Feature Channels: Alzheimer's and Dementia

• share
• favorite_border

Nearly half of all older adults now die with a diagnosis of dementia listed on their medical record, up 36% from two decades ago, a new study shows. But that sharp rise may have more to do with better public awareness, more detailed medical records and Medicare billing practices than an actual rise in the condition, the researchers say.

• share
• favorite_border

A small, preliminary study of an investigational new drug being studied for mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease suggests it is safe and may be associated with improvements in executive function, thinking and memory skills. The study is released today, March 31, 2022, and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 74th Annual Meeting being held in person in Seattle, April 2 to 7, 2022 and virtually, April 24 to 26, 2022. The drug, called SAGE-718, is also in clinical trials for the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.

• share
• favorite_border

Cedars-Sinai neurology experts are available to discuss the latest advances in research and clinical care for patients with disorders of the nervous system ahead of the 74th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), happening April 2-7.

• share
• favorite_border

According to a new American Heart Association scientific statement, people with dementia or a pre-existing disability who receive timely and appropriate treatment for ischemic stroke (caused by a blood clot) may avoid additional disability and the subsequent health and financial impacts of stroke.

• share
• favorite_border

BrainHQ exercises have been shown to be effective in hundreds of studies across varied populations, with benefits that include gains on standard measures of cognition (ie, attention, speed, memory, and decision-making), and quality of life (ie, mood, self-rated health, and health-related quality of life), as well as in real-world activities (eg, gait or balance, driving, listening, and work). BrainHQ is available, without charge to users, through leading Medicare Advantage plans, retirement communities, libraries, medical centers, and employers. Consumers can try BrainHQ for free at brainhq.com.

• share
• favorite_border

Mayo Clinic researchers have proposed a new model for mapping the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease to brain anatomy. This model was developed by applying machine learning to patient brain imaging data. The findings are reported in Nature Communications.

• share
• favorite_border

Cedars-Sinai announced today a $10 million gift to establish the Bernard and Maxine Platzer Lynn Family Memory and Healthy Aging Program in the Department of Neurology. The program will broaden the scope of age-related care at Cedars-Sinai—with a focus on healthy aging, patient independence, care coordination, and brain health.

• share
• favorite_border

The molecular processes caused by a TREM2 (Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells 2) gene mutation in the brain’s microglia immune cells can increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a recent study led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine. While many immune cell genes have been associated with Alzheimer’s, the odds are increased two to three times by mutations in TREM2. However, the processes by which these mutations change the function of microglia cells have not been identified until now.

• share
• favorite_border

These are promising findings adding to a growing body of evidence showing that virtual reality can be used to measure cognition and related everyday functioning effectively and accurately. The next steps will be to confirm these results and expand research into conditions characterised by cognitive complaints and functional difficulties such as psychosis and Alzheimer’s Disease.

• share
• favorite_border

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common and best known of the tauopathies, a set of neurodegenerative brain diseases caused by toxic tangles of the protein tau. A study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has shown that targeting astrocytes — an inflammatory cell in the brain — reduces tau-related brain damage and inflammation in mice.

• share
• favorite_border

Now a couple of years after this discovery, Pete Nelson, the R.C. Durr Foundation Chair in Alzheimer's Disease at the University of Kentucky, is working towards the second part of the dream, with the world’s first clinical trial for LATE officially underway by his colleagues at UK.

• share
• favorite_border

Mayo Clinic researchers have identified a new set of molecular markers in blood plasma. This discovery could lead to the development of improved diagnostic tests for Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting 6.2 million people in the U.S. The Mayo Clinic study, published in eBioMedicine, is the first study to focus on RNA molecules in plasma as biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease in African Americans — the population at greatest risk for developing Alzheimer's disease. This approach enabled researchers to pinpoint specific molecules in plasma that could serve as biomarkers to confirm a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in this population.

• share
• favorite_border

The Dementia Care Study (D-CARE), a nation-wide clinical trial assessing the effectiveness of different approaches to caring for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, has reached its recruitment goal by enrolling 2,176 persons living with dementia and their caregivers

• share
• favorite_border

Mayo Clinic researchers say senolytic drugs can boost a key protein in the body that protects older people against aspects of aging and a range of diseases. Their findings, which are published in eBioMedicine demonstrate this in mice and human studies. Senolytics developed at Mayo Clinic and given once clear the bloodstream of senescent or "zombie" cells. These cells contribute to multiple diseases and negative aspects of aging. This study shows that the removal of senescent cells significantly boosts the production of a protective protein called a-klotho.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Cognitive decline is the biggest factor in determining how long patients with Alzheimer’s disease will live after being diagnosed, according to a new study from researchers at UT Southwestern. The findings, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, are a first step that could help health care providers provide reliable prediction and planning assistance for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and their families.

• share
• favorite_border

The 147th Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association (taking place in-person October 22–25, 2022 in Chicago) will explore new frontiers in neurology, including climate change and the brain, lab-grown brain structures for studying disease, and addressing disparities in neurologic care.

• share
• favorite_border

New Neuroscience Institute to Focus Research on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, and will treat patients with other neurological conditions, including epilepsy, seizures and Alzheimer’s Disease

• share
• favorite_border

A Johns Hopkins Medicine study of about 50 people with Alzheimer’s disease has added to evidence that damage to the inner ear system that controls balance is a major factor in patients’ well-documented higher risk of falling.

• share
• favorite_border

The University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging has been around for nearly half a century. In that time, they have built an international reputation for best-in-class research into a disease that kills more people every year than breast and prostate cancer combined – Alzheimer’s disease. There are several components to the ongoing research at Sanders-Brown, one is exploring ways to detect Alzheimer’s earlier in a person’s life.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers have received grants from the Florida Department of Health’s Ed and Ethel Moore Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, for programs focused on the mechanism of genes involved in neurodegeneration using novel genetic models, and to develop a culturally relevant model to diagnose and manage dementia in rural underserved communities.

• share
• favorite_border

Don't miss these articles in our Staff Picks channel

• share
• favorite_border

As scientists around the world seek for solutions for Alzheimer’s disease, a new study reveals that two indigenous groups in the Bolivian Amazon have among the lowest rates of dementia in the world.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers have discovered two types of brain cells that play a key role in dividing continuous human experience into distinct segments that can be recalled later. The discovery provides new promise as a path toward development of novel treatments for memory disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

• share
• favorite_border

People who are more physically fit are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than people who are less physically fit, according to a preliminary study released today, February 27, 2022, that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 74th Annual Meeting being held in person in Seattle, April 2 to 7, 2022 and virtually, April 24 to 26, 2022.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Now that the holiday season has concluded, perhaps you’ve noticed the warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia in aging family members. George Grossberg, M.D., the Samuel W. Fordyce professor and director of geriatric psychiatry at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, said it is during family gatherings that caregivers often notice older adults 65 and over may be slipping cognitively.

• share
• favorite_border

Among people with no memory or thinking problems, having a poor score on a simple memory test may be linked to biomarkers in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease as well as very early signs of memory impairment that precede dementia by several years, according to a study published in the February 23, 2022, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

• share
• favorite_border

To help neurologists, patients and their families understand the current evidence on the use of aducanumab to treat Alzheimer’s disease, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has issued an evidence-in-focus article, published in the February 23, 2022, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the AAN. The article also includes a discussion of the safety, costs, administration, and quality-of-life issues related to aducanumab to provide people with a more detailed understanding of the new treatment.

• share
• favorite_border

A blood test developed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has proven highly accurate in detecting early signs of Alzheimer’s disease in a study involving nearly 500 patients from across three continents, providing further evidence that the test should be considered for routine screening and diagnosis. The study is available in the journal Neurology.

• share
• favorite_border

A new imaging technology from the lab of Matthew Lew at the McKelvey School of Engineering uses polarized “optical vortices” to provide a detailed, dynamic view of molecules in motion.

• share
• favorite_border

UT Southwestern Medical Center has completed a five-year, $1 billion campaign to fuel its commitment to advance brain research and clinical care at its Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, making it one of the largest brain-focused investments at a U.S. academic medical center.

• share
• favorite_border

Irvine, Calif., Feb. 15, 2022 – In a scientific first, researchers at the University of California, Irvine have discovered fundamental mechanisms by which the hippocampus region of the brain organizes memories into sequences and how this can be used to plan future behavior. The finding may be a critical early step toward understanding memory failures in cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

The brain’s ability to clear a protein closely linked to Alzheimer’s disease is tied to our circadian cycle, according to research published in PLOS Genetics.

• share
• favorite_border

Studies have shown that Aboriginal Australians living in remote areas of the country are disproportionately affected by dementia, with rates approximately double those of non-Indigenous people. A new study shows that Aboriginal Australians living in urban areas also have similar high rates of dementia. The study is published in the February 9, 2022, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study looked at Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists have successfully tested in the lab a tiny biosensor they developed that can detect biomarkers tied to traumatic brain injuries.

• share
• favorite_border

Cleveland Clinic and Maria Shriver, founder of The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement (WAM), announced a ground-breaking partnership today aimed at further addressing and reducing women’s risk for Alzheimer’s disease: The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement at Cleveland Clinic (WAM at Cleveland Clinic).

• share
• favorite_border

Alzheimer's and other dementias are among the most widespread diseases today. Diagnosis is complex and can often only be established with certainty late in the course of the disease. A team of Empa researchers, together with clinical partners, is now developing a new diagnostic tool that can detect the first signs of neurodegenerative changes using a sensor belt.

• share
• favorite_border

Cognitive changes following non-neurologic and non-cardiac surgery were not associated with changes in Alzheimer’s disease-related biomarkers in older patients, according to a study led by a team at Duke University School of Medicine.