Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

New discovery on Huntington's disease

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have discovered how the mutated huntingtin gene acts on the nervous system to create the devastation of Huntington's disease. The report of their findings is available in Nature Neuroscience online.

15 Jun 2009

Waste disposal protein key to cancer tumor suppression in autophagy

"Taking out the trash" takes on a whole new meaning, as investigators at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, have discovered that a waste disposal protein is the key to cancer tumor suppression in a process known as autophagy. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

13 Jun 2009

Assistive technology reduces the stress of palliative care

In light of this year's Palliative Care Week theme 'If only I knew…finding answers to questions that help us live and die the best we can', Tunstall Healthcare can provide solutions to help support family care commitments and work life balance.

10 Jun 2009

Potential new way to treat childhood epilepsy

Rutgers researchers have discovered a potential new way to treat childhood epilepsy using a widely available therapeutic drug.

10 Jun 2009

Neuroscientists watch memories form in real time

Our ability to form long-term memories depends on cells in the brain making strong connections with each other. Yet while it's not well understood how those connections are made, lost or changed, the process is known to involve the movement of the AMPA receptor protein to and from those neuronal connections.

10 Jun 2009

Newly discovered peptide promises hope for Alzheimer's disease

Researchers in Japan have detected a peptide in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that can show whether a person is developing Alzheimer's disease. Measuring the level of this peptide could show that the disease process has started, long before any serious damage is done to the brain.

10 Jun 2009

Researchers discover why Lou Gehrig's disease speeds along more rapidly in some patients than others

University of Florida scientists have discovered why a paralyzing brain disorder speeds along more rapidly in some patients than others - a finding that may finally give researchers an entry point toward an effective treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.

9 Jun 2009

With shrinking budgets, states cutting health services

As state revenues continue their downturn due to the recession, 16 states are trying to find ways to deal with increased health care costs, The New York Times reports: "The carnage in state budgets is getting worse, a report said Thursday, with places like Arizona being hurt by falling revenue on multiple fronts, like personal income and sales taxes. Other states are having mixed experiences, with some tax categories stable, or even rising, even as others fall off the map."

5 Jun 2009

Blue light goggles improve sleep quality in the elderly

Sleep disturbances increase as we age. Some studies report more than half of seniors 65 years of age or older suffer from chronic sleep disturbances. Researchers have long believed that the sleep disturbances common among the elderly often result from a disruption of the body's circadian rhythms - biological cycles that repeat approximately every 24 hours.

1 Jun 2009

New method to induce protein folding

A new method to induce protein folding by taking the pressure off of proteins is up to 100 times faster than previous methods, and could help guide more accurate computer simulations for how complex proteins fold, according to research by a team of University of Illinois scientists accepted for publication in the journal Nature Methods and posted on the journal's Web site May 31.

1 Jun 2009

Commonly used medications may produce cognitive impairment in seniors

Many drugs commonly prescribed to older adults for a variety of common medical conditions including allergies, hypertension, asthma, and cardiovascular disease appear to negatively affect the aging brain causing immediate but possibly reversible cognitive impairment, including delirium, in older adults according to a clinical review now available online in the Journal of Clinical Interventions in Aging, a peer reviewed, open access publication.

1 Jun 2009

Dementia drugs Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl may put some patients at risk

Side effects associated with several commonly-prescribed dementia drugs may be putting elderly Canadians at risk, says Queen's University Geriatrics professor Sudeep Gill.

27 May 2009

New cellular targets for HIV drug development

Focusing HIV drug development on immune cells called macrophages instead of traditionally targeted T cells could bring us closer to eradicating the disease, according to new research from University of Florida and five other institutions.

27 May 2009

Does vitamin D reduce the risk of dementia?

Based on an increasing number of studies linking these risk factors with Vitamin D deficiency, an article in the current issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (May 2009) by William B. Grant, PhD of the Sunlight, Nutrition, and Health Research Center (SUNARC) suggests that further investigation of possible direct or indirect linkages between Vitamin D and these dementias is needed.

26 May 2009

Scientists pinpoint molecular cause of Alzheimer's disease

A discovery made by researchers at McGill University and the affiliated Lady Davis Research Institute for Medical Research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital offers new hope for the early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

22 May 2009

MRI analysis software helps identify early Alzheimer’s disease

Analyzing MRI studies of the brain with software developed at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) may allow diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and of mild cognitive impairment, a lesser form of dementia that precedes the development of Alzheimer's by several years.

21 May 2009

Novel method stimulates growth of new neurons in adult brain

University at Buffalo researchers have identified a new mechanism that plays a central role in adult brain stem cell development and prompts brain stem cells to differentiate into neurons.

21 May 2009

Nanoparticles used to stimulate growth of new neurons in adult brain

University at Buffalo researchers have identified a new mechanism that plays a central role in adult brain stem cell development and prompts brain stem cells to differentiate into neurons.

20 May 2009

Discovery of proteins underlying devastating brain diseases

Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have discovered a set of brain proteins responsible for some of the most common and devastating brain diseases.

19 May 2009

Weight loss in seniors may increase risk of dementia

A new study shows that older people who are thinner or are losing weight quickly are at a higher risk of developing dementia, especially if they started out overweight or obese. The research is published in the May 19, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

18 May 2009