Posted on by Mike Sottak

8/6: Dr. Jane Josephs on Alzheimer’s

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August 6, 2019:  Dr. Jane Joseph, a cognitive neuroscientist who has studied at Clemson and University of Virginia, and came to MUSC in 2010, was our guest speaker at this week’s meeting  She shared with us current information on Alzheimer’s, whose eradication is a main focus of Rotary Foundation efforts.

 

Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S.  From 2000 to 2017 deaths from Alzheimer’s increased 145%.  One in three seniors die from dementia related illnesses. South Carolina has the 8th highest rate of death from Alzheimer’s.  Currently, almost 6 million Americans have this disease; by 2050 it’s expected to be 13.8 million. South Carolina is among the states with the largest expected increase.  This illness takes a toll not only on those with the disease, but also on their caregivers.

How do you know if you have Alzheimer’s?  It’s natural to lose memory with age, but when it starts to impact functioning, you should get a cognitive assessment.  Only 16% of seniors receive a cognitive assessment as part of their regular check ups. It’s important to bring a loved one with you to a cognitive assessment.  These assessments must review memory over time, so will require more than one appointment. MUSC and Roper both have divisions that specialize in cognitive assessment.

What causes Alzheimer’s?  They aren’t sure, but believe that the formation of plaques (a build up on protein) and twisted strands within brain cells are factors.  

Risk Factors:  Age and Genetics – these are not modifiable.  Cardiovascular disease, Excessive substance use, and an unhealthy lifestyle – these CAN be changed.  They recommend 5 lifestyle changes to reduce the likelihood of Alzheimer’s.

  • Exercise 150 minutes/week
  • Low-fat diet
  • Don’t smoke
  • Drink in moderation
  • Cognitive engagement – mental “exercise”, tai chi, book clubs, social activities

If you do 2 or 3 of the above you reduce your risk by 40%, if you do all 5 you reduce it by 60%.

Early Detection:  A blood test for brain plaques (amyloid proteins) is being developed.  About a third of those with these plaques don’t develop Alzheimer’s.

Current Detection:  PET scans, MRI scans

Research is trying to detect changes earlier in the illness.  MUSC currently has 3 studies ongoing and are recruiting volunteers with and without symptoms.

Currently there are no good treatments for dementia.  To find out about studies, contact Katrina Madden at 843-792-9186, or email [email protected]

Submitted by Lisa Van Berge, Keyway Committee

 IN OTHER MEETING NEWS

      • Robert Sullivan gave the Invocation and led us in the pledge.  
      • Virginia Lee introduced visiting Rotarians & guests.  
      • President Sandy Morckel presented Health and Happiness.
      • Past President Alissa Lietzow introduced our keynote speaker, Dr. Jane Joseph, who is Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at MUSC, discuss Alzheimer’s.

MORE IN THIS WEEK’S KEYWAY

August 13, 2019 | Issue 4937 | President: Sandy Morckel

COMING EVENTS
  • Aug. 13 – Assistant US Attorney Jamie Schoen, Opioid Epidemic
  • Aug. 13 – Board Meeting @ 11am
  • Aug. 17 – Hootie Homegrown Round-Up @ Burke
  • Aug. 20 – No Meeting
  • Aug. 27 – Coach Earl Grant, CofC Basketball 
  • Sept. 3 – No Meeting (Happy Labor Day!)
NEWS BRIEFS

Rotary Club of Charleston History Moment

At each meeting, President Sandy plans to share some of the snippets of our club’s amazing 100 year history and our impact on Charleston and around the world. It will be a fun trip down memory lane and will also be shared in the Keyway.

THE 30’S (1932-1934)

Existing in Depression times, the Club luncheon cost was reduced to 65 cents.  Even the bank where the Rotary Club kept its money closed. Membership dropped from 70 to 59. A doctor spoke to the Club and told Rotarians that they were having too few children. For the first time our club president was chosen from elected board members. In 1933 the “News and Courier” was congratulated for printing photographs of the World Series the morning after the game. The Club help found and charter its first out-of-town Club—the Rotary Club of Beaufort.

Welcome Tobias!

Our 2019-2020 Rotary Youth Exchange student, Tobias Kauffman, arrived this past Monday night at the Charleston Airport.  He received a big Rotary welcome as a group from our club, as well as his host mothers, Amanda Murrell and Anne Pope, were there to welcome him. Many of you were able to meet him at our meeting this past Tuesday. Tobias will be attending Rotary meetings and participating in activities with our club and the District throughout his exchange, so we will all have a chance to meet him.

Don’t Just Greet Him – Host Him!

Do you have an extra room in your home?

We are still searching for a third host family for our incoming Rotary Youth Exchange student Tobias, who will be with our club for the 2019-2020 school year. He will be attending school downtown at the Charleston Charter for Math & Science and we are looking for a good family to house him from mid-March through June.

If you are able to help or if you have non-Rotary friends that may be interested in housing an exchange student, please see the information sheet below and contact Richard Sidebottom ([email protected] ) or Karen Clark ([email protected]) for more information.Host family information sheet:

https://yehub.net/cgi-bin/sys-pdf.cgi?PGID=LIB&RID=79&DBID=SC1

 

Collection for The CART Fund

Thanks to all those Rotarians who joined us in supporting The CART Fund at this past Tuesday’s meeting.  Our club was able to raise $102 in cash donations, which will go to support Alzheimer’s research. If you were unable to attend our meeting or didn’t get an opportunity to make a donation, donations can also be made directly to The CART Fund via check or credit card at www.cartfund.org/cart/donations/.  

The CART Fund is dedicated to raising funds to provide “seed” money for cutting edge, high impact research in hopes of finding a cure/prevention for Alzheimer’s disease. It was started in one SC Rotary club in our District 7770 in 1995.  It has now been adopted by 22 Rotary districts in the United States. From the beginning, CART has been a novel fundraising program. Rotarians are encouraged to voluntarily empty their pockets and purses of change, or whatever amount they choose, whenever they attend a Rotary meeting. While the name “CART” stands for “Coins for Alzheimer’s Research Trust,” contributions of currency, checks or credit cards are also accepted.  As of May 2018, 45 grants have been awarded totaling $7,200,000.

50/50 Raffle Continues

Bring your cash! Our weekly raffle will continue on Tuesday with new tickets being purchased.  The pot is currently at $540 and will increase with your donations this Tuesday. This Tuesday, the winning ticket will have a 1 in 8 chance at winning half the pot.  You do need to be present to win. Tickets are 1 for $5 or 3 for $10.

Hootie Homegrown Round-Up

We are once again supporting the Hootie Back to School Round Up, which is scheduled for Saturday, August 17 at Burke High School.  This is a wonderful volunteer opportunity (Red Badgers – hint, hint) and we will need a couple of volunteers to pass out school supplies at the event.  Please let Karl Brady ([email protected]) know if you are interested. 

 

Visiting Rotarians

At this week’s meeting we welcomed Ted Ainsworth, visiting Rotarian from Rotary Club of Great Harwood and Rishton all the way from the United Kingdom and from the West Plano Texas Rotary Club, president-elect Alex Johnson. Thank you for stopping by our club! Enjoy your stay in Charleston!

RCCF Grants Being Accepted

The Rotary Club of Charleston Fund (RCCF) is accepting requests for grants.  Interested organizations are required to submit a Letter of Inquiry and complete a grant application prior to September 1 to be considered.  The application and other details regarding the grant process can be found on our club’s website — www.charleston-rotary.org.  For more information, please contact RCCF Chair, Alissa Lietzow ([email protected]).

Dues Statements Emailed

Dues statements for the July 1-December 31 period were distributed via email on June 10.  Past due statements were emailed this past week to those who haven’t made a payment. Please be sure to pay from this statement.  If you did not receive a statement, please let Carroll know. 

Our Club is on Social Media

Members are encourage to follow all of our social media channels and share posts with their followers too!  We also need members to send us picture of anything they do that relates to Rotary – service projects, meetings, events, etc.  We would love to keep our accounts full of smiling Rotarians! Photos can be send to Mike Sottak, [email protected], or Rob Byko, [email protected].

 MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

President Sandy Morckel

    • JOINED: July 2012 (Rotarian since 1993)
    • SPONSOR: Liz MarrMEMBERSHIP INVOLVEMENT: Current Club President; Chair – 100th Anniversary Committee; Membership Committee; Program Committee; International Committee
    • CLASSIFICATION: Non-Profit Consultant
    • PROFESSION: CEO, In Place Impact Charleston (Business Consulting Firm); President, Solutions for the Greater Good (Nonprofit Consulting Firm)
    • SOMETHING UNIQUE ABOUT YOURSELF: Sandy spent the last 30 years in the nonprofit fundraising arena, but recently assumed the role of CEO of In Place Impact Charleston, a business consulting firm.  As a Rotarian for more than 26 years, Sandy served as President of the Rotary Club of Dublin AM (Ohio) in 1999-2000. She assume Presidency of the Rotary Club of Charleston exactly 20 years later in 2019-2020.  She is a member of the Leadership Team of Social Justice Racial Equity Collaborative and serves on the TEDxCharleston Steering Committee. Her husband, Craig Gangloff, lives and works in Puerto Rico, so they are racking up lots of air miles on JetBlue traveling back and forth!  Originally a Midwesterner with family roots in Ohio, Sandy moved to Charleston from Sunset Beach, NC in 2012.

Birthdays

  • August 19 – Mary Ann Kohli

By the numbers

  • Attendance on August 6, 2019: 56
  • Not in attendance:  Allen, Baggs, Bailey, Barry, Barton, Baus, Beam, Burt, Carico, Channell, Coe, Coghill, Cole, Cook, Cooper, E., Cooper, M., Cooper, J., Coxe, Crouch, Deavenport, Dopp, Drafts, Dunaway, Echols, Embry, Fink, Gill, Holmes, Husser, Jones, C., Jones, Z., Kaynard, Leonard, Lucy, Matheny, Mitchell, Oswalt, Prewitt, Riley, Rust, Savage, Seguer, Smith, H., Sottak, Stoney, Strickland, Taylor, Tecklenburg, John, Tecklenburg, Joseph, Webb, Willey, Youngs
  • Out of Town Make-ups:  Past President David Burt – Rotary Club of St. Andrews, Scotland
WELLNESS TIP

Alcohol: Go Lite

Summer’s a great time to skip drinks with hard alcohol and choose a light, chilled alcoholic beverage (unless you are pregnant or should not drink for health or other reasons).

A sangria (table wine diluted with juice), a cold beer, or a wine spritzer are all refreshing but light. In moderation — defined as one to two drinks daily — alcohol can protect against heart disease.

AREA CLUB MEETINGS

Mondays

  • Summerville – Oakbrook: 7:30 a.m., Monday, Westcott County Club, 5000 Wescott Club Drive, North Charleston
  • North Charleston: 12:30 a.m., Monday, Hilton Garden Inn, 5265 International Blvd, North Charleston.
  • Summerville Evening: 5:30 p.m., Monday, Montreux Bar and Grill, 127 W. Richardson Ave., Summerville

Tuesdays

  • East Cooper Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Cooper River Room at Waterfront Park, Mount Pleasant
  • Charleston: 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Hall’s Signature Events, 5 Faber, Charleston
  • Goose Creek: 12:45  m. Tuesday, Gilligan’s, 219 St. James Ave., Goose Creek

Wednesdays

  • Daniel Island: 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Daniel Island Club, 600 Island Park Dr., Daniel Island
  • St. John’s Parish (John’s Island): 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, 2817 Maybank Highway, Unit 1, John’s Island
  • Mount Pleasant: 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, Harbor Breeze Restaurant, 176 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant
  • Summerville: 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sticky Fingers, Summerville

Thursdays

  • North Charleston Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Embassy Suites, 5055 International Blvd., North Charleston
  • Moncks Corner: 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Gilligan’s Restaurant, Moncks Corner
  • St. Andrews (West Ashley): 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Bessinger’s BBQ, 1602 Savannah Highway, Charleston.

Fridays

SOCIAL MEDIA 

Our Rotary club actively uses social media — and we encourage you to interact with us through social media.

  • We’re on Facebook.  Take a look at our page and be sure to “like us”.
  • We’re on Twitter.  You can follow us @chasrotaryclub.
  • We’re on Instagram.  You can follow us @ChasRotaryClub.
ABOUT THE KEYWAY 

The Keyway has been published weekly as a newsletter for the Rotary Club of Charleston for more than 90 years.

  • President: Sandy Morckel
  • Keyway editor: Don Baus [email protected]
  • Executive secretary: Carroll Schweers, [email protected]
  • Mailing address: Rotary Club of Charleston, P.O. Box 21029 ,Charleston, SC 29413-1029
  • Copyright 2018, Rotary Club of Charleston. All rights reserved.