Faculty Bibliography

Now, nearly six years after he left the White House, after serving two terms as president, [Ronald Reagan] has said he has Alzheimer's disease. A statement from his doctors said he was 'entering the early stages of this disease.' It is characterized by progressive mental and physical deterioration, which can occur swiftly or over a period of years. The 83-year-old Reagan recently disclosed the diagnosis through his office in Los Angeles with the same openness he displayed in discussing a variety of other ailments he suffered as governor of California and as president, including prostate enlargement and colon cancer. Many of the estimated four million Americans who have Alzheimer's disease have trouble acknowledging that they have a problem, said Dr. Calvin Hirsch, an expert in Alzheimer's disease at the University of California at Davis. 'It takes guts to do that,' he said of Reagan's disclosure. Indeed, in Reagan's case it raises speculation about how long he may have been suffering from the disease. His 1990 lapses of memory when questioned about the Iran-Contra affair were widely discussed. During the questioning he was also unable to remember the name of his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

A nosocomial outbreak of infections due to imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii occurred in a New York hospital after increased use of imipenem for cephalosporin-resistant klebsiella infections. We identified all A baumannii isolates over 12 months, reviewed corresponding patient records, and compared strains with different antibiotic susceptibility patterns by restriction endonuclease analysis. Environmental surveillance cultures were done before and after institution of control measures. 59 patients harboured imipenem-resistant A baumannii, and 18 were infected. Isolates from patients were resistant to all routinely tested antibiotics, including imipenem. Further studies showed susceptibility to polymyxin B and sulbactam. These isolates were identical by restriction endonuclease analysis to A baumannii isolates susceptible to imipenem alone, or to imipenem and amikacin, but differed from broadly susceptible isolates. Surveillance cultures showed hand and environmental colonisation by imipenem-resistant strains. Infection and colonisation were eliminated by intensive infection control measures, and irrigation of wounds with polymyxin B. Increased use of imipenem against cephalosporin-resistant klebsiella may lead to imipenem resistance among other species, particularly acinetobacter. Such resistance appears to derive from a prior multi-resistant clone, in contrast to one which retains susceptibility to several antibiotics

One part of the diagnosis of the dementia of Alzheimer's disease uses a relatively simple test of the patients mental state and abilities, like this one, called the Mini Mental State Inpatient Consultation Form

Rumors of Reagan's illness had spread through political circles for months, spurred in part by visits with friends who were struck by the deterioration in his thought process. Edmund Morris, Reagan's biographer, described him as forgetting the punch line of a favorite story. Reagan's doctors said they began considering a diagnosis of Alzheimer's a year ago. One of Reagan's associates, who spoke on condition that he not be identified, said Reagan 'was having a definite memory problem' two years ago, and other associates said he had changed markedly in recent months. Reagan's failing memory might be caused by other factors related to the variety of medical problems that have affected Reagan during the years, [Daniel Ruge] said. Among them are the subdural hematoma, the numerous anesthetics he had for surgery on his colon, prostate and gunshot injuries, and the period when his blood pressure fell to dangerous levels from bleeding after the assassination attempt

Former President Ronald Reagan's announcement on Nov 5, 1994 that he has Alzheimer's disease and diagnosis and treatment of the degenerative disorder are discussed

In disclosing that he had developed Alzheimer's disease, former President Ronald Reagan said he wanted to make more Americans aware of the incurable illness, which is characterized by progressive mental and physical deterioration and which affects an estimated 4 million Americans. Experts like Dr. Calvin H. Hirsch of the University of California at Davis said it is theoretically possible that Alzheimer's affected Reagan in the final months before he left the White House in January 1989, nearly six years ago. But they cautioned against overinterpretation of any anecdotes that might surface now that Reagan's diagnosis is publicly known. In an interview in 1980, Reagan talked about how his mother, Nellie, was senile 'for a few years before she died' of a stroke as a complication of arteriosclerosis at age 80. More recently, noting that his memory failed from time to time, Reagan told an associate that he wondered whether he might have inherited Alzheimer's from his mother

In disclosing that he had developed Alzheimer's disease, former President Ronald Reagan said he wanted to make more Americans aware of the incurable illness, which is characterized by progressive mental and physical deterioration and which affects an estimated 4 million Americans. Dr. Daniel Ruge, who was the White House physician in Reagan's first term, said Sunday that he did not notice any indication of Alzheimer's disease in talking to the president almost daily during the White House years. In an interview in 1980, Reagan talked about how his mother, Nellie, was senile ''for a few years before she died'' of a stroke as a complication of arteriosclerosis at age 80. More recently, noting that his memory failed from time to time, Reagan told an associate that he wondered whether he might have inherited Alzheimer's from his mother

In disclosing on Nov 5, 1994 that he had developed Alzheimer's disease, former President Ronald Reagan said he wanted to make more people aware of the incurable illness, which affects some four million Americans. Many doctors are now applauding the announcement, saying they expect it to lead to greater public awareness. The symptoms and likely progression of the disease are described

Doctors may also be diagnosing toxoplasmosis and other conditions today when they would have called them dementia only a few years ago. 'Five years ago, anybody with altered mental status was labeled as having dementia without much thought about all the other things that could cause that,' Dr. [Justin S. McArthur] said. 'Now people are probably more specific about using that diagnosis,' in part because of wider use of magnetic resonance imaging and other technologies that help earlier detection of brain infections and other damage to the nervous system. 'Dementia may well be overlooked by a standard, even quite careful, physical examination or follow-up visit,' Dr. McArthur said. 'It is really not until you probe cognitive and memory function that you will find deficits. A social, 'How are you today?' will often get a reasonable response in somebody who has AIDS dementia. But the response may not reflect what is really going on.' 'This is the first time H.I.V. has caused AIDS-like syndromes in an animal other than a human,' said Dr. Susan Barnett, a molecular biologist at the Chiron Corporation in Emeryville, Calif. 'The infection in baboons mirrors the progression of the disease in humans, and that's very exciting to us.'

Despite widespread use of drugs to combat the AIDS virus, which earlier studies had shown to protect against infections that affect the brain and central nervous system, the incidence of such damage is increasing among those with the disease, a new study from a federal AIDS project has found. The study, reported in the Oct 1994 issue of Neurology, said that dementia was the only one of six neurological conditions for which the rate did not increase from 1985 to 1992