Jason Karlawish is a physician and writer.
He researches and writes about issues at the intersections of bioethics, aging, and the neurosciences. He is the author of The Problem of Alzheimer’s: How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It and the novel Open Wound: The Tragic Obsession of Dr. William Beaumont. His essays have been published in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, The Hill, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, STAT, and The Washington Post. His STAT column Neurotransmissions examines the vast problem of dementia. A Professor of Medicine, Medical Ethics and Health Policy, and Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, he is co-Director of the Penn Memory Center, where he cares for patients, and executive producer of the Age of Aging, a podcast that examines how to live well with an aging brain. He lives in Philadelphia.
Jason Karlawish writes STAT’s Neurotransmissions column
“An estimated 7.2 million Americans are living with dementia, and in the coming decades, there will be even more — as many as 13.8 million by 2060. The diseases that cause dementia are diseases of aging and, in America and other industrialized nations, over the last century, living past 70, even 75, has become the norm. A recent report estimates the lifetime risk of dementia by age 90 is 42%, and much of this risk unfolds after 75.
These figures are a resounding call to action to tackle this big problem. To do this, Americans have to start talking about dementia and the common diseases that cause it, diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Lewy body disease. We also have to start learning about newly discovered diseases, such as the oddly named LATE, the acronym for limbic associated TDP-43 encephalopathy. Though little known even amongst physicians, it is perhaps one of the most common causes of dementia in people over 75.
The more we talk, debate, even sometimes argue, the more we can live well with a mind altered by these progressive, disabling brain diseases. With this inaugural essay of “Neurotransmissions,” my new STAT+ column about the vast problem of dementia, I step up to this task. Essays will draw on stories from my clinical practice, the latest research, interviews with experts, and historical and cultural studies to examine the personal, local, and national solutions we need to do this…..”
To continue reading, click on “READ THE LATEST COLUMN.”
The ACED tool
Why have thousands of psychologists, physicians, caregivers and social workers from all over the world requested a copy of the ACED? Because they know that to promote the well-being and dignity of a person with marginal capacity, the person needs an assessment of the capacity for everyday decisionmaking.