It’s the last Sunday of March. This month was all about Alzheimer’s detection and a new, eco-friendly way to dispose of your remains called human composting.
Alzheimer’s News
A new study estimates 6.9 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease and another five to seven million have mild cognitive impairment. Getting an Alzheimer’s diagnosis is usually a fairly long process. It requires a doctor to analyze a patient’s medical history, symptoms, cognitive and speech tests and sometimes P.E.T. scan or M.R.I. New criteria proposed from the Alzheimer’s Association could lead to a diagnosis after only a blood test.
A small study out of John Hopkins has found that monitoring daily activity patterns using a wrist device called an actigraph may detect early warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease. AI may also help predict Alzheimer’s disease in patients up to seven years before any symptoms appear. Scientists from UC San Francisco are using machine learning to analyze patient records to help with Alzheimer’s detection in patients at risk.
Meanwhile, a new study out of UC Davis shows that the Keto diet may prevent early memory decline in mice, comparable to the mild cognitive impairment in humans that predeceases full-blown Alzheimer’s disease. Previously, they found that mice lived 13% longer on Keto diets. And, in an unusual move, the FDA postponed approval for a new Alzheimer’s drug and instead, decided they want input from its independent advisory committee. The experimental drug, made by Eli Lilly, is part of a controversial new class of Alzheimer’s medications.
Guardianships
The release of the documentary series Where is Wendy Williams? on Hulu, in late February of 2024 brought guardianships and conservatorships back into the spotlight this month. The docuseries opens in May 2022, following the start of her guardianship after a New York court found she was an “incapacitated person” and “victim of undue influence and financial exploitation” and follows the guardianship closely. This is just one of the many guardianship and conservatorship cases that has caught the publics eye in recent years. In the past we’ve talked about Britney Spears, Michael Oher, Amanda Bynes, Bryan Wilson and Jay Leno, to name a few. Popular fiction pieces are also highlighted guardianships and conservatorships, like Netflix’s 2020 Movie “I Care a Lot.” An upcoming example is a new movie starring Joan Hart and La La Anthony with the working title “The Bad Guardian” that will follow a woman trying to save her elderly father from the hands of a conservatorship. However, we recommend you watch these sorts of movies with a critical eye.
When sorting through different stories about guardianships and conservatorships, remember that different jurisdictions define the words “guardianship” and “conservatorship” differently. Guardians and conservators also have standards they use to make decisions for their wards. Often times, guardianships and conservatorships can also be avoided using a good set of powers of attorney.
Human Composting
If neither cremation, nor burial feels right for your remains, there may be another option- human composting. Human composting (also called natural organic reduction or terramation) uses microbes to decompose the body. The decomposition generates heat which kills off any pathogens that may be left. By the end, the body is dark brown dirt, which you can spread on forest floors or in a garden. Fans of human composting have hailed it as a more environmentally friendly option for disposal of remains. If you think this alternative might be a good fit for you, there may be one slight hiccup- human composting is only legal in six states to date: Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Vermont, and New York. Other states, like Delaware, are slowly but surely beginning to pass legislation allowing human composting.
Other Stuff:
- Starting September 30, 2024, the Social Security Administration will no longer include food in ISM calculations.
- The Corporate Transparency Act took effect on January 1, 2024 to curb money laundering and other financial crimes. And, it may have some implications for estate plan. You may have a reporting requirement if you have an LLC, you own stock in a family business, your trust owns an interest in a reporting entity, you are the trustee of a trust that has reporting requirement, and several other situations.
- A Florida non-profit focused on administering special needs trusts filed for bankruptcy. Now, families are accusing the founder of taking $100,000,000 in unapproved loans from the fund over eleven years.
- President Biden issued his budget proposal in mid-March. The proposal includes changes to how assets are passed generationally for the wealthiest among us.
- Elder care nursing assistants have a high turnover rate and a relatively low pay rate. Are robots a solution? Maybe not.
- The proposed DUALS ACT of 2024 attempts to make life simpler for people who eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.