by ANDY MARSO

When Barbara Walker heard that the University of Kansas Medical Center was looking for people to participate in clinical trials for treating and preventing Alzheimer’s disease, she was quick to sign up.

Walker, 72, lost her husband to the illness in 2001. He was just 56 years old when he was diagnosed and had no known family history of Alzheimer’s. Walker and her three kids were shocked.

“We had plans for our future and everything, and all of a sudden it all changed,” said Walker, of Lee’s Summit, Mo. “For him to be diagnosed with this illness was just a devastating situation.”

Twelve years after her husband died, Walker struck a blow against Alzheimer’s when she signed up to be evaluated for her first study at the KU Clinical Research Center in Fairway.

The evaluation found her to be at low risk for Alzheimer’s. Jeffrey Burns, a neurologist and co-director of the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Center, said that actually made her a great candidate for one of center’s studies.

“We need people with Alzheimer’s disease, and we need even more people without (it),” Burns said. “We need healthy older adults who are interested in contributing to prevention efforts, to testing these new strategies and seeing if we can delay the onset and prevent Alzheimer’s to keep people healthier, longer. Our biggest need is people 65 and older who are healthy.”

Burns started the Alzheimer’s clinical research program at KU in 2004. Seven years later the National Institute on Aging designated it a national Alzheimer’s Disease Center, one of 29 in the United States.

That brought more funding, which increased the need for study participants.

A breakthrough in diagnosing Alzheimer’s also occurred around that same time.

A German doctor named Alois Alzheimer is credited with discovering the cause of his patients’ memory loss in 1906 by spotting amyloid plaque deposits in their brain matter during autopsies.

For more than a century, that was the only sure way to clinically pinpoint Alzheimer’s. In living patients who showed signs of memory loss, doctors diagnosed it using a “none-of-the-above” approach, writing down Alzheimer’s after eliminating all other possible causes.

Burns said that’s still largely the case today, but a shift is under way. Technological advances have made it possible to spot the plaque deposits while patients are alive and before they even show symptoms.

“We now have imaging techniques that allow us to see this microscopic pathology in life,” Burns said.

That makes it possible to study drug treatments and lifestyle changes to see if they prevent Alzheimer’s in people who don’t have it and slow its progression in people who do.

The KU Alzheimer’s Disease Center is enrolling participants in five studies for people with memory loss and three studies for people without memory loss.

The 29 designated Alzheimer’s research facilities nationwide work together, but each has specific areas of focus, Burns said. At KU, researchers are studying the possibility that as people age and their metabolic rate slows, changes at a cellular level make them more susceptible to Alzheimer’s.

So some KU studies focus on diet and exercise as prevention tools while others look at new drug treatments to rev up the metabolism.

Burns said the work is promising and breakthroughs could come within the next five to 10 years. His message to people with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers is that there’s hope, but the clinic needs help from the public.

“We’re doing really well, but we could do so much more if we could take it to the next level in terms of enrollment,” Burns said.

Breakthroughs in treating and preventing Alzheimer’s would be particularly welcome in Kansas, where an aging population increases the burden of the disease compared to other states.

About 51,000 Kansans 65 and older have Alzheimer’s. That’s about 1.76 percent of the state’s population, which is slightly above the national average.

But in some Kansas counties, the rate is double the national average. And in Clay County, it’s triple.

Burns and his team are trying to provide new options to stem the rising tide of Alzheimer’s — with help from people like Walker.

She said the time commitment for the studies she has participated in has been minimal: usually an hour or two every couple months for memory tests and some physical exams and blood draws.

It’s well worth it, she said, if it means she or her children won’t have to go through what her husband did.

“That’s my motivation,” Walker said. “I have to think about the fact that I’m getting older, and of course as we age our chances of getting the illness, that increases. And then, I have children and I have to worry about them and their health in the future.”

Andy Marso is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @andymarso

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An influential Republican legislator wants Kansas to postpone efforts to regain federal certification for one of its two state mental hospitals as it tackles safety problems.

State Sen. Jim Denning of Overland Park is chairman of a budget subcommittee on social services. He says he’s concerned that demands from the federal government earlier this year for renovations at Osawatomie State Hospital have distracted the state from protecting employees and caring for mentally ill patients.

The federal government notified the hospital last month that the Medicare program would stop paying for patient care as of this week. The notice followed a critical survey and a report that a patient raped an employee.

Top Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services officials say they’ve exhaustively studied each deficiency and are responding.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas has cited the protection of student identity and privacy for the heavy redaction of documents regarding two fraternities placed on probation for hazing.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports the fraternities were disciplined after a 2014 investigation by the school. Information in documents provided to the newspaper about Delta Tau Delta and Phi Beta Sigma was redacted, including the nature of the hazing.

University spokesman Joe Monaco says the school is only allowed to release student information without the student’s consent after removing identifiable information. The university also said that releasing the documents without redactions would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy under the Kansas Open Records Act.

Fraternity representatives declined to comment on what led to the discipline.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 16-year-old boy was killed when the all-terrain vehicle he was riding hit a tree near Topeka, Kansas.

The Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office says Justin Wyatt Branham died at a hospital shortly after the accident Wednesday afternoon.

Sheriff Herman Jones says Branham was wearing a helmet when the three-wheel ATV he was riding went into a ditch and hit the tree.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

TOPEKA – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt on Thursday issued the following statement in response to the Kansas Supreme Court’s unanimous decision that a 2014 statute altering the method of selecting chief district court judges and making other changes to judicial processes is unconstitutional:

“The decision makes clear the Supreme Court’s conclusion that 2014 HB 2338 is unconstitutional and, because of the district court’s decision to enforce the nonseverability clause, is unenforceable in its entirety. Under our system of government, the Supreme Court is the final authority on the meaning of the Kansas Constitution. The statute is void.

“A separate 2015 statute that purports to condition all judicial branch funding on the outcome of this case is on hold and unenforceable by separate court order until at least March 15, 2016. The Kansas Constitution plainly forbids the complete defunding of the judiciary, and as I have said before, I do not think that was the intended result of the Legislature. Therefore, in light of the decision, I again recommend the Legislature act before March 15 to sever the connection between funding for the judicial branch and Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision.

“While the outcome in the case was unanimous, the reasoning of the Justices was not. For those who think the structures of our government are themselves vital bulwarks of liberty, the reasoning of Justice Stegall’s concurring opinion offered some degree of hope that the court’s separation-of-powers jurisprudence may someday become more principled and consistent.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — One week after the Federal Reserve raised short-term interest rates from record lows, the average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage went the other way.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac says it dipped to 3.96 percent from 3.97 percent last week. The drop is a reminder that the Fed has only an indirect influence on long-term mortgage rates, which more closely track the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The standoff with Hutchinson Police and the Reno County Sheriff’s Office is over according to Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson. An armed man held a woman at gunpoint inside a residence at 707 Pierce. She was released from the home just after 11 a.m. on Christmas Eve. The man has been taken into custody.

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HUTCHINSON -A woman being held hostage at a residence in Hutchinson safely left the home just before 11a.m. on Christmas Eve, according to Hutchinson Police Lt. John Moore.

The man involved in the hostage drama was still inside.

Law enforcement authorities in Reno County were summoned to a home in the 700 block of Pierce just after 6:30 a.m. on Thursday after a report that a man was holding a woman at gunpoint, according to the Reno County Sheriff’s Department.

There were others in the home when violence started, but they apparently left the home and reported it to police.

Early reports of a fire was the fact that someone smelled smoke, but no fire was reported.

There were also reports that kids may have been in the home, but the kids are okay, according to Jason Yingling with Hutchinson Police

Police say time is on their side and they will do everything possible to end this peacefully.

West Nickerson Boulevard was closed to traffic at Buchanan and Whiteside and authorities are telling residents to stay out of the area until the situation is resolved.

No injuries have been reported.

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HUTCHINSON- Law enforcement authorities in Reno County are on the scene of a reported hostage 
situation.

Police and emergency responders were summoned to the 700 block of Pierce just after 6:30 a.m. on Thursday after a report that a man was holding a woman at gunpoint, according to the Reno County Sheriff’s Department.

West Nickerson Boulevard is closed to traffic at Buchanan and Whiteside and authorities are telling residents to stay out of the area until the situation is resolved.

No injuries have been reported.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — State regulators have refused to reconsider their approval of a high-voltage electricity transmission line that would cross parts of nine central Illinois counties.

A group of farmers and landowners challenged the Illinois Commerce Commission’s approval of the 780-mile line known as the Grain Belt Express. They argued Texas-based Clean Line Energy Partners didn’t meet state requirements for an expedited review.

The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reports  the commission rejected the appeal Tuesday.

Clean Line Energy Partners calls the decision a boost to renewable energy.

Pike and Scott County Farm Bureau Director Blake Roderick says opponents will likely challenge the decision.

The line would stretch from Kansas to Indiana and provide wind power.

The Grain Belt Express has won approval in Kansas and Indiana. Missouri regulators have blocked the effort.

CAWKER CITY- A Kansas teen was injured in an accident just before 10a.m. on Christmas Eve in Mitchell County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Dodge SUV driven by Jayde Mikuel Blain, 16, Cawker City, was traveling westbound on U.S. 24 just east of Cawker Lane.

The SUV hit a slick spot on the highway, entered the south ditch and rolled.

Blain was transported to the Mitchell County Hospital.

He was wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

A woman being held hostage at a residence in Hutchinson safely left the home just before 11a.m. on Christmas Eve.

The man involved in the hostage drama was still inside.

FORD COUNTY – Three people died in an accident just after 6p.m. on Wednesday in Ford County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Ford Crown Victoria driven by Juan Guadalupe Lopez, 36, Worthington, MN.,was westbound on U.S. 54 seven miles east of the U.S. 283 Junction.

The driver attempted to pass multiple semis and struck a 2005 Chevy Impala driven by Maggie Michele Hall, 20, Elkart, head-on.

Hall and passengers in the Chevy Carl Allen Hall, 24, Elkart, and Hector Rene Gonzalez, 29, Wichita, were pronounced dead at the scene transported to the morgue at Western Plains Medical Center.

Life Flight transported Lopez and a passenger in the Ford Yvonne Morales, 32, El Paso, TX., to Wesley Medical Center.

Another passenger in the Ford Ana Morales, 4, was transported to Western Plains Medical Center in Dodge City. A 2-year-old boy in the Ford was not injured.

Carl Hall and Gonzalez were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.

TOPEKA – It didn’t take long for the Kansas Court of Appeals to make a decision in a Reno County criminal case.

In November, the Kansas Appeals Court held hearings in Hutchinson in the sentencing of 34-year-old Roberto Rincon.

Judge Trish Rose sentenced Rincon to 13 years in prison after being convicted for manufacture of methamphetamine, possession of ephedrine and lithium metal and anhydrous ammonia with intent to manufacture and possession of drug paraphernalia, as well as a gun charge from March of 2012.

The Appeals Court ruling Wednesday affirmed the conviction and sentence in the case.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas House committee that handles legislation on social issues will continue to be led by a vocal opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage.

Speaker Ray Merrick announced Wednesday that Republican Rep. Jan Pauls of Hutchinson will be the new chairwoman of the Federal and State Affairs Committee.

She’ll replace Republican Rep. Steve Brunk of Wichita. He is leaving the Legislature next month to become Kansas executive director of an affiliate of the conservative group Focus on the Family.

Pauls is an attorney who has served in the Legislature since 1991. She was a Democrat but switched parties in 2014, two years after gay-rights advocates targeted her in the Democratic primary and she barely won.

She’s opposed same-sex marriage and extending anti-discrimination protections in state law to gays and lesbians.