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.

Neuralstem announces registered direct placement of 5,200,000 shares of common stock

Neuralstem, Inc. announced today that it has entered into agreements with certain institutional and accredited investors for a registered direct placement of 5,200,000 shares of common stock at a price of $1.00 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of $5,200,000.

6 Feb 2012

Environmental aspects rather than genes play a major role in MCI in non-demented elderly

Both subjective and objective cognitive impairment are highly common among non-demented elderly Swedes, with an overall prevalence of 39 percent and 25 percent respectively, according to a nationwide twin study by researchers at the Aging Research Center of Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.

6 Feb 2012

ABC2, Exosome collaborate to explore RNA biofluid-based diagnostic technology in brain cancer

Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure and Exosome Diagnostics are collaborating with leading academic medical centers to accelerate clinical validation of Exosome's blood and cerebrospinal fluid-based molecular diagnostics technology in brain cancer.

6 Feb 2012

Two different research groups make similar advances in AD study

Two different research groups have independently made the same important discoveries on how Alzheimer's disease spreads in the brain, according to a February 2 New York Times story. The groups' findings have the potential to give us a much more sophisticated understanding of what goes wrong in Alzheimer's disease and, more importantly, what can be done to prevent or repair damage in the brain.

4 Feb 2012

Study offers evidence that toxic forms of Alzheimer's protein spread in the brain

Tau tangles are one half of the twin hallmark pathologies of Alzheimer's disease—the half that is most closely tied to the death of neurons. A study in the February 1 PLoS One offers evidence that the toxic forms of tau that cause these tangles spread throughout the brain by moving from one neuron to the next in a pattern that tracks anatomical synaptic connections of the earliest-hit nerve cells in the brain.

4 Feb 2012

UTMB's international vaccine symposium to be held Feb. 7-9

An international vaccine symposium sponsored by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and scheduled for Feb. 7-9 will reflect a dramatic shift in the world of vaccinology, according to Alan Barrett, director of UTMB's Sealy Center for Vaccine Development.

4 Feb 2012

Scientists discover extremely long-lived proteins in aging rats

One of the big mysteries in biology is why cells age. Now scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report that they have discovered a weakness in a component of brain cells that may explain how the aging process occurs in the brain.

4 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: Censoring flu research; Assailing Komen's move to cut Planned Parenthood funding

In December, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity made an unprecedented request: it asked the editors of the journals Nature and Science not to publish certain details in two papers describing experiments in which scientists created a highly transmissible form of the deadly H5N1 influenza virus. ... Such caution, though well intentioned, is misplaced.

3 Feb 2012

International conference focuses on where and how memory is formed

The University of Haifa is hosting an international conference of leading brain researchers from around the world next week, where the participants will be attempting to answer the question of where and how memory is stored; or in less ordinary terms: "Cell and molecular mechanisms of memory formation".

3 Feb 2012

Researchers tease out toxic role of tau oligomers in Alzheimer's

One of the most distinctive signs of the development of Alzheimer's disease is a change in the behavior of a protein that neuroscientists call tau. In normal brains, tau is present in individual units essential to neuron health. In the cells of Alzheimer's brains, by contrast, tau proteins aggregate into twisted structures known as "neurofibrillary tangles."

3 Feb 2012

Scientists reveal novel mechanism underpinning age-dependent changes to cognitive abilities

New findings, led by neuroscientists at the University of Bristol and published this week in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, reveal a novel mechanism through which the brain may become more reluctant to function as we grow older.

2 Feb 2012

High beta-amyloid levels may affect brain performance in healthy adults

High levels of the protein beta-amyloid in the brain that is associated with Alzheimer's disease may affect brain performance even in healthy adults, according to a study published in the February 1, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

2 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: Debt estimates and Medicare plans; Sen. McConnell on fate of health law

Debt projections released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office illustrate three fiscal paths: dangerous, dumb and smart. ... President Obama has called for a balanced solution but has neither proposed serious tax reform nor adequately outlined the ways in which he would get entitlement spending, particularly Medicare, under control. The position of most Republicans, on the presidential campaign trail and in Congress, is wildly less responsible.

2 Feb 2012

Abnormal tau protein propagates along linked brain circuits

For decades, researchers have debated whether Alzheimer's disease starts independently in vulnerable brain regions at different times, or if it begins in one region and then spreads to neuroanatomically connected areas. A new study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers strongly supports the latter, demonstrating that abnormal tau protein, a key feature of the neurofibrillary tangles seen in the brains of those with Alzheimer's, propagates along linked brain circuits, "jumping" from neuron to neuron.

2 Feb 2012

Ligand announces results from melphalan Phase II study on multiple myeloma

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced that results from the Phase II study of its Captisol-enabled, propylene glycol-free (PG-free) Melphalan program were featured this evening in a poster presentation at the combined annual meetings of the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) and the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT) in San Diego.

2 Feb 2012

Canadian Government announces investment in personalized medicine

The Harper Government today announced an important investment that will help Canadians in getting more effective treatments and make the healthcare system more sustainable through personalized medicine.

1 Feb 2012

Decaffeinated coffee may improve brain energy metabolism linked with type 2 diabetes

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered that decaffeinated coffee may improve brain energy metabolism associated with type 2 diabetes.

1 Feb 2012

Breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s disease research

Researchers are closer to understanding Alzheimer’s disease using a new stem cell technique. They have successfully replicated Alzheimer’s disease neurons with stem cells for the first time.

26 Jan 2012

Aphios receives NIH's Phase II SBIR grant to develop APH-0703 for AD

Aphios Corporation has received a Phase II SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) amounting to $2.4 million over two years. The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the NIH, awarded the grant to the Aphios Corporation to develop an "Alzheimer's Disease Therapeutic."

24 Jan 2012

Alzheimer’s disease may be kept at bay with regular brain stimulation: Study

A new study shows that regularly doing puzzles and reading books could be linked to a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease. It says that these activities reduce the accumulation of harmful proteins in the brain.

24 Jan 2012

Alzheimer's Disease News and Research

Further Reading

Neuralstem announces registered direct placement of 5,200,000 shares of common stock

Environmental aspects rather than genes play a major role in MCI in non-demented elderly

ABC2, Exosome collaborate to explore RNA biofluid-based diagnostic technology in brain cancer

Two different research groups make similar advances in AD study

Study offers evidence that toxic forms of Alzheimer's protein spread in the brain

UTMB's international vaccine symposium to be held Feb. 7-9

Scientists discover extremely long-lived proteins in aging rats

Viewpoints: Censoring flu research; Assailing Komen's move to cut Planned Parenthood funding

International conference focuses on where and how memory is formed

Researchers tease out toxic role of tau oligomers in Alzheimer's

Scientists reveal novel mechanism underpinning age-dependent changes to cognitive abilities

High beta-amyloid levels may affect brain performance in healthy adults

Viewpoints: Debt estimates and Medicare plans; Sen. McConnell on fate of health law

Abnormal tau protein propagates along linked brain circuits

Ligand announces results from melphalan Phase II study on multiple myeloma

Canadian Government announces investment in personalized medicine

Decaffeinated coffee may improve brain energy metabolism linked with type 2 diabetes

Breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s disease research

Aphios receives NIH's Phase II SBIR grant to develop APH-0703 for AD

Alzheimer’s disease may be kept at bay with regular brain stimulation: Study

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