Archive | August, 2018

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign study: Many young adults lack financial literacy, economic stability

26 Aug

Bradford Richardson wrote in the Washington Times article, Millennials would rather live in socialist or communist nation than under capitalism:

The majority of millennials would prefer to live in a socialist, communist or fascist nation rather than a capitalistic one, according to a new poll.
In the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s “Annual Report on U.S. Attitudes Toward Socialism,” 58 percent of the up-and-coming generation opted for one of the three systems, compared to 42 percent who said they were in favor of capitalism.
The most popular socioeconomic order was socialism, with 44 percent support. Communism and fascism received 7 percent support each.
Marion Smith, executive director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, said the report shows millennials are “increasingly turning away from capitalism and toward socialism and even communism as a viable alternative.”
“This troubling turn highlights widespread historical illiteracy in American society regarding socialism and the systemic failure of our education system to teach students about the genocide, destruction, and misery caused by communism since the Bolshevik Revolution one hundred years ago,” Mr. Smith said in a statement…. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/nov/4/majority-millennials-want-live-socialist-fascist-o/

An University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign study may explain the preference of some millennials for socialism.

Science Daily reported in Many young adults lack financial literacy, economic stability, study finds:

Nearly a third of young adults in a recent study were found to be “financially precarious” because they had poor financial literacy and lacked money management skills and income stability.
Only 22 percent of the 18- to 24-year-olds in the study sample were deemed to be financially stable, according to lead author Gaurav Sinha, a graduate student in social work at the University of Illinois.
These individuals were better at planning and managing their finances, had checking or savings accounts in mainstream banks and were less likely to use costly alternative financial services such as payday lenders. They also were more likely to be white males who were employed and college educated, according to the study.
Sinha and co-authors Kevin Tan and Min Zhan, both social work professors at the U. of I., examined the financial attributes and behavioral patterns of emerging adults. Based on these characteristics, the researchers classified them into four groups: financially precarious, at risk, striving or stable.
About 36 percent of the people in the study were deemed to be “financially at risk” because they had experienced a significant, unexpected drop in income during the prior year. They reportedly had no savings with which to pay their living expenses for three months if needed and said they lacked the resources to come up with $2,000 in the event of an emergency.
The financially precarious group, which composed 32 percent of the sample, “had the poorest actual and perceived financial literacy,” Sinha said. “Because they lacked access to mainstream financial institutions, they were frequent users of alternative financial services, which tend to charge high interest rates and fees.”
Similarly, their counterparts in the financially striving category, which composed 10 percent of the sample, struggled with money-management behaviors such as budgeting and credit card usage. People in this group also put their health at risk by skipping doctors’ visits, medical tests and prescriptions due to financial constraints.
What differentiated people in the financially precarious and at-risk groups from their peers was that they experienced much less financial socialization, which the researchers defined as formal or informal learning about financial concepts and prudent money-management behaviors…. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180824135007.htm

Citation:

Many young adults lack financial literacy, economic stability, study finds

Date: August 24, 2018
Source: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Summary:
Many young people lack financial literacy and money-management skills, indicating an urgent need for educational programs to help them enter adulthood better equipped to handle their financial affairs, a new study finds.
Journal Reference:
Gaurav Sinha, Kevin Tan, Min Zhan. Patterns of financial attributes and behaviors of emerging adults in the United States. Children and Youth Services Review, 2018; 93: 178 DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.07.023

Here is the press release:

PUBLIC RELEASE: 24-AUG-2018
Many young adults lack financial literacy, economic stability, study finds
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Nearly a third of young adults in a recent study were found to be “financially precarious” because they had poor financial literacy and lacked money management skills and income stability.
Only 22 percent of the 18- to 24-year-olds in the study sample were deemed to be financially stable, according to lead author Gaurav Sinha, a graduate student in social work at the University of Illinois.
These individuals were better at planning and managing their finances, had checking or savings accounts in mainstream banks and were less likely to use costly alternative financial services such as payday lenders. They also were more likely to be white males who were employed and college educated, according to the study.
Sinha and co-authors Kevin Tan and Min Zhan, both social work professors at the U. of I., examined the financial attributes and behavioral patterns of emerging adults. Based on these characteristics, the researchers classified them into four groups: financially precarious, at risk, striving or stable.
About 36 percent of the people in the study were deemed to be “financially at risk” because they had experienced a significant, unexpected drop in income during the prior year. They reportedly had no savings with which to pay their living expenses for three months if needed and said they lacked the resources to come up with $2,000 in the event of an emergency.
The financially precarious group, which composed 32 percent of the sample, “had the poorest actual and perceived financial literacy,” Sinha said. “Because they lacked access to mainstream financial institutions, they were frequent users of alternative financial services, which tend to charge high interest rates and fees.”
Similarly, their counterparts in the financially striving category, which composed 10 percent of the sample, struggled with money-management behaviors such as budgeting and credit card usage. People in this group also put their health at risk by skipping doctors’ visits, medical tests and prescriptions due to financial constraints.
What differentiated people in the financially precarious and at-risk groups from their peers was that they experienced much less financial socialization, which the researchers defined as formal or informal learning about financial concepts and prudent money-management behaviors.
However, even people in the financially stable group were only moderately confident about their financial literacy, “which clearly showed a need to invest more in strengthening the financial capabilities of children and youths,” Sinha said. “It is concerning that many young people are entering adulthood without adequate financial capabilities to ensure their future well-being and that of their children.”
The sample included 3,050 emerging adults who participated in the National Financial Capability Study, a survey that assesses the financial knowledge and practices of U.S. adults ages 18 and over. The NFCS evaluates participants’ financial aptitude, including their understanding of basic economic concepts such as interest rates and inflation, and assesses their use of credit cards, conventional financial institutions and alternative financial services.
###
The paper has been accepted for publication in the journal Children and Youth Services Review.
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-08/uoia-mya082418.php

The National Financial Educators Council defines financial literacy:

The National Financial Educators Council answers the question “what is financial literacy?”

….possessing the skills and knowledge on financial matters to confidently take effective action that best fulfills an individual’s personal, family and global community goals. https://www.financialeducatorscouncil.org/what-is-financial-literacy/

Investopedia describes why financial literacy is so important:

Why It Matters
Financial literacy is crucial to help consumers save enough to provide adequate income in retirement, while avoiding high levels of debt that might result in bankruptcy, defaults and foreclosures. A few years ago, a study from financial services company TIAA-CREF showed that those with high financial literacy plan for retirement and, in essence, have double the wealth of people who do not plan for retirement. Conversely, those with low financial literacy borrow more, have less wealth and end up paying unnecessary fees for financial products. In other words, those with lower financial literacy tend to buy on credit, and are unable to pay their full balance each month and end up spending more in interest. This group also does not invest, has trouble with debt and a poor understanding of the terms of their mortgages or loans. Even more worrisome, many consumers believe that they are far more financially literate than they really are.
And while this may seem like an individual problem, it is broader in nature and more influential on the entire population than previously believed. All one needs to do is look at the financial crisis of 2008 to see the financial impact on the entire economy that arose from a lack of understanding of mortgage products. (For more, see: The 2007-08 Financial Crisis in Review.) Financial literacy is an issue with broad implications for economic health and an improvement can lead the way to a global economy that is competitive and strong…. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/100615/why-financial-literacy-and-education-so-important.asp

Brian Page wrote in the Edutopia article, Financial Literacy in High School: Necessary and Relevant:

Following are three lesson principles I apply when preparing my financial literacy lessons.
1. Make It Relevant to Students’ Current Lives
I try to prepare for my class by seeing the financial world through the eyes of a teenager. Shopping for prom, saving for a car and choosing a mobile phone service are teenage priorities. These priorities are opportunities to teach concepts such as goal-setting, comparison-shopping techniques, saving strategies, behavioral finance strategies and the power of compound interest. One of my favorite lessons is teaching my students how to use their mobile phones to make better financial decisions and to manage their own money.
2. Emphasize Financial Concepts and Critical Thinking Skills
I do not get tied down with teaching rote-memory facts or the financial tools of yesterday. I focus on introducing the students to financial concepts that are applicable throughout their lives, and apply them to the scenarios they are facing today and will face in the years ahead.
Every child is different, and students with disabilities require a different approach. My semester course for special education and special needs students was designed collaboratively with Michael Roush of the National Disability Institute and Chris Shannon, thanks to a grant from Discover. The course is still a work in progress.
3. Seek Improvements of Knowledge, Behavior and Attitudes
My aim is to see marked improvement in what my students have learned. A greater quest is motivating them to put what they’re learning into action. I want to grow their appreciation for the financial tools that are available to them and can improve their lives. For example, I want them to have a positive view toward opening a savings account. Nearly a third of American families rely on costly fringe banking services, so I want to help break that cycle by showing the advantages of opening a savings account at an NCUA-insured credit union or FDIC-insured bank.
Lesson Ideas for High School Financial Literacy
AmericaSaves.org
I like to take advantage of student desires such as attending prom or buying a used car by giving them tools to reach their own goals through saving. The site is full of resources to save toward specific goals and practical cost-cutting tips. My favorite tool will send students nudging text messages that encourage them to save toward their own savings goal…. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/high-school-financial-literacy-resources-brian-page

Too much of education curriculum is designed toward INDOCTINATING students into the education establishment’s idea of social justice and diversity. See, MSU professor Indrek Wichman says ‘social justice warriors’ are destroying engineering https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/9/indrek-wichman-msu-professor-says-social-justice-w/

Resources:

What is Financial Literacy? http://www.pbs.org/your-life-your-money/more/what_is_financial_literacy.php

Why financial literacy is so important https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/100615/why-financial-literacy-and-education-so-important.asp

Social Justice Activists are Destroying Universities https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-IrOB_FgcY

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University of Virginia study: Alzheimer’s drug may stop disease if used before symptoms develop, study suggests

5 Aug

The Alzheimer’s Association describes Alzheimer’s Disease:

Alzheimer’s and Dementia basics
• Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other cognitive abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 60 percent to 80 percent of dementia cases.
Learn more: What Is Dementia, Research and Progress
• Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of aging. The greatest known risk factor is increasing age, and the majority of people with Alzheimer’s are 65 and older. But Alzheimer’s is not just a disease of old age. Approximately 200,000 Americans under the age of 65 have younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease (also known as early-onset Alzheimer’s).
Learn more: Early-Onset Alzheimer’s, Risk Factors

• Alzheimer’s worsens over time. Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years. In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stage Alzheimer’s, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment. Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Those with Alzheimer’s live an average of eight years after their symptoms become noticeable to others, but survival can range from four to 20 years, depending on age and other health conditions.
Learn more: 10 Warning Signs, Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease
• Alzheimer’s has no current cure, but treatments for symptoms are available and research continues. Although current Alzheimer’s treatments cannot stop Alzheimer’s from progressing, they can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms and improve quality of life for those with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers. Today, there is a worldwide effort under way to find better ways to treat the disease, delay its onset, and prevent it from developing.
Learn more: Treatments, Treatment Horizon, Prevention, Clinical Trials
Help is available
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or another dementia, you are not alone. The Alzheimer’s Association is the trusted resource for reliable information, education, referral and support to millions of people affected by the disease.
• Call our 24/7 Helpline: 800.272.3900
• Locate your local Alzheimer’s Association
• Use our Virtual Library
• Go to Alzheimer’s Navigator to create customized action plans and connect with local support services https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-alzheimers

A University of Virginia study points to treating the disease before symptoms manifest as the most desired option.

Science Daily reported in Alzheimer’s drug may stop disease if used before symptoms develop, study suggests:

About 50 percent of people who reach the age of 85 will develop Alzheimer’s disease. Most will die within about five years of exhibiting the hallmark symptoms of the disease — severe memory loss and a precipitous decline in cognitive function.
But the molecular processes that lead to the disease will have begun years earlier.
Currently, there are no known ways to prevent the disease or to stop its progression once it has begun. But research at the University of Virginia offers new understanding of how the disease develops at the molecular level, long before extensive neuronal damage occurs and symptoms show up.
Additionally, the researchers have found that an FDA-approved drug, memantine, currently used only for alleviating the symptoms of moderate-to-severe Alzheimer’s disease, might be used to prevent or slow the progression of the disease if used before symptoms appear. The research also offers, based on extensive experimentation, a hypothesis as to why this might work.
The findings are published currently online in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
“Based on what we’ve learned so far, it is my opinion that we will never be able to cure Alzheimer’s disease by treating patients once they become symptomatic,” said George Bloom, a UVA professor and chair of the Department of Biology, who oversaw the study in his lab. “The best hope for conquering this disease is to first recognize patients who are at risk, and begin treating them prophylactically with new drugs and perhaps lifestyle adjustments that would reduce the rate at which the silent phase of the disease progresses.
“Ideally, we would prevent it from starting in the first place.”
As Alzheimer’s disease begins, there is a lengthy period of time, perhaps a decade or longer, when brain neurons affected by the disease attempt to divide, possibly as a way to compensate for the death of neurons. This is unusual in that most neurons develop prenatally and then never divide again. But in Alzheimer’s the cells make the attempt, and then die.
“It’s been estimated that as much as 90 percent of neuron death that occurs in the Alzheimer’s brain follows this cell cycle reentry process, which is an abnormal attempt to divide,” Bloom said. “By the end of the course of the disease, the patient will have lost about 30 percent of the neurons in the frontal lobes of the brain…” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180801160022.htm

Citation:

Alzheimer’s drug may stop disease if used before symptoms develop, study suggests
Date: August 1, 2018
Source: University of Virginia
Summary:
Biologists have gained new understanding of how Alzheimer’s disease begins, and how it might be halted using a current medication.
Journal Reference:
1. Erin J. Kodis, Sophie Choi, Eric Swanson, Gonzalo Ferreira, George S. Bloom. N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor–mediated calcium influx connects amyloid-β oligomers to ectopic neuronal cell cycle reentry in Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 2018; DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2018.05.017

Here is the press release from the University of Virginia:

Study: Alzheimer’s Drug May Stop Disease if Used Before Symptoms Develop
July 31, 2018
• Fariss Samarrai, farisss@virginia.edu
About 50 percent of people who reach the age of 85 will develop Alzheimer’s disease. Most will die within about five years of exhibiting the hallmark symptoms of the disease – severe memory loss and a precipitous decline in cognitive function.
But the molecular processes that lead to the disease will have begun years earlier.
Currently, there are no known ways to prevent the disease or to stop its progression once it has begun. But research at the University of Virginia offers new understanding of how the disease develops at the molecular level, long before extensive neuronal damage occurs and symptoms show up.
Additionally, the researchers have found that an FDA-approved drug, memantine, currently used only for alleviating the symptoms of moderate-to-severe Alzheimer’s disease, might be used to prevent or slow the progression of the disease if used before symptoms appear. The research also offers, based on extensive experimentation, a hypothesis as to why this might work.
The findings are published currently online in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
“Based on what we’ve learned so far, it is my opinion that we will never be able to cure Alzheimer’s disease by treating patients once they become symptomatic,” said George Bloom, a UVA professor and chair of the Department of Biology, who oversaw the study in his lab. “The best hope for conquering this disease is to first recognize patients who are at risk, and begin treating them prophylactically with new drugs and perhaps lifestyle adjustments that would reduce the rate at which the silent phase of the disease progresses.
“Ideally, we would prevent it from starting in the first place.”
As Alzheimer’s disease begins, there is a lengthy period of time, perhaps a decade or longer, when brain neurons affected by the disease attempt to divide, possibly as a way to compensate for the death of neurons. This is unusual in that most neurons develop prenatally and then never divide again. But in Alzheimer’s the cells make the attempt, and then die.
“It’s been estimated that as much as 90 percent of neuron death that occurs in the Alzheimer’s brain follows this cell cycle reentry process, which is an abnormal attempt to divide,” Bloom said. “By the end of the course of the disease, the patient will have lost about 30 percent of the neurons in the frontal lobes of the brain.”
Erin Kodis, a former Ph.D. student in Bloom’s lab and now a scientific editor at AlphaBioCom, hypothesized that excess calcium entering neurons through calcium channels on their surface drive those neurons back into the cell cycle. This occurs before a chain of events that ultimately produce the plaques
The building blocks of the plaques are a protein called amyloid beta oligomers. Kodis found that when neurons are exposed to toxic amyloid oligomers, the channel, called the NMDA receptor, opens, thus allowing the calcium flow that drives neurons back into the cell cycle.
Memantine blocks cell cycle reentry by closing the NMDA receptor, Kodis found.
“The experiments suggest that memantine might have potent disease-modifying properties if it could be administered to patients long before they have become symptomatic and diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease,” Bloom said. “Perhaps this could prevent the disease or slow its progression long enough that the average age of symptom onset could be significantly later, if it happens at all.”
Side effects of the drug appear to be infrequent and modest.
Bloom said potential patients would need to be screened for Alzheimer’s biomarkers years before symptoms appear. Selected patients then would need to be treated with memantine, possibly for life, in hopes of stopping the disease from ever developing, or further developing.
“I don’t want to raise false hopes,” Bloom said, but “if this idea of using memantine as a prophylactic pans out, it will be because we now understand that calcium is one of the agents that gets the disease started, and we may be able to stop or slow the process if done very early.”
Bloom currently is working with colleagues at the UVA School of Medicine to design a clinical trial to investigate the feasibility of using memantine as an early intervention.
MEDIA CONTACT
Fariss Samarrai
University News AssociateOffice of University Communications
farisss@virginia.edu (434) 924-3778

The U.S. faces a fiscal crisis in dealing with Alzheimer’s.

Here are 2017 Alzheimer’s Statistics
Alzheimer’s Care Costs
• In 2016, 15.9 million family caregivers provided an estimated 18.2 billion hours and $230 billion to people with dementia.
• In 2017, Alzheimer’s cost the United States $259 billion.
• By 2050, costs associated with dementia could be as much as $1.1 trillion.
• The global cost of Alzheimer’s and dementia is estimated to be $605 billion, which is equivalent to 1% of the entire world’s gross domestic product.
• Aggregate Cost of Care by Payer for Americans Age 65 and Older with Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias: Medicare $113 Billion, Medicaid $41 Billion, Out of Pocket $44 Billion, Other $29 Billion.
Alzheimer’s in the United States
• Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States.
• Alzheimer’s is the only disease in the 10 leading causes of deaths in the United States that cannot be cured, prevented or slowed.
• 1 in 10 Americans over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s.
• Between 2017 and 2025 every state is expected to see at least a 14% rise in the prevalence of Alzheimer’s.
• There has been an 89% increase in deaths due to Alzheimer’s between 2000 and 2014.
• More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s.
• By 2050, it’s estimated there will be as many as 16 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s.
• Every 66 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s.
• 1 in 3 seniors dies with some form of dementia.
• When the first wave of baby boomers reaches age 85 (in 2031), it is projected that more than 3 million people age 85 and older will have Alzheimer’s.
• One-third of Americans over age 85 are afflicted with the illness.
• Typical life expectancy after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis is 4-to-8 years.
• By 2050, there could be as many as 7 million people age 85 and older with Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for half (51%) of all people 65 and older with Alzheimer’s.
• Proportion of People With Alzheimer’s Disease in the United States by Age: 85+ years – 38%, 75-84 years, 44%, 65-74 years, 15%, <65 years, 4% https://www.alzheimers.net/resources/alzheimers-statistics/

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