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.

Scientists hope to find new treatments for traumatic brain injury

In the most wide-reaching project of its kind, scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch are expanding their research on traumatic brain injury, examining its progressive, chronic effects on the body in hopes of treating its immediate and long-term consequences. The project is funded by a three-year, $9 million grant from The Moody Foundation of Galveston.

22 Nov 2013

Study shows cognitively impaired older adults released from hospital less likely to be rehospitalized

Cognitively impaired older adults released from the hospital are less likely to be rehospitalized within 30 days if they go to a nursing home than if they return to their own home or the home of a family member, according to an Indiana University and Regenstrief Institute study.

20 Nov 2013

Study finds resveratrol in colored vegetables, fruits may block effects of methamphetamine

Studies have shown that resveratrol, a natural compound found in colored vegetables, fruits and especially grapes, may minimize the impact of Parkinson's disease, stroke and Alzheimer's disease in those who maintain healthy diets or who regularly take resveratrol supplements.

20 Nov 2013

UCP1 protein helps fight against obesity

The uncoupling Protein 1 (UCP1) is found exclusively in brown adipose tissue. Until some years ago it was thought that only babies and hibernating animals had brown adipose tissue, but since then it also has been found in adults, so UCP1 could be useful in the fight against obesity.

20 Nov 2013

Researchers discover new genetic risk factor for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder

Investigators at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered a new genetic risk factor for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder called NDST3. The findings are published online in Nature Communications.

20 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Obamacare has resisted death throes before; website success stories from 3 governors; health law taking a toll on choice of doctors in Medicare Advantage

The first time Obamacare seemed finished, doomed, doornail-dead, the voters of Massachusetts played the would-be executioner. In January 2010, they sent a pickup-driving Republican to the Senate to fill Ted Kennedy's seat, apparently depriving the health care bill of its crucial 60th vote and sending Democrats scrambling for a Plan B. ... the deeper force at work, the reason that these near-death experiences keep happening, isn't a website or a broken presidential promise. It's a problem inherent to contemporary liberalism, which is that liberals' proudest achievement, the modern welfare state, tends to resist, corrupt and baffle their efforts at comprehensive reform (Ross Douthat, 11/16).

19 Nov 2013

BIDMC pilot study shows promise for age-related cognitive disorders

It's well known that the brains of meditators change, but it's not entirely clear what those changes mean or how the changes might benefit the meditator. A new pilot study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center suggests that the brain changes associated with meditation and stress reduction may play an important role in slowing the progression of age-related cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

18 Nov 2013

Researchers explore how certain molecular signaling pathways control aging across all species

Fruit flies are notoriously short-lived but scientists interested in the biology of aging in all animals have begun to understand why some fruit flies live longer than others. They have documented a direct association between insulin and life span, for example, and have observed a tradeoff between prolific reproduction and longevity. A new study, which may have broad implications across species, ties those findings more closely together by tracing an insulin signaling cascade through to protein quality control in muscle tissue and shortened life span.

18 Nov 2013

Eisai partners with NewBridge Pharmaceuticals to market Halaven drug in Middle East

Eisai announces today that Halaven (eribulin) will be marketed in selected countries within the Middle East region through a new partnership between Eisai EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and Oceania) and NewBridge Pharmaceuticals.

18 Nov 2013

Errors in medication common on admission to mental health services, shows study

A recent study, published in the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy, involving Aston University (UK), South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT) and the University of East Anglia (UK) found medication errors were common on admission to mental health services.

16 Nov 2013

£20M research centre opened to investigate exciting new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases

A specialist £20 million research centre, funded by the Wolfson Foundation and dedicated to carrying out first-in-human studies, opens in London today (15th November). Researchers at the Leonard Wolfson Experimental Neurology Centre (LWENC) will investigate exciting new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

16 Nov 2013

Extracts made from herbs may improve learning and memory, study finds

Enhanced extracts made from special antioxidants in spearmint and rosemary improve learning and memory, a study in an animal model at Saint Louis University found.

15 Nov 2013

Research could refine next generation of drugs to help treat dementia

A £1.1 million grant to understand how one of the brain's key neurotransmitters called 'acetylcholine' influences brain activity has been awarded to University of Bristol researchers. The Wellcome Trust award will help scientists understand more precisely how the release of acetylcholine is changing brain cell activity to influence memory and cognition.

15 Nov 2013

Researchers use new approach to parse roles of key mutated protein that causes familial AD

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have used genetic engineering of human induced pluripotent stem cells to specifically and precisely parse the roles of a key mutated protein in causing familial Alzheimer's disease, discovering that simple loss-of-function does not contribute to the inherited form of the neurodegenerative disorder.

15 Nov 2013

Identifying 'sensome' of microglia could improve treatments for neurodegenerative disorders

Massachusetts General Hospital investigators have used a new sequencing method to identify a group of genes used by the brain's immune cells - called microglia - to sense pathogenic organisms, toxins or damaged cells that require their response.

15 Nov 2013

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals initiates pimavanserin Phase II trial in ADP patients

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative treatments that address unmet medical needs in neurological and related central nervous system disorders, today announced that it has initiated a Phase II feasibility trial designed to examine the efficacy and safety of pimavanserin as a treatment for patients with Alzheimer's disease psychosis.

15 Nov 2013

Medical device to reduce frequency of seizures in epilepsy patients gets FDA approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a device to help reduce the frequency of seizures in epilepsy patients who have not responded well to medications.

14 Nov 2013

Skeletal problems now added to list of diabetes complications

The list of complications from type 2 diabetes is long: vascular and heart disease, eye problems, nerve damage, kidney disease, hearing problems and Alzheimer's disease. Physicians have long thought of osteoporosis as another outcome. Based on a Mayo Clinic study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, that's confirmed: You can definitely add skeletal problems to that list.

14 Nov 2013

Novel IRL-1620 compound may be useful in treating Alzheimer's disease

The novel compound IRL-1620 may be useful in treating Alzheimer's disease as it has been shown to prevent cognitive impairment and oxidative stress in animal models. This research is being presented at the 2013 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Annual Meeting and Exposition, the world's largest pharmaceutical sciences meeting, in San Antonio, Nov. 10-14.

14 Nov 2013

People with higher pulse pressure more likely to have Alzheimer's biomarkers in cerebral spinal fluid

People in middle age who have a high blood pressure measure called pulse pressure are more likely to have biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease in their spinal fluid than those with lower pulse pressure, according to research published in the November 13, 2013, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

14 Nov 2013

Alzheimer's Disease News and Research

Further Reading

Scientists hope to find new treatments for traumatic brain injury

Study shows cognitively impaired older adults released from hospital less likely to be rehospitalized

Study finds resveratrol in colored vegetables, fruits may block effects of methamphetamine

UCP1 protein helps fight against obesity

Researchers discover new genetic risk factor for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder

Viewpoints: Obamacare has resisted death throes before; website success stories from 3 governors; health law taking a toll on choice of doctors in Medicare Advantage

BIDMC pilot study shows promise for age-related cognitive disorders

Researchers explore how certain molecular signaling pathways control aging across all species

Eisai partners with NewBridge Pharmaceuticals to market Halaven drug in Middle East

Errors in medication common on admission to mental health services, shows study

£20M research centre opened to investigate exciting new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases

Extracts made from herbs may improve learning and memory, study finds

Research could refine next generation of drugs to help treat dementia

Researchers use new approach to parse roles of key mutated protein that causes familial AD

Identifying 'sensome' of microglia could improve treatments for neurodegenerative disorders

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals initiates pimavanserin Phase II trial in ADP patients

Medical device to reduce frequency of seizures in epilepsy patients gets FDA approval

Skeletal problems now added to list of diabetes complications

Novel IRL-1620 compound may be useful in treating Alzheimer's disease

People with higher pulse pressure more likely to have Alzheimer's biomarkers in cerebral spinal fluid

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