Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Nordic diet, Mediterranean diet, and the risk of chronic diseases: The EPIC-Potsdam study

You'll have to ask for specifics on the Nordic diet from your doctor, most likely you'll get nothing useful. You are on your own once again trying to decipher exactly what these diets entail.
There are a couple of tables of food groups at the link. You'll have to guess at the amounts.  
Good luck, hope you guess correctly.
https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-018-1082-y
  • Cecilia Galbete,
  • Janine Kröger,
  • Franziska Jannasch,
  • Khalid Iqbal,
  • Lukas Schwingshackl,
  • Carolina Schwedhelm,
  • Cornelia Weikert,
  • Heiner Boeing and
  • Matthias B. SchulzeEmail author
BMC Medicine201816:99
Received: 11 August 2017
Accepted: 22 May 2018
Published: 27 June 2018

Abstract

Background

The Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) has been acknowledged as a healthy diet. However, its relation with risk of major chronic diseases in non-Mediterranean countries is inconclusive. The Nordic diet is proposed as an alternative across Northern Europe, although its associations with the risk of chronic diseases remain controversial. We aimed to investigate the association between the Nordic diet and the MedDiet with the risk of chronic disease (type 2 diabetes (T2D), myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and cancer) in the EPIC-Potsdam cohort.

Methods

The EPIC-Potsdam cohort recruited 27,548 participants between 1994 and 1998. After exclusion of prevalent cases, we evaluated baseline adherence to a score reflecting the Nordic diet and two MedDiet scores (tMDS, reflecting the traditional MedDiet score, and the MedPyr score, reflecting the MedDiet Pyramid). Cox regression models were applied to examine the association between the diet scores and the incidence of major chronic diseases.

Results

During a follow-up of 10.6 years, 1376 cases of T2D, 312 of MI, 321 of stroke, and 1618 of cancer were identified. The Nordic diet showed a statistically non-significant inverse association with incidence of MI in the overall population and of stroke in men. Adherence to the MedDiet was associated with lower incidence of T2D (HR per 1 SD 0.93, 95% CI 0.88–0.98 for the tMDS score and 0.92, 0.87–0.97 for the MedPyr score). In women, the MedPyr score was also inversely associated with MI. No association was observed for any of the scores with cancer.

Conclusions

In the EPIC-Potsdam cohort, the Nordic diet showed a possible beneficial effect on MI in the overall population and for stroke in men, while both scores reflecting the MedDiet conferred lower risk of T2D in the overall population and of MI in women.

There are a couple of tables of food groups at the link. You'll have to guess at the amounts. 

Clinical and Imaging Predictors of Recurrent Ischemic Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

You'll have to digest this one yourself. In my case since I had zero chance of having a stroke in the first place I don't trust anything here. No clue if I had large artery atherosclerosis. I suppose I'm supposed to trust that my doctor knows what to do here. Hard to trust since my doctor knew zilch about stroke recovery.  But I've been 12 years without another stroke.
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/490422

Kauw F.· de Jong H.W.A.M.a · Velthuis B.K.a · Kappelle L.J.b · Dankbaar J.W.a

Cerebrovasc Dis 2018;45:279–287







Abstract

Background: Predictors of recurrent ischemic stroke are less well known in patients with a recent ischemic stroke than in patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA). We identified clinical and radiological factors for predicting recurrent ischemic stroke in patients with recent ischemic stroke. Methods: A systematic search in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL was performed with the terms “ischemic stroke,” “predictors/determinants,” and “recurrence.” Quality assessment of the articles was performed and the level of evidence was graded for the articles included for the meta-analysis. Pooled risk ratios (RR) and heterogeneity (I2) were calculated using inverse variance random effects models.
Results: Ten articles with high-quality results were identified for meta-analysis. Past medical history of stroke or TIA was a predictor of recurrent ischemic stroke (pooled RR 2.5, 95% CI 2.1–3.1). Small vessel strokes were associated with a lower risk of recurrence than large vessel strokes (pooled RR 0.3, 95% CI 0.1–0.7). Patients with stroke of an undetermined cause had a lower risk of recurrence than patients with large artery atherosclerosis (pooled RR 0.5, 95% CI 0.2–1.1). We found no studies using CT or ultrasound for the prediction of recurrent ischemic stroke. The following MRI findings were predictors of recurrent ischemic stroke: multiple lesions (pooled RR 1.7, 95% CI 1.5–2.0), multiple stage lesions (pooled RR 4.1, 95% CI 3.1–5.5), multiple territory lesions (pooled RR 2.9, 95% CI 2.0–4.2), chronic infarcts (pooled RR 1.5, 95% CI 1.2–1.9), and isolated cortical lesions (pooled RR 2.2, 95% CI 1.5–3.2).  
Conclusions: In patients with a recent ischemic stroke, a history of stroke or TIA and the subtype large artery atherosclerosis are associated with an increased risk of recurrent ischemic stroke. Predictors evaluated with MRI include multiple ischemic changes and isolated cortical lesions. Predictors of recurrent ischemic stroke concerning CT or ultrasound have not been published.

What are the benefits of eating healthy?

Pretty much useless. No protocol of amounts to eat per weight and sex. But it is great for their conscience laundering.
https://www.mdlinx.com/internal-medicine/top-medical-news/article/2018/06/27/7526292/?

Friday, June 29, 2018

World Stroke Organization tweet

This just shows you how fucking lazy the WSO is. Access and care, NOT results and solving all the  problems in stroke.
Until survivors take over such organizations nothing will occur for survivors. 


World Stroke Org @WorldStrokeOrg 15h15 hours ago
Prof Werner Hacke, Pres 'categorizing stroke correctly under diseases of the Nervous System, is supporting global efforts by , and to increase public recognition of stroke and improve access to stroke treatment and care

Growth hormone releasing peptide‐6 acts as a survival factor in glutamate‐induced excitotoxicity

With ANY BRAINS AT ALL,  our stroke leaders would recognize this as a possible solution to the excitotoxicity problem of the neuronal cascade of death. 
But nothing will occur because they can't add 1+1.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1471-4159.2006.04122.x 
 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr Laura M. Frago, Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesús, Avenida Menéndez Pelayo 65, 28009 Madrid, Spain
E‐mail: laura.frago@uam.es

Abstract

Chronic systemic treatment given to adult male rats with growth hormone releasing peptide‐6, an agonist of the ghrelin receptor, increases insulin‐like growth factor I levels in various brain regions, including the hypothalamus and cerebellum. Furthermore, intracellular signalling cascades normally associated with anti‐apoptotic actions are activated in the same areas and are coincident with decreased basal cell death. Because abnormally high concentrations of glutamate can lead to overexcitation of neurones leading to cell damage and/or death, we investigated whether administration of growth hormone releasing peptide‐6 attenuates monosodium glutamate‐induced apoptosis in the rat hypothalamus and cerebellum. Glutamate increased activation of caspase 9 followed by cleavage of caspase 7, which in turn fragmented poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase, terminating in cell death in both the hypothalamus and cerebellum. Growth hormone releasing peptide‐6 reversed glutamate‐induced cell death by decreasing activation of caspases 9 and 7 and poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase fragmentation. These results provide a better understanding of the neuroprotective role of growth hormone secretagogues and the mechanisms involved.

Scientists can predict intelligence from brain scans

So our researchers should come up with objective testing to determine if this loss of cognition via stroke is correct.

brain injury patients were estimated to be around five years older on average than their real age


https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-06-scientists-intelligence-brain-scans.html
If you've ever lied about your IQ to seem more intelligent, it's time to fess up. Scientists can now tell how smart you are just by looking at a scan of your brain.
Actually, to be more precise, the scientists themselves aren't looking at your brain scan; a machine-learning algorithm they've developed is.
In a new study, researchers from Caltech, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and the University of Salerno show that their new computing tool can predict a person's from imaging (fMRI) scans of their resting state brain activity. Functional MRI develops a map of brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow to specific brain regions. In other words, an individual's intelligence can be gleaned from patterns of activity in their brain when they're not doing or thinking anything in particular—no math problems, no vocabulary quizzes, no puzzles.
"We found if we just have people lie in the scanner and do nothing while we measure the pattern of activity in their brain, we can use the data to predict their intelligence," says Ralph Adolphs (Ph.D. '92), Bren Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Biology, and director and Allen V. C. Davis and Lenabelle Davis Leadership Chair of the Caltech Brain Imaging Center.
To train their algorithm on the complex patterns of activity in the human brain, Adolphs and his team used data collected by the Human Connectome Project (HCP), a scientific endeavor funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that seeks to improve understanding of the many connections in the . Adolphs and his colleagues downloaded the and intelligence scores from almost 900 individuals who had participated in the HCP, fed these into their algorithm, and set it to work.
After processing the data, the team's algorithm was able to predict intelligence at statistically significant levels across these 900 subjects, says Julien Dubois (Ph.D. '13), a postdoctoral fellow at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. But there is a lot of room for improvement, he adds. The scans are coarse and noisy measures of what is actually happening in the brain, and a lot of potentially useful information is still being discarded.
"The information that we derive from the brain measurements can be used to account for about 20 percent of the variance in intelligence we observed in our subjects," Dubois says. "We are doing very well, but we are still quite far from being able to match the results of hour-long intelligence tests, like the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale,"
Dubois also points out a sort of philosophical conundrum inherent in the work. "Since the algorithm is trained on intelligence scores to begin with, how do we know that the are correct?" The researchers addressed this issue by extracting a more precise estimate of intelligence across 10 different cognitive tasks that the subjects had taken, not only from an IQ test.
In predicting intelligence from brain scans, the algorithm is doing something that humans cannot, because even an experienced neuroscientist cannot look at a brain scan and tell how intelligent a person is.
"If trained properly, these algorithms can answer questions as complex as the one we are trying to answer here. They are very powerful, but if you actually ask, 'How do they learn? How do they do these things?' These are difficult questions to answer," says co-author Paola Galdi, previously a Ph.D. student at the University of Salerno and now a at the University of Edinburgh.
The study was conducted as part of an ongoing quest to build a diagnostic tool that can tell a great deal about a person's mind from their brain scans. Adolphs and his colleagues say that they would like to one day see MRIs work as well for diagnosing conditions like autism, schizophrenia, and anxiety as they currently do for finding tumors, aneurisms, or liver disease.
"Functional MRI has not yet delivered on its promise as a diagnostic tool. We, and many others, are actively working to change this," says Dubois. "The availability of large data sets that can be mined by scientists around the world is making this possible."
Intelligence was chosen as one of the first test beds for the technology because research has shown that it's very stable over time. That is, a person's IQ score will not vary much over a period of weeks, months, or years.
The researchers also conducted a parallel study, using the same test population and approach, that attempted to predict personality traits from fMRI brain scans. An individual's personality, Adolphs says, is at least as stable as intelligence over a long period of time. The personality test they used divides personality into five scales:
  1. Openness to experience: Preference for new experiences and ideas vs. preference for routine and predictability
  2. Conscientiousness: Self-discipline and thoughtfulness vs. spontaneity and flexibility
  3. Extraversion: Sociability and talkativeness vs. shyness and reservation
  4. Agreeableness: Friendliness and helpfulness vs. antagonism and argumentativeness
  5. Neuroticism: Confidence and predisposition to positive emotions vs. nervousness and predisposition to negative emotions
However, it has turned out to be much more difficult to predict personality using the method the team used for predicting intelligence. But this is not surprising, says Dubois.
"The personality scores in the database are just from short, self-report questionnaires," he says. "That's not going to be a very accurate measure of personality to begin with, so it is no wonder we cannot predict it well from the MRI data."
Adolphs and Dubois say they are now teaming up with colleagues from different fields, including Caltech philosophy professor Frederick Eberhardt, to follow up on their findings.
Papers describing the two studies, titled "Resting-state functional brain connectivity best predicts the personality dimension of openness to experience," and "A distributed network predicts general intelligence from resting-state human neuroimaging data," are available online through bioRχiv; their publication in, respectively, Personality Neuroscience and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, is pending.
More information: Julien Dubois et al. Resting-state functional brain connectivity best predicts the personality dimension of openness to experience, (2017). DOI: 10.1101/215129
Julien C Dubois et al. A distributed brain network predicts general intelligence from resting-state human neuroimaging data, (2018). DOI: 10.1101/257865

Journal reference: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society search and more info website
Provided by: California Institute of Technology search and more info

Marital status and risk of cardiovascular diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis

In my case being divorced is much healthier. To each her/his own.

Marital status and risk of cardiovascular diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis

  1. Chun Wai Wong1,
  2. Chun Shing Kwok1,
  3. Aditya Narain1,
  4. Martha Gulati2,
  5. Anastasia S Mihalidou3,
  6. Pensee Wu4,5,
  7. Mirvat Alasnag6,
  8. Phyo Kyaw Myint7,
  9. Mamas A Mamas1

Author affiliations

Abstract

Background The influence of marital status on the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and prognosis after CVD is inconclusive. We systematically reviewed the literature to determine how marital status influences CVD and prognosis after CVD.
Methods A search of MEDLINE and Embase in January 2018 without language restriction was performed to identify studies that evaluated the association between marital status and risk of CVD. Search terms related to both marital status and CVD were used and included studies had to be prospective in design. The outcomes of interest were CVD, coronary heart disease (CHD) or stroke incidence and mortality. We performed random effects meta-analysis stratified by the types of population by calculating odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).
Results Our analysis included 34 studies with more than two million participants. Compared with married participants, being unmarried (never married, divorced or widowed) was associated with increased odds of CVD (OR 1.42; 95% CI 1.00 to 2.01), CHD (OR 1.16,95% CI 1.04 to 1.28), CHD death (OR 1.43,95% CI 1.28 to 1.60) and stroke death (OR 1.55,95% 1.16 to 2.08). Being divorced was associated with increased odds of CHD (P<0.001) for both men and women while widowers were more likely to develop a stroke (P<0.001). Single men and women with myocardial infarction had increased mortality (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.76) compared with married participants.
Conclusions Marital status appears to influence CVD and prognosis after CVD. These findings may suggest that marital status should be considered in the risk assessment for CVD and outcomes of CVD based on marital status merits further investigation.

Perfusion augmentation in acute stroke using mechanical counter-pulsation-phase IIa: effect of external counterpulsation on middle cerebral artery mean flow velocity in five healthy subjects

Well hell, why test in healthy subjects? Only 10 years old, ask your doctor if any followup was done and what the protocol is for stroke patients.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18658038
Stroke. 2008 Oct;39(10):2760-4. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.107.512418. Epub 2008 Jul 24.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

External counterpulsation (ECP) improves coronary perfusion, increases left ventricular stroke volume similar to intraaortic balloon counterpulsation, and recruits arterial collaterals within ischemic territories. We sought to determine ECPs effect on middle cerebral artery (MCA) blood flow augmentation in normal controls as a first step to support future clinical trials in acute stroke.

METHODS:

Healthy volunteers were recruited and screened for exclusions. Bilateral 2-MHz pulsed wave transcranial Doppler (TCD) probes were mounted by head frame, and baseline M1 MCA TCD measurements were obtained. ECP was then initiated using standard procedures for 30 minutes, and TCD readings were repeated at 5 and 20 minutes. Physiological correlates associated with ECP-TCD waveform morphology were identified, and measurable criteria for TCD assessment of ECP arterial mean flow velocity (MFV) augmentation were constructed.

RESULTS:

Five subjects were enrolled in the study. Preprocedural M1 MCA TCD measurements were within normal limits. Onset of ECP counterpulsation produced an immediate change in TCD waveform configuration with the appearance of a second upstroke at the dicrotic notch, labeled peak diastolic augmented velocity (PDAV). Although end-diastolic velocities did not increase, both R-MCA and L-MCA PDAVs were significantly higher than baseline end-diastolic values (P<0.05 Wilcoxon rank-sum test) at 5 and 20 minutes. Augmented MFVs (aMFVs) were also significantly higher than baseline MFV in the R-MCA and L-MCA at both 5 and 20 minutes (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS:

ECP induces marked changes in cerebral arterial waveforms and augmented peak diastolic and mean MCA flow velocities on TCD in 5 healthy subjects.
PMID:
18658038
DOI:
10.1161/STROKEAHA.107.512418

External Counter Pulsation ECP / EECP provides a new method of cerebral perfusion improvement with collateral supply in ischemic stroke having artery occlusive disease as reported by doctors of Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Prince of Wales Hospital.

Ask your doctor.
http://info.sibiamedicalcentre.com/ECP-benefit-Brain-stroke-patients-External-Counter-Pulsation-ECP-EECP-provides-a-new-method-of-cerebral-perfusion-improv/b1652?
ECP benefit Brain stroke patients

External Counter Pulsation ECP / EECP provides a new method of cerebral perfusion improvement with collateral supply in ischemic stroke having artery occlusive disease as reported by doctors of Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Prince of Wales Hospital.
Flow velocity changes before, during, and after ECP were monitored in Ischemic stroke patients with infarcts for 3 minutes using transcranial Doppler. ECP significantly increased middle cerebral artery mean flow velocities of stroke patients with augmentation index of 9 percent.

“ Brain stroke p[atients have little hope. In my opinion patients with weakness of limbs, decreased memory and mental capacity should try ECP – it may improve their Quality of Life” says Dr Sibia.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ECP/EECP was introduced in India by Dr. Sibia, Director, Sibia Medical Centre, Ludhiana
http://www.sibiamedicalcentre.com/

#EECP, #ECP, #ArteryClearanceTherapy #chelationtherapy #Avoidbypasssurgery #BestNonsurgicalCentre #SibiaMedicalcentre #ACT #Heartdisease #Treatments #besthearttreatmentclinicLudhianaPunjab

THE NEUROMUSCULAR MEDICINE SPECIALIST AND PHYSIATRISTS PLAYS MAJOR ROLE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF NEUROMUSCULAR DISEASE

This is all after the fact of your stroke. It is doing nothing to prevent the damage during the first week by the 5 causes of the neuronal cascade of death. 
And with only a 10% chance of getting fully recovered via this therapy, that is complete failure. But they have set the tyranny of low expectations so low that you think you are getting good results.  No mention of results, just 'care'.
http://rehabilitationhealth.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-neuromuscular-medicine-specialist.html 
The Neuromuscular Medicine and physiatrists are human services suppliers who work helpfully with a multidisciplinary group to give composed care to people with Neuromuscular Disease (NMDs). The chief or organizer of the group must know about the potential issues particular to NMDs and have the capacity to get to the mediations that are the establishments for legitimate care in NMD. These incorporate well being upkeep and appropriate observing of sickness movement and complexities to give expectant, preventive care and ideal administration. Extreme objectives incorporate augmenting well being and utilitarian limits, performing therapeutic checking and reconnaissance to repress and avoid complexities, and advancing access and full combination into the network to improve personal satisfaction.
Although currently incurable(Why aren't they curable? Are you that lazy you won't even try to cure the problems?), NMDs are not untreatable. The neuromuscular medicine, and physiatry experts are scratch human services suppliers who work helpfully with a multidisciplinary group to amplify well being, expand useful limits  (including  upper limb function, transfer skills, mobility, and self-care skills), inhibit or prevent complications (such as disuses weakness,  airway clearance problems, skeletal deformities, cardiac insufficiency and arrhythmia, respiratory failure, bone health problems,  metabolic syndrome, excessive weight gain or weight loss), and promote access to full integration into the community with optimal quality of life.

The molecular basis of hereditary NMDs has been rising and coming into more keen concentration in the course of recent decades. Numerous promising remedial techniques have since been produced in creature models. Human preliminaries of these techniques have begun, prompting the desire for authoritative medications for huge numbers of these presently hopeless illnesses. Albeit particular medications for NMD have not yet achieved the center, the characteristic history of these infections can be changed by the focusing of intercessions to known indications and difficulties. Analysis can be quickly achieved; the family and patient can be all around bolstered, and people who have NMD can achieve their maximum capacity in instruction and business.

NMD Management is best carried out by a team consisting of physicians; physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists; social workers; vocational counselors; and psychologists, among others. In a perfect world, inferable from the noteworthy portability issues related with most NMDs, the neuromuscular expert, physiatrist and all the key clinical staff ought to be accessible at each visit. Tertiary care medical centers in larger urban areas usually can provide this type of service. This may be an independent clinic or may be sponsored by one or more of the consumer-driven organizations that sponsor research and clinical care for people with NMDs.

 

AARP Invests $60 Million to Fund Research for Cures to Dementia and Alzheimer's

This Dementia Discovery Fund is bringing together the best minds to work on dementia. Stroke leaders tried to do that and  they came up with the inadequate Helsingborg declarations.


Helsingborg 1996

Helsingborg 2006

The WSO had their World Stroke Organization Synergium in 2010 and you can see why in my opinion it is totally worthless.

 

AARP Invests $60 Million to Fund Research for Cures to Dementia and Alzheimer's


Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus
founded AARP in 1958, we have fought to make life better for people as they age. AARP has led the fight to end mandatory retirement; protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; preserve and improve pension rules; protect older workers; ensure access to affordable quality health care; and make communities more livable for people of all ages. Now, as we commemorate our 60th anniversary, we are taking on what may be our toughest challenge yet — supporting the search for a treatment and, ultimately, a cure for dementia.
AARP’s Brain Health Fund is investing $60 million in the Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF), which invests in research and development of breakthrough treatments for dementia. This move reflects AARP’s ongoing commitment to helping people with dementia and family caregivers, and makes AARP the single largest investor in the DDF. 
More than 6 million people in the United States suffer from various types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, and those numbers are growing at an alarming rate. Based on current projections, by 2050 that number will exceed 16 million, or about 1 in 5 Americans age 65 and older.
Dementia also takes a devastating emotional, financial and physical toll on the families of those who are diagnosed with these ailments. In 2016, nearly 16 million family members and friends provided more than 18 billion hours of unpaid caregiving assistance to those with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.


Aware of the broad impact of these illnesses, researchers have worked hard to find effective treatments. But dementia is a complicated illness. Hundreds of clinical trials have failed, and some advances once thought to be promising have turned into dead ends. Several drug companies have stopped conducting research. A new approach is needed. 
By bringing together the world’s best minds to accelerate global research efforts, the DDF will help to kick-start a different approach to dementia research by applying the venture capital model, common in Silicon Valley, to fund research toward new therapies. Founded in 2015, the fund already has invested in 16 organizations exploring new pathways for treating dementia.
AARP has long been committed to raising awareness of dementia-related illnesses and educating people age 50 and older — and their caregivers — on how to maintain brain health while supporting those who suffer from dementia. This investment in the DDF also provides hope for the future by recognizing that the urgent need to find better treatments will require cooperation among researchers, public health agencies and investors. 
For six decades, AARP has focused on finding solutions that improve the lives of older Americans, and we will continue to do so as the challenges that each generation faces change. Only 12 years from now, the first millennials will be turning 49, Gen Xers will begin turning 65 and the first boomers will be turning 84 — an age at which dementia is most prevalent. By making this investment, our hope is that, by then, we can add finding a treatment and ultimately a cure for dementia to the list of battles we have won.