Dementia News and Research

Latest Dementia News and Research

HHS selects Mayo Clinic physician to chair advisory council on Alzheimer's

Ronald Petersen, M.D., Cadieux Director of the Mayo Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, was selected to chair the Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care, and Services. The group was announced by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

25 Aug 2011

People with Down syndrome have diminished optokinetic, vestibular reflexes

A scientist investigating why those with Down syndrome often have poor balance and motor coordination has found that key eye reflexes are substantially altered.

25 Aug 2011

Obesity a brain condition, not just a lifestyle disorder, research confirms

New Australian research has confirmed that obese individuals often perform poorly in reasoning and planning tasks and, likewise, those with poor cognitive function are more vulnerable to excessive weight gain.

23 Aug 2011

Harnessing the brain’s capacity to adapt and regenerate

Understanding the brain’s capacity to adjust to physical and mental trauma and injury – and how to exploit this therapeutically to help patients – is the focus of a major international symposium at the University of New South Wales next month (8 Sept).

22 Aug 2011

Cellular pathology of Lou Gehrig’s disease discovered

Researchers claim to have found a common cause behind the mysterious and deadly affliction of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The discovery could pave the way to new treatments for the devastating disorder whose victims include top physicist Professor Stephen Hawking.

22 Aug 2011

Scientists identify common cause of all forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The underlying disease process of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS and Lou Gehrig's disease), a fatal neurodegenerative disease that paralyzes its victims, has long eluded scientists and prevented development of effective therapies. Scientists weren't even sure all its forms actually converged into a common disease process.

22 Aug 2011

NIA awards UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging ADC to continue Alzheimer's research

University of Kentucky officials announced this week that the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA) Alzheimer's Disease Center (ADC) is receiving more than $7 million from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to continue and further research and clinical initiatives geared toward treating Alzheimer's disease.

20 Aug 2011

NIH-supported project expands genetic research into clinical setting

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine researchers have received a $762,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to tailor drug treatments to patients' genomic information.

20 Aug 2011

Virginia Tech to create portable fall prediction monitoring system for the elderly

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, falls among Americans over age 65 are the leading cause of injury-related death. Falls also are the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma. In 2007, more than 18,000 older adults died from unintentional fall injuries. In 2009, 2.2 million nonfatal fall injuries among elderly adults were treated in emergency rooms and more than 581,000 of these patients were hospitalized.

19 Aug 2011

Seven research teams across the U.S. to develop new drugs for nervous system disorders

The National Institutes of Health has made awards to investigators across the United States for an ambitious set of projects seeking to develop new drugs for disorders of the nervous system.

19 Aug 2011

DiaGenic reports operating revenue of NOK 1,151 thousand for second quarter 2011

DiaGenic: Important milestones achieved. DiaGenic's collaboration with Pfizer is the first collaboration between a diagnostics company and the market leader for Alzheimer's therapeutics that aims to identify blood based diagnostic tools that can detect early Alzheimer's disease, before the disease is clinically overt, or accessible to other either more invasive and costly or less precise diagnostic exploration.

19 Aug 2011

Medical research funding boost in UK

Health researchers in Cambridge have been awarded £114.5m to develop and translate new scientific discoveries into medicines and treatments. The funds come as a part of a five-year £800m investment by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

18 Aug 2011

Vitamin C shows promise against Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Lund University have discovered a new function for vitamin C. Treatment with vitamin C can dissolve the toxic protein aggregates that build up in the brain in Alzheimer's disease.

18 Aug 2011

Medicare Advantage plans may be counter-productive for the elderly

In health care, more choice may not always lead to better choices, particularly for the elderly. In a new study, researchers from Harvard Medical School's Department of Health Care Policy found that the large variety of managed care plans offered by the Medicare Advantage program may be counter-productive.

18 Aug 2011

Mayo researchers to translate genomic discoveries into tools for individualized medicine

Mayo Clinic researchers will receive more than $3 million in a four-year grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute to translate recent genomic discoveries into tools for individualized medicine. Recent advances in the genetics of heart and blood vessel diseases will be integrated into electronic medical records so doctors can more accurately determine patients' risk of heart attacks, blood vessel diseases and adverse reactions to heart medications.

18 Aug 2011

Moderate social drinking reduces risk of dementia and cognitive impairment

Moderate social drinking significantly reduces the risk of dementia and cognitive impairment, according to an analysis of 143 studies by Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine researchers.

17 Aug 2011

PUFA intake linked to reduced risk of heart failure, kidney disease and preterm delivery

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) found in seafood may reduce arterial stiffness and improve heart function in chronic heart failure, according to new research. These fats, better known as EPA and DHA, may also help in the immediate aftermath of a stroke.

11 Aug 2011

Link between brain shrinkage, memory loss in Alzheimer's changes across age spectrum

A new study suggests that the relationship between brain shrinkage and memory loss in Alzheimer's disease changes across the age spectrum.

11 Aug 2011

Elderly women with sleep apnea more likely to develop dementia

Elderly women who suffer from sleep apnea -- characterized by disrupted breathing and sleep and a reduction in the intake of oxygen -- are about twice as likely to develop dementia in the next five years as those without the condition, according to a multi-center study led by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco.

10 Aug 2011

Older women with sleep disordered breathing may face greater risk of dementia

Older women who have sleep-related breathing problems may be at greater risk of problems with mental function, including dementia, according to a new study in the August 10, 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

10 Aug 2011