Alzheimer

In June, Glen Campbell announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and that his new album, Ghost on the Canvas , would be his last. The legendary session man had played on 1960s recordings with Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, and Elvis Presley before going on to a hit-heavy solo career. But thanks in part to songs written for him by younger artists such as Jakob Dylan and by the Replacements' Paul Westerberg, Ghost on the Canvas finds Campbell, 75, facing down mortality with a gravitas that might surprise anyone who's familiar with the singer and guitarist from "Rhinestone Cowboy" or his 1969 TV show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour . On Thursday, Campbell came to the Irvine Auditorium at the University of Pennsylvania on one of the first dates of what's being billed as his "Goodbye Tour.

BILOXI, Miss. - Glen Campbell is having a great time. Make no mistake, it is tragic that Alzheimer's disease is slowly stripping away the memories and abilities that define one of music's greats. But day to day, surrounded by family and friends, encouraged to play his guitar and sing and golf and joke, Campbell, 75, is often smiling. "I'm really not worried about anything," he said. "You know those people who say, 'Oh, geez, I wonder what's going to happen tomorrow?' Tomorrow's cool.

PARIS - Picture yourself in Barbara Lesher's shoes: 54 years old and fearing you are developing Alzheimer's disease. "I don't remember if I had a bath," said Lesher, who lives north of Harrisburg. "It took me two hours to follow a recipe. I drove to my childhood homestead the other week instead of my own home. It's really scary. " Doctors are arguing about whether to test patients for signs of the incurable disease and tell them the results. The debate raged last week at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in France, where research on new methods - easier brain scans, an eye test, a blood test - made it clear there soon may be more such tools available.

PARIS - Picture yourself in Barbara Lesher's shoes: 54 years old and fearing you are developing Alzheimer's disease. "I don't remember if I had a bath," said Lesher, who lives north of Harrisburg. "It took me two hours to follow a recipe. I drove to my childhood homestead the other week instead of my own home. It's really scary. " Doctors are arguing about whether to test patients for signs of the incurable disease and tell them the results. The debate raged this past week at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in France.

Hope is a deadly disease. Just ask Elisabetta Canalis . The Italian beauty's aspirations (for superstardom? For everlasting love?) were dashed this week when she was handed her walking papers by that most sublimely masterful of pro bachelors, George Clooney . "We are not together anymore. It's very . . . personal and we hope everyone can respect our privacy," the duo said in a statement Wednesday. Clooney, 51, isn't one to show off his gal-pals, so it was a big deal when he debuted Canalis, 32, as his gf in '09. But the Ocean's Eleven star, who divorced Talia Balsam in '93 after four years, could never go all the way. He told Piers Morgan in January he'd be a bachelor unto death.

NEW YORK - Country-music luminary Glen Campbell has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and plans to put out his final album this summer. Campbell's representative Bobbie Gale made the announcement yesterday. He said the disease was in its early stages. The 75-year-old's wife, Kim, also talked with People magazine and said she and her husband wanted to go public with Campbell's illness so fans would know the reason if he manifests any trouble onstage. Campbell's CD "Ghost on the Canvas" is scheduled for release Aug. 30. He also is set to go on the road on what was already titled "The Glen Campbell Goodbye Tour.

Question: Are there any tests out there for Alzheimer's disease? Answer: As of now, the only definitive test for Alzheimer's disease is the analysis of brain tissue after death. That's why folks with a presumptive diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease are described as having "senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type. " However, there may soon be a new blood test that can accurately diagnose Alzheimer's and differentiate it from other forms of dementia. Researchers at Canada's McGill University have found there is a dramatic difference between the production of the hormone DHEA in folks with Alzheimer's disease versus those without dementia or even other forms of dementia.

Richard Steinheimer, 81, a master of railroad photography whose poetic images documented a half-century of trains and the landscape of the American West, has died. Mr. Steinheimer died May 4 at his Sacramento, Calif., home of Alzheimer's disease, said his wife, Shirley Burman "He's been called the Ansel Adams of the railroad-photography world," said Phil Hammond, director of the California State Railroad Museum. "He brought an artistic side to a field that is often associated with technology.

A consumer advocacy group has accused the authors of a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) - including employees of Avid Radiopharmaceuticals in University City and the University of Pennsylvania - of withholding important negative information about an experimental dye meant to help diagnose Alzheimer's disease. Public Citizen says the article in the Jan. 19 issue of JAMA left out information about variability in the way doctors read brain scans of patients who had been given the imaging agent Amyvid.

Marian Mercer, 75, a willowy actress with a comedic flair who won a Tony Award in 1969 for her performance in the hit musical Promises, Promises, died April 27 in Newbury Park, Calif. She lived in Agoura Hills, Calif. The cause was complications of Alzheimer's disease, her husband, Patrick Hogan, said. Ms. Mercer, a 5-foot-9 blonde with green eyes and, when necessary, a sultry voice, won the Tony for best featured actress in a musical for her portrayal of Marge MacDougall, a pickup girl at Clancy's Lounge.