Amyloid Plaque News and Research

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New hypothesis on Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are challenging current thinking on the causes and prevention of Alzheimer's disease, offering a new hypothesis that could be the key to preventing this form of dementia.

30 May 2007

Immune antibodies penetrate neurons to clear Alzheimer's-linked amyloid

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have gotten much closer to understanding how immune-based therapies can treat Alzheimer's disease -- by studying how antibodies go inside brain cells to reduce levels of Alzheimer's-linked amyloid peptides that form plaques between neurons.

24 May 2007

New understanding of how immune-based therapies can treat Alzheimer's disease

24 May 2007

Breakdown of myelin implicated in Alzheimer's

Wisdom comes with age (doesn't it"), but not without a process that takes place in the brain called myelination.

15 May 2007

Brain scans of people with mild cognitive impairment show signs of early Alzheimer's disease

For the study, PET scans were performed on the brains of 13 elderly men and women with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 14 elderly people without memory problems.

8 May 2007

Purdue molecule could lead to first drug treatment for Alzheimer's disease

A molecule designed by a Purdue University researcher could lead to the first drug treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

18 Apr 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

Molecular mechanism behind aggregation of amyloid beta peptide due to anesthetics

Inhaled anesthetics commonly used in surgery are more likely to cause the aggregation of Alzheimer's disease-related plaques in the brain than intravenous anesthetics say University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers in a journal article published in Biochemistry.

28 Jan 2007

Variations in SORL1 gene may factor in development of Alzheimer's disease

Variations in a gene known as SORL1 may be a factor in the development of late onset Alzheimer's disease, an international team of researchers has discovered. The genetic clue, which could lead to a better understanding of one cause of Alzheimer's, is reported in Nature Genetics online, and was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

14 Jan 2007

Herpes appears to play a role in bringing about Alzheimer's disease

A gene known to be a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease puts out the welcome mat for the virus that causes cold sores, allowing the virus to be more active in the brain compared to other forms of the gene.

3 Jan 2007

BACE 1 gene may hold the key to Alzheimer's

Canadian scientists have found a specific gene which they believe may hold the key to the degenerative brain disorder Alzheimer's disease.

21 Nov 2006

New avenue for the pursuit of therapies for Alzheimer's disease

The genes responsible for an inherited form of Alzheimer's disease play a direct role within cells that has largely been overlooked, according to a report in the September 8, 2006 issue of the journal Cell.

7 Sep 2006

Donepezil slows brain shrinkage in some patients with mild cognitive impairment

According to a new study, the drug donepezil measurably slows the rate of brain shrinkage in some patients with mild cognitive impairment, a pre-Alzheimer's disease condition. The shrinkage was measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

18 Jul 2006

Pioglitazone shows promise in treating Alzheimer's

Treatment of high blood sugar may have a scientific connection to memory loss that could, one day, benefit millions of people with Alzheimer's Disease, which affects up to 4.5 million older Americans, bringing with it impaired thinking and memory.

17 Jul 2006

Faulty molecule closely linked to Alzheimer's

A recent study directed by Mount Sinai School of Medicine identifies a faulty molecule in the brain found in cases of mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

10 Jul 2006

Potentially powerful tool for designing novel Alzheimer's treatments

Researchers have identified a protein that reins in the rogue activity of the molecules that make the amyloid-beta protein--which may prevent normal brain function in people with Alzheimer's disease. Their findings reveal a potentially powerful tool for designing novel Alzheimer's treatments.

3 May 2006

Possible target for future therapies aimed at delaying or stopping Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's Neurological Sciences Institute (NSI) have located a possible target for future therapies aimed at delaying or stopping Alzheimer's disease.

2 May 2006

Amyloid protein content in the brain linked to Alzheimer's disease risk

Researchers from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) connected to the University of Antwerp are the first to show that the quantity of amyloid protein in brain cells is a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid protein has already been known to be the primary component of the senile plaques in the brains of patients. The new discovery demonstrates that the greater the quantity of the protein that is produced, the younger the dementia patient is.

28 Apr 2006

Inhibiting gamma secretase may prevent amyloid plaque build-up thought to trigger Alzheimer's disease

Oregon Health & Science University is participating in a national study of a drug that may prevent Alzheimer's disease by blocking an enzyme that produces plaques believed to trigger the disorder.

21 Mar 2006

New AF267B drug reverses key cognitive deficits, pathology in Alzheimer's

A new drug that enhances the activity of a key brain cell receptor involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD) reverses learning and memory deficits in mice engineered to have pathological hallmarks of the disease.

13 Mar 2006