Hello readers! The UW Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, in partnership with the UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center, is pleased to bring you the Spring 2023 edition of Dimensions!
In this issue:
The Memory Hub: One Year In!
Sleep and Dementia Risk
Research Highlights: ADRC Discoveries Made Possible By You
Finding Beauty in Unlikely Places: The Art of a Neuropathologist
The Power of Connection in Dementia Care
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Ed note: It’s disheartening that there is still controversy about wearing masks. One camp feels that “it’s time to live with COVID and get on with life without masks.” Another group feels that “it’s no big deal to wear a mask and I can still get on with life.” In our independent living areas, prior to the recent increase in COVID, most residents were wearing masks, yet only a few staff were. I asked one waiter in the dining room why he was wearing a mask and others weren’t. He replied, “Well, I like to think I’m protecting residents who might be vulnerable to infection.” Currently, given the uptick in cases, the staff now is required to wear masks. I hope there is less of a disconnect in the future. If masks are recommended, shouldn’t management set the example?
The debate over masks’ effectiveness in fighting the spread of the coronavirus intensified recently when a respected scientific nonprofit said its review of studies assessing measures to impede the spread of viral illnesses found it was “uncertain whether wearing masks or N95/P2 respirators helps to slow the spread of respiratory viruses.”
Now the organization, Cochrane, says that the way it summarized the review was unclear and imprecise, and that the way some people interpreted it was wrong.
“Many commentators have claimed that a recently updated Cochrane review shows that ‘masks don’t work,’ which is an inaccurate and misleading interpretation,” Karla Soares-Weiser, the editor in chief of the Cochrane Library, said in a statement.
“The review examined whether interventions to promote mask wearing help to slow the spread of respiratory viruses,” Soares-Weiser said, adding, “Given the limitations in the primary evidence, the review is not able to address the question of whether mask wearing itself reduces people’s risk of contracting or spreading respiratory viruses.”
She said that “this wording was open to misinterpretation, for which we apologize,” and that Cochrane would revise the summary.
Soares-Weiser also said, though, that one of the lead authors of the review even more seriously misinterpreted its finding on masks by saying in an interview that it proved “there is just no evidence that they make any difference.” In fact, Soares-Weiser said, “that statement is not an accurate representation of what the review found.”
Cochrane reviews are often referred to as gold standard evidence in medicine because they aggregate results from many randomized trials to reach an overall conclusion — a great method for evaluating drugs, for example, which often are subjected to rigorous but small trials. Combining their results can lead to more confident conclusions.
Masks and mask mandates have been a hot controversy during the pandemic. The flawed summary — and further misinterpretation of it — set off a debate between those who said the study showed there was no basis for relying on masks or mask mandates and those who said it did nothing to diminish the need for them.
Michael D. Brown, a doctor and academic who serves on the Cochrane editorial board and made the final decision on the review, told me the review couldn’t arrive at a firm conclusion because there weren’t enough high-quality randomized trials with high rates of mask adherence.
Credit…Heather Ainsworth for The New York Times
While the review assessed 78 studies, only 10 of those focused on what happens when people wear masks versus when they don’t, and a further five looked at how effective different types of masks were at blocking transmission, usually for health care workers. The remainder involved other measures aimed at lowering transmission, like hand washing or disinfection, while a few studies also considered masks in combination with other measures. Of those 10 studies that looked at masking, the two done since the start of the Covid pandemic both found that masks helped.
A hydrogen-powered commuter airplane just made a historic, record-setting flight Last week in Washington state, a 40-person airplane powered by hydrogen fuel successfully made a historic flight. The plane had a traditional jet engine on its left side and an electric motor completely powered by hydrogen on its right. After takeoff, the Universal Hydrogen airplane essentially turned off the gas engine and relied almost entirely on the hydrogen-powered engine. It flew for 15 minutes and became the largest plane ever “to cruise principally on hydrogen.” It’s just one carbon-free travel innovation scientists are working on to help the aviation industry reach its emission-reduction goals. Whereas traditional jet fuel releases emissions and particulate pollution, this plane’s hydrogen system gives off only water vapor and heat. What’s the nuance? Some critics say hydrogen fuel won’t be a magic solution (there rarely are!) to getting the aviation industry to lower its emissions enough to make a difference in fighting climate change. Additionally, it requires a lot of storage space on board the plane, which would significantly reduce the number of seats on the plane, especially for longer flights. Still, transitioning away from fossil fuels is non-negotiable, so we’re glad to see some progress and innovation being made in the airline industry. → Read more
Good Partner
Get equal college sports coverage If you’re a sports fan, it’s time you have free women’s and men’s sports coverage in your inbox. The GIST’s college sports newsletter sends regional coverage to your inbox 3 times a week, full of game results, rivalry updates, athlete interviews, and more. Score! → Sign up for free!
We Should All Be FeministsBy Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie This personal, eloquently-argued essay was adapted from the much-admired TEDx talk of the same name — and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century. Why we’re reading: We love a good Ted Talk, but sometimes the shorter format leaves us wanting more! In audiobook format, this book is a 45-minute lesson — so still short and digestible, but expands on the author’s brilliant talk. → Get the book (it’s under $10!) → Get the audiobook
Here’s a link that will get you to the PIONEERS IN AGING series. The presentations are on Zoom but you will need to register separately for each talk, on Mondays at noon.
April 24, Maria Kliavkoff, “Creating Compassionate Grief Communities”
Most of us have never been taught what to do with grief or how to mourn our losses. In today’s talk based on her book, Healthy Mourning, Happy Loving, Maria will shine a light on a topic that has remained buried for too long, sharing clarity in the chaos and hope for the grief journey.
May 1, Dori Gillam, “What’s Age Got to Do with It?”
Dori Gillam takes a lighter look at aging while showing us how ingrained ageism is in our society through birthday cards and advertising. After all, age is the only identity group of which we are all always a member, so let’s start being positive and proud of every age!
May 8, Diane Gillespie, “There’s Nothing Like a Good Night’s Sleep”
Author Diane Gillespie will discuss sleeping challenges and describe inexpensive, non-pharmacological sleeping strategies. Her book Stories for Getting Back to Sleep contains 17 stories to help you get to sleep. (Five of her stories are widely used on sleepiest.com.) She also provides a resource sheet for other cognitive behavior strategies for increasing natural sleep.
May 15, Dr. Jim deMaine, “Our Lives Our Choices”
Dr. Jim deMaine joins us to discuss his memoir Facing Death: Finding Dignity, Hope, and Healing at the End. Reaching beyond the traditional scope of a physician, Dr. DeMaine explores the role of spirituality, conflicts between doctors and families, cultural traditions, and more. He invites us to a wise and large-hearted conversation with advice pointing the way toward a grace-filled transition out of life.
Sponsored by the KCLS Foundation in partnership with Aging Wisdom, the Northwest Center for Creative Aging and ERA Living.
Ed note: We’re fortunate to have Dr. Peters-Mathews return to Skyline once again. This time he’ll be talking about the common problem of insomnia. He’s one of the few sleep specialists who has an active interest in this subject. He’ll give many ideas to help us all improve the quality of our sleep–hence improvement in our physical and mental health.
Brandon R. Peters, M.D., FAASM, is a double board-certified neurologist and sleep medicine specialist and fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine who currently practices at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in Seattle. He is a leading voice in sleep medicine who works at the cutting edge of medicine and technology to advance the field.
After receiving his undergraduate degree from Seattle Pacific University in biology and English, he studied medieval and Renaissance literature at Oxford University in England. Interest in sleep began when he worked as a polysomnographic technician before attending medical school at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. Having been trained as a neurologist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, he completed his sleep fellowship at Stanford University’s School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, Calif., viewed internationally as the world’s leading training program for sleep disorders medicine. Unique in his qualifications is that Dr. Peters-Mathews was additionally trained at Stanford as a practitioner of cognitive behavioral therapy of insomnia (CBTI) and has served academic appointments as a consulting assistant professor, clinical affiliate, and adjunct lecturer in the department.
He is the author of Sleep Through Insomnia. He is the creator of Insomnia Solved, a self-guided online cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI) program. He has written more than 1000 articles on sleep over the past decade, presently hosted at Verywell.com and read by millions of people each year. His published research includes study of the sleep habits of university students, circadian rhythm disorders, abnormal sleep behaviors called parasomnias, comorbid insomnia and sleep apnea, transgender health, and sleep ethics. He lectures extensively, frequently appears in media, and works as a scientific advisor and business consultant for sleep-related industries.
Washington ecologists and farmers are scrambling to slow the avian flu — and get cartons back on grocery shelves.
While people search for fresh chicken eggs for their frittatas and avocado toast, Washington farmers and egg suppliers say shortages are going to continue until avian bird flu is eradicated. And according to one Seattle environmental microbiologist, the timeline for that remains unknown.
Eggs have almost always been an easily available and relatively inexpensive staple, but the egg shortage that began last year with the latest sweep of avian flu has made them increasingly expensive and difficult to find. According to the Consumer Price Index, nationwide egg prices have gone up 60% in one year.
“I’ve been to Trader Joe’s and Target near my apartment frequently during the past month, but I never saw a box of eggs in both of the places. Eventually, I found two dozen eggs in H Mart and spent $26 in getting them. That’s crazy,” said Lisa Li, a shopper at H Mart, one of Seattle’s Korean grocery stores.
As with other rising food costs, the high price of eggs results from shortages. Avian flu has been the major reason, because so many birds have been affected and killed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that over 58 million birds have been affected in 47 states. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reported 151 cases of avian flu in Washington in December 2022.
To control the potential spread of avian flu here, the Washington State Department of Agriculture has established policies for quarantine and the elimination of infected flocks. Farmers have been forced to destroy entire flocks of chickens if even a single bird tests positive.
An empty shelf in the University District Trader Joe’s. (Sophia Sun for Crosscut)
An empty shelf in the University District Trader Joe’s. (Sophia Sun for Crosscut)
“Many farmers spent years building up their flock,” said Kevin Scott-Vandenberge, the owner of Portage Bay Grange, a small chicken farm in Seattle. “Now bird flu has become their most sensitive topic. Once their chickens were infected with the virus brought by wild birds, they lost everything they had.” According to Vanderberge, wild pigeons are one of the most persistent avian flu threats.
John Scott Meschke, an environmental microbiologist and the associate chair of the UW Department of Environmental Health Sciences, sees avian flu through an ecology lens.
“Climate change has altered the flight paths of many bird species,” Meschke said. “As a result, the species of birds that come to Seattle have become unpredictable, and these exotic birds bring more potential viruses with them.” A report by the National Audubon Society found that over the past 40 years, more than 60% of North American bird species have shifted their ranges northward, by an average of 35 miles.
Seattle grocery stores have managed the current egg shortage through their long-term collaborations with food distributors who work with a wide range of suppliers and have the resources to quickly identify alternative supply sources when shortages occur. A University District neighborhood grocery store, District Market, is one example of how this can work.
“We haven’t predicted this crisis, but our routine of forecasting the egg demands and pre-ordering helps us maintain our supplies,” said warehouse lead Nihad Delic. While stores like Fred Meyer and Whole Foods in Seattle have limited egg purchases to one or two cartons per person, District Market’s egg display has never been empty and the price has not gone above $2.99 a dozen.
“As farmers kill birds carrying the virus and businesses raise the price of eggs, there is too much focus on how to minimize their harm from avian bird flu when the results have already been produced,” Meschke said. “People should put more attention on how to control avian bird flu.”
While the U.S. Department of Agriculture is working on monitoring avian flu, including developing guidelines for controlling outbreaks in commercial poultry operations, these efforts cannot control this illness in wild bird populations and among birds that do not appear to be sick.
“There is still a long way to go to effectively control bird flu,” said Meschke. “More people should be involved in this project.”
The twice-yearly ritual has roots in cost-cutting strategies of the late 19th century. A bill to make daylight saving time permanent has re-emerged in Congress.
Benjamin Franklin is often credited as the first to suggest daylight saving time after realizing he was wasting his mornings by staying in bed.Credit…Leon Neal/Getty Images
Hello. You may be here to learn when is daylight saving time, or what is the time that we’re saving, or why does daylight saving time even exist.
Hopefully, this will answer those questions, and maybe a few more that hadn’t crossed your mind, like what do the railroad companies of the 19th century have to do with it and whether golf course owners have an interest in your sleep habits.
Here goes.
When is it?
Unlike other, easier-to-remember federal events, like the Fourth of July, in the United States the clock change is tied to a roving day: Since 2007, it has taken place on the second Sunday of March, when clocks spring forward an hour, and the first Sunday of November, when they go back. (In 2023, those dates are March 12 and Nov. 5. The clocks spring forward again on March 10, 2024.)
In Britain, France and Germany, the clocks change on the last Sunday in March, and the last Sunday in October. (In 2023, those dates are March 26 and Oct. 29. The clocks spring forward again in these countries on March 31, 2024.)
American lawmakers in 1966, writing in the Uniform Time Act, decided that the right time of day for this shift was “2 o’clock antemeridian,” better known as 2 a.m.
What is it?
To farmers, daylight saving time is a disruptive schedule foisted on them by the federal government; a popular myth even blamed them for its existence. To some parents, it’s a nuisance that can throw bedtime into chaos. To the people who run golf courses, gas stations and many retail businesses, it’s great.
“When it’s dark or there are limited hours after work, people tend to go straight home and stay there,” said Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores, an industry group. “When it’s lighter, they are more likely to go out and do something, whether it’s in the neighborhood, a local park or some other experience. And that behavior shift also drives sales, whether at a favorite restaurant or the local convenience store.”
OK, if it wasn’t farmers, whose idea was this?
The idea is to move an hour of sunlight from the early morning to the evening, so that people can make more use of daylight. Benjamin Franklin is often credited as the first to suggest it in the 18th century, after he realized he was wasting his Parisian mornings by staying in bed. He proposed that the French fire cannons at sunrise to wake people up and reduce candle consumption at night.
Over the next 100 years, the Industrial Revolution laid the groundwork for his idea to enter government policy. For much of the 1800s, time was set according to the sun and the people running the clocks in every town and city, creating scores of conflicting, locally established “sun times.” It could be noon in New York, 12:05 in Philadelphia and 12:15 in Boston.
This caused problems for railway companies trying to deliver passengers and freight on time, as nobody agreed whose time it was. In the 1840s, British railroads adopted standard times to reduce confusion. American counterparts soon followed.
“There was the threat of federal intervention in all of this, so the railroads decided they were going to police themselves,” said Carlene Stephens, a curator at the National Museum of American History. Scientists were also urging a standardized system for marking time, she said.
One more action to go, and we need your help! The hearing for SB 5179, Protecting Access to Medical Aid-in-Dying, in the House Health Care & Wellness Committee is Monday, March 6, at 8 a.m. PT. Here’s the action we need to take:Register Your Position on SB 5179 Click the link below to register your position as ‘Pro’ by Monday, March 6, at 7 a.m. Required sections only are needed to complete registration. REGISTER HERE Please share with your friends! Let’s get this bill passed! Tune in to Watch the Hearing! Click the link below to watch the hearing live at 8 a.m. Watch the HearingClick Here to Learn More About SB 5179 End of Life Washington 9311 SE 36th St, Suite 110 | Mercer Island, WA 98040 206.256.1636 | info@endoflifewa.org
Ed note: My own experience was having a totally dead electrical system (blown big fuse) in my car on B2. AAA arrived and couldn’t get the problem fixed and, of course, a tow truck can’t fit into the garage. So I, having to “drive,” was cable towed by the AAA pickup, sans power steering and brakes, up and around and up and out onto Columbia. Then it was up to 9th where the platform truck was waiting. I survived as did my car, much more fortunate than the two videos below.
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Supporters and opponents of adding caste discrimination to the city’s list of prohibited forms of discrimination stand at a Seattle City Council meeting Tuesday. The ordinance was introduced by Kshama Sawant and passed. (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)
It seems whenever I write about structural power and privilege, people who benefit most from those systems respond that they are now victims of an unfairly stacked deck.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the pushback against what some dub “critical race theory,” or what I would call a more accurate portrayal of our country’s history. The following week, I wrote about the hidden stories of Dalit oppression behind Seattle’s recently passed caste discrimination ordinance.
In both cases, people who have benefited from the unearned advantages of white supremacy or caste privilege have complained they are the ones who are really suffering.
Like this reader, who started his email about my column on teaching history by decrying the “lies” he said that are unfairly lifting up children of color and lowering white children. He wrote, “What you really want is for the State to control children and white children specifically, to groom and condition them into believing they are evil and inferior to blacks/browns. … Why do you hate white children? Why do you [hate] white people in general? Why do you hate heterosexuals? Why do you hate this country so badly?”
The following week, when writing about caste discrimination, I got a lot of feedback — mostly on Twitter and Reddit — following similar lines. One reader tweeted the issue of caste discrimination was, “Searching for a solution to a problem that does not exist so you can jump on the lucrative victimhood business and carve out a good career and money out of opinions without evidence.”
Another tweeted about the Dalit woman I interviewed for my column, “If Maya were persecuted in India with no oppty wonder how she landed in US for her masters. This is just a cheap trick to get some reservation over there as well who can’t perform or want to have stuff handed out to them like in India without doing anything.”
In India, “reservation” means programs to remedy thousands of years of systemic oppression and open up educational and professional opportunities to Dalit and other oppressed-caste people. The system is akin in some ways to affirmative action in the U.S., and the backlash to it is very similar.
The reaction reminded me of something the anti-caste discrimination organization Ambedkar International Center wrote in an email to the Seattle City Council last week. The organization was advocating for a “yes” vote on the ordinance: “When the oppressor is accustomed to dominance and impunity, the idea of equity seems like oppression to the oppressor. The oppressor cloaks themselves in victimhood, cries foul and spins facts to justify the systems of oppression.”
But even more than that, the belief that when one group is free of oppression it necessarily means someone else loses, speaks to the pervasive idea of a zero-sum society.
Heather McGhee, the former president of progressive think tank Demos, wrote about this phenomenon in her book “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together.”
Using the metaphor of a swimming pool, McGhee argues the U.S. is struggling with “drained-pool politics,” where beginning in the 1950s, white families opted for public pools to be paved over rather than face the horror of integrated swimming pools that everyone could use.
“When the people with power in a society see a portion of the populace as inferior and undeserving, their definition of ‘the public’ becomes conditional,” she writes. “It’s often unconscious, but their perception of the Other as undeserving is so important to their perception of themselves as deserving that they’ll tear apart the web that supports everyone, including them. Public goods, in other words, are only for the public we perceive to be good.”
Consequently, McGhee said, the U.S. has divested from the idea of public good, willing to abide crumbling infrastructure, inequitable schools and inadequate health care in order to ensure that the “undeserving” don’t get a piece of the opportunity pie. This willingness to cut off our collective nose to spite our face has been decades in the making.
“With the exception of about forty years from the New Deal to the 1970s, the United States has had a weaker commitment to public goods, and to the public good, than every country that possesses anywhere near our wealth,” she writes.
This trend will only increase if we can’t find ways to see our interdependence and shared humanity. But that will not happen if learning about our country’s true history or rejecting the cruelties of caste are changes to be feared, not opportunities for us all to grow and evolve.
Naomi Ishisaka: nishisaka@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @naomiishisaka. Naomi Ishisaka is The Seattle Times’ assistant managing editor for diversity, inclusion and staff development. Her column on race, culture, equity and social justice appears weekly on Mondays.
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Here’s a note from a resident who utilized the services of dispatchhealth: https://www.dispatchhealth.com/. This is not an endorsement but there now have been three positive comments on the urgent health care they can offer in your home 8 AM to 10 PM seven days a week.
“I believe it was you who mentioned dispatchhealth urgent care. I put it on my home page and yesterday had an occasion to use it. The people were great – very professional and caring. So thank you for introducing this organization to me.”
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On Feb. 22nd there were 4 COVID infected Terraces’ residents on the 8th floor and one on floor 12th. Updates will be posted when available. Masks remain required there. Suggest a N-95 if you visit.
Ed note: I asked ChatGPT to write a poem about masks and COVID. Here it is (bad poetry, good message)!
There are some folks who just won’t see The value of a mask, oh me! They’ll spout conspiracy and such, And say it’s just a little much.
“But I don’t like the way it feels,” They’ll moan and groan, then appeal, “It fogs my glasses, makes me itch, I’d rather just avoid the pitch.”
But little do they seem to know, The mask’s a way to help us go About our days with greater ease, And keep the spread of germs at ease.
So if you see them walking by, Without a mask to cover their eye, Just shake your head and give a smile, And hope they’ll come around in awhile.
May God bless and keep you always May your wishes all come true May you always do for others And let others do for you May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung And may you stay Forever young Forever young Forever young May you stay Forever young May you stay Forever young
May your hands always be busy May your feet always be swift May you have a strong foundation When the winds of changes shift May your heart always be joyful May your song always be sung And may you stay Forever young Forever young Forever young May you stay Forever young
May you grow up to be righteous May you grow up to be true May you always know the truth And see the lights surrounding you May you always be courageous Stand upright and be strong And may you stay Forever young Forever young Forever young
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Ed note: At Skyline we remember Leonard for his gentle manner and inquisitive mind. He dealt with his failing health with quiet acceptance and kept his smile and sense of humor until the end. We sorely miss this man who gave many the gift of survival following cardiac arrest.
It’s difficult to pinpoint how Dr. Leonard Cobb came up with the idea to train firefighters in emergency medical care, but friends and family believe one particular afternoon more than 60 years ago played a role.
Cobb and his wife, Else, had stopped at a market in Seattle’s Madrona neighborhood for a frozen snack when they noticed a man slumped over in a nearby car.
When Cobb opened the car door to check on him, the man sagged to the ground.
Cobb stayed with the man while his wife rushed to a nearby fire station for help. A firefighter hurried over to bring oxygen, but there wasn’t much else he could do until the man was taken to the hospital, Else Cobb, 88, remembers.
“It was an incident where Leonard felt the fireman could have done more if he had known what to do,” his wife said this week.
In the following decades, Cobb devoted his career to researching cardiac care and developing Medic One, one of the country’s first efforts to deliver emergency medical care to patients before they arrived at the hospital. He was 96 when he died in his home at the Terraces of Skyline last week, surrounded by family.
The former Harborview Medical Center doctor was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1926, eventually earning undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Minnesota.
In the late 1950s, Cobb moved to Seattle to practice cardiology at the University of Washington — where he eventually met his future wife, Else Snoep at the time.
Their first date, a UW football game, was the first time she had seen the sport.
“I’m a Dutch girl, and I grew up with soccer,” she said. “I told him that maybe he should take someone else because I wouldn’t know what was going on. He said, ‘I’ll explain it all to you.’”
Cobb was already passionate about improving areas of cardiology in the 1960s, but was particularly determined to find faster ways to get care to patients outside the hospital, said Dr. Michael Sayre, current medical director of the Seattle Fire Department and its Medic One program, which now responds to about 550 calls a year.
At the time, the idea of firefighters providing serious medical care was “pretty radical,” Sayre said.
Paramedics didn’t exist then, and extensive medical training wasn’t required for many ambulance crews. Ambulances were stocked with bandages and oxygen, but little else, he said.
One more action to go, and we need your help! The hearing for SB 5179, Protecting Access to Medical Aid-in-Dying, in the House Health Care & Wellness Committee is Monday, March 6, at 8 a.m. PT. Here’s the action we need to take: Register Your Position on SB 5179 Click the link below to register your position as ‘Pro’ by Monday, March 6, at 7 a.m. Required sections only are needed to complete registration. 
