1 . Elderly people have a higher chance of suffering from illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. One common health problem that affects them is Alzheimer’s disease, which affects a person’s memory, behavior, and thinking. Because of memory loss and behavioral changes, people with Alzheimer’s may slowly become unable to take care of themselves, eventually requiring constant care from family members or caregivers.

There is no cure for Alzheimer’s at the moment—drugs can only treat its symptoms.

But technology can improve the lives of those living with the condition by making it easier for them to go about their daily activities. For example, tracking devices placed in watches or jewelry can monitor where a person is. Automated reminders can also be stored in motion sensors and placed around the house. When a sensor detects movement, it can play a recorded voice message to remind the person to lock the door or turn off the stove.

Alzheimer’s disease is a huge challenge, but we may be getting close to finding a solution. In the future, it might be possible to treat Alzheimer’s without using drugs. A team of researchers in Australia has created a form of technology that can send sound waves into the brain. These sound waves help to clear waste in the brain that contributes to Alzheimer’s. The team has tested their technology and found that it helped to restore memory in 75 percent of mice. Work on the technology isn’t complete, but, if successful, it could prevent memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s. This really does fundamentally change the understanding of how to treat this disease and researchers foresee a great future for this approach.

6 . Michael J. Fox was at the height of his career when he developed Parkinson’s disease (帕金森病) in 1991. Since then, he has been fighting the disease and has not lost his love for life.

After his diagnosis (诊断), Michael concealed his illness for several years in order not to risk his career as an actor. His diagnosis didn’t become public until 1999. To this day, he has done his best not to be influenced by his illness as much as possible and has worked both in front of the camera and as a voice actor.

Michael said in an interview with the American magazine Haute Living in 2016: “I realize now that I can play anybody, as long as they have Parkinson’s.” Like the role of “Louis Canning” in The Good Wife, which he played from 2010 to 2016. For his role of the lawyer (律师), who suffers from the side effects of medication(药物) to treat Parkinson’s, he was nominated (提名) five times for an Emmy.

Michael has shown the doctors who said that he would not be able to work ten years after the diagnosis that this is not the case. He has found the right way to deal with Parkinson’s disease for him: Humor.

In an interview in March 2017, he joked about moments in his everyday life where he is controlled by his illness. “The thing that makes it funny to me is when I think about someone else watching all this and thinking, Poor Michael can’t even get the coffee — it’s so sad!”, explains the 59-year-old.

Since his diagnosis became public, Michael has devoted himself to Parkinson’s research. In 2000, he founded the Michael Foundation for Parkinson’s Research to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease. By the end of 2018, 800 million US dollars had already been collected.