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Alzheimer's Research and Prevention Foundation
OUR MISSION
The Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation (ARPF) is dedicated to the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease by funding research studies and providing educational outreach and memory screenings.
INSIDE
On the Cover:
• President’s Message
Page 2:
• New SAC Member
• News from the Senate
Aging Committee
Page 3:
• What Others Are Saying
Page 4:
• ARPF Outreach Update
Page 5:
• ARPF Research Update
Page 6-7:
• Donor List – Thank You!
Page 8:
• Keep in Touch!
Alzheimer's Research and Prevention Foundation
OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS
President/Medical Director
Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D.
Vice President
Randal Brooks, MA, LPC
Treasurer
Carolyn S. Sechler, CPA
Secretary
Kirti K. Khalsa
Member
Carolyn Lucz
Communications Director
Conni Ingallina
Public Relations
The Professional Image
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COUNCIL
Ma Gloria Borras-Boneu, M.D.
GRD Health Institute – Barcelona, Spain
Karen E. Innes, MSPH, Ph.D.
Western Virginia University School of Public Health – Morgantown, WV
Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women’s Hospital – Boston, MA
Miia Kivipelto, M.D., Ph.D.
Aging Research Center and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Karolinska Institute – Stockholm, Sweden
Karen Koffler, M.D.
Medical Director, Canyon Ranch Miami Beach Miami Beach, FL
Helen Lavretsky, M.D., M.S.
Professor, Department of Psychiatry UCLA Semel Institute and Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital – Los Angeles, CA
Roberta A. Lee, M.D.
Vice Chair, Department of Integrative Medicine Beth Israel Medical Center – New York, NY
George Perry, Ph.D.
Dean and Professor, College of Sciences University of Texas at San Antonio – San Antonio, TX
Michelle Sierpina, Ph.D.
Founding Director
UTMB Osher Institute for Lifelong Learning University of Texas Medical Branch – Galveston, TX
Yaakov Stern, Ph.D.
Director, Cognitive Neuroscience Division Taub Institute for the Study of Alzheimer’s disease and the Aging Brain Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons – New York, NY

 

“Your Stories”
Contest winner, Kay McDonald
Thanks for this opportunity to share a story about my wonderful dad, Gage Mersereau.
He was such a kind man to people and animals.
Most of all he loved dogs….every dog! And every dog loved him. My family used to joke that he loved them more than his own children.
Sadly, my father came down with Alzheimers and after three years of home care we had to move him to a special facility. Although he could never convey it, I think the hardest part of the transition for him….was no pets.
I visited him with my dog (his granddog) Rufus weekly…..and his spirits would soar. The unique bond between animals and people was truly amplified when I saw how he reacted with Rufus. The other residents also lit up when my Rufus came to visit.
My father died in hospice last year after breaking his hip and not being able to recover. When we moved him from the hospital to the hospice center they recommended to bring all the family dogs…because he would know they were there in his final moments. He slipped away while I held his hand, and Rufus was there with him.
I know he is now at peace and probably romping will all of his childhood pets.

“Forget-Me-Not”
N E W S L E T T E R
President’s Message
Why Alzheimer’s Prevention Is Now A Reality
Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., Founding President/Medical Director
Do you believe in synchronicity?
Or what I sometimes call synchrodestiny?
Regardless of what you call it, the meaning is the same: something that you find just when you need it. It’s like a great coincidence only better. Has it ever happened to you? Well, today it happened to me.
I was preparing to write my President’s Message and synchronistically was guided to a new scientific article entitled Neuroprotective Pathways: Lifestyle Activity, Brain Pathology And Cognition In Cognitively Normal Older Adults that just came out in a leading medical journal called Neurobiology of Aging.
This study, done at The University of California at Berkley and Northwestern University, examined 92 healthy individuals, aged between 60 and 90, with no reported memory problems. The researchers measured their cognitive activity (such as reading, writing letters and playing games), as well as their physical activity (such as cycling, dancing and swimming), in their early life, mid-life, and currently. They then correlated their activity to various sophisticated medical tests such as advanced scans, including those that use tracers, to uncover how much amyloid plaque and other abnormal findings were seen in the participants’ brain.
The results were quite compelling and led the author of the study to state: “Lifestyle activity may thus promote cognitive health in aging by protecting against cerebrovascular pathology and A? (amyloid) pathology thought to be relevant to Alzheimer’s disease development.”
What this article tells us is that what we’ve been saying here at your ARPF about The Four Pillars of Alzheimer’s Prevention using a holistic, integrative or lifestyle approach can no longer be denied. Beyond that, I’m especially excited and encouraged because this new study confirms the latest research of our partners in Finland and Sweden, as well as UCLA and The University of West Virginia, where we are continuing our innovative yoga meditation research.
So what we can say now without a doubt is that living a brain healthy lifestyle will definitely keep you young and sharp at every age and stage of life.
Please do yourself and your family a huge favor. If you’re not living an Alzheimer’s Prevention Lifestyle, do everything you can to start now! It’s crucial that you do. When you do, please know that you will help yourself create a lifetime of peak mental performance.
May all your memories be great,
Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D.
Founding President/Medical Director

Working Towards Prevention Since 1993

Meet Our New Scientific Advisory Council Member
Miia Kivipelto, M.D., Ph.D.

Miia Kivipelto, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Clinical Geriatric Epidemiology
at Karolinska Institutet
Deputy Head of the Aging Research Center
Stockholm, Sweden

Miia’s research focuses on prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Through epidemiological studies she has identified midlife vascular and lifestyle risk factors for later dementia/AD and aims to build on these observations to improve knowledge transfer and public awareness and to design intervention trials to mitigate these factors including lifestyle manipulations, such as exercise interventions.
Miia is principal investigator for the population-based study Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia (CAIDE) and the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER), one of the first multi-domain intervention studies in the world aimed at preventing or postponing dementia. She is also part of a Europe’s first-ever European Dementia Prevention Initiative (EDPI). Miia leads a group of multidisciplinary researchers that includes 4 postdocs and 9 doctoral students. Her group has close connections with the University of Eastern Finland and the National Institute of Health and Welfare in Helsinki and this collaboration has led to the development of the Nordic Brain Network (NBN), which has increased the utilization and exchange of resources and information about aging. She is also involved in many international networks and scientific/steering committees. Miia has received several awards including: Junior Chamber International: Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World 2011; Academy of Finland Award for Social Impact 2009; The Association of European Psychiatrists and European Bristol-Myers Squibb Prevention Award in Psychiatry 2007 and Martti Hämäläinen’s Award for Young Researcher 2002.
Dr. Kivipelto is also the recipient of a research grant from ARPF to study the effect of the FINGER study lifestyle interventions on telomeres. Preliminary results of this study are expected by the end of 2014.



Senate Aging Committee Launches New Anti-Fraud Hotline, Enhanced Website to Assist Seniors
WASHINGTON, DC – If you or someone you know suspect you’ve been victim of a scam or fraud aimed at seniors, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging has set up a new toll-free hotline to help.
The hotline was unveiled today to make it easier for senior citizens to report suspected fraud and receive assistance. It will be staffed by a team of committee investigators weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST. The investigators, who have experience with investment scams, identity theft, bogus sweepstakes and lottery schemes, Medicare and Social Security fraud, and a variety of other senior exploitation issues, will directly examine complaints and, if appropriate, refer them to the proper authorities.
Anyone with information about suspected fraud can call the toll-free fraud hotline at 1-855-303-9470, or contact the committee through its website, located at http://www.aging.senate.gov/fraud-hotline.
As chairman and ranking member of the committee, Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have made consumer protection and fraud prevention a primary focus of the committee’s work. This year the panel has held hearings examining Jamaican lottery scams, tax-related identity theft, Social Security fraud and payday loans impact on seniors.
“If you’re contacted about an offer that sounds too good to be true, then it probably is,” Nelson said. “This new hotline will give seniors a resource to turn to for assistance if they think they’ve been victimized or have questions about fraudulent activities.”
“Ensuring that seniors are as equipped as possible to avoid becoming victims of fraud and other scams is among our committee’s top priorities,” said Collins. “This new hotline offered by the Senate Special Committee on Aging will help to identify and put a stop to the cruel scams that hurt seniors and their families.”
The hotline’s unveiling also coincides with the committee’s launch of an enhanced senior-friendly website. The site’s new features include large print, simple navigation and an uncluttered layout that enables seniors to find information more easily and conveniently. Online visitors can also increase text size, change colors or view a text-only version of the site.
To view the new website, visit www.aging.senate.gov



ARPF Outreach Update
by Conni Ingallina, ARPF Communications Director
Conni Ingallina, ARPF Communications Director
2014. Another year. If you are like me, that thought comes with a twinge of “where did the time go?” It seems like yesterday was Christmas! Yet each day brings new and exciting things and here at the ARPF is no exception. On the heels of a fabulous 20th anniversary celebration, we continue to build on that momentum in our outreach programs.
We have been blessed with many volunteers who are so interested in our mission that they incorporate it into their own businesses and help us to get the word out in all kinds of ways—healthfairs, yoga classes, conferences, retirement communities, churches, local events, presentations and more. These “outreach reps” are all over the country and send us lots of pictures and updates of what they are doing. I’d like to share this volunteer story with you:
Jamie, from Wisconsin, has participated in many ARPF events. Here she shares with us, “For the past two years I have been invited to be a speaker as part of a company’s wellness program. They specifically were looking for someone to provide holistic resources which I find fabulous and quite progressive. Many of my topics utilize education and resources from the Vedic sciences focusing on stress reduction and healthier lifestyles. This is the second time I have been asked to do this specific program topic and it continues to be a popular draw. Several people in the group either had a family member with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or were concerned about them developing a cognitive imbalanced condition. The participants in the group were in the age range of 40’s to early 60’s and are actively looking for wellness support. Dr. Khalsa’s information on how the brain works and is affected by stress is helpful for people to have a better picture of what’s happening.”
We are grateful for the enthusiasm of these and all of our volunteers as they not only utilize the 4 Pillars of Alzheimer’s Prevention™ in their daily lives, but go the extra mile to spread the word.
If you are interested in incorporating the ARPF message in your community, give us a call. Join with us as we spread the word and work of Alzheimer’s Prevention, celebrating life in all that we do.
Blessings, Conni


What Others are Saying About ARPF

I am editor of a newsletter for seniors and do a lot of research for articles. I came across Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation and found it to be a very useful tool. Their research for Alzheimer’s disease is innovative and the reports detailed enough for the professional yet easy enough for family members and caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients to understand. They offer insight on treatment options that are “outside the box” and without the use of a lot of medications. Keep up the great work!

Terry Ellinger
Baltimore County Department of Aging

 



ARPF Research Update
We are excited to create this column to provide you with regular updates about the research grants and updates of our innovative research.
In the Fall of 2013:
• Dr. Innes at the University of West Virginia, Department of Public Health, began a study called Meditation vs. Simple Relaxation for Improving Memory and Related Outcomes in Adults at risk for Alzheimer’s Disease.
This study will investigate the efficacy and feasibility of a 12-week Kirtan Kriya meditation program vs. a 12-week relaxation (music listening) program for enhancing memory, sleep, mood, and well-being, reducing stress and improving related markers in 60 older adults with early memory loss.
After the numerous and complex required approvals were granted, the recruitment of study participants started and there are currently 47 individuals already undergoing the study. All the current participants have expressed enthusiasm about both the meditation and the relaxation interventions, and have indicated very good compliance to the study protocol.• Dr. Michael Schwenk of the Interdisciplinary Consortium on Advanced Motion Performance (iCAMP) and the Arizona Center on Aging, within the University of Arizona College of Medicine received a grant from ARPF for a pilot study on Virtual Balance Training to Prevent Falls and Improve Mental Function in Older Adults.
This study is currently training the second half of the total 30 participants and we will be able to report the results in the next newsletter.

Part of the Research Team
Part of the research team: L to R: Bahareh Honarvararaghi, Research Assistant,
Sheryl Foster, Fitness Director at Villa Hermosa Senior Living, Michael Schwenk, Ph.D., researcher at UofA

 

• FINGER study update: The currently ongoing Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) is one of the first intervention trials in the world to take a multidomain approach to dementia prevention and is studying 1,200 research participants.
The main aim is to prevent cognitive impairment, and secondary aims include decreasing disability, cardiovascular risk factors and related morbidities, depressive symptoms, and to have beneficial effects on quality of life. The FINGER multi-domain intervention components are: 1) Dietary guidance; 2) Physical activity; 3) Cognitive training and social activities; and 4) Intensive monitoring and management of metabolic and vascular risk factors.
The DNA has been extracted from the baseline samples for the whole sub-sample planned for the telomere project (800 participants). DNA extraction will be finalized from the follow-up samples during the next month. Analyses for telomere length will be conducted shortly after this.
FINGER study researchers are also founding members of the European Dementia Prevention Initiative (EDPI) together with two other ongoing European intervention studies: MAPT and PreDIVA. The members of EDPI have just initiated a new EU FP7 funded project “Healthy Aging Through Internet Counseling of the Elderly” (HATICE) that aims to build on the experiences from the three participating studies to plan a new European RCT.
In January of 2014:

A new ARPF-sponsored study began at UCLA, Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Helen Lavretsky is heading a research project called Memory Training Versus Yogic Meditation Training In Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment
This study will examine 66 participants and measure memory, cognition, mood, quality of life, and neuroplasticity and connectivity of the brain.

If you would like more information on any of these studies, please contact Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., ARPF Medical Director, at info@alzheimersprevention.org.

 


THANK YOU to Our Generous Donors
October 2013 – January 2014

Donations Made
In Memory of/Honor of:

Aldo Casagrande
Cassandra Hall
Amy Ballentyne
Marilyn C Toole
Andrew Dsida
Kathleen Windsor
Angie Reif
Karah English
Aunt Micky
Jeff Karch
Brian Darcy’s Grandmother
Sandra Kupor
Buel Ashley
Derek Shoobridge
Charles & Eileen Fry
Jane Fry
Connie Ann Hunt
Lynn Lilly
Dolores Flanagan Mason
Richelle Shelton
Edward Lucz
Carolyn A Lucz
Elaine Hall Eustice
Joan Kirschenherter
Eldred M. Myers
Muriel Welti
Eldred Myers
Evelyn & Merle Myers
Esther Schoenfeld
Helen Topolsky
father, John Richert
Chris Richert
Fay Viola
Marilyn Gunerman
Floyd Garma, Ralph Lynn
Joyce Donnelly
Gene Clair
Jason Heitmann
Genevieve E. Chernek
Linda Moore
Grandmother, Lillian Richter
Michele Danevich
Harold Ebeling
Bobbie Evans
Helen Althea, Donaghue Clements
Jennifer Krebs
Helen Lodorf Myers
George & Jeanette Van Wormer
Joan Cappannari
Rosemarie Zbikowski
Mr. & Mrs. Gary Ludorf
Diane Stelfox Cook
Helen Thomas Manning
Alvin Manning
Henry Talmadge Simmons
Joshua Simmons
Herbert Schwager
Jerry & Jo Ann Sayre
In Honor of all Wards
Susan Ward
In honor of daughters
and sons who care for
their parent(s)

Dennis Anne McKee
Gladys G. Maruna
Michael & Mary Hoogstra
Kathy & Wayne Wilkerson
Amy Little
Morris Schneider
Angela Brown
Peter Colten
Tracy Morrissey
Sarah Schumer
Jane Stelboum
Jacob L. Kahn
Joel Kahn
James Bluemel Sr.
Faith Gaber
James Bluemel
Suzanne Jeske
James Davie
Jennifer Jones
Janet & Marvin Fishman
Rozann Heininger
Janet Johnson
Elizabeth Fales
Jerry Dorsky
David Dorsky
Jo Ann Haney
Janice Bottorff
Joy Eady
Sharon Cameron
Joy Tallent
Roy & Susan Mobley
Kirk McLoren
Shan Russell
Linwood A. Kulp, Sr,
and Paul J. Moser

David & Donna Zempel
Lois Wareing
James Bonner
Lorraine Gangel
Art Gangel
Lucille Shinn
Dorothy Shinn
Mary Alice Curtis Gourley
Michelle Gourley
Mary S Clark
Barbara A. Clark
Max A. Smith
Karna Bosman
Mr. Eldred M. Myers
Dorothy & Archie Sprague
My mother, Carolyn
Lynn Taylor
Nac Quang Dam
Hung Dam
Emma Price
Nancy Litton
Cathy Latty
New Star Nootropics
Robert Corlett
Norman D. Mendenhall
Norma Wills
Pearl Gram
Barbara Sloat
Larry & Karen Emery
Vicki & David Heino
William H. Garrettson
Thomas & Carol Lapish
Ray & Sue Chenoski
Ray Zimmer
Marcella Zimmer
Robert Reynolds
Barbara L. Reynolds
Ruth E. Raines
AnneMarie Hotchkiss
Sandra Kay Randall
Julie Randall
Sara LeGrand Sanford Tanner
Natalia Allen
Sharron “Hank” Egstad
Peggy Egstad
Teresa Yanch
Catherine Hall
Thomas N. Wilson
Leon Leonardo
Velma Jean Clary
Wilba Hussey
Vida Kone
Mary Whitmire
Warren Kraemer
Diane Roche
Wilma King
Donna King

Individual Donations
October 2013 – January 2014

Anonymous
Jennifer Abbott
Dave Allison
Janice Alpern
Denise Annnona
Patricia Arcache
Coree Aussant
Lisa G Bagnoli
Diana Baker
Peggy Baldwin
Susan Bennett
Elizabeth Bergthold
Alfred Beulig
Jennifer Biber
Poonam Bisaria
Elizabeth Boenig
Ellen Braun
Catherine Bray
Patricia BruneauGaber
Karen Buechner
James Byrd
Elaine Cardwell
Jacqueline Carpenter
Geri Carroll
Lois Chaffee
Roberta Chagnot
Veronica Ciola
Carol Clause
Karen Cleary
Denise Cooper
Erin J. Copley
Phylis Cornell
Heather Cote
S.G. Couvrette
Milton Critchfield
Dianne Darcy
Martha Davis
Shirin Day
Karen DiRenzo
Della Dixon
Wendy Dulin
Sandy J Dundon
Doris & Dani Duniho
Tobias Ekpfadt
LeRoy & Mary Elfmann
Brian Ellerker
David Ennis
Sharon Evans
Nancy Falk
Alice H. Farber
Tarn Faulkner
Arlene A. Fidalgo
Gregory Fike
Shelly Fisher
Nicole Frederick
Lynne French
Robert E Froelich
Anita Gemme
Marjie Giffin
Richard Goodfellow
Dan Griffin
Graham Gund
Terry Gupta
Sandra Haberecht
Karen Hairfield
Vern & Debra Hall
Sylvia Hammerman
Diane Hanney
Suzanne Hardesty
Lloyd Hardin
Paula E. Hartman-Stein
June Harwell
Robert Gordon
Hayes Living Trust
Michael Helbein
Johanne Henson
Darrin Hert
Ethel A. Hoff
Jill Hope
Robert G.Hultberg
Robert Hultgren
Mary Inn Burdette
Karen Jack
Rose Jackson
Douglas Jackson
Hossein Javaherian
Ellen Javernick
Rajinder Kapoor
Devta Khalsa
Sat Kartar Kaur Khalsa
Eugene Klaber
Richard Klucznik
Karen Koffler, M.D.
Terri Kovalski
Lori Krauss
Lori La Bey
Frank & Ellen Labelle
Dominic Larose
Judy Lees
Clare Levourne
Rebecca Lewis
Shane Lizama
Ruth Longhenry
Carrie Lovell
Anne Maddente
Paul Margis
Beth Markowski
Matthew Marsh
Susan Marshall
Dave Matusiak
Jill Mays
Gay McNally
Cynthia C McTyre
Jennifer Merrick
Catherine Metsch
Bonnie Minardi
Krista Mixon
Mary Nethery
Timothy O’Brien
Carol Olsen
Tatiana Oueini
Linda Owens
Rho Painter
Constance Pappas
Russell Parsons
Steven Patterson
Terri Pease
Carlos Perez
María Rosa Pérez
de Villaamil
Sandra Piazza
Anne Pierce
Alvin A Pool
Irwin Porter
Richard Raines
Virginia Randall
Debbie Renfrow
Constance A Restivo
Erin Marie Rice
Brent Riggs
Andrea Robins
Carol Ross
Donna Rudolph
Georg Sandgren
Robin Sawyer
Christy Saydjari
David Scannell
Maggie Schaver
Fran Seigel
David Selenkow
Pat Sevchuk
Jerome Shaw
Stephen Shockley
Deborah Silberman
Katherine Silver
Glenda Skibitzke
Lynda Spalding
Erven Stagg
Karen Stein
Terri Stodghill
Anna Stone
Phillip D. Sullivan
Ivana Sustersic
Grace R. Sym
Donald Tansil
Alessia Tanzi
David P. Tapscott
Jeannette Tarango
Daniel & Sheila Teitelbaum
Robert Thomas
Ben Timian
Traci Tournoux
Jo Tregear
Nataly Tremblay
Jean Vollrath
Max Wallack
Mary Walls
Martha Weinfurter
Carol Williams
Herbert Wirts
Allison Wittrock
Tara Wolfgramm
Rodeo City Wreckettes
Rita Wuehrmann
Kin Yeung
Ina Zaritzky
Karen Lee Zine
In-Kind Donations
Khalsa International, Inc.
Puzzles to Remember

Do We Have Your E-mail?
If you want to receive all the latest updates from the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation, then make sure we have your most up-to-date email address! The ARPF is sharing more information via email, from news about Alzheimer’s and dementia, to information about the latest research results around the world, to contest winners and more.
So contact us at info@alzheimersprevention.org to be certain we have your latest e-mail address in our database, and then keep an eye out in your Inbox for ARPF news.
For the latest, up-to-the-minute news on appearances, activities, announcements, what’s going on in the Alzheimer’s world, and pictures of ARPF at work, make sure you ‘Like’ us on Facebook. That’s where all the latest information is posted on a daily basis.
Just like all information you give to ARPF, your e-mail address will remain private and will never be given or sold to an outside organization.
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Discover all the exciting activities the ARPF has in store for you for 2014 by visiting us on the web at
www.alzheimersprevention.org,
following us on Twitter at
https://twitter.com/PreventAD,
or ‘Liking’ us on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/PreventAD
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