Dementia News and Research

Latest Dementia News and Research

FDA issues public health advisory for antipsychotic drugs

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a public health advisory to alert health care providers, patients, and patient caregivers to new safety information concerning an unapproved (i.e., “off-label”) use of certain drugs called “atypical antipsychotic drugs.”

12 Apr 2005

Commons committee blasts dementia discrimination

On 10 April 2005 the House of Commons Health Select Committee published a damning report about the government’s policy on fully funded NHS continuing care.

12 Apr 2005

FDA wants warnings put on antipsychotic drugs

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a public health advisory to health care providers, patients, and caregivers to alert them to new safety information about the use of certain unapproved or off label drugs which come under the category of “atypical antipsychotic drugs.”

11 Apr 2005

Animi-3 may offer hope for rheumatoid arthritis

Animi-3, a prescription medication from PBM Pharmaceuticals, Inc., contains ingredients that may have a beneficial, protective effect in inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

7 Apr 2005

Osteoporosis drug reduces women's risk of mild cognitive impairment

A drug prescribed for the prevention of osteoporosis reduced women's risk of mild cognitive impairment by 33 percent in a worldwide clinical trial led by researchers at San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC).

6 Apr 2005

Contrary to common wisdom, sleeping pills may not increase fall risk

In nursing homes across the country, elderly people with insomnia often go untreated, because of the perception that sleeping pills increase the risk of falls and injuries that are a bane of old age.

6 Apr 2005

Fish is brain food

Researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) found that a diet high in docosahexenoic acid, or DHA--an omega-3 fatty acid found in relatively high concentrations in cold-water fish--dramatically slowed the progression of Alzheimer's disease in mice.

28 Mar 2005

Alzheimer's treatment improves with new diagnostic method

Earlier detection and treatment for Alzheimer's Disease are now more practical for larger segments of the population through a more refined use of existing, well-validated neuropsychological tests.

22 Mar 2005

The good news and the bad news on epilepsy drugs for pregnant women

Two new studies on the effects of epilepsy drugs taken during pregnancy show mixed results. The risk of birth defects with a newer drug, lamotrigine, was similar to that in women without epilepsy.

21 Mar 2005

Neuronal death and processing of Tau protein in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)

In a research report recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, published by IOS Press, a research group from the International School for Advanced Studies (ISAS\SISSA) in Trieste (Luisa Fasulo, Gabriele Ugolini e Antonino Cattaneo) showed that a processed form of tau protein induces neuronal death by apoptosis (programmed cell death) when expressed in cultured rat hippocampal neurons.

15 Mar 2005

Decision to cut Alzheimer's drugs challenged

Four major drugs, the only drugs licensed in Britain for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and available on the NHS may be withdrawn. Aricept, Exelon, Reminyl and Ebixa are the only drugs licensed in Britain for the treatment of the disease.

14 Mar 2005

Insulin levels linked to Alzheimer's disease

Insulin and its related proteins are produced in the brain, and according to researchers from Rhode Island Hospital and Brown Medical School, reduced levels of this combination can be linked to Alzheimer's disease. The findings are reported in the March issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

7 Mar 2005

Clearance of beta amyloid accumulation within neurons stops memory decline

Researchers at UC Irvine have identified a trigger at the molecular level that marks the onset of memory decline in mice genetically engineered to develop brain lesions – in the form of plaques and tangles – associated with Alzheimer's disease.

6 Mar 2005

Quetiapine speeds up rate of decline in Alzheimers

Quetiapine, a drug commonly used in nursing homes to treat agitation and related symptoms in people with Alzheimers' disease actually worsens patients' illness, speeding up their rate of decline significantly, says a paper published on bmj.com.

20 Feb 2005

Are hormone therapy drugs safe?

The history of hormone therapy drugs – once thought of as almost magic pills to keep women healthy, vital and young – shows why it is so important to conduct research studies to identify the risks and benefits of drugs, say researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

17 Feb 2005