Understanding Neurological Conditions

UNDERSTANDING Neurological Conditions

To Jeanne Beker, a Healthy Brain Means a Healthy Life

While Jeanne Beker may be best known for her work in fashion journalism and television, she’s also an Honourary Board Member of the Women’s Brain Health Initiative (WBHI). The WBHI is a Canadian and U.S. foundation that works to combat brain-aging diseases and protect women’s brain health. Mediaplanet spoke with Jeanne about brain health awareness.

How did you get involved with the WBHI?

I’ve been an Honourary Board Member of the WBHI since its inception in 2012. Because 70 per cent of people with Alzheimer’s disease are women, and so many disorders associated with brain aging inexplicably affect women, I was passionate about learning more and trying to raise awareness.

I’ve had the honour of hosting various events for the WBHI and conducted fireside chats with the likes of Marcia Gay Harden, who wrote a wonderful book about her mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s, and Kim Campbell, who cared for her husband, the late country star Glen Campbell, throughout his battle with the disease. Hearing these poignant stories was both shocking and inspiring and was a wake-up call about how much work needs to be done in the field of brain research.

Why is it important for you to raise awareness of brain-aging diseases?

My late mother suffered from Parkinson’s disease and Parkinson’s-related dementia, and watching her health decline was heartbreaking. I found it incomprehensible that such an

intellectually brilliant, wise, and witty person could succumb to the ravages of this cruel disease. We’re living longer these days, which is great in some ways but frightening in others. There’s just so much about the brain that we don’t understand. Research has been lacking in many areas, and it’s imperative that more be done.

What are you doing to optimize and maintain your brain health?

The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on many people’s psyches. Perhaps we’re all now a little frailer mentally, seeing how quickly our world can change — heightening the need to take care of our brain health more than ever before. It all starts with maintaining a healthy body as much as possible — eating right, exercising, and taking time to de-stress and smell the roses. Our mental health may be our most precious asset, and a worklife balance is imperative. Besides focusing on my work, I read, write, paint, bake, practise playing the piano whenever I get a chance, and even try to learn new crafting skills — everything from pottery and rug-hooking to needle-felting and shibori dyeing. And during past COVID-19 quarantines, I even found the time to work on several

jigsaw puzzles, which I found to be rather meditative. I think engaging socially is crucially important as well, especially for older people who often have to spend so much time alone. The art of conversation is a precious gift we should all participate in as much as possible. Human connections are invaluable.

What message do you have for those affected by, or have a loved one affected by, a neurological condition? Compassion counts for so much

— we must be gentle with each other and ourselves. Patience, positivity, and faith are paramount. But it’s also important to share and communicate. Talk about your pain. Try to understand the nature of your or your loved one’s condition. Read up on all the latest news and developments. And make others aware of what it is you’re going through. We can’t afford to be islands. Life is all about human connection and shining our lights in all those dark corners is good for us all.

Senior Strategic Account Manager: Anna Sibiga Strategic Account Director: Jessica Golyatov Country Manager: Nina Theodorlis Content & Production Manager: Raymond Fan Designer: Kylie Armishaw Lead Editor: Karthik Talwar All images are from Getty Images unless otherwise credited. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve Maclean’s Magazine or its editorial departments. Send all inquiries to ca.editorial@mediaplanet.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF JEANNE BEKER

The Best Resources and Support for People Affected by Dementia

Many Canadians are impacted by dementia — not only the 600,000plus people living with dementia in Canada right now but also their friends, family members, colleagues, and care partners. Dementia is one of the most commonly diagnosed diseases in Canada, and it’s estimated that one in five Canadians have experience caring for someone living with dementia. These numbers are only expected to grow.

Despite the prevalence of dementia in Canada, there remains a lack of awareness of the disease and a lot of stigmas associated with it. Fortunately, people living with dementia and their family care partners have places to turn to for support and community.

Seeking support

Living with dementia or caring for someone with dementia can feel isolating and overwhelming. Although dementia is increasingly common, finding safe and trustworthy sources of information — as well as community hubs that bring people together — can be a challenge.

Mario Gregorio of Burnaby, B.C., found out that he had dementia caused by vascular cognitive impairment with a possible diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in 2008, at the age of 57. He has since become an advocate for those living with dementia, especially people with early onset cognitive impairment. “Because of the stigma associated with the disease, there’s a lot of misconception and fear about dementia,” he says. “Fortunately, with a little help from my friends, I can still live well in my community.”

Let’s

talk about dementia

Aside from the assistance of his friends, one

of the resources that Mario is utilizing is Dementia Talks! Canada, a monthly webinar series presented by the Alzheimer Society of Canada and the Brain Canada Foundation, two of Canada’s leading national non-profit organizations focused on brain diseases such as dementia.

“The Dementia Talks! Canada webinar series provides a practical, reliable method to learn more about dementia in Canada through a collection of topic-focused conversations led by researchers, people living with dementia, and family care partners,” says Kaitlyn Jaggers, Research Lead of the Research Program at the Alzheimer Society of Canada. “It’s meant to be a conversational type of platform to delve into important topics.”

Topics covered include young onset dementia, 2SLGBTQIA+ in the dementia space, assistive technologies, and more. The webinars are free for all to attend, and participants can learn directly from people affected by dementia, like Mario — who participated in a recent Dementia Talks! webinar on the importance of an active lifestyle.

Participants can also learn about the latest research findings, which instills hope, as well as available resources and supports. But, most importantly, they can know that they’re not alone on their journey with dementia.

“This webinar series allows people with lived experience of Alzheimer’s disease and dementias to engage directly with researchers working in the field,” says Dr. Viviane Poupon, President and CEO of Brain Canada. “We’re proud to partner on initiatives like this that lead to advances for patients and their families.”

To learn more about Dementia Talks! Canada, visit alzheimer.ca/Talks

This article was sponsored by the Brain Canada Foundation and the Alzheimer Society of Canada

DementiaTalks!CanadahasbeenmadepossiblebytheCanada BrainResearchFund(CBRF),aninnovativearrangementbetween theGovernmentofCanada(throughHealthCanada),theBrain CanadaFoundation,andtheAlzheimerSocietyofCanada.The viewsexpressedhereindonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsof the Minister of Health or the Government of Canada.

Tania Amardeil

The Brain Canada Foundation and the Alzheimer Society of Canada have teamed up to offer Dementia Talks! Canada, a series of free educational webinars.

The Dementia Talks! Canada webinar series provides a practical, reliable method to learn more about dementia in Canada through a collection of topic-focused conversations led by researchers, people living with dementia, and family care partners.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIO GREGORIO

Mario Gregorio, University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University student mentor, is living with young onset dementia.

Creating a World Where We Fear No AgeTM

Longevity is a gift, but with it comes the heightened risk of cognitive decline.

There are now more Canadians aged 65 plus than under 15. More than 1.1 million Canadians are directly or indirectly affected by dementia. Worldwide, 50 million people live with the disease, according to the World Health Organization. Currently, there are no medications that can stop it.

For more than 100 years, Baycrest has been at the forefront of brain health and aging care. Today, we’re using best-in-class care practices to help older adults live their best lives and pioneering innovations in dementia prevention that will set the standard in elder care for years to come.

The possibilities are endless

The year 2022 marked the launch of an exciting long-term memory care model — Possibilities by Baycrest™. It addresses the needs of older adults living in long-term care by moving away from task-based care to a model that focuses on providing an exceptional living experience that maximizes each resident’s potential along their cognitive health journey.

The Possibilities model includes a set of core values, commitments, operational tools, staff roles, a formal training experience, the integration of neuroscience and innovation, and comprehensive, ongoing evaluation. It honours the whole person by facing the realities of living with dementia, understanding their abilities,

and then identifying their possibilities. It’s revolutionizing the way we approach aging care.

Virtually unbeatable care

If necessity is the mother of invention, Baycrest developed a great one in response to COVID-19.

With limited specialized care programs available to address dementia-related responsive behaviours such as physical and verbal aggression, we developed the Virtual Behavioural Medicine (VBM) Program. It brings care directly to the patient rather than the reverse by providing access to immediate clinical support.

Our interdisciplinary VBM team virtually assesses the patient and their caregiver and care team. Treatment includes pharmacological recommendations and environmental modification suggestions with regular follow-ups.

The program fills a gap in service for complex dementia cases, dramatically reducing admissions to the hospital. As well, clinicians across Ontario are receiving training in VBM to expand its delivery and serve more patients province-wide.

A wellness centre unlike the rest

The Kimel Family Centre, housed on Baycrest’s flagship Toronto campus, is a first-of-itskind facility featuring an unprecedented convergence of scientific research and evidence-based interventions that will have a measurable impact on the brain health and

wellness of older adults in Canada and globally. It builds on nearly 30 years of research from Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute (RRI) to seamlessly integrate brain health workshops, physical fitness, nutrition, sensory and cognitive training, arts programs, and social engagement for older adults.

The Kimel Family Centre prescribes programming tailored to fit older adults’ profiles to reduce their risk factors for dementia. For instance, members’ fitness regimens are monitored as they participate in exercise classes. In addition, nutritional courses are offered to teach eating habits aligned with our Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA)-developed Brain Health Food Guide. The centre helps counteract social isolation with groups and clubs, offers many forms of cognitive stimulation, and also aids in stress reduction — all measures that reduce dementia risk.

With world-leading research, innovation, care, and education, Baycrest is committed to ending dementia and giving everyone the tools they need to help Fear No AgeTM

To learn more, visit baycrest.org

This article was sponsored by Baycrest

Baycrest Staff

Baycrest is pioneering innovations in dementia prevention that will set the standard in elder care for years to come.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BAYCREST

How MS Patients Benefit from Biosimilar Switch Policies in Canada

Abigail Cukier

There’s no cure for multiple sclerosis (MS), but there’s been much progress in developing innovative treatments — including biologic therapies — which are designed to target specific molecules involved in the disease.

Used to treat many diseases, biologics are made from animal or plant cells, instead of a chemical process. Biologic therapies can offer an advantage because their mechanisms of action are more targeted to the factors that cause a disease and its symptoms.

Biologics, however, can be expensive to develop and for patients. And while provincial and employer-sponsored benefit plans want to expand their coverage to include new medicines, they need to manage costs. Biosimilars provide a way to help manage health payer budgets.

A biosimilar is a non-biologic complex molecule that’s similar to a biologic already developed. There are Health Canada standards and regulations to ensure treatment safety and efficacy. In Canada, there are many people taking biologic medicines that have expired patents — allowing manufacturers to produce biosimilars to replace them. Jurisdictions including Nova Scotia, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Alberta, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories have implemented switching policies, which allow for the original biologics to be automatically substituted with biosimilars.

“Biosimilars are an important way to ensure the sustainability of treatment programs,” says Dr. Virginia Devonshire, Director of the University of British Columbia MS and NMO Clinic and its Clinical Trials group and an associate clinical professor at the University of British Columbia. “They allow us to increase the funding where we really need it and not necessarily spend money where we don’t have to spend money.”

As science evolves, MS management has also evolved. In Canada, there are two trends to treat MS: escalation therapy and an induction strategy. In escalation therapy, a patient starts on medications that have a good balance between effectiveness and a relatively low risk of adverse events or complications and moves to more powerful treatments — which may have more side effects — as needed.

With induction therapy, a patient starts with stronger therapies, which may have more side effects and risks, followed by less powerful treatments to keep their immune response in check.

“It’s hard to know what a patient’s disease trajectory will be. So, with induction therapy, we put patients on higher efficacy treatments to hopefully prevent or slow the accumulation of disease and gain that control early,” says Dr. Devonshire. “In another patient, maybe they’ve had the disease longer and it’s not as aggressive. Escalation therapy uses a treatment that has a longer track record and fewer risks or side effects.”

Virginia

Director, University of British Columbia MS & NMO Clinic & Associate Clinical Professor, University of British Columbia

“With most treatments, we’re confident in saying this is going to be as safe and effective as the treatment you’ve been taking. With some, you may get different side effects, but most of these transitions go very well,” continues Dr. Devonshire. “If there are concerns, I would tell patients to talk to their health-care provider and they’ll work to find a solution, perhaps switching to a different biosimilar or switching back to the original treatment.”

Dr. Devonshire encourages patients to talk to their health-care provider to learn about their treatment options.

Talk to your health-care provider to learn about your treatment options.

This article was made possible with support from a leading research-based pharmaceutical company.

Government

Biosimilars are an important way to ensure the sustainability of treatment programs.

Dr.

Devonshire

Changing the Reality of Living with ALS Through Research and Advocacy

An unrelenting disease meets grit and determination from the ALS community.

An ALS diagnosis is devastating. The harsh realities of the disease reinforce the need for innovative research and a stronger Canadian health-care system. But Claudette Sturk, diagnosed with ALS in 2020, won’t let those harsh realities stop her.

Claudette found empowerment through the ALS Society of Canada’s Canadian ALS Learning Institute, learning about research

Psychedelics to Improve Your Mental Health? Research in Motion at UCalgary

Shea Coburn, Hotchkiss Brain Institute

There’s growing excitement around the potential use of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for psychiatric disorders,” says Dr. Leah Mayo, recently recruited by the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research & Education to the position of Parker Psychedelic Research Chair — the first of its kind in Canada. Dr. Mayo (@MayoOnTheBrain) will research the potential use of psychedelics to improve mental health.

The state-of-the-art Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research & Education — which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary — at the University of Calgary is dedicated to advancing research and education on the

Parkinson Canada Is Here for You

Learn how Parkinson Canada is helping the community through its programs and services for people at any stage of the Parkinson’s journey.

Dr. Karen Lee, CEO Parkinson Canada

Parkinson’s is a lifelong, incurable brain disease that occurs when brain cells involved in mobility and co-ordination fail. As a result, symptoms slowly worsen, and new ones develop over time.

More than 100,000 Canadians live with Parkinson’s, and that number is expected to increase substantially.

and how to effectively raise her voice for the ALS community.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, or motor neuron disease), a fatal neurodegenerative disease, results in progressive paralysis and, eventually, the loss of the ability to move, speak, and breathe. Approximately 3,000 Canadians live with ALS, many of whom die within two to five years of diagnosis. To change this reality, the ALS Society of Canada funds research across the country and advocates for equitable, affordable, and timely access to proven therapies.

Given how quickly ALS can progress, there’s a narrow window of time to slow it down with approved treatments. Long drug approval processes — some taking more than three years — further complicate this in Canada.

“Advocating for the approval and drug access processes to be sped up is crucial,” says Claudette. The ALS Society of Canada supports the ALS community by giving them the tools they need to urge decision-makers to work together to remove barriers to access.

“With help from the ALS Society of Canada, people living with ALS can become foot soldiers making real change,” says Claudette.

If you or someone you know has ALS, reach out. To learn more, visit als.ca or call 1-800-267-4257

This article was sponsored by the ALS Society of Canada.

early identification, treatment, and prevention of mental illness.

While traditional pharmacological treatments with antidepressants and antipsychotics are effective for many people, some people experience adverse effects and less than optimal response, warranting the search for alternative forms of treatments for mental health conditions. Psychedelics such as psilocybin, when administered in a controlled setting by medical professionals, have the potential to produce effective results in a short amount of time when traditional treatments fail.

“We still have a lot to learn,” says Dr. Mayo. “We need a better understanding of what these substances are doing in the brain, which clinical populations stand to benefit the most from their use, and how to best implement them into clinical treatments.”

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), in any given year, one in five people in Canada will experience a mental

health problem or illness. By age 40, about 50 per cent of the population will have or have had a mental illness.

“The research we do at the Mathison Centre, particularly with psychedelic compounds, is pushing the boundaries of our knowledge,” says Dr. Paul Arnold, Director of the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research & Education. “It’s worth the investment to explore new treatments and solutions, providing new hope for people with mental health disorders.”

Visit hbi.ucalgary.ca/mathison to learn more about the innovative research happening at the Mathison Centre.

This article was Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research & Education

There is currently no cure but living well with Parkinson’s is still possible.

At Parkinson Canada, people living with Parkinson’s are at the centre of everything we do. We empower the Parkinson’s community through tailored programs and services, innovative research, and raising the voice of Canadians impacted by Parkinson’s.

Parkinson Canada has just released the Every Victory Counts® Canadian Edition — a manual for Canadians affected by Parkinson’s. This special edition contains Canadian-specific statistics, references to medications approved by Health Canada, information on long-term care, legal and financial planning, and more.

Get involved or support Canadians affected by Parkinson’s by donating. Visit parkinson.ca to learn more.

This article was sponsored by Parkinson Canada

At Amylyx, our progress is measured by the moments we can give back to those living with neurodegenerative diseases. As a pharmaceutical company, that might make us a little different. But that’s what inspires us to question the obvious, go against the grain, and find new ways to slow the advancement of these diseases.

Visit us at amylyx.com to learn more.