Meryl Comer
President, Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer’s Initiative
Meryl Comer is an Emmy award-winning reporter, producer, moderator and talk show host with more than 30 years of broadcast journalism experience. She was among the first female broadcasters to specialize in business news as it relates to public policy. She is President of the Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer’s Initiative and organized Rock Stars of Science initiative.
Comer has spent the past 16 years as the at-home caregiver for her physician/researcher husband who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 58.
Genetic testing is advancing rapidly, and we can now find out our risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s. But without a cure or treatment available, what’s the point?
▸
3 min
—
with
Studies have shown that you can boost brainpower and brain resilience with vitamins and exercise, and by not smoking. But lifestyle choices alone can’t prevent Alzheimer’s?
▸
7 min
—
with
Alzheimer’s starts in one area and spreads all over the brain, like an infection. Does this mean that it’s possible to develop a vaccine?
▸
6 min
—
with
Genes such as ApoE4 may signal a risk factor for Alzheimer’s. But how do we separate risk factor from an unalterable sentence for the disease?
▸
8 min
—
with
Amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles inside the brain are the best explanation we have for how Alzheimer’s develops.
▸
5 min
—
with
Mental decline, on some level, is inseparable from aging. With more people living longer, does this mean everyone will eventually get Alzheimer’s?
▸
6 min
—
with
One of the most robust environmental risk factors identified for Alzheimer’s disease is traumatic brain injury. This is having repercussions for those returning from fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
▸
4 min
—
with
Amyloid buildup in the brain is a key trigger in Alzheimer’s disease, but some people with this plaque live their entire lives without developing the disease.
▸
7 min
—
with
Are women and African-Americans at a higher risk for Alzheimer’s—as some data suggests—or are there other factors in play?
▸
3 min
—
with
For much of the last 100 years, little was known about Alzheimer’s and dementia, but recent research is revealing the neurotransmitter and genetic deficits behind the disease.
▸
5 min
—
with