06-19-2024 Primetime - Flipbook - Page 22
22 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Alzheimer’s today,
continued from page 5
women have a slightly higher incidence
than men. Today, though, we know it’s more
common to have a mix of pathologies,
causes, than it being one reason for the
dementia, the older one becomes.”
The National Institutes of Health funded
research into a blood test at the University of
Washington. So far, they tested something
that measures a toxic element in blood that
is unique to Alzheimer’s. Results appeared
on December 13, 2022, in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences and
this may lead to an early test.
Then, in February 2024, a news release
says, “Alzheimer’s blood test performs as
well as FDA-approved spinal fluid tests.” The
copy reads: “Scientists report a major step
toward a simple blood test for Alzheimer’s
disease.” That means early detection is getting closer. Meanwhile, there are PET scans,
CT scans and MRIs.
We all have some minor problems with
aging and, to cope, come up with workarounds. I, for instance, have a tendency
to put something on the stove and go back
to my office at the opposite side of the
house. Several burned pots later, I now set
an alarm. It had nothing to do with aging
and everything to do with being extremely
focused on my work.
Nowrangi suggests ways to compensate
to his patients. “Give yourself a little extra
time to process information, to remember
the word that escapes you, or to pull up
the name of an acquaintance. Figure out
ways to delay a response until whatever
you’re trying to remember returns. Have a
positive attitude. When you were 30 and
forgot something, you didn’t panic or concern yourself with having dementia. Some
of this forgetfulness is normal. And humor
helps, a lot, especially being able to laugh
at yourself.”
There are two disease-modifying medications on the market. Aricept does not
modify the disease; it targets neighboring
chemistry in the brain. Medline Plus, part of
the National Library of Medicine, describes
donepezil (trade name Aricept), as follows:
“It improves mental function (such as memory, attention, the ability to interact with others, speak, think clearly, and perform regular
daily activities) by increasing the amount
of a certain naturally occurring substance
in the brain. Donepezil may improve the
ability to think and remember or slow the
loss of these abilities in people who have
AD. However, donepezil will not cure AD or
Funding retirement,
continued from page 18
prevent the loss of mental abilities at some
• With a Roth IRA, your contributime in the future.”
tions are not tax-deductible. There
Lecanemab, with the trade name
is no required minimum distribution
LEQEMBI, targets harmful amyloid proteins
at any age, although you cannot
and removes existing amyloid brain plaque.
withdraw funds before the age of
People taking LEQEMBI were shown to
59 ½. The money it earns through
have less amyloid brain plaque starting at
investment is tax-free. And, when
three months. Nowrangi says the data is
you do choose to withdraw money,
solid. For 18 months, it slows the decline
those distributions are tax-free, so
or stabilizes Alzheimer’s Disease. You get
long as you have held the ROTH
injections at three-month intervals over the
for at least 5 years.
18 months. But there are serious side effects
There are additional rules, but when
and a lot of warnings. Check with your insurand
how the money is taxed is the bigance to see if the cost is covered. Not all the
gest
difference.
side effects are listed on the website.
After Hank got out of the military,
he started a business and set up a
The Cutting Edge
Nowrangi talks about what the future traditional IRA for his retirement. As the
could hold. “We have an enormous amount business grew, he realized he would
of data we’ve collected from brain scans, be better off with a Roth IRA. He
imaging, and digital medical records. With opened an account and worked with
AI, artificial intelligence, we can put patients his accountant to convert a portion of
into subsets or subgroups based on com- his retirement account each year. The
monalities, similar body types or shared amount he converted was taxed at his
health issues like weight or blood pressure ordinary income rate; however, once in
or diabetes, whatever we choose. Then we the Roth IRA account, anything earned
may be able to make a precision medication through growth was tax free.
Jeremy worked for three different
just for them.
“Take it a step further. Different forms companies over a period of six years.
of Alzheimer’s Disease will require slightly All three had 401(k) retirement plans to
different therapies instead of the ‘one-size- which he contributed. He’s now in the
fits-all’ that we have today. Or maybe it will process of consolidating them.
be based on DNA or genomes or molecular
“It’s wise to start early,” says Baum.
markers. Using the data we’ve collected, “If you are putting money into an IRA
we can create algorithms to identify the or 401(k), have it taken directly out of
patients, create the subsets, and predict your paycheck if you can. That is a way
which medication will improve their condi- to ensure you have the discipline to
tion.”
save. And if you worked for a few comThere is a lot of research occurring panies, you can typically consolidate
constantly, looking at dementia and AD them for simplification. In making this
from many different directions. Alzheimer’s kind of decision, you should consider
Disease International projects there will be the investment options and costs of
153 million people with AD worldwide by each of your plans.
2050. The prognosis, however, is positive
as scientists learn more every day about Where do you go for advice?
the disease. And the Mayo Clinic states,
The IRS has lots of brochures and
“Experts are cautious but hopeful about worksheets available on its website:
developing treatments that can stop or
www.irs.gov. You can filter the informadelay the progression of Alzheimer’s.”
tion to be for individuals so what you
Do what you can to live a healthy lifestyle
get is appropriate for you. Some of the
and be positive. In speaking with researchadvice is for both the current year and
ers and scientists, I am hopeful that new
the previous year due to updates.
discoveries will make a difference in the
If you have an accountant, he or she
future. So, the next time you can’t find your
can explain your choices based on your
keys, don’t worry. You’re not losing it. You’ve
specific income and personal situation.
simply got a lot on your mind.
Online investment companies, such
as Schwab, Prudential, Vanguard and
Fidelity, have information on their websites. Schwab also has physical locations, and someone is available for
walk-ins. The advantage with these
companies is you have a real person
with whom to speak.
Investopedia (www.investopedia.
com) and NerdWallet (www.nerdwallet.
com) have easy to understand information.
Wherever you go for advice, don’t
be afraid to ask questions. Once you
have an account, make sure to add a
beneficiary. Even if you have an updated will, your IRA beneficiary form will
supersede the instructions in your will.
You may also want to add a back-up
contact just in case.
You think you have all the time in
the world to save. It goes faster than
you expect. This is one task you should
not put off.
Types of IRAs
• A traditional IRA is a tax-advantaged personal savings plan where
contributions may be tax deductible.
• A Roth IRA is a tax-advantaged
personal savings plan where contributions are not deductible but qualified
distributions may be tax free.
• A Payroll Deduction IRA plan is
set up by an employer. Employees
make contributions by payroll deduction to an IRA (Traditional or a Roth
IRA) they establish with a financial
institution.
• A SEP is a Simplified Employee
Pension plan set up by an employer. Contributions are made by the
employer directly to an IRA set up for
each employee.
• A SIMPLE IRA plan is a Savings
Incentive Match Plan for Employees
set up by an employer. Under a
SIMPLE IRA plan, employees may
choose to make salary reduction contributions, and the employer makes
matching or nonelective contributions.
Source: www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/individualretirement-arrangements-iras
