
to participate in these trials,so that's important.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Every medication, every trial, everything counts,
and so it's getting us to thebigger goal of ending
Alzheimer's as a whole.
So I thank you for your time.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Thank you for asking me Really.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
appreciate you for coming and just giving us
invaluable information for notonly us but our community.
So I just thank you so much andeverything that you do at Kern
Medical Center.
So to gather all of what wetalked about today, please click
the link in our bio taking youover to our podcast website to
be able to download everythingwe discussed today transcribed
just for you, under thetranscript tab.
If you've enjoyed what youheard today and would like to
(32:13):
hear more, please subscribe andfollow us on YouTube at the
Journey Out, and as well asfollow us on all podcast
platforms.
On our podcast website, you cansupport the Journey Out podcast
with a monthly donation of yourchoosing, helping us to
continue to provide theseepisodes every week, and your
contribution is more thanappreciated and we thank you.
And with that, that's a wrap ontoday's episode of the Journey
(32:34):
Out.
We pray that the thingsdiscussed today have been a
helping hand for you and yourloved ones hoping the journey
out.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
We pray that the things discussed today have been
a helping hand for you and yourloved ones, hoping that it
positively brings you out of oneseason to the next, starting
your Exodus journey, and I knowthis was a lot of information,
but I hope you take thisinformation to be a resource to
your family and your community.
Thank you, guys.
I love you.
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