Alzheimer's Disease News and Research

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks of daily living. In most people with AD, symptoms first appear after age 60. AD is the most common cause of dementia among older people, but it is not a normal part of aging. Dementia refers to a decline in cognitive function that interferes with daily life and activities. AD starts in a region of the brain that affects recent memory, then gradually spreads to other parts of the brain. Although treatment can slow the progression of AD and help manage its symptoms in some people, currently there is no cure for this devastating disease.

Potentially powerful tool for designing novel Alzheimer's treatments

Researchers have identified a protein that reins in the rogue activity of the molecules that make the amyloid-beta protein--which may prevent normal brain function in people with Alzheimer's disease. Their findings reveal a potentially powerful tool for designing novel Alzheimer's treatments.

3 May 2006

Possible target for future therapies aimed at delaying or stopping Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's Neurological Sciences Institute (NSI) have located a possible target for future therapies aimed at delaying or stopping Alzheimer's disease.

2 May 2006

Blood clots in the brain linked to Alzheimer's and dementia

According to researchers, from the University of Manchester, UK, spontaneous blood clots are significantly associated with both Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

From The University of Manchester 1 May 2006

Amyloid protein content in the brain linked to Alzheimer's disease risk

Researchers from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) connected to the University of Antwerp are the first to show that the quantity of amyloid protein in brain cells is a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid protein has already been known to be the primary component of the senile plaques in the brains of patients. The new discovery demonstrates that the greater the quantity of the protein that is produced, the younger the dementia patient is.

28 Apr 2006

Friends and family can protect against Alzheimer's disease

Having close friends and staying in contact with family members offers a protective effect against the damaging effects of Alzheimer's disease according to research by physicians at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The study, which is currently posted online in The Lancet Neurology, will be published in the May print edition of the journal.

26 Apr 2006

Study into whether folic acid and other B vitamins can help slow dementia

The world's largest ever study into a possible link between B vitamins and Alzheimer's disease is to be based at Oxford University.

20 Apr 2006

Promising treatment for Huntington's disease soon to be tested clinically

At the Institut Curie, CNRS and Inserm researchers have shown that cysteamine, which is already used to treat a rare disease called cystinosis, prevents the death of neurons in Huntington's disease. Like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, Huntington's disease, is characterized by the abnormal death of neurons.

19 Apr 2006

Less chance of Alzheimer's when you follow a Mediterranean diet

Researchers in the U.S. say that eating a typical Mediterranean diet with lots of fruit, vegetables, legumes, cereals, some fish and alcohol, and little dairy and meat helps prevent Alzheimer's disease.

18 Apr 2006

Mediterranean diet reduces risk of Alzheimer's disease

Americans who ate a Mediterranean diet--lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, some fish and alcohol, and little dairy and meat--had a reduced risk for Alzheimer's disease as they aged. These findings are published in the April issue of Annals of Neurology.

18 Apr 2006

Doses of DNA-gene-coated gold particles protect against harmful protein implicated in Alzheimer's disease

Doses of DNA-gene-coated gold particles protect mice against a protein implicated in Alzheimer's disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

16 Apr 2006

Maintaining high blood pressure treatment may reduce the risk of dementia in old age

Lead author of the study Rita Peila, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), said "For every year of hypertension treatment, there is increased protection against dementia."

13 Apr 2006

A drink or two a day may be associated with better cognitive function in women

"Women who had up to two drinks a day scored about 20 percent higher on the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) than women who didn't drink at all or who consumed less than one drink a week," said Clinton Wright, M.D., M.S., lead author of the study.

13 Apr 2006

Study assesses formularies across Medicare drug plans

Medicare's new private stand-alone drug plans vary significantly - in terms of covered drugs, out-of-pocket costs for specific medications, and restrictions placed on the use of certain drugs - according to a new analysis released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

11 Apr 2006

A history of stroke is related to a progressive decline in memory

A history of stroke may be associated with progressive memory difficulties in patients without dementia or cognitive impairment, according to a study in the April issue of Archives of Neurology.

11 Apr 2006

Mild cognitive impairment risk increases as age goes up and years of education go down

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that mild cognitive impairment, a disorder considered a strong early predictor of Alzheimer's disease, is prevalent among the elderly and increases with age and fewer years of education.

11 Apr 2006

Ceftriaxone may help fight dementia in HIV patients

An antibiotic commonly used to treat a variety of serious infections may also help prevent dementia in HIV patients, according to a test-tube study of human brain cells by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine neurologist Jeffrey Rumbaugh, M.D., Ph.D.

7 Apr 2006

Fish oil may help protect against age-related macular degeneration

A paper published in Trends in Neuroscience by Nicolas G. Bazan, MD, PhD of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, reports on the role that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil play in protecting cells in the retina from degenerative diseases like retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.

7 Apr 2006

Discovery of a new mechanism for the neurodegenerative effects of amphetamines

University of Toronto study finds amphetamines are converted in the brain into free radicals whose effects manifest and linger long after the amphetamine has left the body.

7 Apr 2006

Doctors must listen when patients talk of a failing memory

A team at the Aging and Memory Research Center, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, has found that a higher self awareness of memory difficulties may be associated with brain function decline over time, particularly in older adults with a genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease.

6 Apr 2006

Inflammation cuts both ways

Inflammation cuts both ways. When invaded by an infectious agent, for example, the body calls on the forces of inflammation to fight and defeat the intruder.

6 Apr 2006