Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs do not lower risk of pneumonia in seniors

Taking popular cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, such as Lipitor (atorvastatin), does not lower the risk of pneumonia. That's the new finding from a study of more than 3,000 Group Health patients published online on June 16 in advance of the British Medical Journal's June 20 print issue.

17 Jun 2009

Farmed fish and mad cow disease – researchers air new concerns

University of Louisville neurologist Robert P. Friedland, M.D., questions the safety of eating farmed fish in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, adding a new worry to concerns about the nation's food supply.

16 Jun 2009

Could hormones explain gender differences in neurological disease?

Neurological diseases including Parkinson's, Tourette's, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer's, and schizophrenia are all associated with alterations in dopamine-driven function involving the dopamine transporter (DAT).

16 Jun 2009

Inflammation of microglia may not be associated with dementia in Alzheimer's disease

The idea that anti-inflammatory drugs might protect people struggling with dementia from Alzheimer's disease has received a blow with the online release of a study of human brain tissue in Acta Neuropathologica.

15 Jun 2009

Positron emission tomography scans may improve the accuracy of dementia diagnosis

A new study shows that the use of positron emission tomography (PET) scans may improve the accuracy of dementia diagnoses early in disease onset for more than one out of four patients. The results were presented at SNM's 56th Annual Meeting.

15 Jun 2009

Discovery of key molecular target in age-related macular degeneration

A team of researchers led by Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati at the University of Kentucky has discovered a biological marker for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in older adults.

15 Jun 2009

Depression may increase risk of Alzheimer's disease in people with memory problems

People with memory problems who are depressed are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease compared to people who are not depressed, according to a study published in the June 16, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. However, the research also shows that the popular Alzheimer's drug donepezil may delay the progression to Alzheimer's disease for depressed people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or memory problems.

15 Jun 2009

Experimental imaging technique reveals ‘tell tale’ brain plaques in Alzheimer's

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated a new, highly detailed x-ray imaging technique that could be developed into a method for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

15 Jun 2009

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