Friday, September 30, 2016

Rats That Reminisce May Lead To Better Tests For Alzheimer's Drugs

Rats are great at remembering where they last sniffed the strawberries.
Alexey Krasaven/Flickr

What rats can remember may help people who forget.
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Thursday, September 29, 2016

New imaging technique in Alzheimer's disease opens up possibilities for new drug development

Image Source: THESOURCEWUSTL

Tau PET is a new and promising imaging method for Alzheimer's disease. A case study from Lund University in Sweden now confirms that tau PET images correspond to a higher degree to actual changes in the brain. According to the researchers behind the study, this increases opportunities for developing effective drugs.
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Wednesday, September 28, 2016

6 Big Mysteries of Alzheimer's Disease

The mysteries of Alzheimer's

Despite intensive, worldwide research efforts for more than three decades to better understand Alzheimer's disease, there are still numerous mysteries surrounding the condition.
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Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Alzheimer’s drug offers a bit of hope, but it’s no cure

For those taking the highest doses of Biogen’s experimental drug aducanumab, a year of treatment reduced amyloid plaques, in red on the left, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Sevigny et al./Nature TNS

BY FAYE FLAM

Earlier this summer, the biotech giant Biogen staged a news conference extolling the merits of its experimental drug aducanumab. CNN reported that the drug might be “a game-changer,” while The Independent called it “a breakthrough” that left one scientist “trying not to get too excited.”

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Monday, September 26, 2016

Alzheimer's protein changes shape to enter brain cells

Amyloid beta forms into sheets before entering brain cells.
Image credit: Bieschke/WUSTL

One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is toxic plaques of a protein building block or peptide called amyloid beta that enters brain cells and destroys them. There is a big debate as to whether amyloid beta is toxic before or after it enters cells. Now, by showing that the peptide changes shape before it crosses the cell membrane, scientists step closer to an answer.
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Sunday, September 25, 2016

Researchers Uncover Gene Control Mechanism That Holds Promise as Alzheimer’s Treatment

By: Magdalena Kegel

Researchers report identifying the molecular mechanisms responsible for activating the neuroglobin gene, which scientists think may protect people from developing Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, the researchers suggest that scientists should explore ways of activating the gene as potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.
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Saturday, September 24, 2016

Multimodal Everyday Training and Brain Stimulation Improve Memory, Especially in Alzheimer’s Patients

September 21 was World Alzheimer’s Day, a fitting occasion to announce that a recent study from Finnish and Swedish researchers has confirmed that MedUni Vienna scientists were right: Multimodal everyday training does, indeed, have a beneficial effect upon cognitive abilities such as planning and implementing projects. That is true for everyone, but particularly for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients.
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Friday, September 23, 2016

Alzheimer’s a growing burden among Latinos

Image Source: HUFFINGTONPOST

The incidence and costs of Alzheimer’s disease will place a growing burden on U.S. Latinos, who generally have the fewest resources to deal with the disease, according to a new report.
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Thursday, September 22, 2016

Why does Alzheimer’s disease affect more women than men?

Supported by a new grant from the Alzheimer’s Association, USC researcher explores a key Alzheimer’s gene and how it disproportionately impacts women

Among the 5 million Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, nearly two-thirds are women.

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Wednesday, September 21, 2016

6 ways your diet can help you avoid Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating degenerative brain disorder that leads to problems with memory, cognition, and overall mental ability. The disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of all cases in America. Alzheimer’s is an age-related disease that’s categorized by the slow deterioration of the mind over many years. One in nine people over the age of 65 currently lives with Alzheimer’s disease, and as many as one in three seniors die with some form of dementia.
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Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Could This Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Really Be Worth $20 Billion?

This moonshot is exciting -- but it isn't a compelling reason to buy Biogen's shares right now.
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Monday, September 19, 2016

Is a treatment for Alzheimer’s finally in focus?

While cancer and heart disease are the two leading causes of death in the United States they’re no longer the death sentences they once were — thanks to advances in medicine. The same cannot yet be said for Alzheimer’s disease, which affects over 5 million people in the United States.

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Sunday, September 18, 2016

Gene signature in healthy brains pinpoints the origins of Alzheimer's disease

In healthy tissues, a gene expression signature associated with amyloid-beta and tau aggregation echoes the progression of AD well before the onset of the disease.
Credit: J. Freer

Researchers have discovered a gene signature in healthy brains that echoes the pattern in which Alzheimer's disease spreads through the brain much later in life. The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, could help uncover the molecular origins of this devastating disease, and may be used to develop preventative treatments for at-risk individuals to be taken well before symptoms appear.
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Saturday, September 17, 2016

FDA Facilitates Research on Earlier Stages of Alzheimer's Disease

Image Source: HELLODOCTOR

Alzheimer’s disease is a nightmare haunting many Americans.

More than 5 million Americans have been diagnosed with the disease, which is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and the most common cause of dementia among people 60 or older. Alzheimer’s is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills. It eventually robs sufferers of the ability to perform even the simplest tasks of daily life.
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Friday, September 16, 2016

Protein Linked to Alzheimer’s Shows Potential to Improve Memory

Researchers at the Salk Institute, in California, have shown, in a mouse study, that increasing the levels of a specific protein in the brain leads to improvement of memory deficits associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
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Thursday, September 15, 2016

Review: ‘Blossom,’ a Puppet’s Tale of Alzheimer’s

With his tufted white eyebrows and kindly old face, James Blossom is instantly endearing — even more so in his patterned sweater vest and jaunty bow tie. But when he first appears at the start of Spencer Lott’s puppet play, “Blossom,” at Dixon Place, James is outfitted for underwater adventure.
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Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Denmark's 'House Of Memories' Re-Creates 1950s For Alzheimer's Patients

The National Institutes of Health’s recent $40 million award over the next five years will provide a new stage of research for the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), an NIH public-private partnership.
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Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Industrial Air Pollutant May Be Linked to Neurological Ills Like Alzheimer’s

An air pollutant found in industrial areas, magnetite, could be contributing to the development of neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to new study out of the United Kingdom and Mexico.
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Monday, September 12, 2016

Getting Real About An Alzheimer's Cure

Image Source: THEGUARDIAN

For decades, people have been hoping for the magic bullet that will prevent, cure, or even slow the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease or other dementias. Yet, despite small hints of progress– and billions of dollars in research–there is no drug, and no app or game, that can successfully treat these diseases.
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Sunday, September 11, 2016

New Alzheimer’s Treatment Could Reverse Synapse Degeneration and Stop Memory Loss

MEMORY LOSS

Memory loss is the most dreaded effect of Alzheimer’s. This is what researchers at the University College London focused on in a report published at the journal Current Biology. They turned their attention to the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain involved in long-term memory. They wanted to observe the interplay between two proteins: Wnt and Dickkopf-1 (Dkk1).
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Saturday, September 10, 2016

6 Ways Your Diet Can Help You Avoid Alzheimer’s Disease

Stick with unsaturated fats like those found in olive oil and nuts, saturated fats can be a detriment to cognitive functioning and memory.

These foods and ways of eating have a proven record of combating degenerative diseases of the brain

Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating degenerative brain disorder that leads to problems with memory, cognition, and overall mental ability. The disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of all cases in America. Alzheimer’s is an age-related disease that’s categorized by the slow deterioration of the mind over many years. One in nine people over the age of 65 currently lives with Alzheimer’s disease, and as many as one in three seniors die with some form of dementia.
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Friday, September 9, 2016

New Alzheimer’s Therapy Shows Promise in Reducing Amyloid Plaques in Brain

An investigational treatment for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) could be on the horizon, according to a study from researchers at Biogen and the University of Zurich. Aducanumab, a human monoclonal antibody, shows evidence of reducing Alzheimer’s amyloid plaques — the culprit behind AD-induced brain cell death.
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Thursday, September 8, 2016

A Possible Treatment For Alzheimer's Disease Is Demonstrated In A Clinical Trial

Credit: Longleanna/Pixabay

A research paper published yesterday by Nature online reports that the antibody aducanumab significantly reduced the buildup of protein deposits in the brain that are thought to be a primary cause of the neural degeneration that results in Alzheimer’s disease. The results of the study are very promising and more than warrant further testing on a larger scale. If future clinical trials produce the same results, we may have found a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
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Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Memory Loss Associated With Alzheimer's May Be Preventable And Reversible

Comparison of a healthy brain with a brain ravaged by Alzheimer’s disease. Credit: Wikipedia

Alzheimer’s disease routinely appears at or near the top of diseases most feared by Americans. It’s terrifying to contemplate and devastating when it happens. The memory loss that is a common symptom of Alzheimer’s begins with loss of function at the synaptic connections between neurons and progresses to the destruction of the neurons themselves. Research carried out by a team at University College London and recently reported in the journal Current Biology details how molecular changes at the synapse damage memory and suggests ways that the memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s may be prevented and possibly reversed.
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Tuesday, September 6, 2016

'Air pollution' particles linked to Alzheimer's found in human brain

CREDIT:  ANDREW MATTHEWS

Tiny magnetic particles produced by car engines and brakes can travel into the human brain and may trigger Alzheimer's disease, scientists have warned.
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Monday, September 5, 2016

Pilot Study of MEND Protocol for Alzheimer’s Shows Results in Those with Mild Decline

At the recent Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2016, held in Toronto, Canada, Muses Labs presented data from a pilot study of its MEND Protocol for treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease.
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Labels: study

Sunday, September 4, 2016

TECH BIOTECH Biogen Drug Shows Early Promise against Alzheimer’s Disease: VIDEO

Early results suggest a treatment for root causes, not just symptoms.
Preliminary clinical trials with a small group of patients suggest that aducanumab, a drug being developed by Biogen, may be effective in removing the brain plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease. While Biogen has emphasized caution in interpreting the results, and any drug is years from reaching the market, aducanumab could become the first drug to treat the disease’s underlying causes.
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Saturday, September 3, 2016

Drug shows promise in reducing abnormal brain proteins linked to Alzheimer’s

In what some experts are hailing as a major breakthrough in the field of Alzheimer’s research, a new investigational drug was found to reduce the disease’s hallmark plaques— potentially slowing cognitive decline and preventing the disease.

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Friday, September 2, 2016

Hippocampal Atrophy in Depression Not Necessarily Alzheimer’s

Image Source: ASIANSCIENTIST

Reductions in hippocampal volume occurring with late-life depression have no association with levels of amyloid deposition, indicating that hippocampal volume reduction may not necessarily be relied upon as a sign of the onset of Alzheimer's disease, according to new research.
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Thursday, September 1, 2016

Test Of Experimental Alzheimer's Drug Finds Progress Against Brain Plaques

Experimental drugs that clear clumps of proteins from the brains of Alzheimer's patients haven't panned out yet.
Science Photo Library/Pasieka/Getty Images

An experimental drug dramatically reduced the toxic plaques found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease, a team reports in the journal Nature.
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