Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Practice parameters discuss the evaluation, treatment of circadian rhythm sleep disorders

Practice parameters published in the November 1 issue of the journal SLEEP are a guide to the appropriate assessment and treatment of circadian rhythm sleep disorders (CRSDs).

2 Nov 2007

PET scan distinguishes Alzheimer's from other dementia

A PET scan (positron emission tomography) that measures uptake of sugar in the brain significantly improves the accuracy of diagnosing a type of dementia often mistaken for Alzheimer's disease, a study led by a University of Utah dementia expert has found.

2 Nov 2007

Merck Serono and EPFL announce neuroscience, oncology and drug delivery partnership

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, and EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, announced the signing of a research collaboration agreement in the areas of Neuroscience, Oncology and Drug Delivery. Under this agreement, three Merck Serono-endowed Chairs will be created at EPFL: in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's; in cancer, in the framework of the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC); and in innovative drug delivery technologies, for instance nanoparticle vaccines.

1 Nov 2007

Speed plays crucial role in breaking protein's H-bonds

Researchers at MIT studying the architecture of proteins have finally explained why computer models of proteins' behavior under mechanical duress differ dramatically from experimental observations.

31 Oct 2007

Herb rosemary fights free radical damage in the brain

Rosemary not only tastes good in culinary dishes such as Rosemary chicken and lamb, but scientists have now found it is also good for your brain.

31 Oct 2007

New brain marker predicts cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer's disease

Duke University Medical Center researchers have used imaging technology to identify a new marker that may help identify those at greatest risk for cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer's disease.

31 Oct 2007

Alzheimer's may progress more rapidly in people with high blood pressure or atrial fibrillation

While current medications for Alzheimer's disease are effective for some patients in slowing the rate of AD progression, many patients do not benefit from the treatments or cannot tolerate them, says lead researcher Michelle M. Mielke, Ph.D., of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

31 Oct 2007

Lithium commonly used to treat bi-polar disorder increases lifespan in Nematode worms

Nematode worms treated with lithium show a 46 percent increase in lifespan, raising the tantalizing question of whether humans taking the mood affecting drug are also taking an anti-aging medication.

31 Oct 2007

Aggregation propensity, amyloid peptide toxicity and Alzheimer disease

Cells have evolved multiple mechanisms to ensure proper folding, but a number of molecular and biophysical events - such as changes in pH or temperature, mutations, and oxidation - can disrupt a protein's native shape.

31 Oct 2007

One in seven Americans over the age of 70 suffers from dementia

About 3.4 million people, or 13.9 percent of the population age 71 and older, have some form of dementia, the study found. As expected, the prevalence of dementia increased dramatically with age, from five percent of those aged 71 to 79 to 37.4 percent of those age 90 and older.

31 Oct 2007

Scientists use shared genome data to confirm SORL1 gene linked to Alzheimer's

Until recently, only one of the approximately 30,000 genes in the human genome has been linked to risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD).

29 Oct 2007

Therapeutic gene expression can be sustainable for 1 year

Researchers at the Board of Governors Gene Therapeutics Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have shown for the first time that it is possible to sustain therapeutic gene expression in the central nervous system for up to a year, even in the presence of an anti-viral immune response mechanism that is normally present in humans.

28 Oct 2007