Our Veterans and Dementia

June is PTSD Awareness Month. The rapidly surging number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease includes a growing number of military veterans, who may be at increased risk for dementia as a consequence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and brain injuries suffered in service. UsAgainstAlzheimer’s successfully works with and for communities at higher risk for dementia, including women, Latinos, and African Americans. Veterans also face unique risk factors for Alzheimer's as a result of their service. Love of country and support for our military is in my blood, and, sadly, so is Alzheimer’s. So it is fitting that I am spearheading

African Americans are more likely than whites to develop Alzheimer’s. Why?

This June 1, 2017, Washington Post article by Marita Golden focuses on the shocking disproportionate impact of Alzheimer’s on communities of color, specifically African Americans. Older African Americans develop Alzheimer's at a higher rate than any other group of older Americans, and are about twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to develop it or other forms of dementia. George Vradenburg, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Co-Founder, says, “When Trish and I started UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, we wanted to start a movement, a mobilization to find out why women, blacks and Latinos are disproportionately affected.” African Americans are nearly invisible in clinical Alzheimer's trials, accounting for only

Nursing Home Placement: Damned if You Do – Damned if You Don’t

Caregivers of people living with Alzheimer’s disease must make some extremely difficult decisions. One decision they may face is whether to place their loved one in a care facility of some type. Virtually no one wants to do it and few if any people want to go. This will be one of the most difficult, heart-wrenching decisions you, as an Alzheimer’s caregiver, will ever have to make. What if you have to work full-time and can’t provide the 24/7 care dementia patients require – especially those in the later stages of the disease? What if you can’t afford an in-home

WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s Mourns Passing of Adored and Inspirational Founder, Trish Vradenburg

As many of you know, our beloved founder, Trish Vradenburg passed away yesterday. Our hearts are broken. In my grief, I wanted to reflect on her life and what she meant to me and to our community. There are simply no words to fully express my grief and the deep sense of empathy I feel for her husband, best friend, lover and soul mate George Vradenburg. Trish was a rare breed, the perfect combination of consummate lady and inveterate ball buster – she was smart, loving, devoted and most of all, hilarious. She could take even the most serious subject

Brain Health & Inequality: Reflections on the Aspen Summit on Inequality & Opportunity

The 2017 Aspen Summit on Inequality & Opportunity brought together a diverse mix of policymakers, thought leaders, social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and practitioners to address the nation’s widening opportunity gap. Tucked between to-be-expected panels on manufacturing and hunger, was a 15 minute talk by Dr. Sarah Enos Watamura, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Denver and Director of the Child Health & Development Lab, on the biology of adversity. (Continue reading on Medium.)