TASK DEFINITION: Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.
PROBLEM: File photo shows a young carer holding the hands of an elderly woman in a residential home for the elderly in Planegg near Munich June 19, 2007. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle The study, reported on Sunday in the journal BioMed Central BMC Neurology, involved 12 patients who had greatly improved language recall shortly after treatment with Enbrel, or etanercept, an anti-inflammatory drug co-marketed by Amgen and Wyeth. “We often see verbal effects within a few minutes of the first dose,” said Dr. Edward Tobinick, director of the Institute for Neurological Research, a private medical group inc., in Los Angeles, who led the study. Tobinick invented and holds several patents on a special method of injecting the drug into the neck. He said he charges anywhere between $10,000 and $40,000 per patient for the treatments. In January, Tobinick’s report on a single patient, and release of a striking video, drew the attention of the Alzheimer’s Association, which released a statement expressing concern. “People with Alzheimer’s and their families may place undue value on this new finding based on the dramatic language used in its description and the apparent immediate effect,” the group said. “We need to see work in other laboratories by scientists without financial interest in the product,” it added. Dr. Sam Gandy, chairman of the Alzheimer’s Association’s medical and science council, said the latest study, done at Tobinick’s clinic, does not offer that independent confirmation. “It’s still not a proper trial,” Gandy said. Tobinick believes the drug may work in the brain by blocking an excess of tumor necrosis factor-alpha or TNF-alpha, which may affect communication in the brain. The study looked at language difficulties, such as in finding words, in 12 patients with mild-to-severe Alzheimer’s disease who were administered etanercept weekly for six months. “There was a significant improvement in the majority of the verbal measures that were studied. The remainder showed a tendency toward improvement, which was not significant,” Tobinick said in a telephone interview. He said the study provides evidence that “excess TNF, in the Alzheimer brain, may offer a new way to address this language dysfunction.”   Tobinick acknowledged the study is limited because people knew they were getting the drug. Alzheimer’s patients in such open-label studies often show improvement. “Placebo effect is an enormous problem in open-label studies,” said Dr. Scott Turner, incoming director of the Memory Disorders Program at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington. Turner said the true test must come from a more scientifically rigorous double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial. In such studies, patients receive either a dummy treatment or an active agent, and neither the doctor nor the patient knows which. Amgen has also expressed concern about the research, claiming there has been insufficient evidence so far. “This off-label, unapproved treatment, administered by Dr. Edward Tobinick, is not supported nor endorsed by Amgen,” the company said in April on its Web site. A video showing one woman's response to the drug in a sister study can be found at : here

SOLUTION: Drug restores speech in Alzheimer's; experts worry.

PROBLEM: His bout with depression reached its nadir in 2014 after a second DUI arrest. That’s when the most decorated Olympian of all time checked himself into a rehabilitative center in a desperate effort to make sense of it all. “When I was in my room and not wanting to talk to anybody for a number of days and not wanting to be alive, I wanted to see what other roads I could take to see if there was help,” Phelps recalled. The treatment he received — and continues to receive — charted his post-Olympic course. “I know it’s something that changed my life and saved my life and allowed me to be able to be where I am today, enjoying the platform of talking about something that’s so important,” Phelps told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday. Because he is willing to share his story of depression and raise awareness of mental health issues, Phelps was given the fifth annual Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion on Tuesday night in Boston. After participating in four Olympic Games and collecting 28 medals, including 23 gold, Phelps has dedicated his time and energy to promoting the importance of water safety and advocating for the de-stigmatization of mental health problems through the Michael Phelps Foundation. “When I first really opened up about the struggles that I had in ’15, obviously I dreamed of being able to get more publicity to this and to really share my journey and have other people share their journeys with me as well,” Phelps said. “Honestly, I never thought it would be as big as this, but it’s been a true dream to be able to watch the growth that mental health has taken, almost being at center stage.” To say this endeavor has been fulfilling is an understatement. “Through this, if I can save one life, two lives, five lives, a thousand, a million, to me that’s so much more important than winning a gold medal,” he said. The 33-year-old Phelps believes his bout with depression is a story that many can share, including CEOs and other retired athletes. After accomplishing every goal he set for himself, what was left to do? “Probably my first real depression spell was after 2004, then the next big one was after 2008,” he said. “When you set out to be an Olympian, your whole life is put on hold. All the eggs are in one basket. I would say 2004, 2008, 2012, partly after ’16 (all Olympic years) I’ve dealt with pretty severe depression spells. I was kind of lost at that point.” The Baltimore native is in a far better frame of mind now. “To have my wife (Nicole Johnson), who’s always by my side, two amazing little boys at home and a third one on the way, I’m extremely thankful of the support I’ve had to get me through these times,” Phelps said. The Ruderman Award is given to individuals who are passionate about providing opportunities for others. Phelps certainly fits that description. “Michael Phelps is a unique leader who has used his fame and status as the greatest swimmer of all time to challenge our society to remove stigma surrounding mental health,” said Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation. “For me, this award means everything because this is where my passion is and the next chapter of my life is really heading,” Phelps said. “We’re kind of scratching the surface of what can be done, and I’m looking forward to continuing this journey and accomplishing some of the goals that I have — de-stigmatizing mental health and just getting the point across that it’s OK to not be OK.” ___ More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-Sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SOLUTION: Phelps honored for honesty on mental health, helping others.

PROBLEM: "The health departments in Fulton and Dekalb counties are hosting a week of free HIV screenings that ends on National HIV Testing Day, June 27. The immediate goal of the Test Atlanta campaign, which starts Sunday, is to encourage people from age 13 to 64 to know their HIV status by getting tested, officials with Fulton County Health and Wellness said in a press release on June 16, 2015. ""Finding out whether you are infected with HIV is the first step to getting connected to life-saving care,"" the release states. "" It’s estimated almost 40 percent of people with HIV are not diagnosed until they have developed AIDS. That can be up to 10 years after they first became infected."" Those statistics got our attention. PolitiFact Georgia decided to check further. We contacted Lyn Vaughn, risk communicator with Fulton County Health and Wellness, to ask the source of those statistics. She provided with us links to, and excerpts from, two statements, one from the Centers for Disease Control and one she said was from the National Association of People Living with AIDS, the group credited with starting the national testing day. The report from the CDC, issued in 2010, said nationally, the proportion of patients diagnosed with AIDS at or within 12 months of their HIV diagnosis in 2007 was 32 percent. We tried to contact officials with the association to ask about the source of their statistics but were unsuccessful. We later learned from the group’s web site that the association filed bankruptcy and closed its doors after 30 years in February 2013. The CDC, which supported National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) from its founding, continues to promote the annual event and advocate for routine HIV testing. According to the CDC, more than 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV, and almost one in seven or 14 percent are unaware of their infection. In the past decade, the number of people living with HIV has increased, but the annual number of new HIV infections has remained relatively stable -- at about 50,000 a year, the CDC reports. So what about that statistic? Vaughn later sent us additional information, including a recent news report on ongoing HIV testing available to patients who come through the emergency room at Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital. Not all of the patients agree to be tested. But among those who were diagnosed as HIV infected between July 2013 and February of this year, nearly half had AIDS, according to data we received from Grady. The physician in charge of Grady’s program said many of the patients in the group that was subject of the report had been HIV positive for several years. The other data we looked at came from the state Department of Public Health. In Georgia, 24 percent of all newly diagnosed HIV patients in 2012 already had AIDS, the agency reported. That percentage also held true for 2013 as well, DPH reports show. We also circled back to the CDC, where the most recent data available is for 2012. Nationally, also, 24 percent of patients who were initially diagnosed with HIV infection were simultaneously diagnosed with AIDS, the CDC reported in 2012. Most of those people were likely infected for many years without knowing it, the CDC said. Our ruling  The press release from Fulton County Health and Wellness promoting the week of testing for HIV states that almost 40 percent of people with the virus are not diagnosed until they already have developed AIDS. And that can be up to 10 years after they first are infected. That specific statistic reportedly came from a national organization that is no longer in operation and appears high compared to the 24 percent figure reported t by the state and CDC. But that still supports the health department’s overarching point about the need for early testing and treatment. For that reason."

SOLUTION:
Currently, almost 40 percent of people with HIV are not diagnosed until they already have developed AIDS. And that can be up to 10 years after they first are infected with HIV.