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.

Education slows down development of dementia: Researchers

Researchers have discovered that education not only delays the early symptoms of dementia, but can also slow down the development of the disease - a finding that could result in faster diagnosis and treatment of dementia, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

31 May 2010

Deep-brain stimulation makes difference in the lives of people with Parkinson disease

A surgical treatment that stimulates distressed neural networks through electrodes threaded directly into a person's brain has quietly made a difference in the lives of tens of thousands of people with Parkinson disease, essential tremor, and dystonia over the course of the past decade. But while it steadies patients' shaking limbs with surprising effect, its benefits on some patients' minds and personal lives have been more mixed.

31 May 2010

Alzheimer's disease awareness event aims to raise over $100,000 for Alzheimer Society of Montreal

It's on a path full of history and collective memories that more than 500 walkers will gather, on Sunday, May 30th, for the fourth edition of the RONA Walk for Memories. This Alzheimer's disease awareness event, which will take place on the Quays of the Old Port and in the streets of the Old Montreal, aims to raise over $100,000 for the Alzheimer Society of Montreal!

31 May 2010

Circumstantial evidence suggests first identified Alzheimer disease patient carried N141I presenilin-2 mutation

Writing the latest pages of an anthropological mystery, scientists propose in this month's Archives of Neurology that it is highly possible that Auguste Deter, the first identified Alzheimer disease patient, carried the N141I presenilin-2 mutation—the same one as in present-day U.S. families descended from German emigrants who settled near the river Volga in Russia.

29 May 2010

Amorfix, Aragen Bioscience collaborate to develop high-affinity monoclonal antibodies against targets for cancer

Amorfix Life Sciences and Aragen Bioscience, Inc. announced today that they have entered into an agreement to develop high-affinity monoclonal antibodies against a number of targets for cancer. Using its proprietary ProMIS(TM) computational platform discovery technology, Amorfix has identified several disease specific epitopes ("DSEs") on misfolded Fas receptor. Aragen will use those DSEs to generate highly specific monoclonal antibodies ("mAbs").

28 May 2010

UT Southwestern researchers create 35 new rat "lines" with mutations in specific genes

For two decades, the laboratory mouse has been the workhorse of biomedical studies and the only mammal whose genes scientists could effectively and reliably manipulate to study human diseases and conditions.

28 May 2010

Bone marrow transplant cures excessive pathological grooming behavior in mice

Scientists earlier found that mice missing one of a group of core developmental genes known as the Hox genes developed an odd and rather unexpected pathology: the mutant animals groomed themselves compulsively to the point that they were removing their own hair and leaving self-inflicted open sores on their skin. Now, they've found a surprising connection between the Hoxb8 gene and the behavior that looks an awful lot like that of people with an obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder (OCD).

28 May 2010

PCA-Rx represents next generation of chelation technology for ASD patients

According to the Center for Disease Control, autism has risen to an epidemic rate of 1 in 100 in the U.S., up from 1 in 150 in 2007. While controversy looms regarding its cause, many parents of autistic children believe a correlation exists with toxin accumulation. To give autism spectrum disorder sufferers a natural alternative to chelation therapy, Maxam Nutraceutics has introduced PCA-Rx.

28 May 2010

Weill Cornell Medical College commences construction of 18-story, $650 million Medical Research Building

Weill Cornell Medical College today celebrated the start of construction on its new Medical Research Building, a state-of-the-art facility that will more than double the institution's existing research space. The 18-story, $650 million building is the centerpiece of Weill Cornell's $1.3 billion Discoveries that Make a Difference Campaign, the country's largest for a medical college. A total of $1 billion has been raised toward this goal in a record time of less than four years.

27 May 2010

Researchers use new imaging technique to view microvessels in the brains of living mice

Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have identified in mice a previously unknown protective mechanism by which the smallest blood vessels remove blood clots and other blockages from the brain. The findings provide insights into mechanisms that may be involved in age-related cognitive decline, Alzheimer's disease and recovery from stroke.

27 May 2010

UCSF scientists discover new stem cell in developing human brain

UCSF scientists have discovered a new stem cell in the developing human brain. The cell produces nerve cells that help form the neocortex - the site of higher cognitive function -- and likely accounts for the dramatic expansion of the region in the lineages that lead to man, the researchers say.

26 May 2010

Increasing levels of GGA3 protein prevent accumulation of enzyme linked to Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine have zeroed in on a protein that may play a role in the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The team found that increasing levels of the protein (called GGA3) prevented the accumulation of an enzyme linked to Alzheimer's. The strategy may lead to new treatments for the neurodegenerative disease.

26 May 2010

New approach to prevention and management of Alzheimer's disease

With the aging of nearly 80 million baby boomers, Alzheimer's disease is an impending epidemic that requires a new approach to prevention as well as management of the disease, according to a UC Santa Barbara professor who has co-authored a new book on the topic.

26 May 2010

Spouses face hurdles when caring for themselves, ill loved ones

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with The Washington Post, Paula Span writes: "They met on a blind date in 1949 and married two years later.

26 May 2010

First Edition: May 25, 2010

Today's headlines reflect health policy action at the federal level as the Obama administration issues a warning to the insurance industry about mergers and urges the courts to dismiss Virginia's lawsuit against the health reform law.

25 May 2010

BIO praises Obama Administration’s dissemination of Therapeutic Discovery Project Program

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) praised the Obama Administration for its new guidance, released today, that will lead to many small biotechnology companies receiving needed funding to support critical on-going research and development programs. The guidance document initiates the Therapeutic Discovery Project Program (TDPP), which was created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Obama on March 23.

25 May 2010

New campaign to raise awareness about soul wrenching realities of Alzheimer's disease

The Alzheimer Society is launching a new campaign in an effort to raise awareness about the soul wrenching realities of Alzheimer's disease, and the Society's efforts to fund research towards a cure.

25 May 2010

Yissum introduces Dralgo platform to accelerate discovery of promising drug candidates

Drug discovery and development is a highly risky process, with only one in 10,000 initial candidate compounds reaching the market. When taking into account the aborted candidates, the cost of developing one successful drug may even reach $1 billion, and the development process may take as long as 15-20 years.

25 May 2010

Shrink files patent related to rapid prototyping system for manufacture of Lab-on-a-Chip devices

Shrink Nanotechnologies, Inc., an innovative nanotechnology company developing products and licensing opportunities in the solar energy production, medical diagnostics and sensors, and biotechnology research and development tools businesses, announced today that patent applications related to its rapid prototyping system for the manufacture of microfluidic chips, or Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) devices, have been filed.

25 May 2010

ADDF provides $248,000 grant to ALSP to allow its lead drug candidate towards clinical trials

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation announced today that it is providing a grant of $248,000 to American Life Science Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to allow for manufacture of its lead drug candidate to be used in preclinical toxicology testing in preparation for entering Phase I clinical trials early in 2011.

25 May 2010

Alzheimer's Disease News and Research

Further Reading

Education slows down development of dementia: Researchers

Deep-brain stimulation makes difference in the lives of people with Parkinson disease

Alzheimer's disease awareness event aims to raise over $100,000 for Alzheimer Society of Montreal

Circumstantial evidence suggests first identified Alzheimer disease patient carried N141I presenilin-2 mutation

Amorfix, Aragen Bioscience collaborate to develop high-affinity monoclonal antibodies against targets for cancer

UT Southwestern researchers create 35 new rat "lines" with mutations in specific genes

Bone marrow transplant cures excessive pathological grooming behavior in mice

PCA-Rx represents next generation of chelation technology for ASD patients

Weill Cornell Medical College commences construction of 18-story, $650 million Medical Research Building

Researchers use new imaging technique to view microvessels in the brains of living mice

UCSF scientists discover new stem cell in developing human brain

Increasing levels of GGA3 protein prevent accumulation of enzyme linked to Alzheimer's disease

New approach to prevention and management of Alzheimer's disease

Spouses face hurdles when caring for themselves, ill loved ones

First Edition: May 25, 2010

BIO praises Obama Administration’s dissemination of Therapeutic Discovery Project Program

New campaign to raise awareness about soul wrenching realities of Alzheimer's disease

Yissum introduces Dralgo platform to accelerate discovery of promising drug candidates

Shrink files patent related to rapid prototyping system for manufacture of Lab-on-a-Chip devices

ADDF provides $248,000 grant to ALSP to allow its lead drug candidate towards clinical trials

Aneuro: A Year of Neuroscience in Review eBook

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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