Dementia News and Research

Latest Dementia News and Research

Combination therapy improves patients with depression symptoms: Study

New data presented today at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting suggests a benefit to combining L-methylfolate, a prescription medical food called Deplin, with an antidepressant at the start of treatment. This retrospective analysis showed a significantly greater improvement in depression symptoms in a shorter period of time, when patients with Major Depressive Disorder were started on combination therapy.

25 May 2010

Stem cell research could lead to new treatment strategies for motor neuron disease

The Motor Neurone Disease Association is funding its first ever stem cell research programme to help unlock the secrets of this fatal, neurological condition.

24 May 2010

European researchers define research priorities in biogerontology

The quality of the medical care for geriatric patients is a major investment for society and must imperatively be a research priority in Europe. This is why 50 European researchers, met on May 17 - 19 in Brussels, to define the research priorities in the field of biogerontology for the next 10 to 15 years.

21 May 2010

German states may face healthcare crisis: Study

Within the next ten years, there will be deficiencies in healthcare provision in parts of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. This is the conclusion reached by Ulrike Siewert of Greifswald University and her coauthors in the current edition of Deutsches -rzteblatt International.

21 May 2010

Prescribing practices for dementia patients

Demented patients are often treated nonspecifically with psychoactive medications. Neuroleptic drugs are given even when they are not specifically indicated, as Tomislav Majic and his colleagues from the Charit- Hospital, Berlin, show in the current issue of Deutsches -rzteblatt International.

21 May 2010

Dementia patients treated with neuroleptic drugs instead of anti-dementia medication: Study

Demented patients are often treated nonspecifically with psychoactive medications. Neuroleptic drugs are given even when they are not specifically indicated, as Tomislav Majic and his colleagues from the Charité Hospital, Berlin, show in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[18]: 320-7).

21 May 2010

Study confirms inverse association of increase in BMI with lower brain volumes

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine determined that excess abdominal fat places otherwise healthy, middle-aged people at risk for dementia later in life. Preliminary findings suggest a relationship between obesity and dementia that could lead to promising prevention strategies in the future. Results of this study are published early online in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association.

20 May 2010

275% rise in dementia cases for Australia over next 40 years: Study

According to an Access Economics study commissioned by the Alzheimer’s Australia the number of Victorian dementia patients will quadruple in the next 40 years. At present the figures stand at 66,000 and are expected to touch 246,000 in 2050. The rise is an alarming 275% and is fueled by population growth, reduced physical activity, and an increasingly ageing population. Alzheimer’s Australia warns Victorian Health authorities to start planning for measures to curb the epidemic.

19 May 2010

Diabetic patients with limited health literacy are at higher risk for hypoglycemia: Study

People with diabetes who have limited health literacy are at higher risk for hypoglycemia or low blood sugar, according to a new study from researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, CA.

19 May 2010

Taking the final step from the bench to the hospital or clinic bedside

A new Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University Center for Aging Research (IUCAR) study provides effective strategies to help hospital systems, physicians and other care providers to overcome end zone hurdles and actually take evidence-based research to the patient’s hospital or clinic bedside.

18 May 2010

Taking the final step from the bench to the hospital or clinic bedside

18 May 2010

Eisai calls on Alzheimer's patients and caregivers to nominate pharmacists for 2010 C.A.R.E. Pharmacy Award

Eisai Inc., in coordination with the Alzheimer's Association, calls on individuals with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers across America to nominate local pharmacists for the 2010 C.A.R.E. Pharmacy Award. This award recognizes the vital role that pharmacists play in helping the estimated 5.3 million Americans living with Alzheimer's disease and their almost 11 million caregivers.

18 May 2010

Caffeine normalizes brain function and prevents cognitive decline

Although caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug worldwide, its potential beneficial effect for maintenance of proper brain functioning has only recently begun to be adequately appreciated. Substantial evidence from epidemiological studies and fundamental research in animal models suggests that caffeine may be protective against the cognitive decline seen in dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

18 May 2010

Foundation Venture Capital Group makes initial investment of $175,000 to develop test to diagnose AD

As many as 5.3 million Americans, and 35 million people worldwide, are living with Alzheimer's disease, a devastating neurodegenerative illness characterized by memory loss, cognitive decline and widespread destruction of neurons in the brain. Today, there is no definitive diagnosis for the disease, and no treatment to cure it.

15 May 2010

Off-label use of AAs among elderly associated with increased risk of diabetes: Study

A new study yields important new evidence that the use of atypical antipsychotics among the elderly for off-label purposes is associated with increased risk of developing diabetes.

14 May 2010

Catheter ablation treatment reduces risks associated with atrial fibrillation

New findings by researchers from the Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, reveals treatment of the most common heart rhythm disorder that affects more than two million Americans significantly reduces the risk of stroke, mortality, Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

14 May 2010

India, Brazil launch trade dispute against EU, Netherlands over seizures of generic drugs

"India and Brazil launched a trade dispute against the European Union and the Netherlands on Wednesday, saying their seizures of generic drugs were hurting healthcare in poor countries and disrupting international trade," Reuters reports.

14 May 2010

Music enhances new learning of information in AD patients

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are better able to remember new verbal information when it is provided in the context of music even when compared to healthy, older adults. The findings, which currently appear on-line in Neuropsychologia, offer possible applications in treating and caring for patients with AD.

13 May 2010

Genetic variations do not improve ability to predict risk of AD: Study

Although genome-wide analysis identified two genetic variations associated with Alzheimer disease, these variations did not improve the ability to predict the risk of AD, according to a study in the May 12 issue of JAMA.

12 May 2010

Academic scientist receives $125,000 from ADDF/LBDA program to study LBD

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation and the Lewy Body Dementia Association announced today the recipient of their first partnership research award through the Lewy Body Dementia Biomarker Research Program.

12 May 2010