Caregivers get update on Alzheimer's research, treatment during Anniston conference

July 27--Eighty-five people attended the fourth annual Alzheimer's Family Caregiver Conference at the Anniston Meeting Center on Thursday.

Brandi Medina, director of programs and education for the Alzheimer's Association, the organization that put on the event, said the conference was intended to educate family and professional caregivers on the latest research and resources for people with Alzheimer's.

Medina said more than 91,000 people in Alabama have Alzheimer's disease. She said there are about 300,000 "unpaid caregivers," family or friends with no medical training who are taking care of someone they care about.

"It can be very stressful," Medina said. "Sometimes the caregiver's health declines faster than the patient's."

According to Medina, Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia. She said Alzheimer's patients make up between 68 and 72 percent of people with dementia. She said the disease usually manifests in people 65 or older, but early onset cases have been seen in people as young as 30.

"Out of the top 10 causes of death, it is the only one that can't be prevented, can't be treated and can't be cured," Medina said.

Allen Chambers, director of marketing and sales for Legacy Village, an assisted living home in Jacksonville, attended the conference to show caregivers a new tool known as "Special C."

Special C is a customizable display that Legacy Village programs with pictures from a patient's life, audio recordings from family and friends, and reminders for daily activities.

"You can have it show photos of their childhood dog, or have it on a timer so their son's voice tells them it's time for breakfast," Chamber's said. "All of them have the Andy Griffith Show programmed in."

Chambers said Legacy Village looks at research into Alzheimer's to see what works best. He said it can be as simple as what color to paint the walls.

"Light teal and light green have been shown to keep patients calm," Chambers said. "It makes them feel like they're outside so they don't feel trapped."

David Geldmacher, professor of neurology at University of Alabama at Birmingham, spoke at the conference about the latest efforts to treat Alzheimer's.

"Alzheimer's is a major health issue," Geldmacher said. "We've seen a big increase in the number of cases in the last 10 years, and we think it will continue."

Geldmacher said medical research has identified the protein that causes brain cells to die in Alzheimer's patients, but they do not know exactly how or why yet.

"It's called the amyloid protein," Geldmacher said. "We don't know its normal function. With Alzheimer's it accumulates to toxic levels in the brain and kills the brain cells."

Geldmacher said the latest medication to treat Alzheimer's was approved in 2004. He said he has been testing drugs at UAB to reduce the levels of amyloid protein, but the soonest they could be approved is late 2018.

Geldmacher said there is a national effort in medical research to understand what the protein does and how it leads to Alzheimer's. Right now, he said, there is no way to predict who will get Alzheimer's and who will not.

"There is a national effort to understand Alzheimer's causes and how we can treat it," Geldmacher said. "Our long term goal is to be able to identify people who are at risk and stop it from happening. That's how we can cure Alzheimer's, by not letting it happen."

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