Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Insulin may slow or prevent damage caused by toxic proteins in Alzheimer's disease

A Northwestern University-led research team reports that insulin, by shielding memory-forming synapses from harm, may slow or prevent the damage and memory loss caused by toxic proteins in Alzheimer's disease.

2 Feb 2009

Genetic change prevents cell death in mouse model of Parkinson's disease

By shifting a normal protective mechanism into overdrive, a University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist has completely shielded mice from a toxic chemical that would otherwise cause Parkinson's disease.

2 Feb 2009

Education may not affect how fast you will lose your memory

While a higher level of education may help lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease, new research shows that once educated people start to become forgetful, a higher level of education does not appear to protect against how fast they will lose their memory.

2 Feb 2009

BioGenes as new designated partner in EU funded dementia project

BioGenes GmbH, a specialist in sophisticated antibody development, has been chosen as a new partner of cNEUPRO. cNEUPRO is a EU funded research project to analyse neurodegenerative diseases and discover novel biomarkers, and so improve early and differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's dementia.

2 Feb 2009

Researchers disrupt biochemical system involved in cancer, degenerative disease

Screening a chemical library of 200,000 compounds, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified two new classes that can be used to study and possibly manipulate a cellular pathway involved in many types of cancer and degenerative diseases.

2 Feb 2009

Link found between Parkinson's disease genes and manganese poisoning

A connection between genetic and environmental causes of Parkinson's disease has been discovered by a research team led by Aaron D. Gitler, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

2 Feb 2009

Diabetics have a significantly greater risk of dementia

Diabetics have a significantly greater risk of dementia, both Alzheimer's disease - the most common form of dementia - and other dementia, reveals important new data from an ongoing study of twins.

29 Jan 2009

Sport related concussions affect mental and physical processes later in life

Researchers have found the first evidence that athletes who were concussed during their earlier sporting life show a decline in their mental and physical processes more than 30 years later.

29 Jan 2009

Reduce the calories and increase that brain power!

According to a study conducted by researchers in Germany older people benefit from a calorie restricted diet in more ways than one - they lose weight but also improve their memories.

28 Jan 2009

Researchers identify compound that frees trapped cholesterol

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified in mice a compound that liberates cholesterol that has inappropriately accumulated to excessive levels inside cells.

27 Jan 2009

Researchers refine breast cancer identification

Not all breast cancers are the same, and not all will have fatal consequences.

27 Jan 2009

Scientists discover a compound that gets rid of excess cholesterol

New research by scientists in the United States carried out in mice has revealed a compound that releases excessive cholesterol accumulated inside cells.

27 Jan 2009

Vitamin D linked to cognitive problems in seniors

Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan, have for the first time identified a relationship between Vitamin D, the "sunshine vitamin", and cognitive impairment in a large-scale study of older people.

23 Jan 2009

Drinking apple juice may delay onset of Alzheimer's disease

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that we can take steps to delay age-related cognitive decline, including in some cases that which accompanies Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

23 Jan 2009

People who are socially active have lower risk for dementia

A new study shows that people who are socially active and not easily stressed may be less likely to develop dementia.

19 Jan 2009

Researchers identify biochemical switch required for nerve cells to respond to DNA damage

The finding, scheduled for advance online publication in Nature Cell Biology, illuminates a connection between proteins involved in neurodegenerative disease and in cells' response to DNA damage.

19 Jan 2009

Eli Lilly to pay $1.415 billion for off-label promotion of Zyprexa

American pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company today agreed to plead guilty and pay $1.415 billion for promoting its drug Zyprexa for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Justice announced today.

19 Jan 2009

DREAM gene found to be a genetic candidate for explaining old age dementia

In 2002, a group of scientists at the University of Toronto was able to identify a gene which they dubbed DREAM (downstream regulatory element antagonistic modulator).

19 Jan 2009

Study looks at public attitudes toward early detection of dementia across different health-care systems

A new study has found that in spite of their universal health care system which facilitates access to free dementia care, older adults in the United Kingdom are less willing to undergo dementia screening than their counterparts in the U.S. because the Britons perceive greater societal stigma from diagnosis of the disease than do Americans.

19 Jan 2009

Telephone support after traffic accidents reduces problems and improves quality of life

People who were injured in road accidents had fewer problems and a much higher quality of life if they received a simple follow-up call from a nurse three weeks after being discharged from hospital, according to research in the January issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

15 Jan 2009