CareYaya Health Technologies

Research published Monday in the journal Cell identifies the liver as an unexpected player in brain health. During exercise, the liver releases a protein called GPLD1 that travels to the brain and repairs the blood-brain barrier, which becomes leaky with age and in Alzheimer's disease. In mice, higher GPLD1 levels led to better memory performance and new neuron growth. UCSF researcher is now exploring whether GPLD1 can be delivered as a therapy for people with dementia who can no longer exercise. For many of the people families are caring for, a vigorous daily walk is not a realistic option. If the protective effect of exercise can be separated from the physical act of exercising, that changes the equation for a significant portion of the aging population. The research is early, but it opens a line of inquiry that hasn't existed before.

I'm thinking about what America chooses to call a "crisis". This week, ICE agents were sent to more than a dozen airports to help keep security moving after unpaid TSA staffing shortages blew up wait times. Over 50,000 TSA officers are going unpaid during the DHS shutdown, and now, immigration officers are being used to help with tasks like checking passenger IDs. When the airport line breaks, the news notices immediately. BUT, I think a MUCH bigger crisis happening in front of us is unpaid caregiving. Over 63 million Americans are family caregivers, and AARP just released a report showing it's over $1 TRILLION of unpaid care every year. In my work on the frontlines of caregiving every day, I can tell you that the "visible" system the news is talking about right now is totally dwarfed by the "invisible" system that is family caregiving. Imagine if America’s unpaid caregivers went on strike. Millions of meals would be missed by older adults, people living with dementia and serious illness. Medications would be skipped, falls would go unanswered. Hospital capacity would get completely CRUSHED overnight. So it makes me think, what if the care crisis got the attention it deserves? Then, we might stop treating family caregivers like the default plan, and start treating them like ESSENTIAL national infrastructure. And, we might push for REAL caregiver support - tax relief, funded respite care, caregiver training... and RECOGNITION, before this invisible workforce finally breaks. What do you think?

Family caregivers provide an average of 47 hours of care per week. That's more than a full-time job, unpaid, with no PTO and no sick days. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry found caregivers are 63% more likely to develop a serious illness themselves. 72% report not going to their own doctor as often as they should. 40-70% show clinically significant depression symptoms, per NIMH. Burnout doesn't arrive all at once. It shows up in one dropped thing that quietly becomes two. What was the first sign for you or someone you know?

53% of family caregivers report their own health has gotten worse since they started. Not a little worse. Significantly worse. And almost no one in the medical system is asking about it. Caregivers have a 63% higher mortality risk than non-caregivers their same age. They are twice as likely to develop depression, and most won't mention it unless someone specifically asks them directly. The appointment runs 20 minutes. Every question goes to the patient, which is exactly right, but the person who tracked every symptom, every medication, every behavioral change gets zero minutes of that time. Caregiver health is not a side issue. It is a public health crisis hiding in plain sight inside every clinic, every hospital, every specialist's waiting room in America. You are invisible because the system was never designed to look up and see you standing there. That changes when enough people refuse to stay quiet about it.

Big thanks Katie Couric!! I've been asked recently to share more short-form videos across social media. Being naturally an introverted and private person, it's been a journey of personal growth to learn how to do this. But the most encouraging thing is that the message is RESONATING and spreading across platforms! The highlight of my week was to see Katie Couric amplify the message. I hope that the messages celebrating the hard work of caregiving serve to uplift and bring positivity to America's caregivers. Most importantly, I hope they make caregivers feel SEEN and VALUED for the hard work they are doing, day in and day out - to care for their loved ones through aging, serious illness and end-of-life. Caregiving is one of the most difficult - and most important - things we will do in our lives. We owe a big debt of gratitude to America's caregivers. ❤️

Nobody tells you what caregiving does to your own finances.                                                                                                                                 The conversation is always about the parent's costs. The facility. The aides. The medications.                                                                                                           What stays invisible is what it costs you? The hours you cut at work. The promotion you passed on.                                                                                                                                                 Families absorb the financial hit gradually, until one day it isn't gradual anymore.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     If you've been in this situation: when did it first hit you?

If there's anyone I trust to use #AI to improve #healthcare, it's Neal K. Shah. So when I saw his name in my DMs, I went full starstruck, nerd mode. 🤩 🤓 I was so excited to learn that Neal's company, CareYaya Health Technologies, backed by funding from Johns Hopkins Medicine and National Intitutes Of Health, is exploring how to use AI to better educate, support and train family #caregivers with the #YaYaGuide. That's why I'm personally asking all those who are caring for a loved one with #dementia to take a few minutes to demo the platform. Simply watch the video at https://lnkd.in/gJjYpvqA and take the <2 min survey at https://tally.so/r/4481j5 -- not only are you helping to shape the future of AI for good, you will also receive an Amazon gift card. When Neal makes an ask, we all want to answer the call!

The average person waits 2.8 years for a dementia diagnosis.                                                                                                                                 Not a rare edge case. That's the median delay, per research published    Two years and eight months of watching a parent change without knowing why, before a doctor puts a name to it.                                                          By that point, families have already made the big decisions without information.                                                                                      Driving. Living alone. Handling finances.                                                                                                                                                 Early diagnosis opens doors: clinical trials, care planning, legal and financial prep while the person can still participate.                                                             Late diagnosis closes all of them at once.                                                                                                                                 We have a system that is good at treating dementia after the fact.                                                                                             We are not good at finding it in time to help.                                                                                                                                 If someone you know went through this: how long did it actually take to get a diagnosis?