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.

Two recent studies may help clinicians and researchers better predict and understand dementia of the Alzheimer's type

Both studies appear in the September issue of Neuropsychology, which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA). Psychologists focus on early detection in part because current medications are useful only when given very early in the course of the disease.

26 Sep 2005

HIV-infected macrophages in the brain continuously travel to part of the brain Alzheimer's disease often damages

Bacteria-eating cells that generally fight infection may cause dementia in HIV patients, University of Florida and University of California at San Francisco researchers have found.

26 Sep 2005

Prediction of new polymorph of the Alzheimer's drug, piracetam

A challenge, presented at last year's e-Science All Hands meeting, has resulted in an e-Science project achieving one of the holy grails of the pharmaceutical industry - the computational prediction of a previously unidentified crystal structure, or polymorph, of a drug molecule.

22 Sep 2005

Botox helps explain possible causes of nerve diseases

Botox, used by Hollywood stars to smooth out facial wrinkles, is playing an important role in UQ research to understand how nerve cells communicate with each other.

22 Sep 2005

First clinical guidelines to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of people with normal pressure hydrocephalus

An international team of medical experts led by a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher has established the first clinical guidelines to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of people with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a debilitating condition in the brain that often goes undiagnosed or is misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease.

21 Sep 2005

Failure to block out inappropriate sensory stimulation activity in Alzheimer disease

Some people close their eyes when they listen to music, others wear earplugs when they read in noisy places. Both serve to block out inappropriate sensory stimulation, something that happens automatically when we concentrate.

21 Sep 2005

Green tea may protect the brain against Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) have found that green tea may offer another potential health benefit - protecting the brain against the ravages of Alzheimer's disease.

20 Sep 2005

Prions rapidly 'remodel' good protein into bad

Two Brown Medical School biologists have figured out the fate of healthy protein when it comes in contact with the infectious prion form in yeast: The protein converts to the prion form, rendering it infectious. In an instant, good protein goes bad.

19 Sep 2005

Can we reverse mental declines? Well, for most of us, the answer is yes

As we get beyond retirement age, most of us will not be as mentally sharp as we once were. But a researcher at the University of Alberta says most people have the ability to reverse the mental declines that come with aging.

19 Sep 2005

Clioquinol appears to block the genetic action of Huntington's disease

Clioquinol, an antibiotic that was banned for internal use in the United States in 1971 but is still used in topical applications, appears to block the genetic action of Huntington's disease in mice and in cell culture, according to a study reported by San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) researchers.

12 Sep 2005

Scientists characterize the most infectious prion protein particles

A new study of prions - apparently malformed proteins that initiate deadly brain diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans - has yielded surprising information about how the size of prions relates to their infectivity.

10 Sep 2005

Call for more donations of brains to help researchers discover new treatments for neurological disorders

Speaking at the BA Festival of Science, at Trinity College, Dublin, Dr Kirstin Goldring from Imperial College London and Charing Cross Hospital is calling for more donations of brains to help researchers discover new treatments for neurological disorders.

7 Sep 2005

Simple word test could identify early Alzheimer's

British scientists believe that a simple word test could be used to identify people who might be suffering from the very early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

7 Sep 2005

Relationship between complexity of main lifetime occupation and risk for Alzheimer's disease

Publishing in the September issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, University of South Florida School of Aging Studies researcher Ross Andel and James Mortimer, professor, USF College of Public Health, examined the relationship between complexity of main lifetime occupation and risk for Alzheimer's disease and dementia in general.

6 Sep 2005

Human tissue grown from stem cells, available for transplant in the next four years

A team of researchers from the University of Liverpool in the UK have embarked on an ambitious project which could see human tissue grown from stem cells, available for transplant in the next four years.

5 Sep 2005

UK fertility specialist and broadcaster says embryonic stem cell research promises are hyped up

According to a well known fertility specialist and broadcaster in the UK, the promise of embryonic stem cell research has been oversold by scientists.

5 Sep 2005

African-American women with mitochondrial DNA variant are at increased risk of breast cancer

African-American women who carry the 10398A mitochondrial DNA allele are 60 percent more likely to develop invasive breast cancer than African-American females without that genetic marker, according to research published in the September 1 issue of "Cancer Research."

1 Sep 2005

Alzheimer's Disease News and Research

Further Reading

Two recent studies may help clinicians and researchers better predict and understand dementia of the Alzheimer's type

HIV-infected macrophages in the brain continuously travel to part of the brain Alzheimer's disease often damages

Prediction of new polymorph of the Alzheimer's drug, piracetam

Botox helps explain possible causes of nerve diseases

First clinical guidelines to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of people with normal pressure hydrocephalus

Failure to block out inappropriate sensory stimulation activity in Alzheimer disease

Green tea may protect the brain against Alzheimer's disease

Prions rapidly 'remodel' good protein into bad

Can we reverse mental declines? Well, for most of us, the answer is yes

Clioquinol appears to block the genetic action of Huntington's disease

Scientists characterize the most infectious prion protein particles

Call for more donations of brains to help researchers discover new treatments for neurological disorders

Simple word test could identify early Alzheimer's

Relationship between complexity of main lifetime occupation and risk for Alzheimer's disease

Human tissue grown from stem cells, available for transplant in the next four years

UK fertility specialist and broadcaster says embryonic stem cell research promises are hyped up

African-American women with mitochondrial DNA variant are at increased risk of breast cancer

Charles Darwin was right and chimp gene map proves it

Virginia Tech engineer investigates enzyme link to Huntington's, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer diseases

Blood flow into the brain may play a larger role in the development of dementia than previously believed

eBook: Advancing neurodegenerative research with iPSC-derived microglia models eBook

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

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