All about Alzheimer’s

Following in the footsteps of their wildly successful 2007 series on addiction (BMJ 2007;334:697), HBO have now taken on Alzheimer’s disease. With the goal of “bringing a new understanding” of the disease, HBO partnered with the US National Institutes of Health and several foundations to create a multimedia, cross platform blockbuster. Four documentary films are in continuous rotation on HBO’s many channels and are viewable without charge on their website. Fifteen supplementary mini-documentaries on specific aspects of Alzheimer’s disease are also being web streamed. DVDs of all of this are for sale, of course, as is a book based on the series. The project also includes a “robust” website, with lots of videos and links. And for social media fans who want to get in on the act, there is a Facebook wall where you can post your own tributes and thoughts for all to read and react to. It is an impressive package.

Three of the documentaries …