Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Faster diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer's disease

Research by faculty and staff at Rowan University, Glassboro, N.J.; the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; and Drexel University may lead to better diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

15 Apr 2007

Sex differences in cognitive performance

Yerkes researchers are using their findings to better understand sex differences in cognitive performance, which may lead to increased understanding of the difference in neuropsychological disorders men and women experience.

14 Apr 2007

Curcumin has anticancer effects

Curry powder is a mixture predominantly composed of turmeric root extract and other spices such as coriander and fenugreek.

14 Apr 2007

Richard Mayeux wins AAN Potamkin prize for Alzheimer's research

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is awarding the 2007 Potamkin Prize to Richard Mayeux, MD, MSc, Fellow of the AAN and co-director of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's and the Aging Brain, Columbia University Medical Center in New York, for his research related to Alzheimer's disease.

12 Apr 2007

Full impact of mental health and substance abuse disorders on U.S. community hospitals

Almost one-fourth of all stays in U.S. community hospitals for patients age 18 and older – 7.6 million of nearly 32 million stays – involved depressive, bipolar, schizophrenia and other mental health disorders or substance use related disorders in 2004, according to a new report by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

11 Apr 2007

Gene finding could lead to new pathways for development of Alzheimer's therapeutics

Scientists have known for more than a decade that individuals with a certain gene are at higher risk for developing Alzheimer's disease.

11 Apr 2007

MIT model helps see how folds develop and decay in the cerebral cortex

Large mammals--humans, monkeys, and even cats--have brains with a somewhat mysterious feature: The outermost layer has a folded surface. Understanding the functional significance of these folds is one of the big open questions in neuroscience.

10 Apr 2007

Diabetes linked to increased risk of mild cognitive impairment

Individuals with diabetes may have a higher risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, a condition that involves difficulties with thinking and learning and may be an intermediate step toward Alzheimer's disease, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

10 Apr 2007

European research helps people with dementia improve their quality of life

As approximately 1.9 million elderly people in Europe experience a form of dementia. A pan-European research project is seeking to help them 'navigate their day' and improve their quality of life.

9 Apr 2007

Potential target for the development of a drug to treat memory loss

A mind-altering mutation in mice results in an enhanced long-term memory, researchers report in the April 6, 2007 issue of the journal Cell, published by Cell Press.

7 Apr 2007

Nicotine shown to enhance learning and memory

While nicotine is highly addictive, researchers have also shown the drug to enhance learning and memory, a property that has launched efforts to develop nicotine-like drugs to treat cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, schizophrenia, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

5 Apr 2007

Rural hospitals shown to provide quality care for patients with heart attacks

Contrary to some previous studies, rural hospitals in Iowa do provide quality care for patients with heart attacks and do not have higher death rates when compared to urban hospitals, report University of Iowa researchers.

5 Apr 2007

New therapeutic target for Alzheimer's could lead to drugs without side effects

It's been 100 years since Alzheimer's disease was first described, and yet our best treatments in development for the disease are still highly toxic drugs.

5 Apr 2007

No apparent increase in coronary heart disease for women who initiate hormone therapy

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth ( NYSE:WYE ) , provides comment on a re- analysis of pooled data from both hormone therapy arms of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

4 Apr 2007

New device sniffs out olfactory disorders that could be an early warning of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's

The Sniff Magnitude Test (SMT), an invention of UC Psychology Professor Robert Frank and Professor Emeritus Robert Gesteland of the UC Department of Cell Biology, is now under further development with the WR Medical Electronics Company in Stillwater, Minn. The company will manufacture and market the test.

4 Apr 2007

We need to balance out our intake of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids

A new study suggests that people whose diets contain dramatically more of one kind of polyunsaturated fatty acid than another may be at greater risk for both clinical depression and certain inflammatory diseases.

3 Apr 2007

H63D genetic defect linked to increased risk of stroke

One of the most common genetic defects passed on through families significantly increases a person's chance of having a stroke, according to a study published in the March 27, 2007, issue of Neurology?, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

2 Apr 2007

Regenerative medicine project taps into human stem cells

Researchers at the McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida have initiated a project to treat human brain and other diseases by plundering the secrets of regeneration from creatures with remarkable powers of self-renewal, such as salamanders, newts, starfish and flatworms.

2 Apr 2007

Hearing-protection tablet helps soldiers defend against hearing loss

Soldiers exposed to the deafening din of battle have little defense against hearing loss, and are often reluctant to wear protective gear like ear plugs that could make them less able to react to danger.

31 Mar 2007

Brain's immune system plays protective role in early Alzheimer's disease

The immune system's response against amyloid-beta, the protein that forms plaques in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease, appears to protect the brain from damage in early stages of the devastating neurological disorder.

30 Mar 2007