Donepezil, a medication that is approved to treat people with Alzheimer’s disease, should not be prescribed for people with mild cognitive impairment without a genetic test.
Current treatments for rheumatoid arthritis relieve the inflammation that leads to joint destruction, but the immunologic defect that triggers the inflammation persists to cause relapses. Now the results of a new study suggest that clinical trials for new rheumatoid arthritis (RA) drugs should shift from their sole focus on relieving inflammation to eliminating the B cells that produce these antibodies.
Rush University Medical Center has launched a unique, cohort study called Latino Core to learn about the aging process and risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease in older Latino adults.
The latest study on hormone therapy and Alzheimer’s disease shows no relationship between taking the drugs and whether you may develop the disease years later. Some previous studies have shown that hormone therapy may increase the risk of the disease, while others have shown that it may reduce the risk. The new study was published in the February 15, 2017, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Calcium in the mitochondria -- the energy factory of cells -- may be one of the keys to understanding and treating Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Researchers at Temple University have now identified how an imbalance of calcium ions in the mitochondria may contribute to cell death and, specifically, neurodegeneration in brain cells during Alzheimer's and dementia. The findings could eventually point to new therapies for preventing or delaying these diseases. The team will present its work during the 61st Meeting of the Biophysical Society.
Currently, the predominant theory behind Alzheimer’s disease is the “amyloid hypothesis,” which states that abnormally increased levels of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides outside of brain cells produce a variety of low molecular weight Aβ aggregates that are toxic to the nervous system. These Aβ aggregates interact directly with target cells and lead to cell death. During the Biophysical Society’s meeting, being held Feb. 11-15, 2017, Antonio De Maio will present his work hunting for the specific mechanisms behind Aβ-induced toxicity to cells, or cytoxicity.
Rutgers scientists say neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s may be linked to defective brain cells disposing toxic proteins that make neighboring cells sick. In a study published in Nature, Monica Driscoll, distinguished professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, School of Arts and Sciences, and her team, found that while healthy neurons should be able to sort out and rid brain cells of toxic proteins and damaged cell structures without causing problems, laboratory findings indicate that it does not always occur.
The loss of motor function and mental acuity associated with Huntington’s disease might be treatable by restoring a cellular quality control process, which Duke Health researchers have identified as a key factor in the degenerative illness.
New research has identified a previously unknown mechanism involved in the immune response of lupus patients that could provide an alternative therapy target for the estimated 1.5 million Americans and five million-plus people worldwide suffering from this disease.
A simple blood test may be as accurate as a spinal fluid test when trying to determine whether symptoms are caused by Parkinson’s disease or another atypical parkinsonism disorder, according to a new study published in the February 8, 2017, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
AARDA today unveiled the Autoimmune Research Network, known as ARNet, the world’s first fully-functioning patient registry for individuals diagnosed with one or more of the 100-plus known autoimmune diseases (ADs).
The Vasculitis Foundation announced today that the 2017 International Vasculitis Symposium will take place from Friday, June 23 to Sunday, June 25 at the Chicago Marriott O’Hare in Chicago, Illinois.
Michigan State University researchers are the first to uncover reasons why a specific type of immune cell acts very differently in females compared to males while under stress, resulting in women being more susceptible to certain diseases.
Leading neuroscientists have clarified the role of a controversial immune system protein in Alzheimer’s disease, showing it has opposing effects in early and late stages of the disease. Their discovery unites previous studies that left researchers conflicted and showed the protein both exacerbates and ameliorates disease symptoms. The updated model of disease progression, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, also highlights the need to align certain therapies with disease stages when treating the 1 in 9 Americans over 65 living with Alzheimer’s.
Photo Gallery: Magnet the Weight of 30 Elephants Lowered Through Roof of USC Stevens Hall for Next-Gen 7T MRI Machine
Mayo Clinic researchers have found that azathioprine, a drug commonly used to treat autoimmune disease, may increase the risk of myeloid neoplasms. Myeloid neoplasms include a spectrum of potentially life-threatening bone marrow disorders, such as myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia. The results are published in JAMA Oncology.
PHOENIX – Mayo Clinic researchers have found that engaging in mentally stimulating activities, even late in life, may protect against new-onset mild cognitive impairment, which is the intermediate stage between normal cognitive aging and dementia. The study found that cognitively normal people 70 or older who engaged in computer use, craft activities, social activities and playing games had a decreased risk of developing mild cognitive impairment. The results are published in the Jan. 30 edition of JAMA Neurology.
In some people, the brain protein tau collects into toxic tangles that damage brain cells and contribute to diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a drug that can lower tau levels and prevent some neurological damage.
A clinical trial to examine the effect of nilotinib on clinical outcomes and biomarkers in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease has opened at Georgetown University Medical Center.
Xinglong Wang’s team published a study in the January 2017 issue of Molecular Therapy that is seen as confirming the relevance of this neurotoxic pathway, according to an accompanying editorial by Eloise Hudry, PhD, of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Unit at Harvard Medical School. This paper also confirms TDP-43 inhibition as a viable therapeutic option for the treatment of neurologic disorders, including Alzheimer disease.
Promising, early studies of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease have paved a path for future clinical trials, but there are unique ethical challenges with this vulnerable population regarding decision making and post-study treatment access that need to be addressed as they ramp up, Penn Medicine researchers argue in a new review in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
The Vasculitis Foundation will hold its 2017 Baltimore Regional Conference on Saturday, February 4, in Bethesda, Maryland.
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have linked excess tau protein in the brain to the spatial disorientation that leads to wandering in many Alzheimer's disease patients. The findings, in mice, could lead to early diagnostic tests for Alzheimer's and point to treatments for this common and troubling symptom.
Research in mice points to better understanding of how the structure of nerve cells in the adult hippocampus may deteriorate, which can lead to Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders.
A synthesized steroid mirroring one naturally made by the dogfish shark prevents the buildup of a lethal protein implicated in some neurodegenerative diseases, reports an international research team studying an animal model of Parkinson’s disease. The clustering of this protein, alpha-synuclein (α-synuclein), is the hallmark of Parkinson’s and dementia with Lewy bodies, suggesting a new potential compound for therapeutic research.
It’s well known that regular physical activity has health benefits, including weight control, strengthening the heart, bones and muscles and reducing the risk of certain diseases. Recently, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine found how just one session of moderate exercise can also act as an anti-inflammatory. The findings have encouraging implications for chronic diseases like arthritis, fibromyalgia and for more pervasive conditions, such as obesity.
This report details the VF's accomplishments since its Second International Vasculitis Research Consensus Conference held in Chicago, Illinois in 2012. During the conference, participants evaluated programs and explored new areas of inquiry that the Foundation could fund over the next five years.
Sedentary older adults with no genetic risk factors for dementia may be just as likely to develop the disease as those who are genetically predisposed, according to a major study which followed more than 1,600 Canadians over five years.
Electrical vagus nerve stimulation can help fight inflammatory diseases like Crohn's or arthritis but can also contribute somewhat to inflammation. Engineers have tweaked the buzz to keep the good effects and minimize those less desirable. Their innovation could be adapted to existing medical devices with relative ease.
Patients who had a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease with dementia or dementia with Lewy bodies and had higher levels of Alzheimer’s disease pathology in their donated post-mortem brains also had more severe symptoms of these Lewy body diseases during their lives, compared to those whose brains had less AD pathology
The first study of its kind designed to test the effects of a diet on the decline of cognitive abilities among a large group of individuals 65 to 84 years who currently do not have cognitive impairment will begin in January.
Researchers from Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear have uncovered two factors responsible for the chronic, lifelong nature of autoimmune disorders, which tend to “flare up” intermittently in affected patients. These two factors are cell-signaling proteins called cytokines—specifically Interleukin-7 and -15 (IL-7 and IL-15)—that are secreted by cells of the immune system and help modulate memory Th17 cells, a subset of T cells which are known to contribute to autoimmune disorders. Until now, it was unclear how Th17 cells maintained memory; the study results show that IL-7 and IL-15 signal the Th17 cells to chronically reside in the body.
Vanderbilt University scientists have received notification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that testing in humans may proceed for an investigational new drug after more than 10 years of research by scientists at Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) is pleased to announce a new collaboration with MPI Cognition, founded by Dale Bredesen, MD, to train clinicians in the treatment of mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer's disease. The program is titled Reversing Cognitive Decline: Advanced Clinical Training in Treating MCI and Early Alzheimer's Disease, and the first offering will be March 11-12, 2017, in Huntington Beach, CA.
DETROIT, December 29, 2016 – American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) announced today its latest Autoimmune Heroes – Founder and Executive Director Virginia Ladd, Director of Operations Jerry Ladd, Assistant Director Patricia Barber and InFocus Editor and Executive Assistant Eula Hoover.
A new, highly effective multiple sclerosis therapy will be presented at the America’s Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2017, Thursday, Feb. 23, in Orlando.
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have detailed the structure of a molecule that has been implicated in Alzheimer’s disease. Knowing the shape of the molecule — and how that shape may be disrupted by certain genetic mutations — can help in understanding how Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases develop and how to prevent and treat them.
Tests that measure the sense of smell may soon become common in neurologists’ offices. Scientists have been finding increasing evidence that the sense of smell declines sharply in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, and now a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published today in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease confirms that administering a simple “sniff test” can enhance the accuracy of diagnosing this dreaded disease
Ron Davis, chair of the Department of Neuroscience on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has been awarded a $5 million Outstanding Investigator Grant, one of the first of its kind, by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
An international team led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has selected a third investigational drug to be tested in a worldwide clinical trial – already underway – aimed at finding treatments to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
Defects in the body’s regulatory T cells cause inflammation and autoimmune disease by altering the type of bacteria living in the gut, researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston have discovered. The study, which will be published online December 19 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, suggests that replacing the missing gut bacteria, or restoring a key metabolite called inosine, could help treat children with a rare and often fatal autoimmune disease called IPEX syndrome.
To try to better understand how the disease begins and progresses, researchers at the University of Michigan investigated whether kidney biomarkers would signal lupus progression and signs of complications.
An expert at Rutgers University’s Care2Caregivers helpline shares tips on how families can celebrate the holidays with loved ones suffering from an illness that affects memory
People who have protein in their urine, which is a sign of kidney problems, may also be more likely to later develop problems with thinking and memory skills or even dementia, according to a meta-analysis published in the December 14, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Investigators at Johns Hopkins report they have new evidence that a bacterium known to cause chronic inflammatory gum infections also triggers the inflammatory “autoimmune” response characteristic of chronic, joint-destroying rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The new findings have important implications for prevention and treatment of RA, say the researchers.
Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) have discovered a molecular cause of hydrocephalus, a common, potentially life-threatening birth defect in which the head is enlarged due to excess fluid surrounding the brain. Because the same molecule is also implicated in Down’s syndrome, the finding, published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, may explain the ten-fold increased risk of hydrocephalus in infants born with Down’s.
Calls Legislation “the Best Christmas Present” for Autoimmune and Chronic Disease Patients
Commenting on a Financial Times feature on drug trials of the "plaque" theory of Alzheimer's---all of which have failed so far---Chris Norwood, in a lead letter, underscores that targeted diabetes prevention is really the major documented path to Alzheimer's prevention
A Michigan State University research team is the first to show how a common bacterium found in improperly cooked chicken causes Guillain-Barre Syndrome, or GBS. The federally funded research, now published in the Journal of Autoimmunity, not only demonstrates how this food-borne bacterium, known as Campylobacter jejuni, triggers GBS, but offers new information for a cure.
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