Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

PDAD patients have much denser accumulations of striatal plaques in the brain

Dementia is a frequent complication of Parkinson's disease (PD), but it is clinically impossible to distinguish PD dementia (PDD), which develops from the progression of the Lewy body pathology that underlies PD, from PD with coexistent Alzheimer's disease.

17 Apr 2012

Nurr1 gene plays a fundamental role in neuron survival

Researchers at the Institute of Neurosciences at Universitat Aut-noma de Barcelona (INc-UAB) identified the fundamental role played by the Nurr1 gene in neuron survival associated with synaptic activity. The discovery, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, allows scientists to study a new target that could help to understand the relationship between alterations in neural connections, which are known to cause early cognitive deficit, and the neurodegeneration characteristic of Alzheimer's disease.

17 Apr 2012

Paper points out decision-making capacity of patients with dementia

Luis Carlos álvaro, a clinical neurologist at the Hospital of Basurto (Bilbao) and lecturer at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), has had an article published on the capacity of patients with dementia to make decisions. It is entitled Competencia: conceptos generales y aplicación en la demencia (Competence: general concepts and application in dementia), and has been published in the journal Neurología.

17 Apr 2012

Abnormal protein accumulation in the brain may lead to onset, severity of Parkinson's

Injection of a small amount of clumped protein triggers a cascade of events leading to a Parkinson's-like disease in mice, according to an article published online this week in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

17 Apr 2012

Metformin associated with reduced risk of Parkinson's in patients with diabetes

A major 12-year study based on a Taiwanese population cohort has demonstrated that not only does diabetes increase the risk of developing Parkinson's disease more than 2-fold, the use of sulfonylureas, commonly used as treatment for diabetes, increases the risk further by about 57%. This study also found that by including metformin in the therapy, no increased risk in developing Parkinson's disease was recorded.

17 Apr 2012

ONO-4641 reduces number of lesions in people with MS

An investigational oral drug called ONO-4641 reduced the number of lesions in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to the results of a phase two clinical trial to be presented as Emerging Science at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

17 Apr 2012

Study: 1 in 26 may develop epilepsy at some point in life

A landmark study from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports that your chance of developing epilepsy at some point in your life is one in 26. Onset is highest in children and older adults. But epilepsy knows no boundaries—it can strike at any age and across all socio-economic levels and ethnicities. There is no known cure and one-third of people with epilepsy have treatment-resistant or refractory epilepsy.

17 Apr 2012

Genes linked to major brain functions and disorders

An international team of researchers have found the genes that increase or reduce the risk of certain mental illnesses and Alzheimer's disease. They claim that some genes that may explain individual differences in brain size and intelligence as well. The team of more than 200 scientists at 100 institutions said this was the largest-ever brain study to date.

16 Apr 2012

HHS report finds nursing homes not prepared for natural disasters

The authors suggest that the federal government mandate better planning. At the same time, many nursing home officials are arguing that as the economy improves, states should increase their funding of Medicaid.

16 Apr 2012

New drug to detect beta-amyloid plaques may help diagnose AD earlier

Use of a new drug to detect the beta-amyloid plaques in the brain that are hallmark signs of Alzheimer's disease may help doctors diagnose the disease earlier, according to research that will be presented as part of the Emerging Science program (formerly known as Late-Breaking Science) at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

16 Apr 2012

Florbetaben PET scan reliably identifies beta-Amyloid in the brain

Piramal Imaging SA, a newly formed subsidiary of Piramal Healthcare Limited, announced positive first results from a Phase III study that showed that PET imaging with florbetaben reliably detects beta-Amyloid in the brain during life with great accuracy and thus shows value as a potential tool to aid in the diagnosis and assessment of Alzheimer's disease.

16 Apr 2012

Two research studies on genetic components of Alzheimer's

Two research studies, co-led by UC Davis neurologist Charles DeCarli and conducted by an international team that included more than 80 scientists at 71 institutions in eight countries, has advanced understanding of the genetic components of Alzheimer's disease and of brain development. Both studies appear in the April 15 edition of the journal Nature Genetics.

16 Apr 2012

New genes may explain individual differences in brain size and intelligence

In the world's largest brain study to date, a team of more than 200 scientists from 100 institutions worldwide collaborated to map the human genes that boost or sabotage the brain's resistance to a variety of mental illnesses and Alzheimer's disease.

16 Apr 2012

Four loci appear to decrease hippocampal volume

An international team of researchers led by Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) has identified four loci that appear to be associated with decreasing the volume of the hippocampus.

16 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Medicare may be unintended victim of bank crisis; Health care industry's fears of law's reversal

The banks' actions led directly to an increase in government debt, which in turn has made the reduction of that debt by "cutting runaway spending" a centerpiece of the Republican presidential campaign to date.

12 Apr 2012

Newer antidepressant decreases depression in Parkinson's patients without worsening motor problems

Certain antidepressants appear to decrease depression in people with Parkinson's disease without worsening motor problems, according to a study published in the April 11, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

12 Apr 2012

AFAR to distribute nearly $2.5 million in career development awards

The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) announced today it will distribute nearly $2.5 million in career development awards to 83 advanced fellows and junior faculty members at 28 Hartford Centers of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine and Training.

12 Apr 2012

Number of people worldwide with dementia expected to triple by 2050; Caregivers need support, report says

The number of people living with dementia is expected to double to 65.7 million by 2030 and more than triple by 2050, with "the current estimated cost of treating and caring for those with the condition at $604 billion a year," according to a report released Wednesday by the WHO and Alzheimer's Disease International, Agence France-Presse reports.

12 Apr 2012

Preliminary results from GE Healthcare’s flutemetamol Phase 3 studies on AD

GE Healthcare today announced the preliminary results of two Phase 3 studies of its investigational PET amyloid imaging agent, [18F]flutemetamol, where both studies met their primary endpoints. One study, in terminally ill patients who agreed to undergo brain autopsy, showed strong concordance between flutemetamol PET images and Alzheimer's disease-associated beta amyloid brain pathology.

12 Apr 2012

Dementia burden on the Australian economy raises concerns

The report by the World Health Organization and Alzheimer's Disease International added that policy priorities should include raising awareness of the disease ensuring timely diagnosis. It estimates the global cost of dementia is more than $600 billion per year.

11 Apr 2012