A new robotic baby invention called a Babyloid was recently developed in Japan to "interact" with nursing home residents. The goal is to help alleviate depression in nursing home residents, perhaps by providing something for them to care for and nurture.

Babyloid has a simplistic, non-realistic face and responds to being rocked or held using sensors that turn his cheeks red when he's happy and blue when he's sad. Babyloid might even fall asleep if it's being rocked or cry LED tears if upset. More than 100 different sounds are programmed in Babyloid. The inventor, Masayoshi Kanoh, apparently recorded his youngest child's baby sounds and used them in developing Babyloid.

Preliminary research was conducted at a nursing home, concluding that residents who held and interacted with Babyloid for eight minute intervals for a total of 90 minutes a day experienced a reduction in their symptoms of depression. The estimated price for Babyloid is $1300 USD.

You can see pictures of the Babyloid here.

I've recommended before that baby dolls be used to provide comfort for people who have Alzheimer's or another kind of dementia. They can also be beneficial when offered as something to hold on to while care is being provided, especially if your loved one has some behavioral challenges.

I'm all for reducing the loneliness and depression that is sometimes present for older adults in facilities, but I'm not quite ready to jump on this bandwagon yet. There's certainly something important about providing people with the chance to be a caregiver and have meaningful activity, but it feels almost like they're trying to replace human interaction and affection with science fiction-like inventions. How about we take the time to hold someone's hand, to bring our cat or dog (with facility permission) to visit the pet-lovers, or bring our children to visit our older loved ones?

What do you think?

Think you're too young to try to prevent Alzheimer's disease? Think again.

The latest research published in the Archives of Neurology journal concludes (as have other studies) that brain exercise is an important tool in reducing your risk of Alzheimer's. But this time, researchers looked at the level of mental exercise in early and middle life as self-reported by 65 participants with an average age of 76. They found that individuals who reported an active cognitive lifestyle (defined by reading, writing and playing games) in their early and middle years displayed fewer beta-amyloid deposits on current PET scans. Beta-amyloid deposits are found in abundance in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease and are a main component of amyloid plaques, one of the diagnostic hallmarks of the disease. Interestingly, no correlation was found with current mental activity and beta-amyloid deposits.

Most of the other research up to now has connected current mental fitness and activity levels with the absence of symptoms of Alzheimer's. This new research is significant in two ways:

• It correlates brain exercise in the early and middle years of life with outcomes later in life.
• It demonstrates a reduction in the physiological development of brain plaques that accompany Alzheimer's disease.

If our brains are impacted decades before Alzheimer's develops and we can reduce the risk simply by working out mentally, that's a pretty time and cost-efficient way to work towards prevention of a disease that affects over 5.3 million Americans.

Wondering where to start? Here's a list of 12 ways to exercise your brain.

Dimebon, a drug that has been in phase three of clinical trials for treatment of Alzheimer's disease, has recently been discontinued after studies concluded it was ineffective. Dimebon is a drug that was first used in Russia decades ago as an antihistamine, and in the last few years has undergone testing to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's in the United States. Dimebon was never sold or marketed in the United States.

Initially, the drug showed some positive results in patients with Alzheimer's, so clinical trials were expanded to study its effects when given with the drug denepazil (Aricept), a medication currently used to treat early Alzheimer's. This past week, Pfizer and Medivation, the two drug companies that were conducting the trials, announced the discontinuation of Dimebon after it failed to show benefits for the recipients. In fact, some of the people receiving it declined more than those who received the placebo.

This is disappointing news, especially in light of our nation's recent draft document on Alzheimer's disease and other related dementias. One goal outlined in this draft is to effectively treat and prevent Alzheimer's by 2025. Evidently, the manner in which we do this won't include Dimebon.

For more information on clinical trials for Alzheimer's, feel free to visit the Alzheimer's Association TrialMatch tool, the National Institute on Aging AD Clinical Trials Database, or ClinicalTrials.gov.

This week, the United States' Department of Health & Human Services released its Draft Framework for the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease. This is the nation's first comprehensive plan to target Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Development of this plan is part of the National Alzheimer's Project Act- a long overdue project, in my opinion.

The plan includes the following specific goals:
• Prevent and Effectively Treat Alzheimer's Disease by 2025.
• Optimize Care Quality and Efficiency.
• Expand Patient and Family Support.
• Enhance Public Awareness and Engagement.
• Track Progress and Drive Improvement.

This plan also includes strategies for accomplishing each of these five goals.

Please review this document and post your thoughts here. I will forward on any comments I receive here on to the National Alzheimer's Plan Act. You are also welcome to send any other comments on this plan directly to: NAPA@hhs.gov. Comments will be added monthly for public review to this document: http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/napa/PubCom.shtml

There is also an advisory meeting this coming week in Washington, DC on Tuesday, January 17 from 9:30am to 4:00pm and Wednesday, January 18 from 9:00am to 2:00pm. It will be streamed live here: http://www.hhs.gov/live.

Many of you have directly been affected by this disease, and your insight and knowledge is very important. I strongly encourage you to take the opportunity to review and comment on this draft of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease. Let your voice be heard.