Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Multi-tasking adversely affects brain's learning

Multi-tasking affects the brain's learning systems, and as a result, we do not learn as well when we are distracted, UCLA psychologists report this week in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

26 Jul 2006

Scientists characterize structure of calbindin-D28K

Scientists at North Carolina State University have effectively lifted the veil from an important protein that is linked to the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Huntington's.

26 Jul 2006

High rates of off-label prescriptions for antidepressant, anticonvulsant and antipsychotic drugs

A University of Georgia study has found that three-quarters of people prescribed antidepressant drugs receive the medications for a reason not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

26 Jul 2006

New nerve-stimulation treatment for epilepsy helps!

A unique nerve-stimulation treatment for epilepsy developed at UCLA offers a potential new alternative for tens of thousands of individuals unable to control their seizures with medication and ineligible for surgery.

26 Jul 2006

HIV mutation clue to why only some people develop AIDS dementia

The study of 18 HIV-positive subjects shows that HIV in the brain and central nervous system is genetically different from HIV that lives in the blood and peripheral tissues.

26 Jul 2006

Eszopiclone significantly improves sleep in elderly people with chronic insomnia

The drug eszopiclone, marketed as Lunesta, significantly improved sleep in elderly people with chronic insomnia, according to a report by W. Vaughn McCall, M.D., M.S., and six colleagues.

25 Jul 2006

New idea for detecting zinc in the body with implications for illnesses

Scientists at Cardiff University have developed a bright idea for detecting zinc in the body with implications for illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.

25 Jul 2006

First study to demonstrate IVIg effective longer than a year

A purified mixture of human antibodies called intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) provides lasting benefits to patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), according to researchers at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

25 Jul 2006

Endogenous sex hormones, cognitive decline and future dementia in old men

A prospective population-based study has found that higher estrogen levels in older men are associated with an increased risk of dementia. By contrast, levels of testosterone were not associated with cognitive decline.

24 Jul 2006

Pig cell implants show potential for treatment of stroke, Huntington's disease

A review of accumulated evidence on the use of porcine brain choroid plexus (CP) cells published in the July issue of Xenotransplantation highlights that these cells have the potential to treat acute and chronic brain disease.

24 Jul 2006

Active mind and body slows Alzheimer's progression

Researchers have uncovered the pathways behind the protection offered by environmental stimulation in Alzheimer's disease, further confirming that enhanced mental and physical activity slows neurological decline.

24 Jul 2006

Long term ibuprofen therapy given after brain injury worsens cognitive abilities

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that chronic ibuprofen therapy given after brain injury worsens cognitive abilities.

21 Jul 2006

Giving up driving may be fast lane to aged care

Researchers have found that elders who stay behind the wheel are less likely to enter nursing homes or assisted living centers than those who have never driven or who have given up driving altogether.

21 Jul 2006

New 'patch' drug therapy for Alzheimer's has fewer side effects

Alzheimer's, is the most common form of dementia and affects as many as 15 million people worldwide.

20 Jul 2006

Bush adopts the so-called moral high ground and chooses to ignore scientific advice

The American President George W. Bush has used his presidential veto for the first time to block further federal taxpayers money from being used for embryonic stem-cell research.

20 Jul 2006

Little evidence that wandering prevention works in dementia

Everything from multicolored lights to garden walks has been suggested as ways to keep people with dementia from wandering, but there is little evidence to show that any of these interventions work, according to a new analysis.

19 Jul 2006

Researchers find protein associated with brain cell death

Neuroscientists at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have found evidence of which protein in the brain's immune cells triggers a cascade of reactions that produces unregulated free radical production that eventually leads to the neural cell death found in Alzheimer's disease.

19 Jul 2006