Frontotemporal Dementia News and Research

RSS

Study highlights importance of diagnosing 'overlap syndrome' in sufferers of ALS, FTD

In order to better counsel patients, it is key for clinicians of different disciplines to be aware of, and diagnose, the 'overlap syndrome' between two medical disorders - ALS and FTD - since it significantly affects patient survival. In her new study, Catherine Lomen-Hoerth, from the University of California San Francisco in the US, also highlights that from a research perspective, identifying the syndrome early is an opportunity to study damaged nerve cells and understand more about the early stages of both ALS and FTD.

30 Nov 2011

Scientists discover second faulty gene linked to ALS

Following a major Northwestern Medicine breakthrough that identified a common converging point for all forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS and Lou Gehrig's disease), a new finding from the same scientists further broadens the understanding of why cells in the brain and spinal cord degenerate in the fatal disease.

21 Nov 2011

Wnt signaling pathway plays an important role in early-onset dementia

No cure exists for frontotemporal dementia, which strikes between the ages of 40 and 64 and accounts for at least one in four cases of early-onset dementia. Caused by the death of cells in the front and sides of the brain, the disease can lead to dramatic changes in a patient's personality and behavior, including the loss of the ability to communicate.

22 Sep 2011

Families help identify new gene for motor neuron disease

Families suffering from a history of motor neuron disease have helped an international scientific team locate a new gene linked to the incurable disease.

22 Sep 2011

Researchers identify common genetic mutation for ALS, frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- two fatal neurodegenerative disease with distinct but sometimes overlapping symptoms -- are triggered by a common mutation in many cases, according to researchers who say they have identified the mutated gene.

22 Sep 2011

Scientists discover new genetic mutation for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

A team led by scientists from Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health has discovered a new genetic mutation for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and a related disease called frontotemporal dementia (FTD) that appears to account for more than a third of all inherited cases of these diseases.

22 Sep 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

Role of molecular imaging in diagnosis and clinical trials

Two new studies published in the August issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) provide insight into the potential of positron emission tomography (PET) to differentiate between types of dementia and to identify pharmaceuticals to slow the progress of dementia. With proposed National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the Alzheimer's Association guidelines for detecting Alzheimer's-related brain changes expected in September, these articles give a preview of what may be to come.

3 Aug 2011

New sAPPβ biomarker may identify people at risk of developing Alzheimer's

A new biomarker may help identify which people with mild memory deficits will go on to develop Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study published in the June 22, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

23 Jun 2011

Scientists discover three susceptibility genes for development of progressive supranuclear palsy

An international research team, co-led by scientists at Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida, have discovered three potential susceptibility genes for development of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurodegenerative disease that causes symptoms similar to those of Parkinson's disease but is resistant to Parkinson's medications.

20 Jun 2011

New insight into progressive supranuclear palsy

There are new genetic clues on risk factors and biological causes of a rare neurodegenerative disease called progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), according to a new study from an international genetics team led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

20 Jun 2011

ADDF, AFTD invite scientists to apply for Frontotemporal Dementia-specific biomarker grants

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation and The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration invite scientists from academia and the biotechnology industry worldwide to apply for research grants to develop Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)-specific biomarkers that reflect pathological and clinical differences so that appropriate patients can be selected for clinical trials and responses to investigational treatments can be monitored.

16 Jun 2011

Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid holds promise against familial frontotemporal dementia

A drug already approved for people with cancer shows early potential as a therapy for a common form of dementia, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

1 Jun 2011

Many patients receive an incorrect dementia diagnosis: Lund study

Many patients receive an incorrect dementia diagnosis. This is shown by a study carried out by neuropathology researchers in Lund, Sweden.

31 May 2011

Proteostasis acquires Harvard University's two novel protein target licenses

Proteostasis Therapeutics announced today that it has acquired two exclusive licenses from Harvard University to technologies for enhancing the activity of a key cellular protein clearance mechanism, the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.

27 Apr 2011

Sarcasm and lie detection failure signals dementia: Study

Researchers have found that inability to recognize others' insincerity, lies and sarcasm could be a warning sign of a form of dementia. They found that people with frontotemporal dementia - a type of dementia that affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain - often lose the ability to detect sarcasm and lies, while people who grow older normally don't experience this.

17 Apr 2011

Person's inability to understand sarcasm and lies can be a warning sign of dementia

By asking a group of older adults to analyze videos of other people conversing -- some talking truthfully, some insincerely -- a group of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco has determined which areas of the brain govern a person's ability to detect sarcasm and lies.

16 Apr 2011

Malarial drugs may help treat specific form of frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal dementia is caused by a breakdown of nerve cells in the frontal and temporal region of the brain, which leads to, among other symptoms, a change in personality and behavior. The cause of some forms of frontotemporal dementia is a genetically determined reduction of a hormone-like growth factor, progranulin.

3 Feb 2011

Common psychiatric drugs could slow dementia

Researchers say commonly used psychiatric drugs could be effective in slowing the progression of certain types of dementia. Dr John Kwok and colleagues from Neuroscience Research Australia have discovered a mutant gene that causes abnormal proteins build up in the brains of people with frontotemporal dementia, a disease that affects people in their 50s and 60s.

28 Oct 2010

Career choice may influence where dementia takes root in the brain: Study

In an international study of patients with a devastating type of dementia that often strikes in middle age, researchers have found intriguing evidence that career choice may influence where the disease takes root in the brain.

23 Sep 2010