Category Archives: Human interest

The former Chancellor of the University of Denver was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Then, she wasn’t

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Rebecca Chopp was determined to make the best of her diagnosis. It was 2019, and neurologists had just confirmed that the University of Denver chancellor had Mild Cognitive Impairment or MCI due to Alzheimer’s disease. Chopp, who didn’t want to risk letting her condition affect work, stepped down from her job.

“It’s a big job, and what if I made a mistake?” Chopp recalls thinking. “Plus, whatever time I had left, I wanted to be with my husband and friends and do things I hadn’t done.”

Questions about Chopp’s cognitive health first surfaced when she got lost driving to a regular checkup with her doctor. At the appointment, she told the doctor about it. Chopp also mentioned that she was sleeping more than usual, after years of not needing much sleep. The doctor recommended Chopp undergo some cognitive testing. 

“I was so arrogant. I laughed at her and said, ‘Sure, because I’d never failed a test in my life,'” she recalls. “So I took it, and I didn’t pass.”

Read more HERE

Alzheimer’s at 19? Doctors report the youngest case ever seen — and it’s raising big questions

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In January 2023, neurologists at Beijing’s Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University published a case study that briefly unsettled everything the field thought it knew about Alzheimer’s disease. Two years later, as new treatments and updated diagnostic criteria reshape how the disease is understood, the questions it raised are still unanswered.

He started forgetting things when he was 17. He couldn’t recall what had happened the day before, couldn’t follow what he’d just read, struggled to retain anything new. By 19, the decline had progressed enough that he withdrew from high school. He could still live independently, but something was clearly wrong.

Read the full article HERE

How about Alzheimer’s villages?

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Alzheimer; News from the web:

A small village in Dax, France, is working to find a better way to handle the increasing caseload. In one of the first research projects of its kind, the small town houses around 110 people with early- to late-stage Alzheimer’s who are free to roam and visit the village’s supermarket, hairdresser, restaurant, café, library, and music hall. With a daily cost of €65 ($75), the program aims to allow people to exist with greater autonomy, purpose, and freedom without facing immediate financial hardship. “If it is not for everyone, it doesn’t work,” said Mathilde Charon-Burnel, a spokesperson for the experiment.

Read all about it HERE