Article Finder
Browse our vast collection of articles. Simply select a category on the left and find a list of related articles on the right.
Article Category
Article Title
- Giving Up the Guns When a Family Member Has Alzheimer’s
- Care Management Program Is Reducing Need for Anti-anxiety Medication and Visits to the Hospital/Emergency Room
- Talking to a Loved One With Alzheimer’s
- 10 Powerful Ways to Commemorate Alzheimer’s Awareness Month
- Making the Most of Mealtimes for People With Alzheimer’s
- Family Members Provide 100 Hours a Month of Unpaid Care for Alzheimer’s
- Alzheimer’s Caregivers Should Be Screened for Depression
- Alzheimer’s Care Costs Far More Than Heart Disease or Cancer Care
- Obesity at Midlife May Speed Alzheimer’s Onset
- Hello from my mom
- FOR MORE ARTICLES CLICK HERE
- Inflammation May Spur the Development of Alzheimer’s Disease
- High Blood Pressure of Pregnancy Tied to Late-Life Dementia
- Heart Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease Share Genetic Links
- Widely Used Office Dementia Tests Are Often Inaccurate
- Heart Rhythm Disorder, A-Fib, Tied to Dementia Risk
- Daytime Sleepiness Tied to Alzheimer’s Brain Changes
- Stress May Affect Memory and Brain Size
- Memory and Thinking Skills May Wane in Winter Months
- High Blood Pressure at Age 50 Tied to Dementia Later in Life
- High Fat, High Sugar Diet Tied to Alzheimer’s Brain Changes
- FOR MORE ARTICLES CLICK HERE
- Experimental Drug, Fails to Benefit Alzheimer’s Patients
- New Drug Shows Promise for Alzheimer’s
- Pain Relievers Present Special Hazards in People With Alzheimer’s Disease
- Care Management Program Is Reducing Need for Anti-anxiety Medication and Visits to the Hospital/Emergency Room
- Music May Ease the Anxiety of Alzheimer’s
- Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug, Intepirdine, Disappoints in Study
- An Eye Scan for Alzheimer’s?
- Drug to treat Alzheimer’s is Ranked Highest
- Patients Often Fail to Adhere to Alzheimer’s Drug Schedules
- Could Treatments for Diabetes Help Treat Alzheimer’s?
- FOR MORE ARTICLES CLICK HERE
- Foods for Brain Health? Try Leafy Greens, Red and Orange Veggies, Berries and Orange Juice
- To Drive or Not to Drive? Questions to Ask
- Exercise May Prevent Falls in Those with Alzheimer’s Disease
- The Driving and Car Key Dilemma of Alzheimer’s Disease
- Healthier Heart, Healthier Brain
- 2 Hours a Week of Exercise Can Boost Brain Health
- ‘Exergames,’ Which Combine Exercise and Games, May Benefit Brain Health
- Eat Fish, Fruit, Vegetables and Nuts for Brain Health
- Beet Compound Shows Promise Against Alzheimer’s
- A Single Night of Not Sleeping Tied to Alzheimer’s Brain Changes
- FOR MORE ARTICLES CLICK HERE
- Scientists get a ‘total surprise’ and a promising new clue for how to cure Alzheimer’s
- Some 44 Million People Have Alzheimer’s Worldwide
- Nearly 14 Million Americans Will Have Alzheimer’s Disease by 2060
- Alzheimer’s Rates Could Double in Coming Decades
- Combining Care Program With Medication Reduces Alzheimer’s Symptoms By 750%
- Fisher Center Scientists make two new Significant Discoveries in the battle against Alzheimer’s
- Dementia Rates Are Slowing, but Alzheimer’s Cases Continue to Rise
- Fisher Center Scientists Create a Novel Imaging Technology Allowing the 3D Visualization of Brain Defects That Cause Alzheimer’s Disease
- Negative Beliefs About Aging Could Prime the Brain for Alzheimer’s
- Recognizing Faces Is a Challenge for Those With Alzheimer’s
- FOR MORE ARTICLES CLICK HERE
- Fisher Center For Alzheimer’s Research Foundation Wins Fall 2018 Digital Health Awards®
- Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation Earns Gold Seal of Transparency from GuideStar
- The Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation Earns Coveted 4-Star Rating from Charity Navigator for the 7th Consecutive Year
- Hear Kent Karosen, President and CEO of the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation, describe his new book and the power of art therapy
- Fisher Center Scientists link a Mutation That Protects Against the Development of Alzheimer’s Disease
- Newly Inducted Into the Basketball Hall of Fame, Shaquille O’Neal, Joins the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation to Raise Funds for Groundbreaking Research in the Quest for a Cure
- Pat Summitt, legendary women’s basketball coach, dies at 64
- Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan for her Impact on the Fight to end Alzheimer’s
- WRNN Interview
- Fisher Center’s 20th Anniversary Celebration and recent activities
- FOR MORE ARTICLES CLICK HERE
Truth in Numbers
Deaths from Alzheimer’s disease may be underreported.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in 2010, nearly 83,500 people died of Alzheimer’s disease.
But that number may actually be much higher. A study published in the March 25, 2014, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, suggests that more deaths can be attributed to Alzheimer’s disease than are reported on death certificates.
“In my opinion, there are probably many reasons for not reporting Alzheimer’s as the primary cause of death, from lack of knowledge and awareness of the patient’s Alzheimer’s
disease as an important cause or contributor to death, to focus on the immediate cause of death rather than the underlying causes,” says Kaycee M. Sink, MD, MAS, Director, Kulynych Memory Assessment Clinic and Associate Professor of Medicine/Geriatrics with Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.
At the end stages of Alzheimer’s, Dr. Sink says, people often have difficulty swallowing because the brain doesn’t tell the mouth and tongue what to do with food in order to chew and swallow correctly. They lose their appetite, and therefore lose weight. “With progressive weight loss and malnutrition, people with end-stage Alzheimer’s are more susceptible to infections like pneumonia and complications like pressure ulcers,” she says.
The most common cause of death for a person with Alzheimer’s, she adds, is pneumonia. In cases such as this, pneumonia is usually listed on the death certificate as the cause of death, rather than Alzheimer’s.
Is Alzheimer’s the Cause?
There is a difference, though, between dying OF Alzheimer’s and dying WITH Alzheimer’s, Dr. Sink notes.
“Many people with Alzheimer’s will die of causes unrelated to their Alzheimer’s disease,” she says. “For example, someone with mild Alzheimer’s might also have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. If he dies of a heart attack, he died WITH Alzheimer’s disease, not OF it. The cause of his death had nothing to do with Alzheimer’s.”
Often, though, for families who have watched loved ones suffer from Alzheimer’s, not seeing it listed on the death certificate feels like a disservice.
“It’s been my experience with families of patients who’ve died from any cause, that the death certificate and what it says has significant meaning to them,” says Dr. Sink. “Accuracy of death certificates is really important, not only for families but also for research. A lot of research gets done using death records, and the scientific community could be drawing wrong conclusions if the data used is not correct.”
Under-diagnosis

For families who have watched loved ones suffer from Alzheimer’s, not seeing it listed on the death certificate can feel like a disservice.
There’s also the problem of Alzheimer’s disease going undiagnosed—whether from lack of access to medical care, lack of knowledge, fear of stigma or, simply, denial.
“Many, many people with Alzheimer’s go undiagnosed, and the reasons vary from family to family,” says Dr. Sink. “For some, it’s a lack of knowledge; they assume the changes they’re seeing in memory and behavior are ‘normal aging’. For others, it may be that they don’t want to give Grandma a diagnosis because there’s no cure—‘so what’s the point?’ And for others, it may be not wanting the stigma of what has traditionally been a mental health diagnosis.
“I hope that someday people will view Alzheimer’s like any other medical condition. No one is ashamed when they are diagnosed with diabetes or cancer. Alzheimer’s should be viewed like that.”
How Many Americans Have Alzheimer’s Disease?
Estimates vary, but experts suggest that as many as 5 million Americans age 65 and older have Alzheimer’s disease. Unless the disease can be effectively treated or prevented, the number of people with it will increase significantly if current population trends continue. That’s because the risk of Alzheimer’s increases with age, and the U.S. population is aging. The number of people with Alzheimer’s doubles for every 5-year interval beyond age 65.
How Long Can a Person Live with Alzheimer’s Disease?
Alzheimer’s is a slow disease that progresses in three stages—an early, preclinical stage with no symptoms; a middle stage of mild cognitive impairment; and a final stage of Alzheimer’s dementia. The time from diagnosis to death varies—as little as 3 or 4 years if the person is older than 80 when diagnosed, to as long as 10 or more years if the person is younger.
Source: National Institute on Aging, Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center