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.

Frequent social activity may prevent or delay cognitive decline in old age

If you want to keep your brain healthy, it turns out that visiting friends, attending parties, and even going to church might be just as good for you as crossword puzzles.

26 Apr 2011

Researchers to develop Alzheimer's diagnostic test based on spinal fluid biomarkers

Researchers at the University of Kentucky are working on a potential diagnostic test for Alzheimer's disease, based on biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid.

25 Apr 2011

LoJack announces availability of SafetyNet service in Miami-Dade County

LoJack SafetyNet, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of LoJack Corporation, today announced that its SafetyNet service is now available in Miami-Dade County.

25 Apr 2011

Cornell University professor comments on interventions identified by new Alzheimer's guidelines

Paul Eshelman, professor of Design and Environmental Analysis at Cornell University, comments on intervention strategies for earlier stages of Alzheimer's Disease identified by the Alzheimer's Association's new guidelines for diagnosis.

25 Apr 2011

Eisai receives FDA Complete Response Letter for Aricept Patch NDA

Eisai announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration issued a Complete Response Letter to Teikoku Pharma USA, Inc., regarding the New Drug Application of the Aricept® Patch.

25 Apr 2011

U-M receives Taubman Institute's $100 million gift for innovative medical science

A. Alfred Taubman has become U-M's largest individual donor, with total giving of more than $142 million. His latest gift of $56 million to the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, announced today before the University's Board of Regents, will bring his support of innovative medical science at the University of Michigan to a total of $100 million.

25 Apr 2011

TJX commits $1 million to advance mission of Alzheimer's Association

According to the 2011 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report, as many as 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease. Given the prevalence of Alzheimer's, approximately one in every three people knows someone with the disease.

22 Apr 2011

Study finds link between musical activity and high cognitive aging

A study conducted by Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, PhD, a clinical neuropsychologist in Emory's Department of Neurology, and cognitive psychologist Alicia MacKay, PhD, found that older individuals who spent a significant amount of time throughout life playing a musical instrument perform better on some cognitive tests than individuals who did not play an instrument.

22 Apr 2011

Coquitlam student earns top prize in 2011 British Columbia SABC competition

Ground-breaking research by a 17-year-old Coquitlam student who found a way to observe the effects of ethanol on early brain development in an intact and awake brain has earned him the top prize in the 2011 British Columbia sanofi-aventis BioTalent Challenge.

22 Apr 2011

Scientists to develop new technique for early-stage Alzheimer's detection

Scientists at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow are developing a technique based on a new discovery which could pave the way towards detecting Alzheimer's disease in its earliest stages - and could help to develop urgently-needed treatments.

22 Apr 2011

Two Canadian health researchers earn UBC recognition

Two of Canada's most eminent health researchers - Dr. Jacques Genest at McGill University and Dr. Michael Hayden at the University of British Columbia - have been awarded the inaugural Margolese National Brain and Heart Disorders Prizes, the most lucrative prizes bestowed by UBC.

22 Apr 2011

WSU researcher develops potential vaccine for Chlamydia

A Wayne State University School of Medicine researcher has developed a potential first ever vaccine for Chlamydia, the world's most prevalent sexually transmitted disease and the leading cause of new cases of blindness.

21 Apr 2011

Biogen Idec first quarter revenues increase 9% to $1.2 billion

Biogen Idec Inc., a global biotechnology leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative therapies, today announced its first quarter 2011 results.

21 Apr 2011

Military personnel with TBI should receive adequate protein and calories immediately after trauma

To help alleviate the effects of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), the U.S. Department of Defense should ensure that all military personnel with this type of injury receive adequate protein and calories immediately after the trauma and through the first two weeks of treatment, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

21 Apr 2011

Scientists discover 'small molecule' substance that blocks cholesterol formation in the brain

A needle-in-the-haystack search through nearly 390,000 chemical compounds had led scientists to a substance that can sneak through the protective barrier surrounding the brain with effects promising for new drugs for Parkinson's and Huntington's disease. They report on the substance, which blocks formation of cholesterol in the brain, in the journal, ACS Chemical Biology.

21 Apr 2011

Early musical study may provide cognitive benefits as we age

Those childhood music lessons could pay off decades later - even for those who no longer play an instrument - by keeping the mind sharper as people age, according to a preliminary study published by the American Psychological Association.

21 Apr 2011

Neuralstem signs MoU with BaYi Brain Hospital for ischemic stroke program in China

Neuralstem, Inc. (NYSE Amex: CUR) announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BaYi Brain Hospital in Beijing, China.

21 Apr 2011

Anavex: First-in-human dosing cmmenced in ANAVEX 2-73 clinical trial for Alzheimer’s

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (“Anavex”) (OTCBB: AVXL) today announced that the first healthy human volunteers have been initially dosed in its Phase I clinical trial to evaluate ANAVEX 2-73, the company’s lead compound for Alzheimer’s disease. “We are pleased that the first volunteers have been dosed with the study drug, according to the study protocol, and no adverse events have been recorded post dosing to date," said Dr. Ozkan Yalkinoglou, Medical Director of ABX-CRO.

20 Apr 2011

Prism Pharmaceuticals to be acquired by Baxter

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced that its partner Prism Pharmaceuticals has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Baxter International Inc.. Prism Pharmaceuticals recently received FDA approval for Nexterone®, an antiarrhythmic agent which Ligand (through its CyDex Pharmaceuticals subsidiary) originally developed with its patented Captisol® formulation technology and licensed to Prism in 2006.

From Baxter International Inc. 20 Apr 2011

Blocking abnormal movement of mutated human FUS gene also blocks ALS process

In the first animal model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), developed by Dr. Udai Pandey, Assistant Professor of Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, Dr. Pandey's lab has found in fruit flies that blocking the abnormal movement of a protein made by a mutated gene called FUS also blocks the disease process.

20 Apr 2011