Ask Dr. Mia: Conversations on Aging Well

With the recent news of Bruce Willis' diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia, I talk with Dr. Halima Amjad about her own personal journey with her late father's FTD diagnosis as well as her professional role in dementia care and research.
Dr. Halima Amjad is an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her career as a geriatrician and health services researcher centers around people living with dementia. She cares for patients at the Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer’s Treatment Center. Her research focuses on medical care challenges in dementia, including underdiagnosis, hospitalization, and primary care support. Her advocacy work includes serving on the Board of the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration and as chair of the Maryland Virginia I. Jones Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias council.
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration

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Transcripts on www.miayangmd.com. Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain minor inaccuracies.
Email: ask@miayangmd.com
Opinions expressed are exclusive of Dr. Mia Yang and not reflective of her or guest speaker's employers or funders.

Dr. Mia talks about her mom's story with lifelong anxiety as well as a recent surprising diagnosis.
How to help someone with anxiety: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/how-to-help-someone-with-anxiety
New 988 hotline: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/988
Transcript & more info on www.miayangmd.com

Music & disclaimer

Transcripts on www.miayangmd.com. Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain minor inaccuracies.
Email: ask@miayangmd.com
Opinions expressed are exclusive of Dr. Mia Yang and not reflective of her or guest speaker's employers or funders.

For the last episode of season 2, Dr. Mia talks about lecanemab, a monoclonal antibody against amyloid, results since the show's most popular episode on lecanemab released on 10/7/2022.
Lecanemab or Clarity AD clinical trial results in New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)
Death related to lecanemab, reported in Science, related to Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy
Donanemab press release by Lilly
Key points:
1) Aducanumab approval process eroded public's trust and careful screening for patients for real-world implementation of lecanemab is needed to build back trust.
2) Actual number of patients eligible for lecanemab will be much smaller than the total number of persons living with Alzheimer's disease in the country: studies estimate anywhere from 1% to 12% of patients seen in real world clinics.
3) Our healthcare infrastructure is not ready for early, timely, and accurate detection of Alzheimer's disease and tracking patients on monoclonal antibodies.

Music & disclaimer

Transcripts on www.miayangmd.com. Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain minor inaccuracies.
Email: ask@miayangmd.com
Opinions expressed are exclusive of Dr. Mia Yang and not reflective of her or guest speaker's employers or funders.

Dr. Mia talks about the new FDA authorization for sale of hearing aids over the counter, our amazing hearing system, and how to distinguish hearing loss from memory loss with Dr. Jack Hitchens, audiologist.
Jack Hitchens Au.D's bio
FDA's new ruling about OTC hearing aids (NPR news)

Music & disclaimer

Transcripts on www.miayangmd.com. Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain minor inaccuracies.
Email: ask@miayangmd.com
Opinions expressed are exclusive of Dr. Mia Yang and not reflective of her or guest speaker's employers or funders.

Dr. Mia talks about the difficult but common safety issues in Steve & Nina's story.
4 M's of safety problems in people with mild/early stage dementia: money, medications, meals, and mobility/driving.

• Driving safety: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/driving-safety-and-alzheimers-disease
• Older adults & driving: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/older-drivers
• Find an OT who does driving tests: https://www.aota.org/practice/practice-settings/driving-community-mobility/driving--community-mobility-toolkit-for-professionals
• Social security scams reporting: https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-02238
• Pillbox with alarm & other technology: https://www.alzstore.com/early-stages-of-alzheimers-s/1817.htm

4 common types of dementia: Alzheimer's dementia, vascular dementia, Lewy Body Dementia, and Frontotemporal dementia
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Music & disclaimer

Transcripts on www.miayangmd.com. Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain minor inaccuracies.
Email: ask@miayangmd.com
Opinions expressed are exclusive of Dr. Mia Yang and not reflective of her or guest speaker's employers or funders.