Time Magazine’s end-of-the-year issue names autism research as number 7 in the list of “Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2009.” An excerpt:

… Researchers this year identified one possible genetic clue [to the origins of autism]: Variations on a region of chromosome 5, which appear to play a crucial role in about 15% of cases of autism. Working with the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange – a DNA database of more than 2,000 families affected by autism, and the largest genetic study of the disorder ever attempted – researchers zeroed in on variations in genes that code for proteins involved in forming connections in the brain.

Among other top breakthroughs: An effective AIDS vaccine (number 2) and the discovery of genetic links to Alzheimer’s disease (number 9).

Writing in the Contra Costa Times, columnist Kate Scannell says Gov. Schwarzenegger’s plan to cut services to people with disabilities will only create bigger and more costly problems.

Clearly, any state budget cut is going to hurt some cause or group of people. But it must be recognized that some of the most vulnerable and defenseless Californians – those with mental and physical impairments – are being pushed to the front line, closest to the state’s swinging machete.

Still the proverbial “bottom line” remains – cuts to these cost-saving programs make no fiscal sense.

From the Orange County Register:

State budget woes threaten to drastically cut adult day programs for Californians with mental and physical disabilities such as Alzheimer’s disease, intellectual disabilities, and severe arthritis.

Praim Singh, executive director of the Rehabilitation Institute of Southern California (RIO), said legislators will either eliminate adult day-care funding completely; reduce the programs from five days a week to three; or eliminate services for people being served less than five days a week.

“No matter what they do, it’ll be a major impact,” he said. “It would be catastrophic, no question about it.”

Singh said the cuts will end up costing the state more in the long run if they force people into institutions.

Earlier posts here.

From the Los Angeles Times:

California advocates for people with Alzheimer’s are worried about a proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that would shut down the state’s adult day healthcare centers, which provide services to elderly people living at home, and end funding for Alzheimer’s care programs.

“We are talking about a devastation of the safety net for these families that wasn’t really robust to begin with,” said Debra Cherry, vice president of the Alzheimer’s Assn.’s Southland chapter. “Without any community support, these families are going to crumble.”

Schwarzenegger said he does not want to hurt patients or their families, but the financial crisis leaves him no choice but to make wide-ranging cuts.

There are more than 588,000 Californians with Alzheimer’s, and experts expect the number to double by 2030.

Here are some reviews of HBO’s four-part documentary “The Alzheimer’s Project,” which debuts tomorrow. Maria Shriver is the executive producer.

From Mary McNamara in the Los Angeles Times:

‘The Alzheimer’s Project’ is an ambitious, disturbing, emotionally fraught and carefully optimistic four-part documentary exploring virtually every angle of Alzheimer’s disease that can be explored on television.

From Nancy deWolf Smith in the Wall Street Journal:

Beneath all the excitement … the subliminal message here is: Be afraid, be very afraid. If the guesstimate is accurate and some five million people in the U.S. now have Alzheimer’s, we may be tempted to consider that this is a tiny number compared to those who will die of cancer or of the four other more-likely causes of death in the U.S. But as the series repeatedly reminds us, it is the baby boomers who are now heading for the age — typically starting from the late 70s — when Alzheimer’s is most likely to be diagnosed. Not only families, but society as a whole will have to look after these patients, and it will cost a fortune. Nobody says so quite so bluntly, but wouldn’t it be better to pay now, to fund more research, so that we don’t have to pay for an explosion of sick people later?

See also:

‘The Alzheimer’s Project’: An unflinching look at a brain stealer – New York Daily News

Alzheimer’s series a learning tool for Shriver — San Francisco Chronicle

Maria Shriver turns spotlight on Alzheimer’s — NPR

Earlier posts here and here.

(HBO photo from Los Angeles Times)

From the New York Times magazine:

Maria Shriver’s father, Sargent Shriver, is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She answers questions about her four-part series for HBO, “The Alzheimer’s Project.”

An excerpt:

Q: You are the co-producer of a four-part series for HBO, “The Alzheimer’s Project,” and I wonder if you’ve noticed that Alzheimer’s has become a popular and probably overused punch line now that baby boomers are turning gray and becoming more forgetful.

A: I like to make jokes; I consider myself a funny person. I just think making jokes about people who are in a situation beyond their control is not funny to them or their families.

Q: But is it permissible to joke at your own expense? As in: “I can’t find my keys. I must have incipient Alzheimer’s.”

A: If someone says to me, “I’m worried because I can’t find my keys,” I say, “You should only be worried if you put your keys in the refrigerator.”

(New York Times photo)

From The Hill:

California First Lady Maria Shriver is advocating for Alzheimer’s education and research this week in Washington, and also promoting the HBO film series she produced, “The Alzheimer’s Project.”

She spoke at a breakfast meeting of having to reintroduce herself to her father, R. Sargent Shriver, who was diagnosed with the condition in 2003. He no longer recognizes his daughter.

Sargent Shriver was a special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson, and served as the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee in 1972.

“I don’t mind having to reintroduce myself – at least I still have my dad,” Maria Shriver said at the breakfast.

… “The emotional, spiritual and financial cost of this disease is mind boggling to the nation.”

See also:

• Alzheimer’s costs triple that of other elderly — AP/Washington Post
• Why I got my DNA tested for Alzheimer’s — Terry Moran, ABC News
• 10 things you should know about Alzheimer’s — US News & World Report
• Alzheimer’s cases growing; Problem worsens as population ages — Chicago Sun-Times