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.

Find news

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 (303 of 347). 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 347). 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” (33 of 347). 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. 265 of 347 items have one.

Repeating stretch of DNA offers a new clue to Alzheimer's susceptibility

Medical Xpress

A three-letter sequence repeating along a stretch of DNA could offer new clues about why some people are more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease than others. The sequence, CCG, sits in a region of DNA that controls the gene FAM193B.

Read at Medical Xpress → Archived copy (20 Oct 2026), Internet Archive

How the biggest Alzheimer's risk gene disrupts the process of insulating neurons

Medical Xpress

One of the main ways that the APOE4 gene variant, the biggest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease, undermines brain circuit function is by disrupting the process of insulating neurons with a fatty sheath that optimizes their electrical transmission.

Read at Medical Xpress → Archived copy (16 Oct 2026), Internet Archive

Helping others linked to slower cognitive decline among people at higher genetic risk for Alzheimer's

Medical Xpress

Regularly volunteering or informally helping people outside one's home may buffer against accelerated decline in memory and thinking for people with a major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, according to new research led by The University of Texas at Austin.

Read at Medical Xpress → Archived copy (14 Oct 2026), Internet Archive

Gene editing approach opens potential new route to Alzheimer's treatment

Medical Xpress

Dr. Kevin Kemp and his research team at the University of Bristol have converted the high-risk Alzheimer's gene APOE4 into the lower-risk APOE3 gene.

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

Genetic analysis reveals potential benefit of aspirin for reducing dementia risk

Medical Xpress

Low-dose aspirin was associated with a 70% lower risk of dementia among older people with a particular genetic profile, a new Monash University analysis has found, raising the possibility of a more personalized approach to dementia prevention.

Read at Medical Xpress →