The Alzheimer's solution : how today's care is failing millions and how we can do better

Kosik, K. S. (Kenneth S.) 1950- (Author). Clegg, Ellen, 1950- (Added Author).

Summary: Product Description: As the Baby Boomer generation moves into the ranks of the elderly in the next decade or two, the number of Alzheimer cases expected to develop will be staggering. Since current medical care cannot offer a cure, and even significantly effective treatment is at least ten years away, there is a pressing need for novel solutions to address the multifaceted issues raised by this devastating disease. This book offers a measure of hope and coping strategies for people facing Alzheimer's now or in the future. Authors Kenneth S. Kosik, MD, a neurologist and a leading Alzheimer's researcher, and experienced healthcare journalist Ellen Clegg propose the creation of community centers devoted to Alzheimer's. Here patients and their families could access programs of care, treatment, and most importantly, prevention, outside of the traditional medical setting. They outline a bold vision of one-stop centers that would provide expertise and reliable information on a range of topics: pharmaceutical developments, dietary regimens, physical and cognitive exercise programs that may help to slow the disease process, and palliative measures to reduce suffering. Most important, the centers they describe would take a family-oriented, personalized approach to care and prevention, creating an atmosphere conducive to adult learning and facilitating personal growth in areas that patients have enjoyed over a lifetime, including the arts, dance, socializing, and a host of other possibilities. The authors explain why the current healthcare system is poorly equipped to deal with Alzheimer patients, why the standard medical model is inappropriate for cognitive disorders, how market economics stymies physician creativity, and how new initiatives that work outside the existing system could go a long way toward providing the help that is lacking today. For people prepared to take action now to prevent Alzheimer's, as well as healthcare professionals seeking ways to help their patients, this book is a must read.

Record details

ISBN: 9781616142087 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN: 1616142081 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN: 9781591027287 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN: 1591027284 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Physical Description: print
280 p. ; 23 cm.
Publisher: Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 2010.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Acknowledgments -- Preface -- 1: Inspiration -- Largest kindred in the world with familial Alzheimer's Disease -- One family's story of familial Alzheimer's: The Noonans -- Alzheimer's Disease on the world stage -- 2: Why We Need Neighborhood Cognitive Shops -- Nowhere to turn -- Neighborhood cognitive shop -- Community acceptance of cognitive centers and physician referral patterns -- Achieving lifelong brain health -- Finding support in the community -- 3: Understanding The Basics: Where We Are, How We Got Here -- Academy delivers the fundamental biology -- Big pharma sets the agenda -- On to the Food and Drug Administration -- Getting the basics right: the first step toward drug discovery -- Alzheimer's Disease research goes molecular -- Plaque and tangle cartels: how research was stymied -- Pure Alzheimer's Disease is not the most common form of dementia -- New directions -- 4: Medical Model Hits The Shoals -- What is the medical model? -- Medicine and social change -- Reappraising the problem of cognition in elders -- Medical model will not work in the coming genetic revolution -- At the boundaries of the medical model -- Application of the medical model to conditions that affect the mind -- Application of the medical model to conditions that affect the brain -- 5: Alzheimer Burden And The Coming Epidemic -- Alzheimer Disease by the numbers -- Institutionalization -- Alzheimer epidemic is coming at a time when the healthcare system is in peril -- 6: Dance With Two Partners: The Marketplace And The Regulators -- System stymies physician creativity -- Regulation: can't live with it and can't live without it -- Paying high prices for drugs with modest effects -- Biological research will create a medical treatment tier available to only a select few: high medical costs are about to soar -- Off-label quagmire and the compassionate-use quicksand -- Employer coverage will require lifestyle changes to reduce risk -- 7: Cognitive Impairment And Decision Making -- Why do people who are strongly opposed to receiving total care often end up receiving total care if they become demented? -- Apathy replace despondency -- Predicting Alzheimer's Disease -- Physician-assisted suicide rules are not applicable to Alzheimer's Disease -- End-of-life issues for Alzheimer's patients: the need for a new ethical landscape -- Facing the prospect of Alzheimer's Disease while still cognitively intact -- 8: Alzheimer's In The Information Age -- Thirst for information in a sea of information -- From information to knowledge: social networks and the medical wiki -- Privacy issue-or not? -- Doctors will no longer diagnose -- Your doc goes virtual -- Telling our story in an E-World setting -- 9: Challenge Of Optimizing Lifestyles -- Exercise -- Diet -- Cognitive challenges -- Friends -- Chronic stress-an inner time bomb -- Happiness solution -- Social networks drive adherence -- 10: Conclusions -- Index.