As the wife and sole caretaker of a husband with advanced Altzheimers, I found this book interesting and very informative. There needs to be bigger strides to combat this horrible disease.

And we need more books like this. Highly recommended.

Unfortunately, almost all of us have dealt with the problem of dementia in our own families or know others who have. A diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease is a terrifying proposition and still carries a great deal of stigma. It was fascinating to read the historical background of this disease, including the political roadblocks. I was most impressed with the author's concern for treating his patients with respect and dignity. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance copy to read and review.

This! This is the book I wish existed to reverse engineer the daylights out of its resource section while writing my thesis for my MA in gerontology. Dr. Jason Karlawish’s The Problem of Alzheimer’s: How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About, excavates the myriad layers of import, history, and semantics that impact our contemporary understanding of Alzheimer’s disease. His deep dive into the history of Alzheimer’s and dementia, revelations of diagnostics and tests rejected by Medicare, and fraudulent studies portend an author and health policy advocate who is invested in diminishing the falsehoods and correlated political juggernaut that often clogs the pipeline to patients care.

Alzheimer’s disease and dementia occurs on both my maternal and paternal sides of the family. I appreciate the person-centered care that Karlawish describes providing each person with dementia and their families in the Penn Memory Center, especially the vignettes shared throughout the book. He may possess stellar credentials (and they are shiny!) and impeccable research skills, yet Karlawish intersperses those with empathy and acknowledges: “I intruded into their privacy, upended her authority, and challenged their identity and sense of being normal.”

While I agree with other readers and reviews that noted similarities to Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Emperor of all Maladies (2010), The Problem with Alzheimer’s also reminds me of other aging and mortality titles, such as Louise Aronson’s most recent Elderhood (2019), and Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal (2014).

Read this for the medical mystery and history. Stay for the compassionate, wise dementia care we hope we, or our loved ones, will one day receive.

THE PROBLEM OF ALZHEIMER'S by Jason Karlawish received starred reviews from Kirkus ("an outstanding primer") and Library Journal ("a must-read"). I have ordered a copy for our library since this is a high interest topic for many of our students. They are watching parents face tough choices with respect to care for grandparents as well as dealing with their own feelings of missing the grandparent they once knew and fear about the disease in general. Karlawish, University of Pennsylvania professor and co-director of Penn Memory Center, has subtitled his book "How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It." He divides the book into sections titled Alzheimer's Unbound; The Birth of Alzheimer's Disease; Living Well in the House of Alzheimer's, and A Humanitarian Problem. He reviews key points in the history of the disease (including founding of Alzheimer's Association in 1979 and scientific papers labeling it the "disease of the century" in 1981 and a 2009 report titled A National Alzheimer's Strategic Plan), tracing "the story of how once upon a time, Alzheimer's was a rare disease, and then it became common, and then it turned into a crisis." As with climate change, scientists have been warning us about the physical, emotional, and economic impact of dementia as members of our society age, leading to questions of policy and government involvement. Karlawish describes scientific advances, opportunities in social, environmental, and psychological interventions for patients and caregivers, as he "explains why and what we have to do." This call to action is an extremely valuable resource written in an accessible manner, complete with notes, a glossary, selected bibliography, and helpful index.

Link to 2009 report:
https://www.alz.org/documents/national/report_asg_alzplan.pdf