Walk to End Alzheimer's – Greater Kentucky & Southern Indiana Blog

November 4, 2024November 5, 2024

Because You Walk… We Have Hope

Our chapter hosts 12 Walk to End Alzheimer’s events throughout our service area as our largest fundraiser to accelerate research, offer care and support, and give our community a platform to share their voice on a federal and state level to enact legislative change.

Several families impacted by the disease, decided to share their story to thank the generous community for supporting their mission in the fight to end Alzheimer’s disease.

Don Woehler, 64 recently diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s, but chose hope.

Joyce and Don Woehler — The Woehlers at the Evansville Walk to End Alzheimer’s

At 64-years old, Don found out he had Early Onset Alzheimer’s. However, the Woehler’s decided to take it in stride, fueled by hope and travel to Indianapolis for treatments. The couple travels north bi-weekly and say, Don’s therapies have shown promising results.

With the support of their community, raised more than $6,500!!! The Woehler’s had dozens on their team; adding up to about 50 people walking behind Don, fighting along with him during his journey with the disease.

Donate to “Don’s Memory Bank” Team

Alzheimer’s impacts healthcare heroes in Owensboro, professionally and personally.

Cedarhurst of Owensboro Team at Walk Event

Caregivers are compassionate and patient; and the Cedarhurst of Owensboro team knows the importance of supporting the families in the community. The staff at the senior living facility has raised more than $1300 for the Owensboro Walk event.

“Walk day is fun for our staff and very meaningful because we care for individuals everyday who are living with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.” – Team Captain, Cedarhurst of Owensboro. “The Alzheimer’s Association depends on fundraising efforts from teams like us. Until there is a cure, we will continue walking!”

Help Owensboro Walk to End Alzheimer’s Reach for Goal

Clara’s Clan, Fights for Families

Jasper is a small town, but in it lives a big family with the fight to end Alzheimer’s disease.

Clara’s Clan at Jasper Walk to End Alzheimer’s

“Clara’s Clan walks to honor our mom and grandma, Clara Muller. She was a strong, independent woman, mother of 8 and grandmother of many, but Alzheimer’s took us by surprise. It stole her memories and personality, her ability to take care of herself and eventually her life. One thing she taught us was to take action, and with a large, aging family we felt we had to be a part of the solution. So we share our story, give advice to other families and raise funds to support the fight. We walk so other families don’t have to watch their loved ones fade away from them. We walk to END Alzheimer’s.”

Clara’s Clan is the Jasper Walk to End Alzheimer’s top fundraising team of 2024.

Support the Small, but Mighty Jasper Community

Helping Heartbreak with Continuous Care

Staff at a Bowling Green Assisted Living Facility have chosen to invest in the mission of the Alzheimer’s Association. Fundraising more than $6,000 for the last several years for the Bowling Green Walk to End Alzheimer’s has given insight and inspiration to the Village Manor Walk to End Alzheimer’s Team.

“Many of the people who call Village Manor home are living with Alzheimer’s disease/dementia and a large part of what we do here is care for those individuals. Our team sees firsthand the havoc and heartbreak that Alzheimer’s Disease can cause, both for our residents, their families and for us, because our residents become our family too. It isn’t hard for us at Village Manor to get motivated to fundraise for Walk to End ALZ or to get participants to join our team – our residents and their families are all of the motivation we need to do our part to find a cure!” – Team Captain, Village Manor Team

Support the South-Central Kentucky Walk to End Alzheimer’s

Counting on the Christian County Community

Hosting multiple fundraisers a month, raising more than $5,700 through community partners coming together for end Alzheimer’s disease. Team Co-captain,

December 6, 2023December 13, 2024

2023: Five Things We’ve Learned About Alzheimer’s

Louisville, KY December 4, 2023 — 2023 was a landmark year for Alzheimer’s disease research, including advancements in treatment, risk factors and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. In this new era of Alzheimer’s treatments, here are five significant discoveries from this year:

There are now three newly approved treatments for Alzheimer’s, with a fourth on the way.

In July 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted traditional approval for Leqembi for treatment of mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s and mild Alzheimer’s dementia. This treatment, while not a cure, slows cognitive decline and can give people with early Alzheimer’s more time to maintain their independence.

Back in June 2021, the FDA granted accelerated approval to Aduhelm for the same purpose. At the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) in July 2023, Eli Lilly reported positive results for a third treatment — donanemab — in that same population. The company expects FDA action by the end of 2023.

In May, the FDA approved brexpiprazole for agitation in people with Alzheimer’s disease. This is the first FDA-approved treatment for Alzheimer’s-related agitation, which is experienced by about 45% of Alzheimer’s patients. According to research published in May 2023, there are more than 140 therapies being tested that target multiple aspects of Alzheimer’s.

Hearing aids could slow cognitive decline for at-risk older adults.

In the largest clinical trial to investigate whether a hearing loss treatment intervention can reduce risk of cognitive decline, researchers found that older adults with hearing loss, who were at higher risk of cognitive decline, cut their cognitive decline in half by using hearing aids for three years.

The three-year intervention included use of hearing aids, a hearing “toolkit” to assist with self-management, and ongoing instruction and counseling with an audiologist. Though the positive results were in a subgroup of the total study population, they are encouraging and warrant further investigation. The researchers found that the hearing intervention also improved communication abilities, social functioning and loneliness.

Blood tests for Alzheimer’s are coming soon, and could improve diagnosis and treatment.

Blood tests show promise for improving, and possibly even redefining, how Alzheimer’s is diagnosed in the future. Advancements reported for the first time at AAIC 2023 demonstrate the simplicity — perhaps just a simple finger prick! — and value to doctors of blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer’s.

These findings are timely with the recent FDA approvals of Alzheimer’s treatments where confirmation of amyloid plaque buildup in the brain and ongoing monitoring are required to receive the treatment.

Blood tests are already being implemented in Alzheimer’s drug trials for further proof of their effectiveness. And they are incorporated into proposed new diagnostic and staging criteria for the disease. Blood tests — once verified, and approved by the FDA — would offer a noninvasive and cost-effective option in identifying blood-based markers for the disease.

First-ever U.S. county-level Alzheimer’s prevalence estimates.

The first-ever county-level estimates of the prevalence of people with Alzheimer’s dementia — in all 3,142 United States counties — were reported at AAIC 2023. For counties with a population of 10,000 or more people age 65 or older, researchers estimate the highest Alzheimer’s prevalence rates are in:

Miami-Dade County, FL (16.6%)
Baltimore City, MD (16.6%)
Bronx County, NY (16.6%)
Prince George’s County, MD (16.1%)
Hinds County, MS (15.5%)

The researchers identified certain characteristics that may explain the higher prevalence in these counties, including older average age and higher percentages of Black and Hispanic residents. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, these stats can help public health officials determine the burden on the health care system, and better pinpoint areas of high risk and high need — for example, for culturally-sensitive health support and caregiver training services.

Chronic constipation is associated with poor cognitive function.

Approximately 16% of the world’s population struggles with constipation. That prevalence is even higher among older adults. This year, researchers reported that less frequent bowel movements were associated with significantly worse cognitive function.

Compared to those with bowel movements once daily, people with bowel movements every three days or more had worse memory and thinking equal to three additional years of cognitive aging. These results stress the importance of clinicians discussing gut health, especially constipation, with their older patients, including how to prevent constipation.

To learn more about Alzheimer’s disease research advances, plus available care and support — and to join the cause or make a donation — visit the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org. Together we can end Alzheimer’s disease.

July 14, 2023December 7, 2023

We Alz Walks Together!

The Louisville Walk to End Alzheimer’s team held a kick off event at Kentucky Farm Bureau on Thursday. Over 100 people joined the Greater Kentucky Southern Indiana chapter staff, teams and their captains at a ceremonial event signifying the start of fundraising season!

“Inspiring, Impactful and Informational,” Lisa Young, Senior Walk Director describes what it felt like in the Commonwealth Conference room at Kentucky Farm Bureau. The room’s moniker lived up to its name. It served as a place for all walks of life, different types of families, caregivers, senior care workers; the array of people who make up the commonwealth of Kentucky, but also shows the vast impact Alzheimer’s and Dementia has on our neighbors.

Annette B., Anthology of Louisville brought a resident from her senior care community. A daily reminder for why she fundraises, and who its for. It’s for the Linda’s of the world. Linda donned a purple lei, accessorized with an ear to ear smile, with hardware in her hands. Anthology of Louisville is the Walk to End Alzheimer’s 2022 Top Care Facility Fundraising Team.

Over the course of a 30-minute presentation, Anette and Linda were one of 22 teams and participants who received ultimate recognition for most fundraising dollars in a category.

Louisville Ambassador Family, Briscoe Family

During the course of the evening, attendees filled out forms to enter giveaway prizes for branded Walk water bottles and gift certificates for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Four lucky winners were drawn, but everyone walked away with something…a fundraising challenge.

Young tasked everyone in the room to help fundraise enough to hit the overall goal before the day of the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. What’s the walk goal, you ask? $500,000. Where does the money go? It stays in your community, whether to provide free education to your neighbors, friends and families or fund local researchers to continue the ultimate goal to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s and other types of Dementia.

Want to learn more about the Walk to End Alzheimer’s? Follow this link for more information to find a walk fundraiser in your area!

Do you have an interesting story and want to be featured on our blog and social media pages? Contact Communications Manager, Jerrica Valtierra at jvaltierra@alz.org.