BrainGuide provides tools and resources

Dr. Philip Gorelick worked on the Brain Guide, a platform that provides resources to people and their caregivers to identify memory problems. The platform was developed in partnership with UsAgainstAlzheimers. Photo Provided by Berry Brady
Dr. Philip Gorelick worked on the Brain Guide, a platform that provides resources to people and their caregivers to identify memory problems. The platform was developed in partnership with UsAgainstAlzheimers. Photo Provided by Berry Brady

 BrainGuide provides tools and resources\

BY TIA CAROL JONES
     A new tool for Alzheimer’s and Dementia has been developed in partnership with UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. The BrainGuide provides resources to help combat the disease by identifying memory
problems before people are diagnosed.
     The BrainGuide is a simple, easy to use, highly accessible platform, available in English and Spanish. It includes information on diagnosis, treatment and prevention. There is also a section with
resources people can use for people who care for people with cognitive impairment or dementia.
     Dr. Philip Gorelick said the Brain- Guide is important because there are people who might be experiencing cognitive changes or cognitive decline, especially in the older community. Gorelick said in Illinois, there are close to 250,000 people, aged 65 or older, who have Alzheimer’s Disease, and 10 percent of people, aged 40 or older, have some subjective symptom of a thinking problem.
     “This is a common problem, people are concerned about it, and they want to get some answers about what they should do and the BrainGuide is a great source to go to for free information to find out
what are the signs and symptoms and what might you do,” he said.
Gorelick said it was a multidisciplinary feat to put the guide together.
Clinicians, as well as computer programming and artificial intelligence professionals, pooled their talents together to create this platform with the resources. He said it took time and was thoroughly tested in different communities, including communities of color.
     “I think it has been put together in a way that you can get information that is digestible and usable, and easy to access,”
he said.
     Another feature of the BrainGuide is the assessment test. There are eight questions that can be used by a potential patient, who wants to learn more about how their memory or other cognitive
functions are doing, or it can be used on behalf of a patient, by a loved one or caregiver, who can answer the questions to find out the patient’s spectrum of cognitive impairment.
     “Overall, I think we have a very nice tool here, one that will help our community and guide them to the next steps.  One of the reasons why it is important to find out about this problem early on is because there are some things we can do,” he said, adding the BrainGuide cannot give a diagnosis but will give an idea of where a person is with their memory so they can launch their healthcare journey,
if needed.
      Gorelick said the questions for the assessment test are part of the Alzheimer Disease 8. He added, the questions have been well-developed and well-validated and work with different members from different racial and ethnic groups.  Gorelick said the BrainGuide is important for the African American community because it has a disproportionate burden of dementia. He said African Americans are two to three times more likely to have cognitive impairment. In the Latino community, he said, it is one and a half times higher. He said one of the things learned over time is that cardiovascular risk factors correlate to cognitive impairment.
     “We know that the African American community has been disproportionately burdened by cardiovascular risk. The proportion of people with high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and some other cardiovascular risk factors is higher,” he said.
     “What we’ve been learning over the last couple of decades is that these factors may also put one at risk for not only strokes or heart attacks but also for Alzheimer’s Disease. The good news is these factors, the cardiovascular risk factors I’ve mentioned, are reversible or treatable,” Gorelick added.
     Research shows that these factors can be treated and can slow down the cognitive impairment process that occurs over time, Gorelick continued. He said, using the BrainGuide can help with
getting early treatment to prevent or slow down the cognitive decline, adding the BrainGuide questions are confidential and shared only with those who have access to the system.
     There have been 100,000 visitors to the website, Gorelick continued, and half of them have taken the assessment test,
he said.
     For more information, visit mybrainguide. org, or call 855-BRAIN411.

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