Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Amyloid growth can occur independently of oligomers

Improperly folded proteins are normally destroyed. But in a wide range of diseases, including prion (from proteinaceous and infectious) diseases and neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson disease and Alzheimer disease, amyloid fibrils, or plaques--misshapen proteins that aggregate into characteristic ropelike configurations--accumulate in tissue.

22 Sep 2004

New gene therapy technique may help treat Alzheimer's disease

Investigators at Rush University Medical Center have successfully initiated a new technique that uses gene therapy to deliver nerve growth factor into regions of the brain where neurons are degenerating, in order to prevent cell death and reverse cell atrophy, two hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.

21 Sep 2004

Walking helps elderly men stave off dementia and Alzheimer's disease

Elderly men who are sedentary or walk less than a quarter of a mile per day are nearly twice as likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer's disease compared to men who walk more than two miles per day, according to a study of over 2,200 Japanese-American men in Hawaii.

21 Sep 2004

World's most powerful magnetic resonance imaging machine for human studies

The University of Illinois at Chicago unveiled today the world's most powerful magnetic resonance imaging machine for human studies, capable of imaging not just the anatomy but metabolism within the brain.

21 Sep 2004

Central to this year's World Alzheimer's Day campaign is the active participation of people with dementia

From Australia to Alaska, thousands of people will gather in countries around the world on Tuesday 21 September to mark World Alzheimer's Day and urge their governments to make dementia a higher healthcare priority.

20 Sep 2004

Research may provide a better understanding of the mental retardation observed in Cri-du-Chat Syndrome

By specifically deleting the adhesion protein d-catenin, which is found exclusively in the brain, researchers at UCLA have found evidence that loss of d-catenin produces severe cognitive and synaptic dysfunction.

20 Sep 2004

Discovery of dopamine terminal injury in brains of people with HIV dementia

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered a key mechanism in the brains of people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) dementia.

20 Sep 2004

Dementia is set to become one of the greatest health challenges for the Australian community

Australian Medical Association Vice-President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, said today that dementia is set to become one of the greatest health challenges for the Australian community over the next decade.

20 Sep 2004

Immunoglobulins may help patients with Alzheimer’s

Immunoglobulins which are already being used to treat multiple sclerosis may also be able to help patients with Alzheimer’s. This, at least, is the finding of a pilot study on five patients at the University of Bonn.

20 Sep 2004

Inflammation could have important implications for modern-day health care

Starting in the mid-1850s, humans began living longer due, researchers believe, to improvements in living conditions, nutrition, income levels and medicine.

18 Sep 2004

Protein that causes juvenile Batten disease also plays a key role in normal cell function

The aberrant protein that causes juvenile Batten disease, a fatal neurodegenerative disorder of childhood, also plays a key role in normal cell function, Duke University Medical Center researchers have found.

16 Sep 2004

Immunoglobulins might be promising treatment for Alzheimer's disease

Intravenous immunoglobulin might offer a promising treatment for Alzheimer's disease, suggests preliminary research in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

15 Sep 2004

California Chamber of Commerce lends support to stem cell research

The California Chamber of Commerce has joined with a broad and growing coalition of business groups, patient advocates and medical organizations in endorsing a "YES" vote on Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, on the November 2004 statewide ballot.

14 Sep 2004

People with mild Alzheimer’s were more likely to make driving errors

People with mild Alzheimer’s disease make more mistakes on a driving test than older people with no cognitive problems, according to a study published in the September 14 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

14 Sep 2004

One of Australia's largest hospitals has suspected case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

The Royal Melbourne Hospital, one of Australia's largest hospitals, has contacted 1056 patients today after a man died of a suspected case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

13 Sep 2004

Statistical method for faster prognosis of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases

A large number of diseases − including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and mad cow disease − are the result of proteins that erroneously assume the wrong shape, causing them to stick to each other.

13 Sep 2004

Higher blood levels of homocysteine may be associated with changes in deep brain tissue in middle-aged men

According to the article, high HCY levels have been associated with an increased risk for vascular diseases, and some studies have suggested that HCY may also increase the risk for brain atrophy and Alzheimer disease. Other studies have shown an inverse relationship between elevated HCY levels and cognitive functioning, the article states.

12 Sep 2004

New study will examine why people live exceptionally long lives

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will head an ambitious study of people who live exceptionally long and healthy lives to identify the factors that account for their longevity.

10 Sep 2004

Discovery of way to regulate brain blood could lead to new treatments for stroke, migraine, Alzheimer’s

There may be new treatments for stroke, migraine, Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders, thanks to the discovery of a mechanism for regulating brain blood flow made by researchers at the University of British Columbia.

10 Sep 2004

Transthyretin discovery may halt progression of Alzheimer's

In a finding that may cause a dramatic shift in the way scientists and researchers search for a therapy for Alzheimer's disease, a team of researchers led by Jeff Johnson, an associate professor at the School of Pharmacy, has discovered that increased expression of a protein called transthyretin in the brain appears to halt the progression of the disease.

10 Sep 2004