Monday, April 20, 1998
Alzheimers center receives funding, state recognition
As population ages, experts redouble efforts to find cause, cure
of troubling disease
By Kathryn Combs
Daily Bruin Staff
Among students, Alzheimers disease may not be a great concern.
However, it soon will be.
Due to the projected growth in the elderly population over the
next few decades, students will face this disease, because their
parents and grandparents become likely candidates.
In response to this growing concern, the UCLA Alzheimers Disease
Center has been investigating ways to treat and deal with this
disease. As a result of their efforts, the center was recently
recognized as No. 1 in the state of California.
Deemed one of seven Alzheimers Research Centers of California
(ARCCs), the center will receive $1.2 million in state funding to
be applied to new research efforts.
Of the 10 applicants for this award, UCLA was one of seven
awarded, and was also the only new addition to the group.
"Our success was predicated on our commitment to addressing
problems regarding the care of Alzheimers disease in the
community," said Dr. Jeffrey Cummings, director of the center.
"We feel we cannot be an exclusively university-focused program,
and that we need to develop programs and projects that help us to
understand the care of all Alzheimer’s patients," he said,
stressing the center’s commitment to concerns outside the campus
community.
According to Cummings, the onset of Alzheimer’s disease is
becoming a greater concern for many as the elderly population
rises.
Alzheimers disease is one of the most common forms of senile
dementia, accounting for 60 percent of cases in persons over 65.
Symptoms of the disease include the inability to remember, to
think, to relate to others or to care for oneself.
As a result, many victims of Alzheimer’s end up under the
supervision of caretakers in nursing homes.
According to Barbara Vickery, an assistant professor of
neurology and researcher with the Alzheimer’s Disease Center, high
quality care of this type is a primary concern because of the
rising number of elderly being treated in nursing homes.
With the funding provided by this grant, Vickery will explore
how to improve care provided to victims of Alzheimer’s.
Not only will she explore ways to help families of Alzheimer’s
victims cope with the disease, but she will also look at the
quality of life for caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients.
"One project will be to identify barriers to detecting and
diagnosing dementia in primary care practices, and to design and
evaluate strategies for improving its detection," Vickery said.
"Another project will be to assess methods for connecting people
with dementia and their caregivers to community education and
support resources, and evaluating the impact on the caregiver’s
quality of life," she added.
Also conducting state-funded research, Dr. Stacey Wood will be
looking at ways to identify depression in Alzheimer’s patients.
"I am going to do a staff intervention to improve the staff’s
ability to detect this condition. Depression is notoriously
under-treated, especially in the elderly," Wood said.
Overall, the center’s dedication to incorporating research and
treatment efforts is what gained them recognition, according to
Vickery.
"It is gratifying that the state has decided to fund efforts to
address this critical issue of translating advances in Alzheimer’s
disease in the laboratory into improvements in health care delivery
in real-world settings," Vickery said.
While the UCLA Alzheimer’s center is already federally funded,
to become a state funded institution as well is an honor, according
to Cummings.
"We were jubilant that the state felt our research orientation
was consistent with their desires in terms of awarding these
centers," Cummings said.
"I am excited to be working with the dedicated investigators at
the center," she said. "This work is multi-disciplinary and relies
on cooperation and talents of such a team to be successful."