Special promotional content for Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
“Unfortunately, the numbers show that African Americans are at 1½ to 2 times higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. What we like to do is to preserve people’s precious memories. It’s a very devastating disease and the earlier that people get diagnosed, the better chance of benefiting from treatment,” says Dr. Fabu Carter, Senior Outreach Program Manager for Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
The Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s mission is to improve the lives of people affected by Alzheimer’s disease by facilitating innovative science that targets the prevention and treatment of the disease.
“Part of what we do is to educate people about the disease but also we’d like to create awareness. It could be a loved one in your family – a grandparent or aunt or uncle – who might be showing signs of memory loss. The very basic definition of dementia is the inability to carry on your daily functions,” Carter says. “In the case of dementia, it doesn’t mean if that you’re merely not remembering as you usually remember. Dementia means that you also are unable to successfully navigate to your day-to-day life. Maybe you forget appointments, or have problems driving or similar lapses in your ability to navigate day-to-day tasks… these are signs that should encourage a person to get help.”
The good news is that by getting into a Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center memory study, we will help keep an eye on your memory and thinking abilities. This additional attention can reassure you that your memory is doing well or it can be able to tell you early on if there are issues or problems. For instance, if they find that your elderly loved one is not doing well, then this may be the time to start looking into memory care for seniors or senior living communities like The Chelsea at Fanwood independent living. You may also visit sites like https://www.palmbeachmemorycare.com/respite-care/ for additional guidance.
“It can be really hard for people when they start to notice, ‘OK, I’m not remembering as well as I did.’ You know, it’s really important to check it out right away. And memory studies are a very easy way to do that,” Carter says. “Because it could be other reasons. For example, you can be on medication that’s interfering with your memory. You could be not sleeping well. You can be in a state of grief. If you’re stressed out. There are lots of things that can impact the memory – and many that than be addressed..”
The purpose of doing research, Carter adds, is to better determine this.
“We only have one federally funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in Wisconsin, and that is UW-Madison,” Carter says. “So the scientists and doctors who specialize in memory care can tell people quite thoroughly how they’re really doing and how they are really fairing.”
Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 6.5 million Americans age 65 and older — more than 120,000 in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin ADRC is focused primarily on improving early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, identifying risk and protective factors, and finding ways to delay onset and progression
Carter encourages anybody 40 years and older to take part in the memory studies. She stresses that it’s more than just about memory, it’s about overall health.
“When you’re tested and they see your cholesterol is high. Our AA-FAIiM study, African Americans fighting Alzheimer’s disease in midlife, can tell you ways to lower your cholesterol,” Carter says. “So there is a give back where African American participants are told what they can do to increase their well-being and to increase their brain health, which is another important service that we offer.
“So we are asking the community to be a part of a memory study to check on their brain health. It’s a longitudinal study, meaning for as long as they’re willing to be in the study, we want them to remain a participant. We’re asking them to be tested every two years if they are under 65 and every year if they are 66 and over,” she adds. “And then they are given feedback about their results that indicates ‘Oh, your memory has improved’ or “Oh, your memory is the same’ or ‘Oh, we’ve seen that your memory has declined … let’s see why that might have happened.’”
Through funding from the National Institute on Aging and the National Institutes of Health, the Wisconsin ADRC supports researchers in their pursuit of answers that will lead to improved diagnosis and care for patients while, at the same time, focusing on the program’s long-term goal — finding a way to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease.
Images courtesy National Institute on Aging
“With the memory study, you’ll get cutting edge information about the field of Alzheimer’s disease. So we do regular updates,” Carter says. “Recently there was a new Alzheimer’s drug that came out. So there’s an assessment of that drug: who will benefit versus who it will not benefit.”
Other benefits include free programming like a “Get Moving” exercise class or a free basic computer class..
“We’re giving things to the community – things they are interested in doing. That computer class is always full of seniors who are wanting to know more about technology,” Carter says. “We do yearly events to keep people in touch with Alzheimer’s research but also to give back to the community.”
James Bester and Lytonia Floyd are Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center outreach specialists who were hired in July to recruit and help retain people.
Floyd, a nutrition expert, has been going to the libraries in Madison area where she talks to people about the research study. Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center has also been doing things with mobile gardens where people can pick up gardens and place them in their homes during the pandemic and plant herbs and spices. Also, Floyd helps people with healthy cooking and nutritional recipes just to remind them how they can eat traditional cultural foods they like without as much sugar and fat.
“One of the things I’ve been doing is sharing puzzles because it helps promote cognitive exercise for the brain. We are also doing soul food this month so I’m working from a heart-healthy recipe book,” Floyd says. “I share recipes with them and we create a whole meal in one month of healthy cooking. One of the ladies did crispy oven fried chicken and that turned out to be really good and it encouraged other participants to try. I’ve been coming up with different ways to make food choices fun and healthy.”
“The oven-fried crispy chicken was without skin and includes a few tablespoons of oil,” Carter says. “They were able to imitate crispy with corn flakes. There are studies that indicate that fried foods are actually not good for brain health.
“We also have a cookbook project where we are doing culturally specific foods from the African American community and the Native American community. So we have a chef that is working on a cookbook project so that people can have healthy alternatives,” Carter adds. “This is the food that we normally eat – how can we still eat it in a way that is good for our brain health and our overall health? What’s good for heart health is also good for brain health.”
Bester has been working on starting an exercise group in early June to get men interested in brain health. He’s still looking for an instructor and a maintenance person for that class.
“I’m just going to introduce them to the things that the women’s exercise group is doing because I’ve seen their exercise classes and they are wonderful,” Bester says. “I think men could benefit from that. We just have to push men a little bit and get them motivated to join. I think once they do, it will be very interesting for them.”
There is also the Brain Buzz quarterly newsletter..
“I really enjoyed that because it instills trust for me in the community and our recruiting,” Bester says. “It tells them what we’re doing.”
Bester says that Dr. Carter has really opened his eyes to the education about Alzheimer’s disease and the importance of the research.
“I just want to expand on that and let more of my community know more about the importance of the research part so that we can hopefully slow this down or get rid of this terrible disease,” Bester says.
Bester has been planning a men’s get-together over poetry. “It’s going to be something a little different … still working on brain health,” he says. “That’s something that I personally like and I feel like I could get men involved in … just to express themselves a little bit.”
Carter is well-known in the Alzheimer’s field having worked on outreach for many years.
“James Bester has connections in Racine and Lytonia Floyd has connections in Beloit. So we’re not just Madison-based. We can recruit people from the surrounding areas and we’re very interested in doing that,” Carter says. “It’s important that people know that there are ways to impact the trajectory of the disease and medication can help with slowing down the progression. So early detection is important. Again, there can be many reasons for memory lapses, but it’s really important to find out why.
“It’s also important to be protective legally. When you lose control of your memory, you are vulnerable, therefore, you also need legal protections … another reason why it is important to be diagnosed early,” she adds.
For the memory studies, the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center is reaching out to younger people, too. Prevention steps can start already in one’s 50s.
“Younger people are important because often they are caregivers for someone in their family who is older,” Carter says. “Oftentimes, it’s a family member or a close friend that leads us to help someone whose memory is not as sharp as it once was or is struggling to remember certain things or how to get around or how to navigate or how to pay a bill. Those are red flags that something is going on and it can be checked out because a younger member sees the problems.
“We want people to be sure that they know that this is all free to be a part of a research study,” Carter adds. “For most people who don’t have memory problems – because the majority don’t – this is a way to keep up with their health. It’s kind of like a yearly exam. It’s a way to have a free yearly brain exam … let you know that your memory is doing fine.”
