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.

BCG vaccine may remodel the human brain's immune environment

New research led by Mass General Brigham investigators suggests that the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine - which is delivered through the skin to prevent tuberculosis - may remodel the human brain's immune environment, offering a potential biological explanation for previously observed associations between BCG vaccination and lower Alzheimer's disease risk.

6 Jul 2026

Blood circRNAs may predict Alzheimer’s before symptoms emerge

Blood-based circular RNAs showed strong potential for identifying biomarker-confirmed Alzheimer’s disease and predicting progression to symptomatic disease. When combined with pTau217, the circRNA model produced the strongest predictive performance, but larger prospective validation is still needed.

2 Jul 2026

Lung tumors hijack nervous system to drive cancer-related cachexia

According to the Cleveland Clinic, a quarter of cancer deaths can be attributed to one source: cachexia. Cachexia is a syndrome that accompanies underlying chronic illness and causes unwanted muscle and fat loss, reducing quality of life and sometimes even limiting treatment options.

2 Jul 2026

USC scientists target brain inflammation to prevent Alzheimer's disease

An interdisciplinary team at the USC Center for Personalized Brain Health (CPBH) is targeting a family of enzymes that can increase the risk of inflammation in the brains of people with the APOE4 gene variation-the most significant genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's-as a way to prevent the disease.

2 Jul 2026

Smart prodrug targets Alzheimer's disease using hydrogen peroxide signals

A substance that worsens dementia has become a "switch" that initiates treatment. KAIST researchers have developed a new therapeutic approach that uses hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), a reactive oxygen species that damages cells and increases in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease, to activate a drug selectively in diseased brain tissue.

1 Jul 2026

Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers predict rapid cognitive decline in very old adults

Cognitive decline in very old adults has been considered for decades to be an almost inevitable consequence of aging.

1 Jul 2026

Real-time monitoring shows how daily habits influence cognitive performance in older adults

New research using smartwatches shows that older adults can accurately assess how well they are thinking in the moment. The study finds their self-ratings closely match actual cognitive performance.

1 Jul 2026

Sleep protects complex neural networks from drifting into states of permanent instability

Every animal that has ever been studied closely, from the fruit fly to the philosopher, surrenders each day to a state that looks, from the outside, like a small rehearsal for death.

1 Jul 2026

Blood biomarker may predict Alzheimer's progression differently in men

A blood test does not lie, exactly. It reports a number. The question raised by a new mini-review in Brain Medicine, which gathers and weighs a decade of scattered findings, is whether clinicians have been reading the same number in two different ways without realizing it.

30 Jun 2026

Niigata University study updates Alzheimer's risk for APOE-e4 homozygotes

Researchers at Niigata University have conducted the first comprehensive reappraisal in nearly 30 years of the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) associated with APOE-e4 homozygosity (e4*4) in the Japanese population.

30 Jun 2026

Scientists discover how Arc protein spreads Alzheimer's brain pathology

Alzheimer's disease is driven by a buildup of a toxic protein called Tau that kills neurons. As toxic Tau spreads to new regions of the brain, symptoms become worse and ultimately fatal.

29 Jun 2026

Brighter daytime light is linked to a lower dementia risk

The study finds that greater exposure to daytime light may lower dementia risk, pointing to light's role in enhancing circadian rhythms and cognitive function.

29 Jun 2026

Women with Parkinson's may be more vulnerable to Alzheimer's pathology

Women with Parkinson's disease may be more vulnerable to Alzheimer's-related changes in the brain than men, according to new research presented at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress 2026.

28 Jun 2026

Iron overload gradually increases neurons' vulnerability to neurodegeneration

Neurodegenerative diseases affect tens of millions of people worldwide. Among these, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases are the most common; in the United States alone, the Alzheimer's Disease Association and Parkinson's Foundation report roughly 7 million people with Alzheimer's and another million with Parkinson's.

25 Jun 2026

Discovery of karyoptosis opens new therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's and frontotemporal dementia

Markers of a new mechanism for cell death, called karyoptosis, have been found in brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

25 Jun 2026

High-dose DHA reaches the brain but fails to protect memory

High-dose DHA effectively increased brain levels in older adults at Alzheimer's risk, but did not lead to cognitive or structural brain health improvements.

25 Jun 2026

Hidden costs push United States dementia toll to historic high

A new USC-led study finds Alzheimer's disease and related dementias will cost the United States an estimated $818 billion this year, driven largely by often-overlooked costs to persons living with dementia and family and friends providing their care.

24 Jun 2026

New study identifies brain circuits behind spontaneous and voluntary laughter

Laughter is a universal social signal that connects us with others, but the brain regions underlying laughter are not well understood, in part because it's hard to elicit genuine laughter in the lab.

23 Jun 2026

Lifetime estrogen exposure linked to improved brain health in women

Researchers from the University of Kansas have shown a link between reproductive hormone exposure throughout life and brain health in 459 women aged 65 to 80.

23 Jun 2026

TRIMTECH Therapeutics brings total seed round to $47 M with additional investment of $14 M to further develop TRIMTAC and TRIMGLUE targeted protein degradation portfolio

TRIMTECH Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing novel small molecule therapies that target and degrade protein aggregates associated with neurodegenerative diseases, today announced it has raised an additional $14 million in seed funding, bringing the total for the round to $47 million (£35 million).

From TRIMTECH Therapeutics 23 Jun 2026