Alzheimer Desease
Distinguishing Between The Forgetful And Those At Risk Of Alzheimer’s Disease - It can be difficult to distinguish between people with normal age-associated memory loss and those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). However people with aMCI are at a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and identification of these people would mean that they could begin treatment as early as possible…
Genes Linked To Alzheimer’s Are The Same For Early- And Late-Onset - The same gene mutations linked to inherited, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease have been found in people with the more common late-onset form of the illness. The discovery by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis may lead doctors and researchers to change the way Alzheimer’s disease is classified…
Alzheimer’s Disease May Spread By ‘Jumping’ From One Brain Region To Another - For decades, researchers have debated whether Alzheimer’s disease starts independently in vulnerable brain regions at different times, or if it begins in one region and then spreads to neuroanatomically connected areas…
Protein Structures Offer Clues To Breast Cancer, Alzheimer’s Treatment, Prevention - Using some of the most powerful nuclear magnetic resonance equipment available, researchers at the University of California, Davis, are making discoveries about the shape and structure of biological molecules - potentially leading to new ways to treat or prevent diseases such as breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease…
Alzheimer’s-Related Protein In Brains Of Healthy Adults May Shed Light On Earliest Signs Of Disease - Researchers from the Center for Vital Longevity at the University of Texas at Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center have completed a large-scale neuroimaging study of healthy adults from age 30 to 90 that measured beta-amyloid protein - a substance whose toxic buildup in the brain is a diagnostic marker for Alzheimer’s disease…
Alzheimer’s Disease May Spread By ‘Spreading’ From One Brain Region To Another - The way in which Alzheimer’s Disease spreads in the brain has been the subject of debate for many years. Two opposing theories have the disease starting independently in weakened brain regions over time, or it beginning in one region and then spreading neuroanatomically connected areas…
Brain Energy Metabolism Improved By Decaffeinated Coffee - Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered that decaffeinated coffee may improve brain energy metabolism associated with type 2 diabetes. This brain dysfunction is a known risk factor for dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. The research is published online in Nutritional Neuroscience…
Prion-Like Protein Plays A Key Role In Storing Long-Term Memories - Memories in our brains are maintained by connections between neurons called “synapses”…
12/15-Lipoxygenase Protein May Help Control Alzheimer’s - Researchers at the Temple University’s School of Medicine recently identified a protein in the brain that could have a major role in regulating the creation of amyloid beta, the major component of plaques implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s disease…
Protein In The Brain Could Be A Key Target In Controlling Alzheimer’s - A protein recently discovered in the brain could play a key role in regulating the creation of amyloid beta, the major component of plaques implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, according to researchers at Temple University’s School of Medicine…
Infrared Analysis Of White Blood Cells Is A Promising Strategy For Diagnosis Of Alzheimer’s Disease - Spanish researchers, led by Pedro Carmona from the Instituto de Estructura de la Materia in Madrid, have uncovered a new promising way to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease more accurately. Their technique, which is non-invasive, fast and low-cost, measures how much infrared radiation is either emitted or absorbed by white blood cells…
Stimulating Cognitive Activity Lowers Risk Of Alzheimer’s - Findings published Online First by Archives of Neurology, a JAMA/Archives journal, show that people who keep their brain active throughout their lives with cognitively stimulating activities like reading, writing and playing games seem to have lower levels of the β-amyloid protein, which is the major part of the amyloid plaque in Alzheimer disease…
Alzheimer’s Neurons Induced From Pluripotent Stem Cells - Led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, scientists have, for the first time, created stem cell-derived, in vitro models of sporadic and hereditary Alzheimer’s disease (AD), using induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with the much-dreaded neurodegenerative disorder…
Cognitive Impairment Seems Common Among Older Men - The Mayo Clinic released its study of aging report today and announced that more than six percent of Americans, aged seventy to eighty-nine years, suffered from mild cognitive impairment (MCI). They also state that the data show more men are affected than women, and those with only high school education seem more affected than those with some level of higher education…
New Discoveries In Cell Aging - A group of researchers led by the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (IBB) and Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) can now quantify with precision the effect of protein aggregation on cell aging processes using Escherichia coli bacteria and the molecule which triggers Alzheimer’s disease as models. Scientists demonstrated that the effect can be predicted before it occurs…
Lifelong Active Brains Have Fewer Deposits Of Alzheimer’s Protein - A new study using PET scans to to examine the brains of healthy older people finds those who have been mentally stimulated all their lives, doing things like reading, writing, and playing games and puzzles, have fewer deposits of beta-amyloid, a destructive protein that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s Disease…
Link Between Lifelong Brain-Stimulating Habits And Lower Alzheimer’s Protein Levels - A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, provides even more reason for people to read a book or do a puzzle, and to make such activities a lifetime habit…
National Alzheimer’s Plan, USA - HHS Sets 2025 Deadline - US Health Authorities have set 2025 as the deadline for coming up with an effective Alzheimer’s disease treatment. Some would say this is over-ambitious, because there is no current cure for the disease; and none in the pipeline either. The Alzheimer’s Association informs that during the second meeting of the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care and Services, “. . …
Antidepressants Tied To Higher Risk Of Falls In Nursing Home Residents With Dementia - Compared to similar people who don’t take them, nursing home residents with dementia who take average doses of a class of drugs used to treat depression are three times more likely to have an injurious fall. These are the findings of a new study from The Netherlands published online in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology on Wednesday…
Cell ‘Battery’ Found To Play Central Role In Neurodegenerative Disease - A devastating neurodegenerative disease that first appears in toddlers just as they are beginning to walk has been traced to defects in mitochondria, the ‘batteries’ or energy-producing power plants of cells…
Medivation And Pfizer Axe their new Alzheimer’s drug Dimebon - Pfizer Inc. and Medivation, Inc. announced results from their ‘CONCERT’ trial today. CONCERT is a Phase 3 trial that evaluated dimebon (latrepirdine), which is used to treat patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Dimebon is added to ongoing treatment with donepezil HCL tablets…
Simulations Offer New Insights Into Alzheimer’s Disease - More than half of all cases of dementia in the elderly can be attributed to Alzheimer’s disease. Despite vast research efforts, an effective therapy has not been developed, and treatment consists of dealing with the symptoms. Changes in brain tissues are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s…
Alzheimer’s Patients Benefit From Light Therapy - Exposure to light appears to have therapeutic effects on Alzheimer’s disease patients, a Wayne State University researcher has found. In a study published recently in the Western Journal of Nursing Research, LuAnn Nowak Etcher, Ph.D., assistant professor of nursing, reported that patients treated with blue-green light were perceived by their caregivers as having improved global functioning…
Iron Intake In Teen Years Can Impact Brain In Later Life - Iron is a popular topic in health news. Doctors prescribe it for medical reasons, and it’s available over the counter as a dietary supplement. And while it’s known that too little iron can result in cognitive problems, it’s also known that too much promotes neurodegenerative diseases…
Advance Toward An Imaging Agent For Diagnosing Alzheimer’s Disease - Scientists are reporting development and initial laboratory tests of an imaging agent that shows promise for detecting the tell-tale signs of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the brain - signs that now can’t confirm a diagnosis until after patients have died. Their report appears in the journal ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters…
