Commun ty Matters Farmington Presbyterian Manor
December 2015
Colds and flu are back in season As we near the peak months for cold and flu season, it’s a good time to review tips for prevention and treatment. Getting the flu vaccine is still one of the best things you can do for your health in wintertime. There is no truth to the myth that you can catch the illness from the vaccine. The injection contains only a killed version of the virus.
Hope ahead
People 65 years or older run a higher risk of complications from the flu, as do people with chronic medical conditions such as asthma, emphysema, heart disease, and diabetes. It can, however, take up to two weeks for the flu vaccine to take effect, so the earlier, the better. But they are usually available through February.
Since 1998, though, Fillit has directed the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, which supports the search for effective treatments for the disease. Although scientists have cured mice of Alzheimer’s hundreds of times, all the basic knowledge that they have accumulated has yet to translate into new treatments for patients, Fillit said.
Good hand-washing routines are another top defense against illness. Wash hands with soap and warm water for at least 30 seconds, or use alcohol-based sanitizer, whenever you have been out in public. Viruses can live on hard surfaces for up to eight hours. COLDS, continued on page 3
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Potential treatments ahead for Alzheimer’s disease When geriatrician and neuroscientist Dr. Howard Fillit went to medical school in the early 1970s, he’d never heard of Alzheimer’s disease.
He predicts that is about to change. “In three to five years, we’re going to have potentially more than one drug approved that has some diseasemodifying effect,” Fillit said, noting that nearly 100 human trials of potential Alzheimer’s treatments are now underway. No Cure As of Now Alzheimer’s disease affects an estimated 5.1 million Americans 65 and older, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, which notes on its website that the disease “is the only cause of death in the top 10 in America that cannot be prevented, slowed or cured.” ALZHEIMERS, continued on page 3