More Sunday stories

-- Alzheimer's advocates counter misconceptions among minority communities. From the Boston Globe. The campaign is part of an effort to address cultural barriers to dementia care among African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinos and other groups.

"Driving the initiatives is concern that increasing numbers of African-Americans and Latinos are at high risk of Alzheimer's and other types of dementia because they have cardiovascular disease or diabetes, and because they are reaching their 60s, 70s and 80s, when dementia typically strikes."

-- Tips for planning vacations for people with disabilities. From the Dallas Morning News.

-- Harvard business school student with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) uses B-school techniques to encourage research into drug treatments. From the Boston Globe.

Alzheimer's treatment seen

And while we're on the subject of doom, Alzheimer's style, British researchers report that an effective treatment may not be far off. From the (London) Evening Standard. Link here.

To headline writers: Two thumbs down

Nominations for least favorite headlines:

Doomed from birth to death. From the (Toronto, Canada) Globe and Mail. On a story about the link between Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease. See it here.

While it is indeed tragic that individuals with Down syndrome have a greater chance of getting Alzheimer's than the general population, it seems highly insensitive and unnecessary for the headline writers to refer to them as "doomed." Many, many people with Down syndrome are happy and productive community members; others are trying to make the most of their situations. One wonders: would a story about Elizabeth Edwards, who is living with incurable cancer, have carried a headline referring to her as "doomed"?

When an extra chromosome is one too many: Corruption to genes passed down to the baby from his parents can cause a myriad of problems. From the (Malaysia) New Straits Times. Link here.

As if babies didn't have enough problems -- now they have to deal with corruption. And very long headlines.