The Neurology Lounge

In this episode I explore a refreshing perspective of Alzheimer's disease with physician Tia Powell, whose mother suffered from the disorder.

We discuss her perspectives of the pathology and management of the disease, and her views on the balance between care and cure.

Tia Powell is Professor of Epidemiology and Psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center.

For 15 years she was director of the Montefiore Einstein Center for Bioethics. Dr. Powell’s bioethics work focuses on public policy, aging, dementia, end-of-life care, and public health disasters.

Tia Powell served as Executive Director of the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law, which was New York State’s bioethics commission. She founded and directed Einstein’s MS program in Bioethics.

In this episode I discuss with Daniel Gibbs, author of A Tattoo on My Brain. Daniel Gibbs is a retired general neurologist in Portland, Oregon, who has early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Having spent 24 years caring for patients, many with dementia themselves, he is now an active advocate for the early recognition and management of Alzheimer’s disease.

We discuss his dual perspectives of Alzheimer's disease as a neurologist and patient.

This podcast explores the early history and the clinical manifestations of Alzheimer's disease. I trace the history of the scientific understanding of the disease with reference to neuroscientists Alois Alzheimer, Oscar Fischer and Arnold pick, and the first two patients, Auguste Deter and Johan F.

I also review the management of this common dementia with an emphasis on the burden of care and the limitations of its current therapies.

In this introductory podcast episode, I explore the ancient history of #Neurology, and I link this to the principle of neurological localization.

I make historical references, especially to the Incans of #Peru and to the French neurologist Paul Broca.