Entries categorized as Alzheimers

Damaged Protein Identified As Early Diagnostic Biomarker For Alzheimer’s Disease In Healthy Adults

On February 28, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Public Health / No Comments

Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have found that elevated cerebrospinal fluid levels of phosphorylated tau231 (P-tau231), a damaged tau protein found in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, may be an early diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease in healthy adults. The study, published this month online by Neurobiology of Aging, shows that high levels of P-tau231 predict future memory decline and loss of brain gray matter in the medial temporal lobe – a key memory center. (read the full story)

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Rapamycin Rescues Learning And Memory In An Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model

On February 26, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Immunology / 1 Comment

Rapamycin, a drug that keeps the immune system from attacking transplanted organs, may have another exciting use: fighting Alzheimer’s disease. Rapamycin rescued learning and memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s, a team from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio reported Tuesday (Feb. 23). The study, in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, offers the first evidence that the drug is able to reverse Alzheimer’s-like deficits in an animal model, said the senior author, Salvatore Oddo, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Physiology of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio. (continue reading)

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Penn Researchers Find New Risk Factor for Second-Most-Common Form Of Early-Onset Dementia

On February 23, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Neuroscience / No Comments

van-deerlin-tdp-inclusionsExamining brain tissue from over 500 individuals in 11 countries, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues found a new risk factor for the second-most-common cause of early-onset dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. “Using a genome-wide scan for genetic variation in post-mortem brain tissue, we were able to pinpoint variations common to patients with a specific subtype of frontotemporal lobar degeneration, FTLD,” says co-first author Vivianna Van Deerlin, MD, PhD, associate professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Penn. (continue reading)

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Penn Study Finds That Three Brain Diseases Are Linked By A Toxic Form Of The Same Neural Protein

On February 22, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Neuroscience / No Comments

For the first time, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that three different degenerative brain disorders are linked by a toxic form of the same protein. The protein, called Elk-1, was found in clumps of misshaped proteins that are the hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and Huntington’s disease. (continue reading)

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MIT Neuroscientists Develop Promising Treatments That Could Reverse Autism, Mental Retardation, And Alzheimer’s Disease

On February 21, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Autism, Neuroscience / 1 Comment

In his own words, MIT neuroscientist Mark Bear admits he did not “wake up one day and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to cure autism.’” But, after decades of painstaking basic research on how the brain rewires itself in response to external cues, Bear has discovered a way to reverse the symptoms of Fragile X Syndrome, a disorder that can cause autism, mental retardation, and epilepsy. “It was a classic payoff of basic research,” says Bear, the Picower Professor of Neuroscience. (continue reading)

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UCLA Researchers Image Earliest Signs Of Alzheimer’s Disease – Even Before Symptoms Appear

On February 7, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Brain Imaging / No Comments

Estimates are that some 10 percent of people over the age of 65 will develop Alzheimer’s disease, the scourge that robs people of their memories and, ultimately, their lives. While researchers race to find both the cause and the cure, others are moving just as fast to find the earliest signs that will predict an eventual onset of the disease, well before any outward symptoms. The reason is simple: The earlier the diagnosis, the earlier treatments can be applied. Now, through the use of sophisticated brain-imaging techniques, researchers at UCLA have been able to predict a brain’s progression to Alzheimer’s by measuring subtle changes in brain structure over time, changes that occur long before symptoms can be seen. (continue reading)

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Study Shows Cigarette Smoking A Risk Factor For Alzheimer’s Disease

On February 5, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Public Health, Tobacco / No Comments

nasty ash trayI am pleased to present reason #1,555,233 not to smoke cigarettes (yes, I made that up, but the point hits home). A UCSF analysis of published studies on the relationship between Alzheimer’s disease and smoking indicates that smoking cigarettes is a significant risk factor for the disabling disease. After controlling for study design, quality of the journals, time of publication, and tobacco industry affiliation of the authors, the UCSF research team also found an association between tobacco industry affiliation and the conclusions of individual studies. Industry-affiliated studies indicated that smoking protects against the development of AD, while independent studies showed that smoking increased the risk of developing the disease. (continue reading)

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Got Cognitive Activity? It Does A Mind Good

On January 29, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Cognition / No Comments

Cognitively stimulating activities are beneficial, but evidence suggests mental exercises help some more than others. If you don’t have a college degree, you’re at greater risk of developing memory problems or even Alzheimer’s. Education plays a key role in lifelong memory performance and risk for dementia, and it’s well documented that those with a college degree possess a cognitive advantage over their less educated counterparts in middle and old age. Now, a large national study from Brandeis University published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry shows that those with less schooling can significantly compensate for poorer education by frequently engaging in mental exercises such as word games, puzzles, reading, and lectures. (continue reading)

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Researchers Identify Proteins That Might Contribute To Memory Loss And Alzheimer’s Disease

On January 22, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Public Health / No Comments

A scientific group led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) have identified three kinases, or proteins, that dismantle connections within brain cells, which may lead to memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease. These findings, the results of a multi-year TGen study, are published in this month’s edition of BMC Genomics in a paper titled: “High-content siRNA screening of the kinome identifies kinases involved in Alzheimer’s disease-related tau hyperphosphorylation.” (continue reading)

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Ginkgo Biloba Does Not Appear To Slow Rate Of Cognitive Decline

On December 31, 2009 / By Chris Fisher / In Public Health / No Comments

Older adults who used the herbal supplement Ginkgo biloba for several years did not have a slower rate of cognitive decline compared to adults who received placebo, according to a study in the December 23/30 issue of JAMA. “Ginkgo biloba is marketed widely and used with the hope of improving, preventing, or delaying cognitive impairment associated with aging and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer disease,” the authors write. “Indeed, in the United States and particularly in Europe, Ginkgo biloba is perhaps the most widely used herbal treatment consumed specifically to prevent age-related cognitive decline.” However, evidence from large clinical trials regarding its effect on long-term cognitive functioning is lacking. (more…)

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The Scientist Research News Update 12-04-09

On December 4, 2009 / By Chris Fisher / In News / No Comments

newspaper_genericThe Scientist Research News Update for early December brings about fairly complex research articles with cancer, HIV/AIDS, immunology, and genetic themes. Plus, read up on research that details how scientists revisit an older theory that advocates a role for the immune system in cancer detection and elimination, genetic mutations identified in bacteria occur in a few generations and facilitate adaptation, a possible new drug to battle cancer, an animal study suggests that norepinephrine may help reverse some of the cognitive abnormalities that characterize Down Syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) receives federal approval to use 13 stem cell lines in research. (more…)

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The Scientist Research News Update 10-19-09

On October 19, 2009 / By Chris Fisher / In News / No Comments

newspaper_genericThe Scientist Research News Update series was created to give our readers a sample of ongoing genetics and hardcore science research and trends, and today’s 10-19-09 update certainly fills the bill. Read on to find out more about how late nights and irregular sleep might contribute to the onset of Alzheimer’s, researchers translate complex genetic processes into music, small amounts of stress may actually prevent cancer, DHEA may play a role in superior performance under stress, and bacterium that infects mosquitoes and other insects may stunt the spread of devastating human diseases in future medicine. Also check out new research that suggests a possible viral cause of chronic fatigue and prostate cancer, which will not surprise those who read the article, “A Novel and Potentially Groundbreaking Viral Theory of Autism and Schizophrenia.” (more…)

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NIH/NIMH Research News Update 10-17-09

On October 17, 2009 / By Chris Fisher / In News / No Comments

nih-nimh-news-updateThe National Institutes of Health / Mental Health (NIH/NIMH) Research News Update for October 2009 details very interesting and, at times, cutting-edge research. For example, scientists have started to assemble the first Transcriptional Atlas of Human Brain Development, patterns of cerebral “neuronal avalanches” in may be related to mental illness, high tech robots may have helped find a new treatment compound for Alzheimer’s disease, research on gene regulation of psychiatric disorders and Autism will receive a major boost in funds and research, and much more. (more…)

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Science Daily Research News Update 9-20-09

On September 20, 2009 / By Chris Fisher / In News / No Comments

newspaper_generic Busy week for the Science Daily Research News Update series. This week brings to you new research on how yoga contributes to mindful eating and a thin waistline, poor attention and memory associated with binge drinking, how our immune system may actually protect cancer cells early on, a new keyboard that will help persons with Autism communicate, how positive parenting can impact families for many generations, fascinating research that further decodes complex brain function, and much, much more. (more…)

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Science Daily Research News Update 8-24-09

On August 24, 2009 / By Chris Fisher / In News / No Comments

newspaper_generic The 8-24-09 edition highlights new research with an upcoming study on music’s influence on children with Autism, caffeine and poor sleep in teens, an interesting link between Alzheimer’s and PTSD, several new brain-related studies, an anti-depressant medication that may stimulant the brain’s growth factors, aroma therapies that can reduce stress, the link between stress, depression and pediatric asthma, and much more. (more…)

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