Tag: Alzheimer’s

Experimental Alzheimer’s drug raises hopes after it appears to slow down effects of the degenerative disease for more than 100 trial patients On cognitive tests, patients who received the highest dose of the drug performed 30 percent better At the beginning of the study, all the participants had signs of plaques in the brain that

Aging vessels connecting the brain and the immune system play critical roles in both Alzheimer’s disease and the decline in cognitive ability that comes with time, new research reveals. By improving the function of the lymphatic vessels, scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have dramatically enhanced aged mice’s ability to learn and

Do you know someone afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease? Odds are the answer to that question is yes, since Alzheimer’s is one of the most common age-related disorders in the United States. It’s also the fifth-leading cause of death among adults aged 65 and older. But as pervasive as the disease may be, one of its

Commonly-prescribed opioid-based painkillers led to harmful side effects tripling in people with dementia. Researchers from the University of Exeter, King’s College London and the University of Bergen are presenting two studies at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2018 (AAIC) highlighting a significant increase in harmful side effects related to the use of commonly prescribed opioid

A new study has found that “skinny fat—the combination of low muscle mass and strength in the context of high fat mass—may be an important predictor of cognitive performance in older adults. While sarcopenia, the loss of muscle tissue that is part of the natural aging process, as well as obesity both negatively impact overall

Scientists in Dresden, Germany, have been successful in mimicking mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease in a novel, stem cell-based model system that reproduces features of human brain tissue. This experimental tool can be used to study mechanisms of pathology and help to find new therapeutic approaches, the researchers say. Their results, published in the journal Developmental

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), working in collaboration with DepYmed Inc., a CSHL spinout company, today report that they have conducted promising preclinical experiments on a compound that could be used to treat Wilson’s disease and possibly other disorders — including certain types of cancer — in which levels of copper in the

Scientists have found up to two times higher level of human herpes virus among people with Alzheimer’s disease, suggesting the potential role of the viruses in the development of the progressive brain disorder. Herpes virus causes contagious sores, most often around the mouth or on the genitals. The study found unusually increased level of human

Of the major illnesses facing humanity, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains among the most pitiless and confounding. Over a century after its discovery, no effective prevention or treatment exists for this progressive deterioration of brain tissue, memory and identity. With more people living to older ages, there is a growing need to clarify Alzheimer’s disease risk

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. It takes a devastating toll on patients and family members, who are usually the caregivers. Current drugs only treat symptoms of AD, not its causes. FIU researchers are studying a new approach to treating Alzheimer’s using nanotechnology aimed at reducing the inflammation in the brain.

It is known that the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with the accumulation of Amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides in small molecular clusters known as oligomers. These trigger the formation of so-called ‘neurofibrillary tangles’ within neurons hamper their workings, ultimately causing cell death and so significant cognitive decline. Very large Aβ oligomers which form

The waste-management system of the cell appears to play an important role in the spread of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain. A new study has focused on small, membrane-covered droplets known as exosomes. It was long believed that the main task of exosomes was to rid the cell of waste products. However, the understanding of

New findings from the long-running Whitehall II study of over 10,000 civil servants has found 50-year-olds who had blood pressure that was higher than normal but still below the threshold commonly used when deciding to treat the condition, were at increased risk of developing dementia in later life. This increased risk was seen even when

Boozing may lead to Alzheimer’s: Alcohol stops the brain from clearing away toxic clumps that lead to the memory-robbing disease, reveals study Large quantities of alcohol could make the brain less able to repair itself  Protein clumps could build up more in drinkers’ brains, leading to Alzheimer’s  Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of dementia, which

A new scientific statement from the American Heart Association summarizes the state-of-the-science of genomic medicine — the study of the health effects of the molecular interactions of a person’s unique genes — for studying cardiovascular traits and disorders and for therapeutic screening. “The promise of genomic medicine is to be able to use a patient’s

Insomnia causes the brain to ‘eat itself’ and may lead to Alzheimer’s, study finds Sleep is important to clear away brain cell ‘wear and tear’, research suggests Yet, insomnia causes this to go into overdrive and remove healthy brain cells Previous research suggests the removal of such cells is linked to Alzheimer’s The study was

Lifetime risks of developing Alzheimer’s disease dementia vary considerably by age, gender and whether any signs or symptoms of dementia are present, according to a new study published online by Alzheimer’s & Dementia. According to the authors, these are the first lifetime risk estimates for Alzheimer’s that take into account what are believed to be

An article published in Nature Medicine with the collaboration of the research group of Dr. Manel Esteller, director of the Epigenetics and Cancer Biology Program of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), ICREA Researcher and Professor of Genetics of the University of Barcelona, and Drs. Dave Monk and Isidre Ferrer, from the same center, shows

Neuroscientists at Indiana University have reported the first evidence that non-human animals can mentally replay past events from memory. The discovery could help advance the development of new drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease. The study, led by IU professor Jonathon Crystal, appears today in the journal Current Biology. “The reason we’re interested in animal memory

A brain protein called tau is known to play a key role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Our brain cells have a “transport system” made of straight, parallel “roads,” along which food molecules, nutrients, and discarded parts of cells can travel. In a healthy brain, the protein tau helps these tracks to stay straight.