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.

Spinal fluid analysis can help detect early stage Alzheimer's disease

A new study from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, shows how analysing spinal fluid can help to detect Alzheimer's disease at an early stage. The researchers behind the study hope that their findings will contribute to a greater international breakthrough for this type of diagnostic method.

19 Apr 2011

Exacerbate-reverse' approach can identify potential therapy for fatal childhood disease

Many genes that cause human diseases have parallel genes in other organisms, including yeast. Now Columbia University researchers have used an innovative yeast-based screening method to identify a possible treatment for the fatal childhood disease Niemann-Pick C.

19 Apr 2011

National Institute on Aging/Alzheimer's Association update new dementia guidelines

For the first time in 27 years, clinical diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease dementia have been revised, and research guidelines for earlier stages of the disease have been characterized to reflect a deeper understanding of the disorder.

19 Apr 2011

People with infectious mononucleosis, low UVB exposure may face high risk of MS

New research suggests that people who are exposed to low levels of sunlight coupled with a history of having a common virus known as mononucleosis may be at greater odds of developing multiple sclerosis than those without the virus.

19 Apr 2011

Sarcasm and lie detection failure signals dementia: Study

Researchers have found that inability to recognize others' insincerity, lies and sarcasm could be a warning sign of a form of dementia. They found that people with frontotemporal dementia - a type of dementia that affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain - often lose the ability to detect sarcasm and lies, while people who grow older normally don't experience this.

17 Apr 2011

Weight loss and memory improvement: Link found

A new study shows that there is a link between weight loss, and improved memory in patients. The study was led by John Gunstad, assistant professor of psychology at Kent State University and focused on roughly 150 overweight patients.

17 Apr 2011

Person's inability to understand sarcasm and lies can be a warning sign of dementia

By asking a group of older adults to analyze videos of other people conversing -- some talking truthfully, some insincerely -- a group of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco has determined which areas of the brain govern a person's ability to detect sarcasm and lies.

16 Apr 2011

New insights into dynamics of amyloid fibrils

A research study, published yesterday in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, demonstrates that the aggregation of amyloid-beta proteins into amyloid fibrils characteristic of Alzheimer's disease is not irreversible, as previously thought.

15 Apr 2011

Merz launches 'Make Your Mark' campaign to raise awareness on cervical dystonia

Merz Pharmaceuticals, LLC, maker of XEOMIN, a botulinum toxin type A free from accessory proteins, today announced the launch of the "Make Your Mark" campaign.

15 Apr 2011

Investigational Alzheimer's compounds may treat neuropathies

Drugs already in development to treat Alzheimer's disease may eventually be tapped for a different purpose altogether: re-growing the ends of injured nerves to relieve pain and paralysis.

15 Apr 2011

Treatment of vascular risk factors may lower risk of Alzheimer's disease

Treating high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and other vascular risk factors may help lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease in people who already show signs of declining thinking skills or memory problems. The research is published in the April 13, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

15 Apr 2011

AAN, PDF honor Boston researcher with Clinician Scientist Development Award

A clinician scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston is receiving $240,000 to further his research into how stem cells may be used to treat Parkinson's disease through the American Academy of Neurology Foundation and the Parkinson's Disease Foundation Clinician Scientist Development Award in Parkinson's Disease Research.

15 Apr 2011

Brain damage starts decade earlier in Alzheimer’s patients

A new study published in the journal Neurology has shown that the brains of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease start shrinking up to a decade before symptoms appear. Researchers from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston did brain imaging tests on older adults with no signs of memory loss.

15 Apr 2011

Manage type 2 diabetes to reduce risk of Alzheimer’s

A new study from a team of Chinese researchers has shown that controlling type 2 diabetes symptoms may produce many health benefits including a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease.

15 Apr 2011

Perampanel drug can effectively treat seizures in patients with epilepsy

A new drug called perampanel appears to significantly reduce seizures in people with hard-to-control epilepsy, according to results of the first clinical trial to test the higher 12 mg dose of the drug.

15 Apr 2011

Ortho-McNeil Neurologics announces voluntary recall of TOPAMAX 100mg Tablets

Ortho-McNeil Neurologics Division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced it is voluntarily recalling two lots of TOPAMAX® (topiramate) 100mg Tablets. These two lots were shipped between 10/19/2010 and 12/28/2010 and distributed in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

15 Apr 2011

Study finds association between C-reactive protein and memory decline

High levels of a protein associated with chronic, low-grade inflammation in the brain correlate with aspects of memory decline in otherwise cognitively normal older adults, according to a study led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco.

15 Apr 2011

Brain starts shrinking in Alzheimer’s disease a decade earlier: Study

According to American researchers, brain scans of healthy people showed signs that the brain was shrinking in Alzheimer's-affected areas nearly a decade before the disease was diagnosed. This comes in the latest issue of the journal Neurology and it may offer a new way to detect the disease early, an advance that could help in the development of effective treatments for Alzheimer's, a brain-wasting disease that affects up to 26 million people globally.

13 Apr 2011

Laquinimod drug greatly reduces number of relapses in patients with MS

The drug laquinimod reduced the number of relapses for people with multiple sclerosis, in a large, long-term Phase III clinical study that will be presented as late-breaking research at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, April 9-16, 2011, in Honolulu.

12 Apr 2011

New guideline on most effective treatments for diabetic nerve pain

The American Academy of Neurology has issued a new guideline on the most effective treatments for diabetic nerve pain, the burning or tingling pain in the hands and feet that affects millions of people with diabetes. The guideline is published in the April 11, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, and will be presented April 11, 2011, at the American Academy of Neurology's Annual Meeting in Honolulu.

12 Apr 2011