Tag: Dr. Michael Mega

Dr. Michael Mega, director of the Center for Cognitive Health in Portland, OR, talks about the best way to get treatments right now for Alzheimer's is to take part in a clinical trial.

Dr. Michael Mega, director of the Center for Cognitive Health in Portland, OR, talks about being able to detect biomarkers for the tau and amyloid plaques that are believed to cause Alzheimer's.

Dr. Michael Mega, director of the Center for Cognitive Health in Portland, OR, talks about how diet, lifestyle, cognitive stimulation, and genetics all play into the paths to influence whether we can avoid Alzheimer's.

Athira Pharma has a clinical trial right now for patients that potentially could treat people with any type of degenerative brain disease. It is being tested now with people who have Alzheimer's disease in mid stages and also with people who have Lewy body disease and Parkinson's disease. The medication speeds up thinking and processing and a long-term effect of increasing connections between brain cells. Suzanne Newman talks with Dr. Michael Mega, Director of the Center for Cognitive Health in Portland, Oregon. The center helps patients maximize their cognitive function as they cope with Alzheimer's disease and disorders of thinking.

This segment focuses on medical diagnoses for Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body dementia and Parkinson's. The field is rapidly changing. We now have biological markers for Alzheimer's: mis-folded proteins in the brain is the common thread for all degenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, and frontotemporal degeneration Pick's Disease. Being able to visualize these in PET scans (Positron Emission Tomography) lets us make a definitive diagnosis 15 years before someone begins having memory problems.

Suzanne Newman is joined by Dr. Michael Mega, Director of the Center for Cognitive Health in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Mega answers: How do you tell the difference between normal age-related forgetfulness and the beginnings of Alzheimer's?