Donations to Dementia Research Surge in Wake of Sir Terry Pratchett’s Death
Let's get this embuggerance.
After being diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's in 2007, Terry Pratchett made considerable donations to Alzheimer research funding, lobbied the British government for increased dementia research, and participated in a documentary on the condition (Living With Alzheimer's), before passing away earlier this month at 66.
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Mental and social stimulation from work could reduce decline in cognitive functions
It might feel like work is killing you, but it's also giving your brain mental exercise that could help keep you sharp in the future. A wide-ranging study from France has found that those who retired later had a lower risk of developing dementia, the condition of mental deterioration whose leading cause is Alzheimer's disease. These new findings are consistent with past studies that have discovered the importance of keeping the brain active in order to reduce the risk of cognition-related disorders in old age.
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Shocking New Trial to Test Pacemakers on Brains of Alzheimer’s Patients
A new hope for Alzheimer's patients may lie in a treatment already being used for diseases like Parkinson's, epilepsy, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Deep-brain stimulation (DBS) works by implanting a device similar to a pacemaker directly into the brain of patients. Doctors are expanding a study to test the effectiveness of DBS on Alzheimer's patients. The new round of testing hopes to build on the promising results of an earlier study.
Gene For Dementia Risk Might Make Carriers More Clever During Youth
Feeling Feelings: Terry Pratchett’s Heartbreaking EoL Documentary
And Now For Something Completely Different
Terry Pratchett is one of our favorite fantasy authors, the Discworld series being a place that we've returned to time and time again... He has also been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's and since then has become a personally invested advocate of Alzehimer's research and of the legalization of assisted death. His documentary Choosing to Die was released in June, but we only became aware of it today. And when I heard him say "When I can no longer write my books, I'm not sure that will want to go on living," it was hard to not listen to the reasoned case and research of a man whose written work has given me so much joy. Especially as someone who wants to write books myself. (via I Heart Chaos.)
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