Feature Channels: Alzheimer's and Dementia

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More than 70% of elderly Medicare beneficiaries experience cognitive impairment or severe dementia near the end-of-life and may need surrogate decision makers for healthcare decisions. Advance care planning for older adults with dementia may be particularly important for individuals who do not reside in a nursing home or a long-term care facility, according to an article published in the April issue of Health Affairs.

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How will we, as individuals, and a society, live with brains at risk for Alzheimer's disease dementia? As part of Health Affairs’ April issue, a theme issue focusing on Alzheimer’s, a neurodegenerative disease ethicist and clinician with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania offers keen observations to help navigate ethically-charged points on the course of the disease progression.

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The Sanders-Brown Center on Aging recently published findings from a small cohort of participants suggesting a connection between the health of the brain tissue that supports cognitive functioning and the presence of dementia in adults with Down syndrome.

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Young adults with such cardiac risk factors as high blood pressure and elevated glucose levels have significantly worse cognitive function in middle age, according to a new study by dementia researchers at UC San Francisco.

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As part of an Alzheimer's disease prevention trial, Penn Medicine neurodegenerative ethics experts will monitor how learning about their risk of developing Alzheimer's impacts trial participants.

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Investigators at the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute have discovered eye abnormalities that may help reveal features of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Using a novel laboratory rat model of Alzheimer’s disease and high-resolution imaging techniques, researchers correlated variations of the eye structure, to identify initial indicators of the disease.

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University of Michigan researchers have learned how to fix a cellular structure called the Golgi that mysteriously becomes fragmented in all Alzheimer's patients and appears to be a major cause of the disease.

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A new pre-clinical study by researchers at Temple University found that people who experience chronic sleep disturbance could face an earlier onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

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LBDA seeks to raise awareness of Lewy body dementia. The most misdiagnosed dementia, LBD affects 1.3 million Americans.

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A team of scientists from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, the Medical University of South Carolina and San Diego-based American Life Science Pharmaceuticals, Inc., report that cathepsin B gene knockout or its reduction by an enzyme inhibitor blocks creation of key neurotoxic pGlu-Aβ peptides linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, the candidate inhibitor drug has been shown to be safe in humans.

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Brain imaging using radioactive dye can detect early evidence of Alzheimer's disease that may predict future cognitive decline among adults with mild or no cognitive impairment, according to a 36-month follow-up study led by Duke Medicine.

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It may now be possible to identify the first-stage Parkinson’s patients who will go on to develop dementia, according to a study conducted at the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal by Dr. Oury Monchi, PhD, and his postdoctoral student, Dr. Alexandru Hanganu, MD, PhD, both of whom are affiliated with Université de Montréal. These findings were published in the journal Brain.

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Today, in recognition of Brain Awareness Week, from March 10 through March 16, 2014, the Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) calls attention to critical differences in dementia-causing disorders that may have potentially life-saving implications.

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Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute and Vanderbilt University have created the most detailed 3-D picture yet of a membrane protein linked to learning, memory, anxiety, pain and brain disorders such as schizophrenia, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and autism.

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A new study suggests that Alzheimer’s disease may contribute to close to as many deaths in the United States as heart disease or cancer. The research is published in the March 5, 2014, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Three promising biomarkers being studied to detect Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages appear to undergo a surprising shift as patients develop symptoms of dementia, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report.

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Like mobsters following strict orders, newly engineered molecules called “ubiquibodies” can mark specific proteins inside a cell for destruction – a molecular kiss of death that is paving the way for new drug therapies and powerful research tools.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have invented small-molecule folding probes that enable them to quantify functional, normally folded and disease-associated misfolded conformations (shapes) of a protein-of-interest in cells under different conditions.

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Whitehead Institute scientists have used a yeast cell-based drug screen to identify a class of molecules that target the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide involved in Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

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Magtein™, a proprietary blend of magnesium –L-threonate, today released a “White Paper” demonstrating the extensive peer-reviewed and published science behind the product’s mechanism of action, its safety and efficacy. The product helps consumers maintain cognitive health, including slowing down but also reversing memory decline as well as addressing the serious health concerns of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

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Results from an ongoing epidemiological study at the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging suggests a connection between self-reported incidence of memory loss and cognitive memory impairment later in life.

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Kidney cancer immunotherapy, MS and depression, ACE and Alzheimer's, air pollution and brain tumors, and more are story ideas detailed in the Feb. tipsheet from Cedars-Sinai.

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The antidepressant drug citalopram, sold under the brand names Celexa and Cipramil and also available as a generic medication, significantly relieved agitation in a group of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. In lower doses than those tested, the drug might be safer than antipsychotic drugs currently used to treat the condition, according to results of a clinical trial led by Johns Hopkins researchers that included seven other academic medical centers in the United States and Canada.

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Researchers studying peptides using the Gordon supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have found new ways to elucidate the creation of the toxic oligomers associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

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Sadly, Alzheimer's disease has been the least prone to progress in the one area where we'd like to find change the most -- in our ability to fight it. Many research groups are working to change that, and at the 58th Annual Biophysical Society Meeting, researchers will describe their progress making at unraveling the mystery of the amyloid beta ("Abeta") peptide, a tangling molecule found in the brain plaques associated with the disease.

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People who are dementia-free but have two parents with Alzheimer’s disease may show signs of the disease on brain scans decades before symptoms appear, according to a new study published in the February 12, 2014, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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An 18-month pilot program that brought resources and counselors to elderly Baltimore residents with dementia and other memory disorders significantly increased the length of time they lived successfully at home, according to Johns Hopkins researchers. Staying at home was a clear preference for most of those who participated in the study.

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EMBARGOED ALZHEIMERS RESEARCH - Many people with high blood pressure are familiar with ACE inhibitors, drugs that widen blood vessels by limiting activity of ACE – angiotensin-converting enzyme – a naturally occurring protein found in tissues throughout the body. But high activity of the enzyme – in the right context, place and time – may be a good thing. A study conducted by Cedars-Sinai scientists found that genetically targeting certain immune blood cells to overproduce the enzyme broke down defective proteins in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease and prevented cognitive decline in laboratory mice bred to model the disease.

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A UT Southwestern study published online in JAMA Neurology, found elevated levels of the DDT metabolite, DDE, that were 3.8 times higher in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in comparison to control subjects.

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Scientists have known for more than 40 years that the synthetic pesticide DDT is harmful to bird habitats and a threat to the environment. Now researchers at Rutgers University, writing in JAMA Neurology, say exposure to DDT – banned in the United States since 1972 but still used as a pesticide in other countries – may also increase the risk and severity of Alzheimer’s disease in some people, particularly those over the age of 60.

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A chemical that's found in fruits and vegetables from strawberries to cucumbers appears to stop memory loss that accompanies Alzheimer's disease in mice, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered. In experiments on mice that normally develop Alzheimer's symptoms less than a year after birth, a daily dose of the compound----a flavonol called fisetin----prevented the progressive memory and learning impairments. The drug, however, did not alter the formation of amyloid plaques in the brain, accumulations of proteins which are commonly blamed for Alzheimer's disease. The new finding suggests a way to treat Alzheimer's symptoms independently of targeting amyloid plaques.

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Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a critical regulator of a molecule deeply involved in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

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Although the brain becomes smaller with age, the shrinkage seems to be fast-tracked in older adults with hearing loss, according to the results of a study by researchers from Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging. The findings add to a growing list of health consequences associated with hearing loss, including increased risk of dementia, falls, hospitalizations, and diminished physical and mental health overall.

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"Gold standard" science shows that Magnesium-L-threonate, not regular magnesium, may restore brain health a top 2014 health concern for baby boomers

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At the heart of brain diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease is protein misfolding. At present, there is no known way to reverse protein misfolding. But researchers have found a possible way to unravel misfolded proteins by "reprogramming" a common yeast protein.

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New research, led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researcher Chunyu Wang, has solved one mystery in the development of Familial Alzheimer’s Disease (FAD), a genetic variant of the disease that affects a small fraction of the Alzheimer’s population. In a paper published online January 6 in the journal Nature Communications, Wang and his team follow the trail of two genetic mutations – V44M and V44A – known to cause FAD, and show how the mutations lead to biochemical changes long linked to the disease.

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Today the scientific journal Neuron published results on the Roche-designed Brain Shuttle technology that efficiently transfers investigational antibodies from the blood through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) into the brain in preclinical models. Roche Pharma Early Research and Development (pRED) scientists found that such enhanced transfer of antibodies through the BBB was associated with a marked improvement in amyloid reduction in the brain of a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.

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In this VA Cooperative Studies Group trial, vitamin E was shown to slow functional decline and reduce burdens on caregivers.

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A new study suggests that a history of concussion involving at least a momentary loss of consciousness may be related to the buildup of Alzheimer’s-associated plaques in the brain. The research is published in the Dec. 26, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A new study suggests that a history of concussion involving at least a momentary loss of consciousness may be related to the buildup of Alzheimer’s-associated plaques in the brain. The research is published in the December 26, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Using high-resolution fMRI imaging in patients with Alzheimer's disease and in mouse models of the disease, researchers have clarified three fundamental issues about Alzheimer's: where it starts, why it starts there, and how it spreads. In addition to advancing understanding of Alzheimer's, the findings could improve early detection of the disease, when drugs may be most effective. The study was published today in the online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience.

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Most people with dementia who live at home have multiple unmet health and welfare needs, any number of which could jeopardize their ability to remain home for as long as they desire, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

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A team of researchers led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified variations in a gene that double a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life. The newly identified variations occur rarely in the population, making them hard for researchers to identify. But they’re important because individuals who carry them are at substantially increased risk.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have identified an enzyme that can halt or possibly even reverse the build-up of toxic protein fragments known as plaques in the brains of mice with Alzheimer’s disease. The research appeared in a recent edition of the scientific journal Nature Communications.

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It’s been widely reported that football and other contact sports increase the risk of a debilitating neurological condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). But a new study finds little evidence to support such a link.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a natural mechanism that cells use to protect mitochondria, the tiny but essential “power plants” that provide chemical energy for cells throughout the body.

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In their study, Sylvie Belleville and her team accurately predicted (at a rate of 90%) which of their research subjects with mild cognitive impairment would receive a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease within the following two years and which subjects would not develop this disease.

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Improvements in education levels, health care and lifestyle credited for decline in dementia risk.

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A team of Stony Brook University researchers has discovered in a model of Alzheimer’s disease that early accumulation of a small protein, known as amyloid β, in the blood vessels of the brain can drive early cognitive impairment.

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A new discovery may help explain the surprisingly strong connections between sleep problems and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.