Neurodegeneration News and Research

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Neurodegeneration is the umbrella term for the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, including death of neurons.

New project to explore European diet and healthy ageing

People are living longer. Rising living standards, improved lifestyle and better education, as well as greater access to quality healthcare services has meant that we can expect to reach 78 years of age, an increase of six years compared to the 1980s. However, data also shows that Europeans live to just over 60 years without being limited in their day-to-day activities by ill-health or disabilities.

6 May 2011

New technique can reveal fat distribution in healthy human brain

Mapping the fat distribution of the healthy human brain is a key step in understanding neurological diseases, in general, and the neurodegeneration that accompanies Alzheimer's disease in particular. Antonio Veloso and colleagues, from the University of the Basque Country in Leioa, Spain, find a new technique to reveal the fat distribution of three different areas of the healthy human brain.

5 May 2011

Scientists identify biochemical abnormality behind Machado-Joseph disease

Scientists in Portugal have identified a biochemical abnormality behind the potentially fatal neurodegenerative Machado-Joseph disease and using several models of the disease were able to reverse the problem in what can be a crucial step towards a cure for humans .

2 May 2011

Researchers discover two mutations responsible for neurological condition

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered two mutations responsible for a devastating neurological condition they first identified 15 years ago. The researchers say their study -- appearing in Nature Genetics -- has revealed a new neural pathway that may help understand a variety of similar conditions.

2 May 2011

Lilly and Medtronic’s joint venture in Parkinson’s disease therapy

Lilly has already developed a protein called GDNF (glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor) known to preserve the function of neurons and Medtronic will provide a system that carries the medicine to a key area of the brain.

From Medtronic 26 Apr 2011

Blocking abnormal movement of mutated human FUS gene also blocks ALS process

In the first animal model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), developed by Dr. Udai Pandey, Assistant Professor of Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, Dr. Pandey's lab has found in fruit flies that blocking the abnormal movement of a protein made by a mutated gene called FUS also blocks the disease process.

20 Apr 2011

Alzheimer’s diagnostic guidelines released

Neurologists and experts have come up with a set of guidelines to better diagnose Alzheimer's disease in the clinic for the first time in nearly three decades. The advice also helps doctors identify the earliest signs of the degenerative condition, even before symptoms of memory loss begin. The hope is that they can help patients prepare early, and eventually treat, the disease.

19 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

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

Teva presents new CNS products study data in RRMS, Parkinson's at AAN meeting

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. today announced that several new studies further support the efficacy and safety of the company's innovative central nervous system products.

12 Apr 2011

Positive results from laquinimod Phase III ALLEGRO study in multiple sclerosis to be presented at AAN

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Active Biotech announced today results from the two-year Phase III ALLEGRO study of laquinimod, an oral, once-daily, investigational immunomodulator for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). These data will be presented as late-breaking research at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).

12 Apr 2011

MRIs can help predict MCI individuals at greatest risk for developing Alzheimer's disease

Using MRI, researchers may be able to predict which adults with mild cognitive impairment are more likely to progress to Alzheimer's disease, according to the results of a study published online and in the June issue of Radiology.

6 Apr 2011

Scientists uncover SREBP-2 role in autophagy and cholesterol generation

Not all cholesterol is bad. Every cell requires it for growth - they either have to get cholesterol somewhere or they die. In a new study published April 6 in the journal Cell Metabolism, researchers from Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and their collaborators found that a protein sensor known to balance cholesterol sources can also access a previously underappreciated cellular fat storage depot.

6 Apr 2011

Current Alzheimer Research publishes ExonHit's EHT 0202 Phase IIa results

ExonHit Therapeutics today announced the publication of Phase IIa results for EHT 0202, its lead candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, in the journal Current Alzheimer Research.

5 Apr 2011

Researchers study role of acetylation in Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have determined that a well-known chemical process called acetylation has a previously unrecognized association with one of the biological processes associated with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. The findings were published in the latest issue of Nature Communications.

1 Apr 2011

Amyloid plaques in normal older individuals may be early signs of Alzheimer's

Researchers using two brain-imaging technologies have found that apparently normal older individuals with brain deposits of amyloid beta - the primary constituent of the plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients - also had changes in brain structure similar to those seen in Alzheimer's patients.

31 Mar 2011

Researchers develop diagnostic test for motor neurone disease

NeuRA researchers are one step closer to developing a diagnostic test for motor neurone disease. Dr Steve Vucic, from Neuroscience Research Australia, says the test will allow people with motor neurone disease to be diagnosed up to eight months earlier than is currently possible.

17 Mar 2011

ChromaDex pTeroPure Pterostilbene receives 2010 Most Promising Ingredient of the Year award

ChromaDex Corporation, announced today that the Company has been awarded the 2010 North American Health Ingredients Most Promising Ingredient of the Year award by the independent research company, Frost & Sullivan, for its proprietary branded ingredient pTeroPure™ Pterostilbene.

11 Mar 2011

Scientists develop new model for neurodegenerative disease

A team of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco has developed a new model for how inherited genes contribute to a common but untreatable and incurable neurodegenerative disease.

10 Mar 2011