On Monday, Myriad Genetics Inc. announced the failure of Flurizan in Phase III trials.  This news follows the results from the LEADe study showing the cholesterol drug Lipitor did not benefit Alzheimer's patients, and the failure of Alzhemed in Phase III trials last year. With all this disappointing news, it seems more important than ever for professionals, with input from patients and their f...

So you have memory loss.  Maybe serious memory loss.  Of course you should pay attention to your health and make necessary arrangements.  But maybe the best thing you can do is pay attention to life. While some scientists work to identify pharmaceutical treatments for memory loss, others are working to test whether activities such as painting, playing an instrument or dancing are beneficial...

Grand Rounds is up at Shrink Rap, with an interesting set of links wrapped into an iPhone theme! The first two links are about using iPhones in medicine.  These posts are mostly for healthcare professionals, but it brings up a question for people with memory loss.  Would you use a phone or other small device for any of the following?  Do you already use your phone for some of these? &#...

I turned 50 last year.  Given my family history of dementia, I was not happy to read that as many as half of people my age and older have some memory loss.  I've noticed my already poor navigation skills have declined lately, and I can't multitask the way I used to.  It's not just me - my friends complain about missing appointments, bouncing checks and forgetting words.  Even worse, they lose t...

Summary:  After surgery, many people experience short-term delirium and/or longer-term cognitive decline.  Scientists are still studying how to prevent these problems. Doctors, families and patients report that surgery seems to cause short-term delirium and/or longer term memory loss in some people. In a recent Duke University study of 1064 patients undergoing major surgery (but not heart surger...