Get help now — free helplines

You can call any of these for free. You do not need a diagnosis, an appointment, or a crisis to call — questions and plain exhaustion are reasons enough.

  • Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline 800-272-3900 24 hours a day, 365 days a year Free, confidential support and information for people with dementia, caregivers, families and the public. Master's-level clinicians. Also Spanish.
  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 988 24/7 Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. For anyone in emotional distress or a mental-health crisis, including caregivers.
  • Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) Helpline 866-232-8484 9:00 am - 9:00 pm ET, seven days a week Licensed social workers providing support, info and referrals. Also text message and web chat. Text: 646-586-5283

In a medical emergency, call 911. More numbers, and what each line does, on the help page.

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Free to read, “May need a subscription” and “Archived copy”: what they mean

Whether an article is free to read is a guess, not a test of your access. Each item is one of three:

  • No label: free to read (308 of 354). The publisher’s page marks it free, or the outlet publishes free to read: Medical Xpress, ScienceDaily, NIH (incl. NIA and PMC), Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's News Today, NPR, Alzheimer's Disease International, or a .gov site.
  • May need a subscription (11 of 354). The publisher’s own page marks the article as not free to read, or — when the page says nothing — the outlet sells subscriptions: The New York Times, STAT, Scientific American, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Wired, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Times, The Telegraph, New Scientist, Endpoints News, Science. Each badge says which.
  • “Free to read? Not known” (35 of 354). The outlet is on neither list and its page said nothing. We do not call these paywalled.

Archived copy links go to a copy the Internet Archive (web.archive.org) saved, dated the day it was saved. We show one only where the Internet Archive reported a working saved copy when we checked; an archived copy of a subscription article sometimes shows only its opening. 266 of 354 items have one.

Scientists discover Alzheimer’s hidden “death switch” in the brain

ScienceDaily Research

Scientists have uncovered a hidden “death switch” in the brain that may be driving Alzheimer’s disease—and even found a way to turn it off in mice. The culprit is a toxic pairing of two proteins that, when combined, triggers the destruction of brain cells and fuels memory loss. …

Read at ScienceDaily → Archived copy (26 Sep 2026), Internet Archive

Scientists turn brain cells into Alzheimer’s plaque cleaners

ScienceDaily Research

Scientists have developed a promising new approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease by turning ordinary brain cells into powerful plaque-clearing machines. …

Read at ScienceDaily → Archived copy (29 Sep 2026), Internet Archive

Scientists discover brain switches that clear Alzheimer’s plaques

ScienceDaily Research

Researchers have identified two brain receptors that help the brain clear away amyloid beta, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. By stimulating these receptors in mice, scientists increased levels of a natural amyloid-breaking enzyme, reduced buildup in the brain…

Read at ScienceDaily → Archived copy (8 Oct 2026), Internet Archive

Alzheimer’s may trick the brain into erasing its own memories

ScienceDaily Research

Alzheimer’s may destroy memory by flipping a single molecular switch that tells neurons to prune their own connections. Researchers found that both amyloid beta and inflammation converge on the same receptor, triggering synapse loss. …

Read at ScienceDaily → Archived copy (26 Jan 2026), Internet Archive

Scientists find ‘master regulator’ that could reverse brain aging

ScienceDaily Research

Researchers have identified OTULIN, an immune-regulating enzyme, as a key trigger of tau buildup in the brain. When OTULIN was disabled, tau vanished from neurons and brain cells remained healthy. …

Read at ScienceDaily →