Research Identifies Potential Therapeutic Targets for Late Onset Alzheimer’s Disease (LOAD) By Revealing a Network of Genes Involved in the Inflammatory Response.
Alzheimer's researchers know the disease is caused by toxic beta amyloid and tau lesions, yet, the recent failure of emerging therapies targeting these lesions suggest that successful treatments will require diagnosis of disease at its earliest stages. Now, by using computer-aided drug discovery, researchers are in the process of developing an imaging chemical that attaches predominantly to tau-bearing lesions in living brain, opening the door for earlier diagnosis – and better treatments for tau-involved conditions like Alzheimer’s, frontal temporal dementia and traumatic brain injuries.
Neuroscientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have taken a major step in their efforts to help people with memory loss tied to brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Studying rats’ ability to navigate familiar territory, Johns Hopkins scientists found that the hippocampus uses remembered spatial information to imagine routes the rats then follow. Their discovery has implications for memory loss due to Alzheimer's disease and aging.
Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida participated in a nationwide study that found minor differences between genes that contribute to late-onset Alzheimer’s disease in African-Americans and in Caucasians.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have shed light on one of the major toxic mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease. The discoveries could lead to a much better understanding of the Alzheimer’s process and how to prevent it.
African-Americans with a variant of the ABCA7 gene have almost double the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease compared with African-Americans who lack the variant. The largest genome-wide search for Alzheimer’s genes in African-Americans, the study was led by Columbia University Medical Center. It will be published in JAMA (4/10/13 issue).
In a meta-analysis of data from nearly 6,000 African Americans, Alzheimer disease was significantly associated with a gene that have been weakly associated with Alzheimer disease in individuals of European ancestry, although additional studies are needed to determine risk estimates specific for African Americans, according to a study in the April 10 issue of JAMA, a Genomics theme issue.
Researchers from the Indiana University Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute are conducting the nation’s first randomized controlled dementia screening trial to weigh the benefits and risks of routine screening for dementia. The results of the five-year trial will help policy-makers, individuals and families weigh the pros and cons of routine screening of adults age 65 and older.
A technology being developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory promises to provide clear images of the brains of children, the elderly and people with Parkinson’s and other diseases without the use of uncomfortable or intrusive restraints.
Joint study by U-M Health System and RAND estimates total dementia care costs at $159- $200 billion a year, expected to nearly double with aging population
UCLA researchers have used a brain-imaging tool and stroke risk assessment to identify signs of cognitive decline early on in individuals who don't yet show symptoms of dementia.
A study in mice with genetic mutations seen in human Alzheimer's disease found that the feeling of hunger itself may protect against the disease.
Experts at the George Washington University are available to comment on President Obama's announcement about a new initiative to better understand the human brain.
Risk prediction tools that estimate future risk of heart disease and stroke may be more useful predictors of future decline in cognitive abilities, or memory and thinking, than a dementia risk scores, according to a new study published in the April 2, 2013, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Most older adults with dementia can successfully be taken off antipsychotic medications, which have negative side effects and increase the risk of death, finds a new evidence review from The Cochrane Library.
The strongest predictor of whether a man is developing dementia with Lewy bodies — the second most common form of dementia in the elderly — is whether he acts out his dreams while sleeping, Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered.
More symptoms of depression and lower cognitive status are independently associated with a more rapid decline in the ability to handle tasks of everyday living, according to a study by Columbia University Medical Center researchers in this month’s Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Injecting synthetic tau fibrils into animal models induces Alzheimer's-like tau tangles and imitates the spread of tau pathology, according to research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania being presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego March 16-23, 2013.
Research at UNT Health Science Center suggests that depression and diabetes may be of particular importance in this population and even that the blood profile of Alzheimer’s is different among Mexican Americans as compared to non-Hispanic whites.
A new drug may improve memory problems in people with moderate Alzheimer’s disease, according to a phase IIa study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013. The drug is called ORM-12741.
Sleep is disrupted in people who likely have early Alzheimer’s disease but do not yet have the memory loss or other problems characteristic of full-blown disease, researchers report March 11 in JAMA Neurology.
An anti-atherosclerosis drug greatly reduced blood-brain barrier (BBB) leaks in animal models with diabetes and hypercholesterolemia and linked BBB permeability with amyloid peptide deposits at the site of early Alzheimer's pathology.
Studies in mice with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have shown that sodium phenylbutyrate, known as Buphenyl, successfully increases factors for neuronal growth and protects learning and memory, according to neurological researchers at the Rush University Medical Center.
At the Keystone Symposium “New Frontiers in Neurodegenerative Disease Research,” held 4-7 February in Santa Fe, New Mexico, researchers explored the processes that lead to a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS). Several presenters described damage that genes undergo as people age, pointing to DNA breaks as a potential step on the way to disease. Others discussed a new component of the protein tangles that characterize Alzheimer's disease. Researchers also reported progress in understanding how two proteins, TDP-43 and FUS, cause ALS. See Alzforum’s four-part series
UCLA scientists have discovered a new genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease by screening people's DNA and then using an advanced type of scan to visualize their brains' connections.
Researchers at the University of Michigan have found a new potential benefit of a molecule in green tea: preventing the misfolding of specific proteins in the brain.
Researchers have identified a possible treatment window of several years for plaques in the brain that are thought to cause memory loss in diseases such as Alzheimer’s. The Mayo Clinic study is published in the Feb. 27 online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A novel way to image the brain’s glymphatic pathway may provide the basis for a new strategy to evaluate Alzheimer's disease susceptibility, according to a research paper published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
New findings by Columbia researchers suggest that along with amyloid deposits, white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) may be a second necessary factor for the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientists are getting serious about tackling Alzheimer's disease with multiple drugs. Going after one target at a time has not proven successful, and some researchers believe that new drugs may not work well alone. Instead, they want to develop combination therapies. It worked for AIDS and cancer—why not Alzheimer’s?
At the 7th Human Amyloid Imaging conference held in Miami, Florida, 250 experts discussed the hottest topics in Alzheimer’s brain imaging. What’s in store for 2013? Read about new compounds that image tau—one of the disease’s toxic proteins, ground rules for scanning patients for plaques, and a plan to unify scan measures.
The number of people with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to triple in the next 40 years, according to a new study published in the February 6, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The number of people with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to triple in the next 40 years, according to a new study by researchers from Rush University Medical Center published in the February 6, 2013, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A team of academic researchers has pinpointed how vitamin D3 and omega-3 fatty acids may enhance the immune system's ability to clear the brain of amyloid plaques, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. In a small pilot study, the scientists identified key genes and signaling networks regulated by vitamin D3 and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) that may help control inflammation and improve plaque clearance.
A group of recipients of cadaver-derived human growth hormone (c-hGH) does not appear to be at increased risk for Alzheimer and Parkinson disease despite their likely exposure to neurodegenerative disease (ND)-associated proteins and elevated risk of infectious prion protein-related disease, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Neurology, a JAMA Network publication.
A research team in Israel has devised a novel approach to identifying the molecular basis for designing a drug that might one day decrease the risk diabetes patients face of developing Alzheimer's disease. The team will present its work at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society (BPS), held Feb. 2-6, 2013, in Philadelphia, Pa.
New evidence shows the root of heart failure lies in misfolded proteins in the heart’s cells, according to University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers. The finding may pave the way for dramatically new treatment approaches.
In experiments on rats outfitted with tiny goggles, scientists say they have learned that the brain’s initial vision processing center not only relays visual stimuli, but also can “learn” time intervals and create specifically timed expectations of future rewards. The research sheds new light on learning and memory-making, the investigators say, and could help explain why people with Alzheimer’s disease have trouble remembering recent events.
For decades now, researchers have been trying, without success, to develop drugs that slow or prevent Alzheimer’s. Now research at UCLA suggests that while the protein they have been focusing on-- amyloid-beta—is the right one, what’s needed is to direct a drug to a very specific location, which they’ve discovered, on that protein.
During a five-hour surgery last October at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Kathy Sanford became the first Alzheimer’s patient in the United States to have a pacemaker implanted in her brain. She is the first of up to 10 patients who will be enrolled in an FDA-approved study at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center.
For the first time, UCLA researchers have used a brain-imaging tool to identify the abnormal tau proteins associated with sports concussion in five retired National Football League players who are still living. Previously, confirmation of the presence of this protein could only be established by an autopsy. Follow-up studies will help determine the impact and usefulness of identifying these proteins early.
By using synthetic fibrils made from pure recombinant protein, Penn researchers provide the first direct and compelling evidence that tau fibrils alone are entirely sufficient to recruit and convert soluble tau within cells into pathological clumps in neurons, followed by transmission of tau pathology to other inter-connected brain regions from a single injection site in an animal model of tau brain disease.
Electrodes implanted inside the brain are helping patients with Parkinson's disease. Called deep brain stimulation, the treatment often gives patients control over their movements that cannot be achieved with currently approved drugs. But the surgery is delicate and the treatment does not work for everyone. Alzforum explores the procedure and its potential use for Alzheimer's disease.
University of Utah Team creates startup company and secures $125,000 grant to provide personalized Alzheimer's care and address caregiver education shortage via mobile devices.
A new UCLA study has assessed the prevalence of study partner “types,” whether it’s a spouse, adult child, or “other,” and has found who the study partner is can affect the patient’s outcome in Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials.
People taking the blood pressure drugs called beta blockers may be less likely to have changes in the brain that can be signs of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013.
Planning to cover dementia research this year? Before the 12 Days of Christmas are over, bone up on the most compelling research trends of 2012 by reading Alzforum’s roundup. It covers everything from surprising gene discoveries to drug trial results and points out some of the big stories to watch for in 2013.
Some brain changes that are found in adults with common gene variants linked to disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and autism can also be seen in the brain scans of newborns, a study by UNC School of Medicine researchers finds.
People who study or treat Alzheimer’s disease and its earliest clinical stage, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), have focused attention on the obvious short-term memory problems. But a new study suggests that people on the road to Alzheimer’s may actually have problems early on in processing semantic or knowledge-based information, which could have much broader implications for how patients function in their lives.
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