Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome to Georgia Focus. I'm John Clark on the Georgian
Used Network. The Alzheimer's Federation of America has announced the
apartment of doctor Monica Parker, a family physician, researcher, and caregiver,
as chair of its Medical, Scientific and Memory Screening Advisory Board.
Doctor Parker is an Associate Professor of Neurology and leads
the Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Corps at the Guysetta Alzheimer's
(00:35):
Disease Research Center at Emory University. In this new position
that you have with the Alzheimer's Federation of America, what
are you going to do?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
You know, there are a lot of organizations that have
advocacy as a part of their mission, right, and they
all do it a little bit differently. That doesn't mean
one's better or worse than the other, is just different.
And the Alzheimer's Foundation of America has a lot of
(01:08):
its service area geographically confined, kind of like to the
New York area, but every year around the country they
go give kind of like an Alzheimer's Tour to make
people more aware about Alzheimer's and related dimensions. But also
(01:29):
they want to make sure that people are aware of
resources that will help them with this journey. Okay, so
how is the Alzheimer's Foundation of America differently different? I
think that my interaction with them has really been from
(01:53):
a professional level. Yeah, I participated in their tours across
America to raise awareness about Alzheimer's in related dimensions. But
as an organization, they find a lot of professional training
for nurses or providers to better understand Alzheimer's and related dementias,
(02:20):
the disease process and the diagnostic process, and in their work,
certainly in New York where they are centered, they have
built a community of care a center in Long Island,
(02:40):
New York where people can come get training to learn
how to be a better caregiver, to how to provide
services to people in that services or support, that's really
the word support for people living with Alzheimer's. You know,
they have in their headquarters and in this facility that's
(03:02):
newly been designed kind of like a way to make
your home a little bit more user friendly for persons
living with dementia, regardless of ideology. So they want to
make sure that we help people who have Alzheimer's or
(03:23):
related dementia enjoy a good quality of life to the
best of their abilities. You know, everybody with dementia doesn't
necessarily need to be institutionalized in a memory care center
or assisted living or something. They can live very comfortably
at home if we make the right kinds of accommodations.
(03:47):
And so the Alzheimer's Foundation of America does that in
their education and training center and in the kinds of
work that they do around the country. So one of
the things that Alzheimer's Foundation of America did for us
here in Atlanta, there is a memory screening text called
(04:10):
the Mocha, and up until very recently you had to
have special training and you had to pay for that training. Well,
they gave us funds to train nurses to do memory
screens in the community. So professional development, improving the skill
(04:34):
set of people living and working with people who have
dementias something that they do. So it's all about education,
helping family members, you know, caregivers learn how to take
care of people with us, but more importantly for people
who aren't normally involved in Alzheimer's care and work to
(04:57):
learn how to manage, communicate, in design activity for people
living with this disorder.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Right now, look at Alzheimer's and you're with Olzetta Memory
Center in at Amory University. So but what do we do?
What do we what's happening as far as a cure
or is there something a cure? Are we getting closer
to a cure?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Okay, so the GOISEWET. Alzheimer's Disease Research Center is one
of thirty seven National Institutes of Health National Institutes of
Aging research centers dedicated to the diagnosis and research about
Alzheimer's in related dimensions. So at most of these thirty
(05:44):
seven NIH funded centers, you can participate in clinical research,
but you can also get a diagnosis. So part of
the research has involved testing of medicines that will stop
or slow the process of amyloid accumulation, which is the
(06:08):
working diagnosis for Alzheimer's. If you have amyloid pathology in
your brain, we're saying that you are like with somebody
who has Alzheimer's. So research has focused on disrupting that
amyloid development pathway. And right now we have had three
(06:29):
FDA approved drugs educanamblacana mab and now denonomab, who work
to remove amyloid that is developing in the brain. While
it does remove some amyloid, it does not really stop
(06:50):
the Alzheimer's disease process like chemotherapy drugs do for cancer.
So where are we with research. We're learning that forty
percent of all dementias can be prevented by managing our lifestyle.
So we're looking at what are the interventions in terms
of lifestyle that make it less likely that we develop Alzheimer's,
(07:12):
So doing things like being physically active, maintaining an ideal
body weight, managing hypertension if that's what you have, Because
aside from age, one of the major risk factors for
Alzheimer's is hypertension. So there are studies that are showing
a stronger link between the development of hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
(07:36):
Is things that have to do with the heart and
the development of dementia. Is it Alzheimer's, Probably not, but
there is a close association. So what are the lifestyle
interventions that we can make to make it less likely
that you will develop Alzheimer's or related dementia. Well, I
(07:57):
just talked about managing hypertension. Exercise, what you eat, how
well you sleep, managing things like hearing loss are all
associated with later life development of Alzheimer's or related dementia.
So research is focusing on I think we're working on therapeutics,
(08:20):
but just as important as therapeutics are preventative strategies. What
are the prevention things that we can do to make
it less likely that this is something that dooms us
to a poor quality of life. And aside from some
of the things that I mentioned, we're learning that social engagement,
(08:40):
you know, maintaining social relationships, whether it's your family, the
external community, your church, wherever it is you socialize are
things that kind of create greater resilience to this disorder.
So being physically active, socially engaged, eating proper, really sleeping well,
(09:02):
managing the things we can manage, like our chronic illnesses,
our hearing loss, all of that kind of thing. We're
learning that those are things that play just as important
a role in eliminating the debilitating effects of Alzheimer's as
any kind of pharmaceutical.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
The medicines you mentioned earlier about preparing Alzheimer's. Do those
medicines they work? I know they work, but they work
once you've got Alzheimer's gone so far at that point
when it's out that it's too late for them to work.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
You know what I'm saying, Well, yes, that's a really
good question. I think that we're looking at right now.
The recommendation for giving people that medication are people who
have clinical signs of Alzheimer's and related to MEAs it's
(10:01):
not necessarily been Those medications have not been approved for
treating people who, let's say, are cognitively normal. I'm functioning okay,
but they're because of my ginetics or my family history,
and even because I might have some amyloid in my brain.
(10:22):
We have not been approved to give these medications to people.
There is no propylactic indication for these medications right now.
Their use is restricted to people who have clinical evidence
of amyloid pathology and clinical symptoms. So, right now we're
(10:46):
using these drugs and we're thinking like, Okay, if we
did really well with these people with earlier with mild
cases of AD, can we give it to somebody to
prevent the disease. I don't know that we're there yet.
We're still looking at that right We're not there yet.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Though we had talked about earlier before we started doing
the interview, about a friend of mine who's been involved
with your case studies. Did those case studies what are
they proving it? Did you do at Emory now in
the Ozeta Center, what are those case studies telling you? Now?
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Well, one of our largest studies is called the Emory
Healthy Brain Study, and we're looking at people ages eighteen
to seventy five who don't have any symptoms of Alzheimer's
or related dementia. And we're looking at, well, what are
the I call it resilience factors? What are the things
(11:41):
that are going on with these people that make that
put them at risk for having Alzheimer's or related dementia.
So we're studying healthy lifestyle factors. Okay, Remember I told
you those are things that we're looking at. Medications, there
are a number of different clinical drug trucks files that
are largely found sponsored or funded by pharmaceutical companies that
(12:07):
are kind of like next generation monoclonal antibodies or drugs
that will build upon what we've learned from the existing medications.
We don't have an outcome yet because those drugs are still.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
In development, right Okay, So now is the Alzheimer's Federation
of America working with you on some of those case
studies or drugs or something like that to then push
it out well.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I think the Alzheimer's Foundation of America's job is to
again increase awareness about the disease, but also about what
kinds of progress is being made with some of these medications,
and make sure that people are aware of where they
can go to participate in these clinic trials. But again,
(13:02):
I think that making sure that people are aware of
what resources exist for families living with Alzheimer's in related dementia,
whether it's I need to see a doctor, I need
to get into a clinical trial. I think those kinds
of opportunities. Educating the people about those kinds of opportunities
(13:26):
is where the Alzheimer's Foundation of America fills a void
with their tour across America. They're going around making people
aware of this disorder, making people aware of opportunities to
improve their brains as a result of ongoing research is
(13:49):
what they do. So, what is the disease? How can
I fix it? Can I fix it? What can we
do to make things better? Providers whether they're nurse practitioners, nurses,
or medical doctors about where they can go to get
better tools to help manage this disorder all of that's important.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Is there any racial disparities of this with Hispanic or
black or white or whatever.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
They do? There is research that has shown that people
of color, whether you are black, of any ethnicity, or
Latin American or Native American, you are at higher risk
for developing Alzheimer's or related dementia in the United States
(14:43):
of America. What are these differences? Why is that? So?
I don't think that research has quite figured that out.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Okay, so you don't really have a reason for it
right now? Then, no, it it happens.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I guess it's happening. But it's also maybe a little
bit different right now. People with dementia. I didn't say Alzheimer's,
that said dementa. Their brain just doesn't function well. There
are lots of reasons for that, and it's not always Alzheimer's.
And there is research to show that many people in
(15:20):
these groups that we've just talked about don't necessarily have Alzheimer's.
They have dementia, but they don't necessarily have Alzheimer's dementia.
There's a dementia that you can get. You talked about
yourself having had a stroke, Yes, well, sixty percent of
all people who have strokes develop a dementia. We call
it vascular dementia, but it's not Alzheimer's, right, And the
(15:43):
things that we would use for Alzheimer's are not the
things that we would use for somebody who has a
stroke related dementia.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
You know, something with somebody who has Alzheimer's, And I've
had the experience in this, is it something can happen
to them in the life, a tragedy or something like
that where they just change spam like that, They change
and they go and one day they're dancing at a
party and the next day they're in the hospital and
they're gone forever and they don't even know does that happen?
(16:15):
A lot knows Alzheimer's.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Well, you're raising an issue that people were drawing more
attention to, and one of those is the coexistence of
emotional disorders like depression and anxiety, and what is the
role of those disorders in the development of dementia? So
people suffer so significantly from depression and anxiety disorders. And
(16:43):
I had a patient who I thought for sure had
some kind of bad dementia, but she was really having
a rather significant psychiatric reaction to the death of both
her husband and her children. Right, And I saw her
many years later, like five or six years later. She said,
you don't recognize me, do And I said, no, I don't.
(17:06):
And then she explained her history with me and what
had happened. And then it was like, ah, this explains
the depression connection and dementing disorders. So there is research
being conducted by both neurologists, geriatric providers and psychiatrists showing
(17:29):
a connection between anxiety disorders such as anxiety and depression
or I should say effective disorder, and the development of dementia.
You know, there are several different types of dementia, and
there is an association with emotional disorders.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yes, right, okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Research is being done here in other places about that
PTSD plays a role.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
In Alzheimer's, does it?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Yeah, and developing dementia with some people.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Oh okay, wow, wow.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
There are associations. That's part of research.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Any family history, like do you know if that has
something to do with down passing it along?
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Well? Yeah, there are genes they're associated with the development
of Alzheimer's and right now, with respect to the A
there is a gene called apo E four. We know
that's been most widely studied. If you have two copies
of a po E four, one from your mother and
one from your father, you are at higher risk of
(18:40):
developing Alzheimer's, but that doesn't mean that you will develop it.
But in addition to a po E four, there are
maybe thirty other genes that have not been as well
studied that you can inherit. That may increase your risk.
But just because you inherit the gene doesn't mean you
get the disease right. And that's what people need to understand.
(19:03):
You know, the environment shapes the expression of those genes
a lot of times.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
If someone wants to get involved with your studies, should
they where should where should they go to get that
get involved? How should they get involved your study?
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Well? I think that here in Georgia, if you're interested
in research in Alzheimer's and related dementias, you just need
to get on board and come along. We have uh
there's a number, a telephone number I'll give you four
four seven to seven six zero five zero, and miss
(19:41):
Latasha Chapman is our research coordinator who takes information and
gives you information about studies. So that's four four seven
to seven six zero five zero. Miss Latasha Chapman is
our research coordinator who will take information from you and
(20:02):
help advise you about how you can get involved in
a study.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
That's great, that's great that I encourage people to do that,
to do it to find out, you know, if you
have it, because you know what, if somebody does have it,
they the earlier you find out about it, the more
you can do something about it.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Right, Right, And that's where you have to kind of
collaborate with and work along with your primary care doctor.
If you have a concern, if you're registering a concern,
you talk to that, talk to your primary care doctor
about that so that he or she can order the
tests and look for things that may be medical that
(20:39):
may be causing those symptoms.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
And once that primary care doctor has had an opportunity
to clear up those things that are medical that may
be contributing to the symptoms, like looking at your medicines,
making sure that everything is stable, then they'll refer you
to the neurologists for further evaluation. And we're testing, but
you have to start with your primary care doctor first
(21:03):
to look for those things that may look like a
d but maybe there's something else. Maybe it's a medication interaction.
Maybe it's an undiagnosed tumor and a certain part of
your brain, you know, some metabolic imbalance, thyroid disorders that
have not been well controlled, think Wendy Williams. You know,
(21:26):
there are other things that need to be evaluated before
we say, Oh, she's acting funny, she's got is acting strange.
I think she's got Alzheimer's. Well, probably not.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Right, That's that's very true. You don't. I always always
think Alzheimer's. But it's not that case. It's not that
many times it's not Alzheimer's. Yeah, yeah, What about Where
can do people go to get involved with the America
the Alzheimer's Foundation of America and tell us a little
(21:59):
bit more about what you're doing and what you expect
to have happen in the course of your involvement with them.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Okay, if you're interested in getting information, if you're a
caregiver living with Alzheimer's, somebody who's got Alzheimer's, we have
a helpline and the number for the Alzheimer's Foundation of
America toll free helpline is eight six six two three
(22:27):
two eight four eight four eight six six two three
two eight four eight four. So, if you are a
family member caring for somebody who has Alzheimer's and you
need some assistance, needs some understanding. If you're just a
person who doesn't have anything but wants to know more
about Alzheimer's and related d MUNSI, you can contact the
(22:50):
Alzheimer's Foundation of America at that number. If you want
to do a memory screen, those are things that we
can do. If you're interested in research, you're at Emory.
I just gave you that number. You can certainly call
our coordinator and learn more about it. You can also
look up the boise weeta Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, which
(23:16):
is Alzheimer's A l z H E I M E
R S dot Emory E M O R Y dot
E d U at www dot Alzheimer's Alzheimer's dot Emory
dot E d.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
U, and that number to call us four O four
seven two seven six oh five, right, okay, sixty five. Doctor.
Thank you so much, Doctor Parker for talking to us
today and and and this this all. I'm I'm gonna
bring Alzheimer's to this show as many times as I can,
(23:54):
and I thank you for it.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Okay, thank you. We're on brain Talk Live today talking
about sex Is for Seniors, So you might want to
tune into our Sexes for Seniors our brain Talk Live
number and you can tune into that. We do it
every Tuesday. Okay, it's one of our outreach initiatives. I'll
give you the meeting ID number and you can dial in.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
All right.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Dial in is one nine two nine two zero five
six oh nine to nine. Dial in one nine two
nine two zero five six oh nine nine. But if
you want to be on Brain Talk Live, it occurs
every week at two o'clock in the afternoon, you can call.
(24:39):
That's the number to dial in. Okay, But you want
to register for all of our things, you call miss
Heart four seven zero five eight six four two two
seven and that's for Brain Talk Live at the Boise
weeta Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Well, I thank you for your work. What you're doing
is changing lives. Appreciate it so much. Doctor Monica Parker,
you've been a great You've been a great guest today
and it's been a pleasure to have you on show day.
That's doctor Monica Parker from the Gooysetta Alzheimer's Research Center
at Emory University in Atlanta. Find out more about the
(25:15):
Alzheimer's Foundation of America at a l z f d
N dot org a l z f d N dot org.
For questions or comments about today's program, you can email me,
John Clark at Georgiannewsnetwork dot com. Thanks for listening. I'll
talk to you next week right here on your local
radio station on Georgia Focus
Welcome to Georgia Focus. I'm John Clark on the Georgian
Used Network. The Alzheimer's Federation of America has announced the
apartment of doctor Monica Parker, a family physician, researcher, and caregiver,
as chair of its Medical, Scientific and Memory Screening Advisory Board.
Doctor Parker is an Associate Professor of Neurology and leads
the Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Corps at the Guysetta Alzheimer's
(00:35):
Disease Research Center at Emory University. In this new position
that you have with the Alzheimer's Federation of America, what
are you going to do?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
You know, there are a lot of organizations that have
advocacy as a part of their mission, right, and they
all do it a little bit differently. That doesn't mean
one's better or worse than the other, is just different.
And the Alzheimer's Foundation of America has a lot of
(01:08):
its service area geographically confined, kind of like to the
New York area, but every year around the country they
go give kind of like an Alzheimer's Tour to make
people more aware about Alzheimer's and related dimensions. But also
(01:29):
they want to make sure that people are aware of
resources that will help them with this journey. Okay, so
how is the Alzheimer's Foundation of America differently different? I
think that my interaction with them has really been from
(01:53):
a professional level. Yeah, I participated in their tours across
America to raise awareness about Alzheimer's in related dimensions. But
as an organization, they find a lot of professional training
for nurses or providers to better understand Alzheimer's and related dementias,
(02:20):
the disease process and the diagnostic process, and in their work,
certainly in New York where they are centered, they have
built a community of care a center in Long Island,
(02:40):
New York where people can come get training to learn
how to be a better caregiver, to how to provide
services to people in that services or support, that's really
the word support for people living with Alzheimer's. You know,
they have in their headquarters and in this facility that's
(03:02):
newly been designed kind of like a way to make
your home a little bit more user friendly for persons
living with dementia, regardless of ideology. So they want to
make sure that we help people who have Alzheimer's or
(03:23):
related dementia enjoy a good quality of life to the
best of their abilities. You know, everybody with dementia doesn't
necessarily need to be institutionalized in a memory care center
or assisted living or something. They can live very comfortably
at home if we make the right kinds of accommodations.
(03:47):
And so the Alzheimer's Foundation of America does that in
their education and training center and in the kinds of
work that they do around the country. So one of
the things that Alzheimer's Foundation of America did for us
here in Atlanta, there is a memory screening text called
(04:10):
the Mocha, and up until very recently you had to
have special training and you had to pay for that training. Well,
they gave us funds to train nurses to do memory
screens in the community. So professional development, improving the skill
(04:34):
set of people living and working with people who have
dementias something that they do. So it's all about education,
helping family members, you know, caregivers learn how to take
care of people with us, but more importantly for people
who aren't normally involved in Alzheimer's care and work to
(04:57):
learn how to manage, communicate, in design activity for people
living with this disorder.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Right now, look at Alzheimer's and you're with Olzetta Memory
Center in at Amory University. So but what do we do?
What do we what's happening as far as a cure
or is there something a cure? Are we getting closer
to a cure?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Okay, so the GOISEWET. Alzheimer's Disease Research Center is one
of thirty seven National Institutes of Health National Institutes of
Aging research centers dedicated to the diagnosis and research about
Alzheimer's in related dimensions. So at most of these thirty
(05:44):
seven NIH funded centers, you can participate in clinical research,
but you can also get a diagnosis. So part of
the research has involved testing of medicines that will stop
or slow the process of amyloid accumulation, which is the
(06:08):
working diagnosis for Alzheimer's. If you have amyloid pathology in
your brain, we're saying that you are like with somebody
who has Alzheimer's. So research has focused on disrupting that
amyloid development pathway. And right now we have had three
(06:29):
FDA approved drugs educanamblacana mab and now denonomab, who work
to remove amyloid that is developing in the brain. While
it does remove some amyloid, it does not really stop
(06:50):
the Alzheimer's disease process like chemotherapy drugs do for cancer.
So where are we with research. We're learning that forty
percent of all dementias can be prevented by managing our lifestyle.
So we're looking at what are the interventions in terms
of lifestyle that make it less likely that we develop Alzheimer's,
(07:12):
So doing things like being physically active, maintaining an ideal
body weight, managing hypertension if that's what you have, Because
aside from age, one of the major risk factors for
Alzheimer's is hypertension. So there are studies that are showing
a stronger link between the development of hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
(07:36):
Is things that have to do with the heart and
the development of dementia. Is it Alzheimer's, Probably not, but
there is a close association. So what are the lifestyle
interventions that we can make to make it less likely
that you will develop Alzheimer's or related dementia. Well, I
(07:57):
just talked about managing hypertension. Exercise, what you eat, how
well you sleep, managing things like hearing loss are all
associated with later life development of Alzheimer's or related dementia.
So research is focusing on I think we're working on therapeutics,
(08:20):
but just as important as therapeutics are preventative strategies. What
are the prevention things that we can do to make
it less likely that this is something that dooms us
to a poor quality of life. And aside from some
of the things that I mentioned, we're learning that social engagement,
(08:40):
you know, maintaining social relationships, whether it's your family, the
external community, your church, wherever it is you socialize are
things that kind of create greater resilience to this disorder.
So being physically active, socially engaged, eating proper, really sleeping well,
(09:02):
managing the things we can manage, like our chronic illnesses,
our hearing loss, all of that kind of thing. We're
learning that those are things that play just as important
a role in eliminating the debilitating effects of Alzheimer's as
any kind of pharmaceutical.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
The medicines you mentioned earlier about preparing Alzheimer's. Do those
medicines they work? I know they work, but they work
once you've got Alzheimer's gone so far at that point
when it's out that it's too late for them to work.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
You know what I'm saying, Well, yes, that's a really
good question. I think that we're looking at right now.
The recommendation for giving people that medication are people who
have clinical signs of Alzheimer's and related to MEAs it's
(10:01):
not necessarily been Those medications have not been approved for
treating people who, let's say, are cognitively normal. I'm functioning okay,
but they're because of my ginetics or my family history,
and even because I might have some amyloid in my brain.
(10:22):
We have not been approved to give these medications to people.
There is no propylactic indication for these medications right now.
Their use is restricted to people who have clinical evidence
of amyloid pathology and clinical symptoms. So, right now we're
(10:46):
using these drugs and we're thinking like, Okay, if we
did really well with these people with earlier with mild
cases of AD, can we give it to somebody to
prevent the disease. I don't know that we're there yet.
We're still looking at that right We're not there yet.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Though we had talked about earlier before we started doing
the interview, about a friend of mine who's been involved
with your case studies. Did those case studies what are
they proving it? Did you do at Emory now in
the Ozeta Center, what are those case studies telling you? Now?
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Well, one of our largest studies is called the Emory
Healthy Brain Study, and we're looking at people ages eighteen
to seventy five who don't have any symptoms of Alzheimer's
or related dementia. And we're looking at, well, what are
the I call it resilience factors? What are the things
(11:41):
that are going on with these people that make that
put them at risk for having Alzheimer's or related dementia.
So we're studying healthy lifestyle factors. Okay, Remember I told
you those are things that we're looking at. Medications, there
are a number of different clinical drug trucks files that
are largely found sponsored or funded by pharmaceutical companies that
(12:07):
are kind of like next generation monoclonal antibodies or drugs
that will build upon what we've learned from the existing medications.
We don't have an outcome yet because those drugs are still.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
In development, right Okay, So now is the Alzheimer's Federation
of America working with you on some of those case
studies or drugs or something like that to then push
it out well.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I think the Alzheimer's Foundation of America's job is to
again increase awareness about the disease, but also about what
kinds of progress is being made with some of these medications,
and make sure that people are aware of where they
can go to participate in these clinic trials. But again,
(13:02):
I think that making sure that people are aware of
what resources exist for families living with Alzheimer's in related dementia,
whether it's I need to see a doctor, I need
to get into a clinical trial. I think those kinds
of opportunities. Educating the people about those kinds of opportunities
(13:26):
is where the Alzheimer's Foundation of America fills a void
with their tour across America. They're going around making people
aware of this disorder, making people aware of opportunities to
improve their brains as a result of ongoing research is
(13:49):
what they do. So, what is the disease? How can
I fix it? Can I fix it? What can we
do to make things better? Providers whether they're nurse practitioners, nurses,
or medical doctors about where they can go to get
better tools to help manage this disorder all of that's important.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Is there any racial disparities of this with Hispanic or
black or white or whatever.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
They do? There is research that has shown that people
of color, whether you are black, of any ethnicity, or
Latin American or Native American, you are at higher risk
for developing Alzheimer's or related dementia in the United States
(14:43):
of America. What are these differences? Why is that? So?
I don't think that research has quite figured that out.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Okay, so you don't really have a reason for it
right now? Then, no, it it happens.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I guess it's happening. But it's also maybe a little
bit different right now. People with dementia. I didn't say Alzheimer's,
that said dementa. Their brain just doesn't function well. There
are lots of reasons for that, and it's not always Alzheimer's.
And there is research to show that many people in
(15:20):
these groups that we've just talked about don't necessarily have Alzheimer's.
They have dementia, but they don't necessarily have Alzheimer's dementia.
There's a dementia that you can get. You talked about
yourself having had a stroke, Yes, well, sixty percent of
all people who have strokes develop a dementia. We call
it vascular dementia, but it's not Alzheimer's, right, And the
(15:43):
things that we would use for Alzheimer's are not the
things that we would use for somebody who has a
stroke related dementia.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
You know, something with somebody who has Alzheimer's, And I've
had the experience in this, is it something can happen
to them in the life, a tragedy or something like
that where they just change spam like that, They change
and they go and one day they're dancing at a
party and the next day they're in the hospital and
they're gone forever and they don't even know does that happen?
(16:15):
A lot knows Alzheimer's.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Well, you're raising an issue that people were drawing more
attention to, and one of those is the coexistence of
emotional disorders like depression and anxiety, and what is the
role of those disorders in the development of dementia? So
people suffer so significantly from depression and anxiety disorders. And
(16:43):
I had a patient who I thought for sure had
some kind of bad dementia, but she was really having
a rather significant psychiatric reaction to the death of both
her husband and her children. Right, And I saw her
many years later, like five or six years later. She said,
you don't recognize me, do And I said, no, I don't.
(17:06):
And then she explained her history with me and what
had happened. And then it was like, ah, this explains
the depression connection and dementing disorders. So there is research
being conducted by both neurologists, geriatric providers and psychiatrists showing
(17:29):
a connection between anxiety disorders such as anxiety and depression
or I should say effective disorder, and the development of dementia.
You know, there are several different types of dementia, and
there is an association with emotional disorders.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yes, right, okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Research is being done here in other places about that
PTSD plays a role.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
In Alzheimer's, does it?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Yeah, and developing dementia with some people.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Oh okay, wow, wow.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
There are associations. That's part of research.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Any family history, like do you know if that has
something to do with down passing it along?
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Well? Yeah, there are genes they're associated with the development
of Alzheimer's and right now, with respect to the A
there is a gene called apo E four. We know
that's been most widely studied. If you have two copies
of a po E four, one from your mother and
one from your father, you are at higher risk of
(18:40):
developing Alzheimer's, but that doesn't mean that you will develop it.
But in addition to a po E four, there are
maybe thirty other genes that have not been as well
studied that you can inherit. That may increase your risk.
But just because you inherit the gene doesn't mean you
get the disease right. And that's what people need to understand.
(19:03):
You know, the environment shapes the expression of those genes
a lot of times.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
If someone wants to get involved with your studies, should
they where should where should they go to get that
get involved? How should they get involved your study?
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Well? I think that here in Georgia, if you're interested
in research in Alzheimer's and related dementias, you just need
to get on board and come along. We have uh
there's a number, a telephone number I'll give you four
four seven to seven six zero five zero, and miss
(19:41):
Latasha Chapman is our research coordinator who takes information and
gives you information about studies. So that's four four seven
to seven six zero five zero. Miss Latasha Chapman is
our research coordinator who will take information from you and
(20:02):
help advise you about how you can get involved in
a study.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
That's great, that's great that I encourage people to do that,
to do it to find out, you know, if you
have it, because you know what, if somebody does have it,
they the earlier you find out about it, the more
you can do something about it.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Right, Right, And that's where you have to kind of
collaborate with and work along with your primary care doctor.
If you have a concern, if you're registering a concern,
you talk to that, talk to your primary care doctor
about that so that he or she can order the
tests and look for things that may be medical that
(20:39):
may be causing those symptoms.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
And once that primary care doctor has had an opportunity
to clear up those things that are medical that may
be contributing to the symptoms, like looking at your medicines,
making sure that everything is stable, then they'll refer you
to the neurologists for further evaluation. And we're testing, but
you have to start with your primary care doctor first
(21:03):
to look for those things that may look like a
d but maybe there's something else. Maybe it's a medication interaction.
Maybe it's an undiagnosed tumor and a certain part of
your brain, you know, some metabolic imbalance, thyroid disorders that
have not been well controlled, think Wendy Williams. You know,
(21:26):
there are other things that need to be evaluated before
we say, Oh, she's acting funny, she's got is acting strange.
I think she's got Alzheimer's. Well, probably not.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Right, That's that's very true. You don't. I always always
think Alzheimer's. But it's not that case. It's not that
many times it's not Alzheimer's. Yeah, yeah, What about Where
can do people go to get involved with the America
the Alzheimer's Foundation of America and tell us a little
(21:59):
bit more about what you're doing and what you expect
to have happen in the course of your involvement with them.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Okay, if you're interested in getting information, if you're a
caregiver living with Alzheimer's, somebody who's got Alzheimer's, we have
a helpline and the number for the Alzheimer's Foundation of
America toll free helpline is eight six six two three
(22:27):
two eight four eight four eight six six two three
two eight four eight four. So, if you are a
family member caring for somebody who has Alzheimer's and you
need some assistance, needs some understanding. If you're just a
person who doesn't have anything but wants to know more
about Alzheimer's and related d MUNSI, you can contact the
(22:50):
Alzheimer's Foundation of America at that number. If you want
to do a memory screen, those are things that we
can do. If you're interested in research, you're at Emory.
I just gave you that number. You can certainly call
our coordinator and learn more about it. You can also
look up the boise weeta Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, which
(23:16):
is Alzheimer's A l z H E I M E
R S dot Emory E M O R Y dot
E d U at www dot Alzheimer's Alzheimer's dot Emory
dot E d.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
U, and that number to call us four O four
seven two seven six oh five, right, okay, sixty five. Doctor.
Thank you so much, Doctor Parker for talking to us
today and and and this this all. I'm I'm gonna
bring Alzheimer's to this show as many times as I can,
(23:54):
and I thank you for it.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Okay, thank you. We're on brain Talk Live today talking
about sex Is for Seniors, So you might want to
tune into our Sexes for Seniors our brain Talk Live
number and you can tune into that. We do it
every Tuesday. Okay, it's one of our outreach initiatives. I'll
give you the meeting ID number and you can dial in.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
All right.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Dial in is one nine two nine two zero five
six oh nine to nine. Dial in one nine two
nine two zero five six oh nine nine. But if
you want to be on Brain Talk Live, it occurs
every week at two o'clock in the afternoon, you can call.
(24:39):
That's the number to dial in. Okay, But you want
to register for all of our things, you call miss
Heart four seven zero five eight six four two two
seven and that's for Brain Talk Live at the Boise
weeta Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Well, I thank you for your work. What you're doing
is changing lives. Appreciate it so much. Doctor Monica Parker,
you've been a great You've been a great guest today
and it's been a pleasure to have you on show day.
That's doctor Monica Parker from the Gooysetta Alzheimer's Research Center
at Emory University in Atlanta. Find out more about the
(25:15):
Alzheimer's Foundation of America at a l z f d
N dot org a l z f d N dot org.
For questions or comments about today's program, you can email me,
John Clark at Georgiannewsnetwork dot com. Thanks for listening. I'll
talk to you next week right here on your local
radio station on Georgia Focus
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