The importance of paying attention
I read Lisa Genova’s first book, Still Alice, in 2009, long before I had any inkling that I was on the path to Alzheimer’s. I was busy in my practice as a general neurologist, and...
Author: Dan
The cost of aducanumab
When donepezil (Aricept) was approved in 1996, it was the first tolerable drug available to treat the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. I remember being shocked that the price was so high, about $120...
Aducanumab controversies
Yesterday I participated in a panel discussion regarding recommendations for use of aducanumab, now called by the proprietary name Aduhelm, in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The conference, Dialogue: Current Perspectives on Aducanumab, was sponsored...
A day on Bald Mountain
Yesterday my friend Henry and I hiked about 7 miles in and out on a segment of the Timberline Trail in the Mt. Hood Wilderness. The Timberline Trail is a 41.2-mile loop that circumnavigates...
Sensory triggers of memory
Marcel Proust famously wrote in his semi-autobiographical novel Remembrance of Things Past published in 1913 how the smell and taste of a tea-soaked madeleine cake evoked the childhood memory of breakfast with his Aunt Léonie. The...
FDA approves aducanumab
Today the FDA approved the use of Biogen’s anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody aducanumab for treating early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. I have mixed feelings about this approval. As someone living with early-stage Alzheimer’s who participated in the aducanumab...
Eagle eyes
During the thirty-five years we have lived in Portland, Oregon, sightings of bald eagles have become much more common. The species is thriving. It is still a thrill to see one soaring over our house or...
More about the importance of exercise
Due to a series of unforeseen events this week, both of our children living in Portland needed additional help caring for their children, our four grandchildren. There is nothing I like better than spending...
Greg O’Brien’s On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer’s
My friend Greg O’Brien is having spine surgery this Tuesday in Boston. Greg has Alzheimer’s disease. He cared for both of his parents as they passed through the stages and finally died of Alzheimer’s,...
Beacon Rock Revisited
As those of you who have read Tattoo will know, Beacon Rock is a special place for me. It is a basalt monolith towering 848 ft over the north bank of the Columbia River about 35 miles...
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