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A Cautionary Tale About Informed Consent (and the Unintended Consequences of Authorship) Letting the Genie…

A Cautionary Tale Ab…

A Cautionary Tale About Informed Consent (and the Unintended Consequences of Authorship) Letting the Genie out of the bottle . . . THE (TRUE) STORY (Anonymized and shared with permission) A reader of my book, whom I’ll call A, is a 71-year-old successful professional who reached out to me via email. A family member had given  them a copy of Aging or Alzheimer’s?.  A shared their experience of “brain fog” for several…

Excerpted and edited from: …

Excerpted and edited…

Excerpted and edited from: Do It Yourself: Download Scientific References & Journal Articles For FREE!  The majority of the 535 primary information sources (citations) for Aging or Alzheimer’s? were authored by academic researchers and published in scientific journals. Written in the language used to communicate with peers on topics fa…

Leonardo.AI            The Risks Associated With Co…

Leonardo.AI      …

Leonardo.AI            The Risks Associated With Collision Sports**[e.g., American Football, Boxing, Ice Hockey, Rugby] Short-Term Risk (like tomorrow, at practice) https://www.kcur.org/sports/2024-08-29/football-player-deaths-august-summer-practice-shawnee-mission-n…

The Face-off! An Open Letter to the World's Premier Alzheimer's Researchers  …

The Face-off! …

The Face-off! An Open Letter to the World's Premier Alzheimer's Researchers  An Explanation             In June 2024 the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association. [20 authors from 5 countries]1 dramatically re-defined Alzheimer’s disease (AD), as “a purely biological process”, to be diagnosed solely by AD biomarkers (brain imaging or biofluid tests revealin…

Here is One Thing We Can ALL do to Limit Cognitive Decline           My new book, Aging or Alzheimer’s, lists thirty-one “Potentially Modifiabl…

Here is One Thing We…

Here is One Thing We Can ALL do to Limit Cognitive Decline           My new book, Aging or Alzheimer’s, lists thirty-one “Potentially Modifiable Alzheimer’s Disease Risk Factors.” Hearing loss is one of the most broadly impactful of these, contributing to cognitive decline, dementia, loss of independence, and overall diminished quality of life. Also clear are the benefits of improving hearing (and vision) on cognition.          Found in 8% of dementia cases, hearing loss is linked to an increased risk of accelerated cognitive de…

Putting Supplements in Perspective             Many over-the-counter vitamins, minerals, and other non-prescription items are commonly recom…

Putting Supplements …

Putting Supplements in Perspective             Many over-the-counter vitamins, minerals, and other non-prescription items are commonly recommended by healthcare providers. Some are considered “standard Therapy” for numerous medical conditions, including age-related macular degeneration (AREDS2 vitamins), anemia (iron), osteoporosis (Vitamin D and calcium), cardiovascular disease (fish oil), and birth-defect prevention (folic acid in pregnancy). Specific vitamin and mineral supplements can be essential for those with documented def…

Putting Supplements in Perspective             Many over-the-counter vitamins, minerals, and other non-prescription items are commonly recom…

Putting Supplements …

Putting Supplements in Perspective             Many over-the-counter vitamins, minerals, and other non-prescription items are commonly recommended by healthcare providers. Some are considered “standard therapy” for numerous medical conditions, including age-related macular degeneration (AREDS2 vitamins), anemia (iron), osteoporosis (Vitamin D and calcium), cardiovascular disease (fish oil), and birth-defect prevention (folic acid in pregnancy). Specific vitamin and mineral supplements can be essential for those with documented def…

Give the Power of “Cognitive Reserve”* *[Factors That Can Protect Older Adults from Dementia]Lifestyle Choices Can Moderate the Development of Alzhe…

Give the Power of �…

Give the Power of “Cognitive Reserve”* *[Factors That Can Protect Older Adults from Dementia]Lifestyle Choices Can Moderate the Development of Alzheimer’s SymptomsIn my book, Aging or Alzheimer’s? readers will discover 31 personal choices that can slow or even prevent symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Check out Table 2 for “Potentially Modifiable Alzheimer’s Disease Risk Factors.” Most reflect the same healthy lifestyle choices we were urged to adopt long before becoming distressed by failing memory. Suggested lifestyle reforms ran…

        Once we get that Medicare card (Yes!) and start worrying about memory issues (Uh, oh!), we become more aware of the “nuggets of hope” that appear so frequently in our information sourc…

        Once we …

        Once we get that Medicare card (Yes!) and start worrying about memory issues (Uh, oh!), we become more aware of the “nuggets of hope” that appear so frequently in our information sources.  Here’s the Problem: They can’t all be true.How Do We Know What To Believe? #1 Recognize Unreliable Sources of Information        A caution light should flash as soon as you notice that someone is attempting to win your trust. The smoothest voice, the most reassuring celebrity, and the excitement over a “recent breakthrough” may not be a reliable source. “Preliminary” (aka un…

The catchphrases “Clinically Shown” or “Clinically Proven” occupy a special place in the vocabulary of advertising come-ons. Because of their implied medical credibility, such taglines presume…

The catchphrases “…

The catchphrases “Clinically Shown” or “Clinically Proven” occupy a special place in the vocabulary of advertising come-ons. Because of their implied medical credibility, such taglines presume more (undeserved) credibility than marketing cliches like “Limited Time Offer” or “Call Now, Operators Are Standing By!”————-The following explanation, with which I completely agree, came from Bard.AI, Google’s large language machine-learning model – accessed November 24, 2023:“The phrase ‘clinically proven’ is often used in marketing and advertising to convey the impres…

In September 2024, over 14,000 eager scientists, researchers, and observers attended the Five-day Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC). The purpose of this annual assembly is to s…

In September 2024, o…

In September 2024, over 14,000 eager scientists, researchers, and observers attended the Five-day Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC). The purpose of this annual assembly is to showcase the most recent advances in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia. A “Key Takeaway” From AAIC: New Blood Biomarkers Offer Earliest Diagnosis The new tests were embraced as “a simple and accurate selection tool for identifying cognitively unimpaired patients who likely have amyloid-beta plaques in their brains”, and as a  means to“improve early diagnos…

Good news! Like a disobedient dog, when  the word on the tip of your tongue won’t come when you call, that doesn’t mean it’s gone for good. We’re OK as long as it eventually comes back! ____…

Good news! Like a di…

Good news! Like a disobedient dog, when  the word on the tip of your tongue won’t come when you call, that doesn’t mean it’s gone for good. We’re OK as long as it eventually comes back! _______ The inability to find that previously-known word that is now on the “tip of your tongue” (TOT) is one of the most frequently self-acknowledged memory failures. It is that exasperating feeling that accompanies our temporary inability to retrieve information from memory. This is most noticeable with proper nouns (persons, places, or organizations, spelled with an initial capital letter). We …

The Premise The authors (from Harvard, Berkeley, and MIT) of this June 2024 article in the journal Nature  “bring recent evidence from neuroscience and allied disciplines to argue that in modern hu…

The Premise The auth…

The Premise The authors (from Harvard, Berkeley, and MIT) of this June 2024 article in the journal Nature  “bring recent evidence from neuroscience and allied disciplines to argue that in modern humans, language is a tool for communication, contrary to a prominent view that we use language for thinking.” They further propose that “language is optimized for communication”, and “does not appear to be a prerequisite for complex thought, including symbolic thought.” Language only “reflects, rather than gives rise to, the signature sophistication of human cognition.” Support comes …

The Problem:Do you find yourself leaning into the computer monitor on your desk, squinting to read, fooling with display fonts, and taking more breaks?The Explanation:Presbyopia is the gradual l…

The Problem:Do you…

The Problem:Do you find yourself leaning into the computer monitor on your desk, squinting to read, fooling with display fonts, and taking more breaks?The Explanation:Presbyopia is the gradual loss of your eyes’ ability to focus on nearby objects, a natural, often annoying part of aging. To compensate we rely on improving our vision by adding to our built-in lenses: externally with reading glasses, contact lenses, or bifocals, or with vision correction surgery (like LASIK, intraocular lens placement, or others).A Solution:An inexpensive ($11.99 in 2016) pair of glasses to use at th…

Ever since Alois Alzheimer dissected his patient’s brain in at the turn of the 20th century the assumed primary mechanism underlying Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was the proliferation of amyloid prote…

Ever since Alois Alz…

Ever since Alois Alzheimer dissected his patient’s brain in at the turn of the 20th century the assumed primary mechanism underlying Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was the proliferation of amyloid protein in the brain with associated destruction of neural tissue and pathways. That focus on amyloid led to the development and recent approval of drugs that act to reduce the amyloid burden in the brain.However, like every other AD treatment adopted since the turn of this century, those recently developed “breakthrough” anti-amyloid drugs  fall short of the goal of an “effective disease-modify…

There are a lot of positives in my life.  To quote the character Brian Plummer in the Denzel Washington movie “The Equalizer 2” (2018):  “Today I broke a personal best: successive days alive�…

There are a lot of p…

There are a lot of positives in my life.  To quote the character Brian Plummer in the Denzel Washington movie “The Equalizer 2” (2018):  “Today I broke a personal best: successive days alive” 

You can’t find more than one person to bid on a job around the house.No one calls you back. The one person who does becomes your only option. Fortunately, in this post-COVID age, simply calling ba…

You can’t find mor…

You can’t find more than one person to bid on a job around the house.No one calls you back. The one person who does becomes your only option. Fortunately, in this post-COVID age, simply calling back has so far been a decent measure of quality. 

Regarding the phrase “senior moments”: I doubt that the majority of the time that phrase is used, the intent is to belittle. However, a significant portion of my boomer brothers and sisters fin…

Regarding the phrase…

Regarding the phrase “senior moments”: I doubt that the majority of the time that phrase is used, the intent is to belittle. However, a significant portion of my boomer brothers and sisters find that term distasteful. At least consider adding this one to the expanding list of unconscious biases we really should be shedding. For example, a speaking problem does not necessarily mean you have a thinking problem. On occasion I am “speaking impaired”, stonewalled with a proper noun stuck on the tip of my tongue. And sometimes memory impaired for the location of keys, glasses, or the …