Morgantown is a great place to live for patients suffering with the many forms of dementia. written by HOLLY LELEUX-THUBRON ➼ THE ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION estimates that more than 38,000 West Virginians are living with Alzheimer’s. Patients in the Morgantown area have access to incredible resources as they learn to cope with this and other forms of dementia. When people consider where to live in retirement, communities associated with academic medical centers like WVU Medicine offer the highest quality care specialized for the geriatric population, says Mark Haut, vice chair and director of clinical research at WVU Medicine’s Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. The hospital complex in Morgantown offers the most robust multidisciplinary care available in the state. KNOW THIS ADVANCES IN MEMORY CARE
WVU Medicine’s Memory Care Clinic There are many causes of dementia— simply defined as a decline in mental ability—and WVU Medicine’s new Memory Care Clinic treats them all. The clinic is situated to provide early clinical diagnosis of disease, identify and treat any underlying conditions, develop a comprehensive treatment plan, and address the needs not only of patients but of their caregivers, too. Perhaps one of the greatest advan- tages of the clinic’s care is access to groundbreaking clinical trials and research, Haut says. Current trials open for enrollment use ultrasound, magnetic stimulation, virtual reality, and even wearable technologies to treat problems with memory function. The multidisciplinary panel of profes- sionals serving each patient is a great asset, too.
Advances in Treatment and Testing Testing for Alzheimers and other forms of dementia continues to advance, Haut says. A formal clinical diagnosis currently requires a medical and neurological examination, includ- ing cognitive testing, imaging, and other forms of medical measurements. A new blood test to aid in diagnosis made headlines in December and could be another tool in the clinical toolbelt. The simple blood draw would measure the biomarker P-tau, which researchers have found to be elevated in dementia patients. Haut suggests patience as researchers further study this type of testing. If an easy blood test does find its way to approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Memory Care Clinic will be on the leading edge of delivering diagnostic advancements.
Caring for the Caretakers Caring for patients is central to the mission of any medical facility. Caring for the caretakers is quickly catching on as equally important. The Memory Care Clinic focuses on the entire fam- ily impacted by a dementia diagnosis. “You have to take care of the caretaker dealing with any chronic medical con- dition,” Haut says. “Caretakers need to set aside time to care for themselves physically and mentally.” There’s help with that elsewhere, too. FAIR—Family Alzheimer’s In- Home Respite—provides, for Monon- galia County families with diagnoses of Alzheimer’s, up to 16 hours each week of time to run errands or even to just take a nap. Alzheimer’s families in Morgantown can contact the Memory Care Clinic or Senior Monogalians for help signing up for the program.
28 MORGANTOWN DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021
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