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.

Study looks at investigational compound MK-677 in Alzheimer's disease

A new study shows that a drug that increases the release of growth hormone failed to slow the rate of progression of Alzheimer's disease in humans.

17 Nov 2008

Early-onset familial Alzheimer disease provides clues to treatment of common Alzheimer's

The rarest kind of Alzheimer Disease (AD) - the form that transmits from parent to child with a cruel 50 percent likelihood - has been valued for its potential to shed light for the millions of people affected by the common form of AD.

16 Nov 2008

Seniors with sharp brains reveal first secrets of sharp memory in old age

Maybe you have an 85-year-old grandfather who still whips through the newspaper crossword puzzle every morning or a 94-year-old aunt who never forgets a name or a face.

16 Nov 2008

New research reveals key steps in HIV's assault on the brain

Scientists have unraveled in unprecedented detail the cascade of events that go wrong in brain cells affected by HIV, a virus whose assault on the nervous system continues unabated despite antiviral medications that can keep the virus at bay for years in the rest of the body.

16 Nov 2008

Discovery of key contributor to Alzheimer's disease process

Walter J. Lukiw, PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Ophthalmology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, is the lead author of a paper identifying, for the first time, a specific function of a fragment of ribonucleic acid (RNA), once thought to be no more than a byproduct, in regulating inflammation and the development of Alzheimer's disease.

16 Nov 2008

Breakthrough in cellular analysis

Like skilled assassins, many diseases seem to know exactly what types of cells to attack.

16 Nov 2008

Alzheimer's gene apolipoprotein E4 slows export of amyloid-beta

The only known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease slows down the brain's ability to export a toxic protein known as amyloid-beta that is central to the damage the disease causes, scientists have found.

16 Nov 2008

Swiss approval for Zevtera in treatment of complicated skin and soft tissue infections

Swissmedic, the Swiss agency for therapeutic products, has approved Zevtera (ceftobiprole medocaril) for the treatment of complicated skin and soft tissue infections, including diabetic foot infections which have not spread to the bone.

13 Nov 2008

Alzheimer's gene slows brain's ability to export toxic protein

13 Nov 2008

Hope for treating relapse to methamphetamine abuse

"Reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior after an extended period of abstinence is the number-one cause of drug-addiction relapse," said Brookhaven neuroanatomist Stephen Dewey, who led the research team. "This animal study suggests that vigabatrin could potentially prevent human methamphetamine addicts from relapsing."

13 Nov 2008

Breakthrough in cell-type analysis offers new ways to study development and disease

Like skilled assassins, many diseases seem to know exactly what types of cells to attack. While decimating one cadre of cells, diseases will inexplicably spare a seemingly identical group of neighbors. What makes cells vulnerable or not depends largely on the kinds and amounts of proteins they produce - their 'translational profile,' in the lingo of molecular biology. For this reason, scientists have struggled to parse the subtle molecular differences among the hundreds of specialized cell types that are tangled together in tissues like the brain.

13 Nov 2008

Discovery of unique approach for delivering drugs to the brain - potential for Alzheimer's and stroke

Saint Louis University researchers have identified a novel way of getting a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease and stroke into the brain where it can do its work.

12 Nov 2008

Isoflurane induces Alzheimer's-associated changes in mouse brains

For the first time researchers have shown that a commonly used anesthetic can produce changes associated with Alzheimer's disease in the brains of living mammals, confirming previous laboratory studies.

12 Nov 2008

Novel tool helps study the biochemical basis of Alzheimer's

A new study being published in this Friday's online edition of Cell will help answer the question, what causes Parkinson's disease?

12 Nov 2008

Researchers uncover beneficial mechanism of the helpful "Dr. Jekyll" side of the Cdk5 protein

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered new insights into the "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" nature of a protein that stimulates stem-cell maturation in the brain but, paradoxically, can also lead to nerve-cell damage.

12 Nov 2008

All stem cells are not created equal, explains expert

During the course of the Presidential campaign, Obama signaled his intention to reverse Bush's controversial limit on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

11 Nov 2008

Raptor Pharmaceuticals announces positive results for Convivia program

Raptor Pharmaceuticals Corp. has announced positive results in its Phase IIa study of oral 4-methylpyrazole ("4-MP") in subjects with ALDH2 deficiency, or ethanol intolerance, as the initial development stage of its Convivia program.

11 Nov 2008

Protein can nurture or devastate brain cells, depending on its 'friends,' UT Southwestern researchers find

11 Nov 2008

Discovery of mechanism that regulates the development of stem cells into neurons

Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have identified a novel mechanism in the regulation and differentiation of neural stem cells.

11 Nov 2008