Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Serum flotillin level can serve as blood marker for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Currently, best-characterized indicators for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis are the decreased levels of amyloid β-protein 42 and increased levels of phosphorylated tau in cerebrospinal fluid.

4 Nov 2019

Tweets could be used to predict loneliness in Twitter users

Loneliness is estimated to affect roughly one in five adults in the United States. It also stands as a public health crisis because loneliness has been tied to depression, cardiovascular disease and dementia, among other conditions.

4 Nov 2019

Nurse-led program improves older adult care, analysis finds

An analysis of research on the Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) program finds that it improves older adult care, including preventing falls, improving patient safety and quality of care, reducing potentially inappropriate medications, and helping healthcare providers to care for patients with dementia.

4 Nov 2019

Alzheimer's Association's 2020 Zenith Fellows awards support new approaches to treatment

The Alzheimer's Association today announced a new investment of more than $1.3 million in three research projects focused on more effective treatments and protection factors for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

2 Nov 2019

Using music to decrease delirium in mechanically-ventilated older ICU patients

Researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and Mayo Clinic are leading the first study to test whether exposure to music can decrease delirium in older adults who are receiving mechanical ventilation in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital.

1 Nov 2019

Sleep protects the brain against Alzheimer’s by washing it

Researchers have found that when in deep sleep, the brain waves within can start off a cleaning system within the brain that can protect it against Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative brain diseases. The study titled, “Coupled electrophysiological, hemodynamic, and cerebrospinal fluid oscillations in human sleep,” was published this week in the latest issue of the journal Science.

31 Oct 2019

Study findings may shed new light on the etiology of Alzheimer's disease

New research suggests that the complex meshwork of proteins and potentially other biomolecules that provides structural and biochemical support to surrounding cells in the brain may play an important role in Alzheimer's disease.

31 Oct 2019

Cerebrospinal fluid washes through the brain in rhythmic waves during sleep

New research from Boston University suggests that tonight while you sleep, something amazing will happen within your brain. Your neurons will go quiet. A few seconds later, blood will flow out of your head.

31 Oct 2019

High-intensity workouts improve memory in older adults

Researchers at McMaster University who examine the impact of exercise on the brain have found that high-intensity workouts improve memory in older adults.

31 Oct 2019

Education level and socioeconomic status can predict thinking and memory performance

How well eight-year-olds score on a test of thinking skills may be a predictor of how they will perform on tests of thinking and memory skills when they are 70 years old, according to a study published in the October 30, 2019, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

31 Oct 2019

Study shows how Chlamydia bacteria enter human cells

Chlamydia are bacteria that can infect human and animal cells. Human health is particularly affected by Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cpn) and Chlamydia trachomatis.

31 Oct 2019

Education may erase risk of cognitive decline linked to APOE e4 gene in black people

Education may erase the risk of cognitive decline associated with the APOE e4 gene--the biggest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease--in older non-Hispanic black people, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

30 Oct 2019

Steps to take to help people with dementia

Many older Americans worry about their risk for developing some form of dementia, and with good reason.

30 Oct 2019

MGH researchers create highest resolution MRI scan of the human brain

A new paper describes a breakthrough 100 micron resolution scan of the human brain that was created by a multidisciplinary team of Massachusetts General Hospital researchers.

30 Oct 2019

Key gene mutated in familial Alzheimer's regulates differentiation of neurons

An international team of researchers led by the Institute of Neuroscience at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona describes a new route that promotes differentiation of neurons.

30 Oct 2019

New approach holds great potential to track tremor severity in Parkinson's patients

One of the hallmarks of Parkinson's disease (PD) is tremors. This involuntary movement disorder reduces quality of life by interrupting patients' activities such as writing and eating.

30 Oct 2019

TDP-43 study could speed up the diagnosis and treatment of ALS

A new study suggests that TDP-43 may be used as a biomarker in the diagnosis and treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

30 Oct 2019

Human brain recognizes familiar song within 100 to 300 milliseconds, study finds

The human brain can recognize a familiar song within 100 to 300 milliseconds, highlighting the deep hold favorite tunes have on our memory, a UCL study finds.

30 Oct 2019

AGS commends House for passing EMPOWER for Health Act

The American Geriatrics Society congratulates the U.S. House of Representatives, which within hours of bringing the legislation to the floor approved by voice vote the Educating Medical Professionals and Optimizing Workforce Efficiency and Readiness for Health Act of 2019 (H.R. 2781) championed by Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Michael Burgess (R-TX)).

30 Oct 2019

California fires illuminate trauma and resilience

Dorothy Hammack had planned to wash her thick, dark hair in the kitchen sink Friday morning. She couldn't yet shower, due to the incision on her breast from a biopsy a few days before. Her doctor had already called to let her know the results: She had breast cancer.

29 Oct 2019