If you are a proponent of the early detection of Alzheimer's disease, check out the Alzheimer's Association's Early Detection Blog Series, where the organization's Early Stage Advisors share their personal experiences recognizing the signs of Alzheimer’s. Their real stories are powerful and motivate us to seek early detection in order to improve quality of life for everyone.

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If you missed The Alzheimer's Project -- the multi-part HBO special on Alzheimer's disease and caregiving, you can still watch it for free online. I highly recommend this excellent series that covers what is known about the disease and its devastating effects, how it affects caregivers and families, and what scientific discoveries are on the horizon.

Have you seen The Alzheimer's Project? If so, tell us about it by posting a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts about the series.

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It's only about six weeks before scheduled Committee votes in the Senate, so the National Alliance for Caregiving wants your help. The organization has organized a national call-in day on Wednesday, May 13 to urge that financing for long-term care services and and related supportive resources be included in health care reform.

To call your Senators toll-free, dial 1-800-958-5374 and follow the voice prompts for your name and state. After speaking with one of your Senator's offices, ask to be directed to the office of your other Senator. Be sure to say that you are a constituent and that you are urging your Senators to support the inclusion of long-term care services and supports in health care reform. If you have a personal story about how long-term care services and related community programs have helped you or a family you know, even better.

Suggested reading:

• How to Choose a Long-Term Care Facility
• Government Assistance for Alzheimer's Care

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First of all, I want to apologize to everyone who reads this site for not posting in awhile. The last several weeks have been extremely busy as I made preparations to move across the country. Add to that some interesting challenges getting hooked up to the Internet again and it made it quite difficult to keep up with my About.com responsibilities. But I made the cross-country trek safe and sound and am getting back in the swing of things!

As always, Alzheimer's disease has been in the news quite a bit over the past several weeks. I'll be catching you up on the latest developments in the near future and adding new content every week. But before I start building momentum again, I have a question for you: What kinds of things do you want to read and learn about Alzheimer's disease? Are there specific questions to which you have not been able to find answers on this website? Please share your ideas and requests with me, and I'll do the best I can to gear my writing to your needs and concerns.

Thanks so much in advance for your great ideas.

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We already know that Vitamin D is essential for maintaining bone health and keeping our immune systems strong. Now, based on a study by Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan, there is evidence that Vitamin D may also help maintain cognitive skills.

The study was based on information collected from almost 2,000 adults aged 65 and over who participated in a large health survey in England. The data showed that as Vitamin D levels decreased, cognitive impairment increased; in fact, compared to older adults with optimal levels of Vitamin D, those with the lowest levels were over two times as likely to be cognitively impaired.

We get Vitamin D from three main sources:

• exposure to sunlight
• foods that naturally contain Vitamin D, such as oily fish
• foods that are fortified with Vitamin D, such as milk and cereal

Unfortunately, as we grow older, our skin becomes less effective at absorbing Vitamin D from sunlight, so we have to obtain Vitamin D from other sources as well. The researchers now want to find out whether Vitamin D supplements can be beneficial in maintaining brain health and preventing cognitive impairment. I look forward to hearing more about this; in the meantime, I might take some more walks in the sunshine this spring.

Photo © Microsoft

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Maybe. Dr. Thomas B. Shea of the Center for Cellular Neurobiology at the Neurodegeneration Research University of Massachusetts - Lowell and his colleagues have conducted a number of studies that found that drinking apple juice improved the performance of mice in maze tests and prevented the usual decline in performance among mice as they age.

In their most recent study, they found that mice who consumed the human equivalent of 2 glasses of apple juice a day for 1 month produced less beta amyloid than mice who did not receive apple juice. Beta amyloid is the protein that makes up the plaques that accumulate in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.

I'm glad to see that a series of studies has supported the brain benefits of apple juice. Still, remember that these studies were done with mice, so we need evidence that apple juice produces similar benefits in humans. In the meantime, it sure can't hurt to add apple juice to your diet if you don't include it already.

Photo © Microsoft

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A recent study by researchers in Taiwan showed that a particular soy product may prevent the formation of protein clumps associated with Alzheimer's disease.

The soy product is natto, a fermented food made out of boiled soybeans most commonly eaten in Asia. Natto is different from other soy products because it contains nattokinase, an enzyme known to have similar benefits as clot-busting medications used to treat heart disease.

The researchers found that nattokinase dissolved several different forms of amyloid protein; beta amyloid is what makes up the plaques that form in the brains of people with Alzheimer's.

The researchers would now like to do an epidemiological study that looks at whether populations that regularly eat natto have lower rates of Alzheimer's disease than similar populations that do not eat natto. I look forward to more research on this interesting food.

More on soy:

• Soy Confusion: Is Tofu Bad for Memory?

Illustration © Microsoft

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A large study involving almost 5,000 older women showed that those with metabolic syndrome had a 66% higher risk of developing cognitive impairment than women who did not have metabolic syndrome.

The study, conducted jointly by the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco defined metabolic syndrome as "the presence of three or more of five symptoms: abdominal obesity, elevated blood triglycerides (fatty acids), reduced HDL or 'good' cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes."

Interestingly, no individual symptom other than diabetes was associated with a higher risk of cognitive impairment, but when more than one symptom was present, each additional symptom added 23% greater risk.

The news is a bit sobering considering that 45% of American adults between the ages of 60 and 70 are believed to have metabolic syndrome. The good news is that all five symptoms of metabolic syndrome are manageable; some are even preventable or reversible. But more research is needed to determine whether managing or reversing symptoms will reduce risk of cognitive impairment or if the damage has already been done. Once again, prevention seems to be the key.

Photo © Microsoft

A recent study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center indicated that a history of diabetes and high cholesterol was associated with a faster rate of cognitive decline among those with Alzheimer's disease. The study followed 156 individuals with Alzheimer's for an average of 3.5 years.

Interestingly, a history of heart disease and stroke were only found to be linked to faster cognitive decline among people with Alzheimer's who also had the ApoE 4 gene, which increases the likelihood of developing the disease.

The researchers aren't sure why diabetes and high cholesterol tend to speed cognitive decline, but they theorized that the conditions may increase oxidative stress and/or inflammation in the brain, both of which may trigger the formation of plaques and tangles.

The study is yet another reminder that reducing vascular risk factors may not only help prevent Alzheimer's; it may also slow the progression of the disease among those already affected.

Illustration © A.D.A.M.

Harry Johns, President and CEO of the Alzheimer's Association, recently posted a blog that caught my attention. The Alzheimer's Association is planning an ambitious Public Policy Forum to take place March 23-25, 2009 in Washington, DC and he wants you to attend. In fact, Johns is hoping to have at least one person from every single congressional district in the United States attend the Public Policy Forum in order to really make some noise about the need for more Alzheimer's funding, research, and services.

Johns opened his blog by stating, "It is possible that there has never been a moment in America with so much potential to either advance or diminish Alzheimer's research and care." I wholeheartedly agree. As President Obama stated in his address tonight, "the day of reckoning has arrived" and it's time for America to rebuild and recover. Parts of the stimulus plan and future health care reform could make a difference in the lives of those touched by Alzheimer's disease. Will part of this nation's rebuilding and recovery include attention to one of our largest looming health crises -- the projected rise of Alzheimer's disease among our nation's seniors and the devastating financial toll that will ensue?

You can do something about it. As Johns wrote, "We need people with the disease, their caregivers, health care professionals, business leaders, and scientists to raise their voices and educate our policy makers so they know that an investment in Alzheimer's is an investment in the economic health of the nation and the personal health of millions."

Attend the Public Policy Forum next month and raise your voice.

More about Alzheimer's:

• What Causes Alzheimer's?
• Myths and Realities of Alzheimer's Disease

Photo © Microsoft