NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., July 19, 2019 --- Many causes of memory loss are treatable and even preventable. The key
is early primary care involvement, according to findings presented at
the 2019 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).
Researchers and physicians from the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute
at Hoag presented several posters at this year’s annual conference,
the largest and most influential international meeting dedicated to advancing
Alzheimer’s science, highlighting compelling data from Hoag’s
Orange County Vital Brain Aging Program (OCVBAP) that shows the benefit
of early detection to stave off cognitive impairment and the dementia
of Alzheimer’s disease.
“This represents a shifting attention from Alzheimer’s chronic
care to prevention,” said William R. Shankle, M.S., M.D., F.A.C.P.,
The Judy & Richard Voltmer Endowed Chair and director of the Memory
and Cognitive Disorders program at the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute
at Hoag. “What you do in your mid-age affects what happens in your
brain in your 70s and 80s.”
Alzheimer’s disease affects 5.8 million people in the United States.
Worldwide, an estimated 44 million suffer from the disease. The AAIC brings
together leading researchers from 70 countries to share methods of prevention
and treatment and improvements in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
The OCVBAP, a multi-disciplinary program involving researchers, community
leaders, health care educators and physicians, has been involved for nearly
a decade in promoting early detection of memory loss and cognitive impaitment
as well as the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.
Hoag’s study was based on published guidelines for preventing Alzheimer’s
or dementia, and targets both the public as well as health care professionals.
The public outreach included education seminars, an online education web
portal, and tools for self-identification of risk factors.
It also includes a pathway for self-referred, confidential in-person cognitive
assessments. These assessments are conducted by trained OCVBAP personnel
in community settings.
“We’ve seen younger people taking part in the assessments because
they are interested in prevention and want to take action,” Dr.
Shankle said. “They have seen their parents’ or their grandparents’
decline, and they are scared. The stigma of Alzheimer’s is going
away gradually. They are ready to do something.”
One troubling aspect of Hoag’s study, however, was that researchers
found that primary care physicians were not always well informed enough
to help. Nearly a quarter (24%) of all participants in the study were
found to be in an impaired range, meaning that their conditions had gone
unnoticed or unmentioned by their physicians.
“These people have either never brought up their concerns to their
physicians, or their physicians said, ‘Don’t worry, you’re
just getting old,’” he said.
That is why another critical component of the program is the education
of primary care physicians (PCPs) to act as a first line of defense against
Alzheimer’s disease.
“We found that by training PCPs to identify risk factors and early
symptoms of cognitive impairment, we are able to help guide doctors to
detect Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest, most manageable state,”
said Dr. Shankle. “Educating physicians also helps patients rule
out Alzheimer’s and dementia in cases where the underlying cause
of cognitive impairment turns out to be something else, such as poor sleep,
stress or depression.”
The Hoag study also highlights the importance of diet, exercise and social
activity in delaying or preventing the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms.
“We call these ‘below the neck conditions,’ such as high
blood pressure, heart disease,” Dr. Shankle said. “We heavily
encourage them to take part in social activities and hobbies and to speak
to their primary care physicians to get their medical conditions under
control.”
To further promote the important role PCPs play in brain health, Pickup
Family Neurosciences Institute is hosting internationally renowned cognitive
neurologist and clinician-researcher Alireza Atri, M.D., Ph.D., as the
keynote speak for the Neurosciences Symposium on September 13, 2019 to
speak with physicians about the best clinical practice guidelines for
evaluation of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. His
presentation will provide an overview of the aims, processes and recommendations
to help physicians better recognize the effects of Alzheimer’s disease
and develop a shared care plan with their patients to delay onset.
Reflecting the recent findings from the
Alzheimer’s Association’s Special Report on Alzheimer’s
Detection in the Primary Care Setting: Connecting Patients and Physicians, Dr. Shankle encourages patients to speak to their physicians if they
are concerned and for physicians to routinely ask about cognitive health.
“What we found was the PCP’s attitude is basically, ‘If
something is happening, the patient will bring it up.’ Meanwhile,
the patient is thinking, ‘If this is so important, my doctor will
ask me about it,’” he said. “In Alzheimer’s, early
detection can lead to treatments and interventions that delay the onset
of the disease’s worst symptoms. That is why these conversations
are so important.”
ABOUT PICKUP FAMILY NEUROSCIENCES INSTITUTE
Delivering a personalized, integrated approach using best-practice guidelines,
the most advanced technology, and integration of medical specialists in
the most appropriate facilities, the
Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute (PFNI) at Hoag provides the highest quality care for patients with brain and spine disorders
including stroke, aneurysms and vascular malformations, brain tumors,
epilepsy, movement disorders, memory and cognitive disorders, pain, minimally
invasive spine surgery, multiple sclerosis, addiction medicine and sleep
disorders, as well as the mind-body interface of behavioral health. Several
of Hoag’s PFNI programs have received high acclaim, including the
stroke program, which was the first hospital in Orange County and the
second in California to be named a Certified Comprehensive Stroke Center
by DNV GL Healthcare. It was awarded the American Stroke Association’s
Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement for stroke
care. And as one of the first centers in the U.S. to offer the most advanced
radiosurgical treatment system available, Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™, the PFNI brain tumor program is the largest in Orange
County and is also among the top volume programs in the western United
States. The epilepsy program is an accredited Level 4 center. The PFNI’s
memory and cognitive disorders program is nationally recognized.
ABOUT HOAG MEMORIAL HOSPITAL PRESBYTERIAN
Hoag is an approximately $1 billion nonprofit, regional health care delivery
network in Orange County, California, that treats more than 30,000 inpatients
and 450,000 outpatients annually. Hoag consists of two acute-care hospitals
– Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, which opened in 1952, and Hoag Hospital
Irvine, which opened in 2010 – in addition to eight health centers
and 11 urgent care centers. Hoag is a designated Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Hoag offers
a comprehensive blend of health care services that includes five institutes
providing specialized services in the following areas:
cancer,
heart and vascular,
neurosciences,
women’s health, and orthopedics through Hoag’s affiliate,
Hoag Orthopedic Institute, which consists of an orthopedic hospital and two ambulatory surgical centers.
Hoag has been named one of the Best Regional Hospitals in the 2018 - 2019
U.S. News & World Report, andBecker’s Healthcare named Hoag as one of the 2018 “100 Great Hospitals in America”
– a designation Hoag has received five times. For an unprecedented
23 years, residents of Orange County have chosen Hoag as one of the county’s
best hospitals in a local newspaper survey. Visit
www.hoag.org for more information.
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To download the official press release, please click
here.