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(Editor’s Note: This is the ninth in a series of stories profiling the 12 families chosen for the Lincoln Arts Council’s Community art project Stories of Home. Artwork will be completed in May and exhibited to the public June through February, 2007. )

Finding expression through art
Art classes for Alzheimer's and dementia patients can offer new forms of expression for those who have lost some of their ability to communicate.
"It makes it easy for the individual to express,". "The purpose of the program is to encourage the resi- dents to do just that. Maybe they can't talk very well but they can paint." The program, called "Memories in the Making," uses watercolor painting as a way for the patients to work around thought and speech impairments.

Light drinking may not be good for you: study: Reuters.com
Researchers poured cold water on the idea that moderate drinking helps prevent heart disease on Friday, noting that many studies include teetotalers as a control group but don't ask why they did not drink.

Others' Prayers Don't Help in Coronary Artery Surgery according to a multicenter study led by a Harvard group: "The common plea to 'pray for me' doesn't seem to matter in the outcomes of patients having coronary artery bypass surgery according to a multicenter study led by a Harvard group(CABG), according to a multicenter study led by a Harvard group. In a six-hospital randomized study of the clinical effects having others pray for them, there was no benefit. 'Intercessory prayer itself had no effect on complication-free recovery from CABG,' found Herbert Benson, M.D., of the Mind/Body Institute of Harvard's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center here, and colleagues.

In fact, the complication rate was significantly higher for the 352 of 601 patients (59%) who were confident that others were praying for them, compared with the 315 of 604 (52%) of patients uncertain of such prayers (RR 1.14, 95% CI 1.02-1.28) but who received them, Dr. Benson and colleagues reported in the April 4 issue of the American Heart Journal. "

Stroke Warning Goes Unheeded By Nearly Half of Patients - CME Teaching Brief - MedPage Today: "Although a transient ischemic attack is a major harbinger of stroke, nearly half who have a TIA delay seeking medical help, even when they recognize the symptoms.

'Despite the high risk of stroke after TIA, many patients delay seeking medical attention, irrespective of correct recognition of symptoms,' the investigators wrote. 'However, the impact of such delays is counterbalanced to some extent by TIA patients at higher predicted risk of stroke acting more urgently.'"

Mice Studies May Hold the Key to Memory Loss: "Having trouble remembering things? WVU researchers working with mice have found something that may help you squeak by. A team at WVU's Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute have solved one more piece of the puzzle that is memory loss -- a gene regulating long-term memory."

Preventing Alzheimer's Onset [ADVANCE for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists]: "A new discovery has found that Pin1, an enzyme previously shown to prevent the formation of the tangle-like lesions found in the brains of Alzheimers disease patients, also plays a pivotal role in guarding against the development of amyloid peptide plaques, the second brain lesion that characterizes Alzheimers (Nature, March 2006).

These new findings, shown in an animal study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School, provide further evidence that Pin1 (prolyl isomerase) is essential to protect individuals from age-related neurodegeneration and for the first time establishes a direct link between amyloid plaques and tau tangles, the two abnormal structures that are considered the pathological hallmarks of this devastating disease."

Woman uses years of care to document illness-Book highlights Alzheimer's disease: "Patti Grose, author of 'Alzheimer's: It will never be all right!,' wrote the book about her experiences as a caregiver for her mother-in-law, Charlotte, who has Alzheimer's."

"Forbes King retired the first time from a business career in his mid-60s. He retired the second time from real estate in his early 80s. Now he's 94, and he doesn't even think about retiring. He's too busy":

Variables Explaining Functional Recovery Following Motor Stroke- "From Journal of Neuroscience Nursing"

Emerging Drug Therapies for Dementia-From Geriatrics & Aging
Emerging drug therapies for dementia are increasingly chosen to tackle molecular targets important in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathobiology. Amyloid oligomers, amyloid deposits, and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are characteristic findings in AD. Hence, drugs that interfere with these proteinaceous aggregates are receiving the most attention: a) alpha, beta, and gamma secretase modulators, b) inhibitors of amyloid beta (Aβ) aggregation, and c) anti-Ab immunologic strategies. Oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions appear part of a loop of neurotoxicity with the proteinacous aggregates. Antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds have thus received much attention. Finally, other compounds may work by a variety of other mechanisms.

Police Work on Registry of Alzheimer's Patients
"police say the disappearance of an elderly man with Alzheimer's last Friday proves the need for a computer data-based registry. Police say if Eugene Huseman had been in a registry, he probably would've been found sooner.":

Study links diabetes to Alzheimer's.. "Early trials show those with type 2 diabetes have
increased risk" :

WKYT 27 NEWSFIRST & WYMT Mountain News - Alzheimer's patient driving wrong way on a one way street dies, woman injured in crash

"According to recent research, CYP46 T/C polymorphism is not associated with Alzheimer dementia ":

Nostalgic memories focus on life's positive side...Reminiscing is one way to support older generations

"A free education program with David Shenk, nationally renowned author of the groundbreaking book and PBS documentary The Forgetting: Portrait of an Epidemic

Cardiologists only docs getting heart exams right/Stanford University in California: "Cardiologists are better than medical students, residents, and other practicing physicians at performing a bedside heart examination and in accurately identifying abnormal heart sounds, according to the findings of two studies reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine."

Vioxx heart risk similar to other drugs: doctor

"Celera Diagnostics announced the publication of data showing that a novel locus on Chromosome 10 correlates strongly with increased risk for late-onset Alzheimer disease.".: