Alzheimer's Disease News and Research

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks of daily living. In most people with AD, symptoms first appear after age 60. AD is the most common cause of dementia among older people, but it is not a normal part of aging. Dementia refers to a decline in cognitive function that interferes with daily life and activities. AD starts in a region of the brain that affects recent memory, then gradually spreads to other parts of the brain. Although treatment can slow the progression of AD and help manage its symptoms in some people, currently there is no cure for this devastating disease.

UH scientists recommend new drug strategies for chronic diseases

Researchers at the University of Houston (UH) are recommending a new strategy for developing drugs to treat cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and cardiovascular diseases.

21 Oct 2011

New metabolic pathway for controlling brain inflammation

A team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has identified a new metabolic pathway for controlling brain inflammation, suggesting strategies for treating it.

21 Oct 2011

CWRU to lead Cornea Preservation Time Study

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine will lead a national study determining if corneas transplanted up to two weeks after donor death work as well as corneas transplanted up to one week after donor death. The National Eye Institute has awarded a $12.3 million grant to support the work.

20 Oct 2011

JHU, Eisai enter drug-discovery research collaboration for brain disorders

The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) has entered into a drug-discovery research collaboration with Eisai, a pharmaceutical company based in Tokyo, to develop proprietary small-molecule drugs for a range of brain conditions such as schizophrenia, pain, brain tumors and Alzheimer's disease.

20 Oct 2011

EMA, FDA endorse use of biomarkers in Alzheimer's drug trials

A news feature in Alzforum explains the impact of new guidelines for selecting volunteers in clinical trials of Alzheimer's drugs. The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the European counterpart to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has endorsed the use of biomarkers—substances in the body or measurements that serve as indicators of disease—to select patients to be included in drug trials.

20 Oct 2011

Common link between Type 2 diabetes and autism

A review of the genetic and biochemical abnormalities associated with autism reveals a possible link between the widely diagnosed neurological disorder and Type 2 diabetes, another medical disorder on the rise in recent decades.

20 Oct 2011

AAN updated guideline on how to best treat essential tremor

The American Academy of Neurology is releasing an updated guideline on how to best treat essential tremor, which is the most common type of tremor disorder and is often confused with other movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease.

20 Oct 2011

Melbourne Brain Centre to open on Monday

Melbourne will become a magnet for the world's best and brightest brain researchers after the official opening of the Melbourne Brain Centre at The University of Melbourne Parkville by the Premier Ted Baillieu and Federal MP Michael Danby on Monday.

19 Oct 2011

Forest Laboratories second quarter net sales increase 9.0% to $1,130.3 million

Forest Laboratories, Inc., an international pharmaceutical manufacturer and marketer, announced that reported earnings per share equaled $0.91 in the second quarter of fiscal 2012. Reported earnings per share in the second quarter of fiscal 2011 were $1.00.

18 Oct 2011

UTA technology could reduce time and cost to finding a cure for Alzheimer's

Technology developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin could significantly reduce the time and cost to finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease and help answer one of the greatest biological questions: why do we age?

18 Oct 2011

Commercialization strategies for next-generation medicines

The Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook University, in collaboration with Demy-Colton Life Science Advisors, and key opinion leaders from the biotech and biopharmaceutical industries, academia, medical research foundations, and investment community, has organized a two-day event to forge partnerships to accelerate the development of new treatments for some of the world's most devastating diseases affecting millions.

18 Oct 2011

Hypertension drugs might reduce occurrence of Alzheimer's

Within the next 20 years it is expected the number of people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) will double from its current figure of half a million to one million. A new study has looked at whether certain types of drugs used to treat high blood pressure, also called hypertension, might have beneficial effects in reducing the number of new cases of Alzheimer's disease each year.

18 Oct 2011

Accera identifies genetic profile of AD patients with heightened response to Axona

Accera, Inc., a biotech company specializing in cognitive health, announced today that it has identified the genetic profile of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients who have a high probability of responding to Axona (AC-1202), a prescription medical food product available at pharmacies nationwide.

18 Oct 2011

HSV1 drugs could slow progression of Alzheimer's disease

Antiviral drugs used to target the herpes virus could be effective at slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a new study shows.

From The University of Manchester 18 Oct 2011

Inhaled anesthetics do not increase incidence of postoperative delirium

A study presented at ANESTHESIOLOGY 2011 in Chicago this week offered firm evidence that commonly used inhaled anesthetics such as isoflurane do not increase the incidence of postoperative delirium, which can affect how well some patients recover after surgery.

18 Oct 2011

Brain tumour discovery offers drug treatment hope

Australian scientists have played a key role in the identification of a new biochemical mechanism that allows brain tumours to survive and grow, offering hope of new drug treatments for some of the most aggressive tumours.

17 Oct 2011

Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute organizes Drug Discovery in Academia symposium

A symposium to be hosted by the Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute (BSi) on Oct. 18 at the Baltimore Convention Center will bring together the pharmaceutical industry and academic-based research institutions with the common goal of exploring how the two can best work together to enhance and facilitate the discovery of new drugs.

15 Oct 2011

First physical evidence that bilingualism delays onset of Alzheimer's

Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital have found that people who speak more than one language have twice as much brain damage as unilingual people before they exhibit symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. It's the first physical evidence that bilingualism delays the onset of the disease.

14 Oct 2011

NIH awards Scripps Research scientist for research into Type I diabetes

A scientist at The Scripps Research Institute has been awarded $4.2 million from the National Institutes of Health in a program to advance what the agency calls "bold and creative research" into Type I diabetes.

14 Oct 2011

NIH awards Salk Institute $4.5M to establish new Neuroscience Core Center

The National Institutes of Health has announced that the Salk Institute will receive $4.5 million to establish a Neuroscience Core Center, a new research center intended to accelerate brain research that lays the foundation for developing new ways to treat congenital brain defects and neurological diseases.

14 Oct 2011