Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Deficit form of bipolar disorder supported

Results from a Japanese study support the existence of a bipolar disorder subtype characterized by pervasive negative symptoms.

1 Aug 2012

Head impacts, concussions may speed up brain's natural aging process

Concussions and even lesser head impacts may speed up the brain's natural aging process by causing signaling pathways in the brain to break down more quickly than they would in someone who has never suffered a brain injury or concussion.

1 Aug 2012

Specific autoantibodies associated with blood vessel damage in the brain

The presence of specific autoantibodies of the immune system is associated with blood vessel damage in the brain. These findings were made by Marion Bimmler, a graduate engineer of medical laboratory diagnostics at the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin-Buch and Dr. Peter Karczewski of the biotech company E.R.D.E.-AAK-Diagnostik GmbH in studies on a rat model.

31 Jul 2012

Alseres enters agreement with Navidea to license Altropane imaging agent

Alseres Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. to license, [123I]-E-IACFT Injection (CFT), also called Altropane, an Iodine-123 radiolabeled imaging agent, being developed as an aid in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and movement disorders.

31 Jul 2012

Australia's top medical researchers for 2012 announced

Finalists for one of Australia’s longest running and most prestigious awards for medical research were announced today. This year’s winner will join a list of alumni winners that includes many of the country’s most respected scientists.

31 Jul 2012

Latrepirdine appears effective in treating Alzheimer's disease in animals

An international team of scientists led by researchers at Mount Sinai School Medicine have discovered that a drug that had previously yielded conflicting results in clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease effectively stopped the progression of memory deterioration and brain pathology in mouse models of early stage Alzheimer's disease.

31 Jul 2012

Smoking poses less risk for dyslipidemia in very elderly

Smoking does not have a detrimental effect on lipid profiles in individuals aged 90 years or more, report Chinese researchers.

31 Jul 2012

Advanced understanding of neurodegenerative diseases achieved by Trophos

Trophos SA, a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing innovative therapeutics from discovery to clinical validation for indications with under-served needs in neurology and cardiology, announces today the conclusion of the pan-European MitoTarget Project, the EU funded orphan disease project, with submission of the final report to the EC.

31 Jul 2012

Scientists identify new gene responsible for genetic form of blindness in newborns

One of the mysteries of blindness has been solved. A team of international scientists in collaboration with the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) identified a new gene responsible for Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), a devastating genetic form of blindness in newborns.

30 Jul 2012

Neurotez receives U.S. patent for Leptin to treat Alzheimer's

Neurotez, Inc. today announced the grant of U.S. Patent number 8,227,408 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office covering the company's lead product candidate, Leptin. The patent protects use of the hormone Leptin for treating a progressive cognitive disease, disorder or condition, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), resulting from accumulation of an amyloid peptide or for improving resilience of cognitive function by modulating the accumulation of the amyloid peptide in brain.

30 Jul 2012

Insomnia: an interview with Dr Darryle Schoepp

Insomnia is a very common disorder. In medical terms it can affect a third of people. It affects elderly as well as non-elderly people, and is more common in women.

26 Jul 2012

FDA grants priority review to GSK’s Promacta sNDA for treatment of thrombocytopenia

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced that its partner GlaxoSmithKline has been granted priority review from the US Food and Drug Administration for the supplemental new drug application for Promacta to treat thrombocytopenia in adult patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

26 Jul 2012

AHAF announces glaucoma and macular degeneration research grants

The American Health Assistance Foundation, a nonprofit organization with a history of funding breakthrough research on age-related vision diseases, announced today that it has awarded 21 new grants totaling $2.1 million to scientists worldwide who are studying glaucoma and macular degeneration. The two conditions are the leading causes of irreversible blindness in the world.

26 Jul 2012

Census Bureau releases report on disability status in the U.S.

About 56.7 million people ─ 19 percent of the population ─ had a disability in 2010, according to a broad definition of disability, with more than half of them reporting the disability was severe, according to a comprehensive report on this population released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

26 Jul 2012

Everyday words that describe feelings lost in dementia

Dementia can affect a person’s ability to recognise the meaning of common emotional words such as ‘thrilled’ and ‘annoyed’, according to new research.

25 Jul 2012

Single event of brain trauma can lead to Alzheimer’s

A study, performed in mice and utilizing post-mortem samples of brains from patients with Alzheimer’s disease, found that a single event of a moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) can disrupt proteins that regulate an enzyme associated with Alzheimer’s. The paper, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, identifies the complex mechanisms that result in a rapid and robust post-injury elevation of the enzyme, BACE1, in the brain. These results may lead to the development of a drug treatment that targets this mechanism to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

25 Jul 2012

WASC accredits Cedars-Sinai PhD program in biomedical sciences and translational medicine

The Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences and Translational Medicine at Cedars-Sinai has been accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, an affirmation that the PhD-awarding educational effort meets the most rigorous standards of higher learning.

25 Jul 2012

Study uncovers pathways by which yoga impacts biological processes

Six months ago, researchers at UCLA published a study that showed using a specific type of yoga to engage in a brief, simple daily meditation reduced the stress levels of people who care for those stricken by Alzheimer's and dementia. Now they know why.

25 Jul 2012

Elan second quarter total revenue increases 6% to $288.0 million

Elan Corporation, plc today reported its second quarter and first half 2012 financial results.

25 Jul 2012

Moderate-to-severe TBI can disrupt proteins that regulate enzyme associated with Alzheimer's

A study, performed in mice and utilizing post-mortem samples of brains from patients with Alzheimer's disease, found that a single event of a moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) can disrupt proteins that regulate an enzyme associated with Alzheimer's.

25 Jul 2012