For decades now, researchers have been trying, without success, to develop drugs that slow or prevent Alzheimer’s. Now research at UCLA suggests that while the protein they have been focusing on-- amyloid-beta—is the right one, what’s needed is to direct a drug to a very specific location, which they’ve discovered, on that protein.
During a five-hour surgery last October at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Kathy Sanford became the first Alzheimer’s patient in the United States to have a pacemaker implanted in her brain. She is the first of up to 10 patients who will be enrolled in an FDA-approved study at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center.
For the first time, UCLA researchers have used a brain-imaging tool to identify the abnormal tau proteins associated with sports concussion in five retired National Football League players who are still living. Previously, confirmation of the presence of this protein could only be established by an autopsy. Follow-up studies will help determine the impact and usefulness of identifying these proteins early.
By using synthetic fibrils made from pure recombinant protein, Penn researchers provide the first direct and compelling evidence that tau fibrils alone are entirely sufficient to recruit and convert soluble tau within cells into pathological clumps in neurons, followed by transmission of tau pathology to other inter-connected brain regions from a single injection site in an animal model of tau brain disease.
Electrodes implanted inside the brain are helping patients with Parkinson's disease. Called deep brain stimulation, the treatment often gives patients control over their movements that cannot be achieved with currently approved drugs. But the surgery is delicate and the treatment does not work for everyone. Alzforum explores the procedure and its potential use for Alzheimer's disease.
University of Utah Team creates startup company and secures $125,000 grant to provide personalized Alzheimer's care and address caregiver education shortage via mobile devices.
A new UCLA study has assessed the prevalence of study partner “types,” whether it’s a spouse, adult child, or “other,” and has found who the study partner is can affect the patient’s outcome in Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials.
People taking the blood pressure drugs called beta blockers may be less likely to have changes in the brain that can be signs of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013.
Planning to cover dementia research this year? Before the 12 Days of Christmas are over, bone up on the most compelling research trends of 2012 by reading Alzforum’s roundup. It covers everything from surprising gene discoveries to drug trial results and points out some of the big stories to watch for in 2013.
Some brain changes that are found in adults with common gene variants linked to disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and autism can also be seen in the brain scans of newborns, a study by UNC School of Medicine researchers finds.
People who study or treat Alzheimer’s disease and its earliest clinical stage, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), have focused attention on the obvious short-term memory problems. But a new study suggests that people on the road to Alzheimer’s may actually have problems early on in processing semantic or knowledge-based information, which could have much broader implications for how patients function in their lives.
A new way to use MRI scans may help determine whether dementia is Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia, according to new research published in the December 26, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A new study focusing on how people with dementia become lost while driving, how missing drivers are found, and the role of public notification systems like Silver Alert in these discoveries suggests techniques that may help recover drivers with dementia and prevent potentially harmful incidents.
A new study suggests that people without a spouse are represented less in Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials compared to people with spouses. The study is published in the December 19, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine in November surgically implanted a pacemaker-like device into the brain of a patient in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, the first such operation in the United States. The device, which provides deep brain stimulation and has been used in thousands of people with Parkinson’s disease, is seen as a possible means of boosting memory and reversing cognitive decline.
Take a look inside the brains of many soldiers, football players, and boxers, and you’ll find shrinking structures and massive, spreading pathology. Scientists now realize the pattern looks different from any known neurodegenerative disease. A fledgling scientific field has sprung up around these findings and is hurrying to identify, study, and prevent this newly described disease. Special coverage from Alzforum, a respected news source on Alzheimer’s and related diseases, details their latest efforts.
A test to detect brain amyloid deposits associated with Alzheimer disease (AD) provides doctors with useful information on treatment and further testing for patients with cognitive impairment, according to a study published online by the journal Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Many of dementia’s behavioral symptoms can be managed well without medications.
Potential Alzheimer’s disease drugs have performed poorly in clinical trials with no sign of any new approvals on the horizon. Have scientists reached a therapeutic dead end? Not according to the 5th Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease conference, held 29-31 October in Monaco. Researchers revealed benefit from new data, suggesting some of those therapies may still prove useful. To read about the latest trial trends, check out the seven-part series from the Alzheimer Research Forum Alzforum, a well-respected news source on Alzheimer’s and related diseases.
Researchers at UT-Austin are conducting new research on vascular disease and low-light therapy to prevent and reverse dementia before it sets into the brain.
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