Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Oxidation of potassium channel in cells linked to loss of neuronal function in aging

Researchers at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School are one step closer to determining how human cells can be protected against the affects of age-related neurodegeneration including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

12 May 2009

Building a bridge from Alzheimer's disease to diabetes and vice versa

Modern societies face the increasing burden of age-related diseases, in particular Alzheimer's disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D).

12 May 2009

Cell's split personality is a major discovery into neurological diseases

Researchers at the Université de Montreal (UdeM) and the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University have discovered that cells which normally support nerve cell (neuron) survival also play an active and major role in the death of neurons in the eye.

7 May 2009

Merck Serono starts second phase III trial of Safinamide in advanced Parkinson's

Merck Serono announced today the initiation of the SETTLE study. This study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of a dose range of safinamide (50-100 mg once daily) as add-on therapy to a stable dose of levodopa, in mid- to late-stage Parkinson's disease patients with motor fluctuations compared to placebo.

7 May 2009

FDA approve Fanapt tablets (iloperidone) to treat adults with schizophrenia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Fanapt tablets (iloperidone) to treat adults with schizophrenia, a chronic, severe and disabling brain disorder.

7 May 2009

Discovery of gene key to Alzheimer's-like reversal

A team led by researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory has now pinpointed the exact gene responsible for a 2007 breakthrough in which mice with symptoms of Alzheimer's disease regained long-term memories and the ability to learn

6 May 2009

Neuroglobin making gene tied to Alzheimer's

Of dozens of candidates potentially involved in increasing a person's risk for the most common type of Alzheimer's disease that affects more than 5 million Americans over the age of 65, one gene that keeps grabbing Johns Hopkins researchers' attention makes a protein called neuroglobin.

6 May 2009

Australia warned - 'Dementia Tsunami' on the way

According to a new report Australia could be facing a 'Dementia Tsunami' in twenty years time.

6 May 2009

Blacks, Hispanics more concerned about Alzheimer's than whites, but less informed

Blacks and Hispanics are more concerned than whites about Alzheimer's disease but less knowledgeable about means to delay its onset, according to a new survey, United Press International reports.

5 May 2009

Mental health prescriptions increased by 73% among adults, 50% among children from 1996-2006

From 1996 to 2006, prescriptions for mental health medications increased by 73% among U.S. adults and by 50% among children, according to a study published on Tuesday in the journal Health Affairs, the Wall Street Journal reports.

5 May 2009

Episodes of delirium accelerate cognitive decline and memory loss in Alzheimer's patients

Delirium often develops in elderly patients during hospitalization or serious illness, and this acute state of confusion and agitation has long been suspected of having ties to Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

4 May 2009

oct3 protein key to Parkinson's, drug addiction

Scientists have identified a protein that appears not only to be central to the process that causes Parkinson's disease but could also play a role in muting the high from methamphetamine and other addictive drugs.

4 May 2009

Memory becomes less efficient very early in Alzheimer's

Even very early in Alzheimer's disease, people become less efficient at separating important from less important information, a new study has found.

4 May 2009

Research uncovers possible basis of memories for different smells

Ben W. Strowbridge, Ph.D, associate professor of Neuroscience and Physiology/Biophysics, and Yuan Gao, a Ph.D. student in the neurosciences program at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, are the first to discover a form of synaptic memory in the olfactory bulb, the part of the brain that processes the sense of smell.

3 May 2009

Level of cellular stress determines longevity of retinal cells

Stress can be adaptive. It can make you sharper, help you focus and it can even improve your performance. But too much of it can tax cells to the point where they can no longer cope and slowly self-destruct.

30 Apr 2009

Glutamate identified as predictor of disease progression in multiple sclerosis

UCSF researchers have identified a correlation between higher levels of glutamate, which occurs naturally in the brain as a byproduct of metabolism, and greater disease burden in multiple sclerosis patients.

29 Apr 2009

SUMO protein guides chromatin remodeler to suppress genes

In an in vitro study, led by Grace Gill, PhD, Tufts University School of Medicine, researchers discovered how a protein called SUMO (Small Ubiquitin-related Modifier) guides an enzyme complex that alters the structure of chromatin to regulate expression of genes.

27 Apr 2009

Discovery of novel protein which, when over-expressed, leads to a dramatic increase in the generation of A-beta

A defining hallmark of Alzheimer's disease is the accumulation of the amyloid beta protein (A-beta), otherwise known as "senile plaques," in the brain's cortex and hippocampus, where memory consolidation occurs.

27 Apr 2009

Autoantibodies may be created in response to bacterial DNA

Autoimmune diseases have long been regarded as illnesses in which the immune system creates autoantibodies to attack the body itself. But today, researchers at the California non-profit Autoimmunity Research Foundation (ARF) explain that the antibodies observed in autoimmune disease actually result from alteration of human genes and gene products by hidden bacteria.

27 Apr 2009

Research brings new hope, old problems with Alzheimer's disease biomarkers

Brain imaging and cognitive tests may be the gold standards for tracking Alzheimer disease progression, but clinical trials using these procedures are expensive, risky, and time-consuming, making the development of reliable go-betweens a pressing goal for AD researchers.

26 Apr 2009