Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Major step forward in understanding how memory works

Our ability to remember the objects, places and people within our environment is essential for everyday life, although the importance of this is only fully appreciated when recognition memory beings to fail, as in Alzheimer's disease.

23 Apr 2008

Pin1 is beneficial in Alzheimer's disease, detrimental to some forms of dementia

The most common form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and a relatively rare hereditary form of dementia, frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism-17, share a common pathology: Both are the result of an overaccumulation of tau proteins, which form tangled lesions in the brain's neurons and eventually lead to the collapse of the brain cells responsible for memory.

22 Apr 2008

Discovery of molecular link between Alzheimer's disease and amyloid plaques

According to estimates there are 85,000 Alzheimer patients in our country and approximately 20,000 new cases every year. This spectacular increase is due to the increasing ageing population. Unfortunately it is still unclear precisely which ageing process forms the basis of this spectacular rise in the occurrence of the disease.

22 Apr 2008

An atomic view of protein behind hereditary cerebral amyloid angiopathy

For the first time, researchers have peered deeply at the atomic level into the protein that causes hereditary cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) -- a disease thought to cause stroke and dementia.

22 Apr 2008

Raptor Pharmaceuticals initiates phase IIa clinical study for Convivia

Raptor Pharmaceuticals Corp. has announced that its clinical development subsidiary, Bennu Pharmaceuticals Inc. , has initiated the Company's first clinical-stage program after dosing the first cohort in a Phase IIa study of oral 4-methylpyrazole ("4-MP") in subjects with ALDH2 deficiency, or ethanol intolerance, as the initial development stage of its Convivia program.

21 Apr 2008

Drinking and smoking brings dementia on earlier

The latest research from the U.S. suggests that people who are heavy drinkers and smokers develop Alzheimer's disease six to seven years earlier than those who do not smoke or drink.

20 Apr 2008

Sen. Grassley sends letter to Merck requesting explanation of recent JAMA reports

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has sent a letter to Merck Chief Operating Officer Richard Clark requesting the company explain a recent report that found the company used employees or paid consultants rather than the physicians listed as lead authors to write several published studies of the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx, CQ HealthBeat reports.

18 Apr 2008

Huperzine A for Alzheimer's disease

Existing evidence suggests that patients with Alzheimer’s disease who have taken Huperzine A have improved general cognitive function, global clinical status, functional performance and reduced behavioural disturbance compared to patients taking placebos.

17 Apr 2008

Breastfeeding during anti-epilepsy drug treatment does not appear to harm a child's cognitive development

A first of its kind study finds breastfeeding while taking certain seizure medications does not appear to harm a child's cognitive development. The research will be presented at the upcoming American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12-19, 2008.

17 Apr 2008

Anti-cholinergic drugs may increase cognitive decline in older people

Anticholinergic drugs, such as medicines for stomach cramps, ulcers, motion sickness, and urinary incontinence, may cause older people to experience greater decline in their thinking skills than people not taking the drugs, according to research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12–19, 2008.

17 Apr 2008

New insights on early Parkinson's provided by advanced MRI

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the brain affecting movement, speech, mood, behavior, thinking and sensation for which there is no known cause or cure.

17 Apr 2008

Yeast cells used to screen for potential Lou Gehrig's disease drugs

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are developing a novel approach to screen for drugs to combat neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, using yeast cells.

17 Apr 2008

Heavy drinkers and smokers develop Alzheimer's earlier

Heavy drinkers and heavy smokers develop Alzheimer's disease years earlier than people with Alzheimer's who do not drink or smoke heavily, according to research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12-19, 2008.

17 Apr 2008

2nd Alzheimer's vaccine by AFFiRiS

The Viennese biotech company Affiris is today taking stock of the progress achieved to date in its clinical Alzheimer's vaccination programme. All the Alzheimer's patients treated so far as part of the toxicological trials have tolerated the treatment extremely well. As a result, Affiris is among the leading international centres in the race to develop the first causal immunotherapy for Alzheimer's disease.

17 Apr 2008

Antipsychotic drugs increase risk of developing pneumonia in elderly

Elderly patients who use antipsychotic drugs have a 60 percent increased risk of developing pneumonia compared to non-users.

16 Apr 2008

Depression in seniors

Even after the age of 70, people prone to feelings of anxiety, worry, distress and insecurity face a risk for a first lifetime episode of clinically significant depression, according to a unique study led by a University of Rochester Medical Center researcher.

13 Apr 2008