Possible lead in Alzheimer's researchv

[JBeukema]

"We believe that we have put a face, a structure, on the molecular assembly that is responsible for Alzheimer's disease," said Bowers.

Alzheimer's Research Yields Potential Drug Target

 

[waltky]

'Yo mama' takes on a new meaning...

Alzheimer's More Likely Inherited Through Mother
March 03, 2011 - Researchers use MRI scans to look for shrinking brain tissue

A new study suggests that Alzheimer's Disease is more likely to be inherited through the mother than through the father. But the study has limitations. There is no definitive test for Alzheimer's Disease, except examining the brain in an autopsy. So physicians and researchers have to use stand-ins, or proxies, to determine whether someone has the disease. A physician may give an elderly patient a memory test, or ask family members about behavioral changes. Researchers in this study used MRI scans to look for shrinking brain tissue.

Robyn Honea of the University of Kansas Medical Center says a certain amount of shrinkage is a normal part of aging, but some of the people in their study lost more brain tissue than others. "What we found is that really there wasn't that much difference between people that had a father with Alzheimer's disease and those that had no family history," Honea explains. "However, the group that had a mother with Alzheimer's disease had more shrinkage, primarily in two different areas of the brain." The parts of the brain where they observed this shrinkage are associated with memory, and are areas that typically atrophy in Alzheimer's patients.

But a change in brain volume doesn't necessarily signal the onset of Alzheimer's. Honea says they gave tests to measure loss of memory and other brain functions over the two years of the study. "We did measure cognitive change, but they didn't have significantly more cognitive change than any of the other groups," she said. This is a relatively limited study, with just 53 people. And Honea is careful to point out that family history is an established risk factor for Alzheimer's, so the fact that people whose mother had Alzheimer's show more brain atrophy doesn't mean that the disease is only inherited through the mother.

"We know that people that have a mother or a father [with Alzheimer's disease] are at risk. We're really seeing that risk play out in the mother group in this sample. That doesn't necessarily mean that the group that had a father [with the disease] aren't at risk, too. They're just not exhibiting the same brain changes." Honea says understanding how Alzheimer's is inherited may help researchers develop ways to prevent or treat the disease.

Source

 

[strollingbones]

i hope soon alzheimer's will be like small pox...a forgotten disease

thanks there wal i had been avoiding the news report on mothers and alzheimers

 

[waltky]

Pre-cursor to Alzheimer's starts years before dementia...

New Alzheimer's guidelines target early stages
4/19/2011 - Disease begins a decade before dementia appears

The first new U.S. diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer's disease released in 27 years paint the disorder as a disease that occurs gradually over many years, starting with changes in the brain, then mild memory problems and finally progressing to full-blown dementia. Released on Tuesday by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association, the guidelines officially recognize mild cognitive impairment or MCI — first described more than a decade ago — as a precursor to the disease.

And they add a new research category known as preclinical Alzheimer's, the earliest stage of the disease when clumps of a protein called amyloid are just beginning to form in the brains of people who are otherwise healthy. This preclinical stage about 10 years before dementia sets in is seen as the best place to intervene in the disease. It is why new imaging agents for PET scans, spinal fluid tests and other so-called biomarkers that predict Alzheimer's are becoming so important to researchers and drug companies.

Missing subtle sarcasm may signal dementia

The notion of different stages of the disease marks a stark contrast from the last set of guidelines published by government researchers in 1984, which only recognized the dementia phase of Alzheimer's — in which people lose their memories and the ability to care for themselves. "The biggest difference between then and now is we now think of this process as a continuum that started many years before we make the diagnosis of dementia," Dr. Guy McKhann of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who worked on the new guidelines, told a media briefing.

Including earlier phases of the disease is important in advancing Alzheimer's research, said Dr. Reisa Sperling of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who led the group that wrote the guidelines for preclinical Alzheimer's. "If we are ever really going to move towards prevention of Alzheimer's disease, we have to include people who don't yet have symptoms," Sperling said in a telephone interview.

Saying the 'A' word

 

[waltky]

Diet and Alzheimer's...

US Study: No Evidence Healthy Diet Prevents Alzheimer’s
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 - A new U.S. government study says there is not enough evidence to prove that living a healthy lifestyle prevents Alzheimer's disease.

A panel of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health reports that the greatest risk of developing the disease is old age. A certain gene variation in some patients also is a factor.

But the experts say they cannot reach any firm conclusions that the risk of alzheimer's is cut by a healthy diet low in fat and high in fruits and vegetables — along with avoiding cigarettes and alcohol. They say more study is needed, but they also recommend that people live a healthy lifestyle.

One expert says doctors expect “an explosion” of Alzheimer's patients in the next 50 years because people are living longer. The study appears in the medical journal The Archives of Neurology.

Source

 

[freedombecki]

"We believe that we have put a face, a structure, on the molecular assembly that is responsible for Alzheimer's disease," said Bowers.

Alzheimer's Research Yields Potential Drug Target

I'm so jazzed to read about this initial phase of researchers hot on the trail of this morbid killer and destroyer of good lives. I was particularly excited about the links on the page explaining the chemical changes in the brains of Alzheimer's victims:

Related Stories
Second Member in Alzheimer's Toxic Duo Identified (Feb. 7, 2011) — Armed with new evidence, scientists hope to disrupt signals that turn on target genes in Alzheimer's ... > read more
Toxic Levels Of Alzheimer's Clusters In Brain Determined (Aug. 13, 2009) — Scientists know that small, grape-like clusters of a protein called the amyloid beta-protein are toxic, causing Alzheimer's (AD). By creating various sizes of clusters in the lab that exactly match ... > read more
Early Role of Mitochondria in Alzheimer's Disease May Help Explain Limitations to Current Beta Amyloid Hypothesis (Oct. 13, 2010) — A new study in mouse models has found that the brain's mitochondria -- the powerhouses of the cell -- are one of the earliest casualties of the disease. The study also found that impaired ... > read more
Small Clumps of Tau Protein Disrupt Memory; Animal Study Suggests Possible Target for Alzheimer’s Disease Therapies (Nov. 17, 2010) — Too many small aggregates of a protein called tau in the brain can directly interfere with memory, according to new animal ... > read more
Compound Found in Red Wine Neutralizes Toxicity of Proteins Related to Alzheimer's (June 25, 2010) — An organic compound found in red wine -- resveratrol -- has the ability to neutralize the toxic effects of proteins linked to Alzheimer's disease. The findings are a step toward understanding the ... > read more
​

Thanks, JBeukema.

 

[waltky]

Granny awful sorry to hear dis...

Singer Glen Campbell suffering from Alzheimer's disease
22 June 2011 - Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six months ago

US country music star Glen Campbell has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the 75-year-old and his wife have told People magazine. Kim Campbell said if her husband "flubs a lyric or gets confused on stage", she wanted fans to know the reason.

Mr Campbell plans to retire from the music industry later this year with a series of farewell concerts. The singer, diagnosed six months ago, is known for hits like Rhinestone Cowboy and Wichita Lineman.

"I still love making music, and I still love performing for my fans. I'd like to thank them for sticking with me through thick and thin," Mr Campbell said. The Grammy Award winner, who will launch his final tour in October, said he was suffering from short-term memory loss for years, prior to his diagnosis.

BBC News - Singer Glen Campbell suffering from Alzheimer's disease

 

[waltky]

Brain injury more than doubles the risk of dementia...

Traumatic brain injury doubles risk of Alzheimer's
17 July`11 - A brain injury more than doubles the risk of dementia, according to new research.

A large study of older war veterans suggests those who experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI) during their lives had more than two times the risk of developing dementia, according to scientists from the University of California-San Francisco. The researchers presented their findings today at the Alzheimer's Association's annual International Conference in Paris. "We're now getting a much better understanding that head injury is an important risk factor for developing dementia down the road," says lead researcher Kristine Yaffe, director of the Memory Disorders Program at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

Yaffe and colleagues looked at medical records of nearly 300,000 veterans, all 55 or older. Nobody had dementia at the study's start. About 2% had had a TBI. All had at least one inpatient or outpatient visit between 1997 and 2000 and a follow-up sometime between 2001 and 2007. A diagnosis of a concussion, post-concussion syndrome, a skull fracture or some non-specific head injuries are considered TBIs, she says. The risk of dementia was 15% in those with a TBI diagnosis, compared with almost 7% in those who had never had a TBI, says Yaffe.

Other studies have shown that TBI can increase the risk of dementia: It might hit earlier, and symptoms could worsen, says Douglas Smith, professor of neurosurgery and director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. About 1.7 million people experience a TBI each year, mostly because of falls and car accidents. TBI also is referred to as the "signature wound" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where TBI accounts for 22% of casualties overall and 59% of blast-related injuries, says Yaffe.

Smith says that with so many soldiers returning from war affected by blasts, the relationship between TBI and dementia needs to be sorted out. It's unknown at this point how many soldiers have a history of brain injury, he says. "I'm even worried for people psychologically. People worry a lot about, 'Am I going to get Alzheimer's disease?'" Yaffe says more research is needed to explore whether early rehabilitation can help reduce the risk for dementia. "If you know you've had a head injury and you are approaching older age, one has to be carefully monitored and screened for cognitive dementia."

Source

See also:

Painkillers 'may ease agitation' in dementia patients
17 July 2011 - Many dementia patients being prescribed "chemical cosh" antipsychotic drugs could be better treated with simple painkillers, research says.

The British and Norwegian study, published on the BMJ website, found painkillers significantly cut agitation in dementia patients. Agitation, a common dementia symptom, is often treated with antipsychotic drugs, which have risky side effects. The Alzheimer's Society wants doctors to consider other types of treatment.

Experts say that each year about 150,000 patients in the UK are unnecessarily prescribed antipsychotics, which have a powerful sedative effect, and can worsen dementia symptoms, and increase the risk of stroke or even death. They are often given to patients whose dementia makes them aggressive or agitated.

But researchers from Kings College, London, and Norway speculated that the behaviour may sometimes be caused by pain, which patients were unable to express in other ways. They studied 352 patients with moderate or severe dementia in nursing homes in Norway. Half were given painkillers with every meal, the rest continued with their usual treatments.

Supervised treatment 'key'

After eight weeks, there was a 17% reduction in agitation symptoms in the group being given painkillers - a greater improvement than would have been expected from treatment with antipsychotics. The researchers concluded that if patient's pain was properly managed, doctors could reduce the number of prescriptions for antipsychotic drugs.

More http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14138884

 

[waltky]

Dat's why Uncle Ferd lets Granny mow the lawn - its good exercise for her...

Studies Show Exercise Reduces Dementia Risk
July 22, 2011 - A daily, half-hour of brisk walking has significant impact

Evidence continues to mount that physical exercise reduces a person’s risk of dementia. In some of the latest research, scientists measure actual physical activity, rather than rely on people's imperfect memories. Most researchers studying physical activity and dementia rely on self-reporting. So they'll ask people in a study about what exercise they've had in the past week, for example. But there are problems with self-reporting. Laura Middleton of the Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Waterloo in Canada says for one thing, people just don't remember what they've done. Also, people tend to report certain types of activities more than others.

"[Self-reporting] does a very good job of capturing jogging or biking or tennis, but does a relatively poor job of capturing low-intensity activity like walking or daily chores, which may also be important to the risk of cognitive impairment." To get around that problem, Middleton measured physical activity with an established technique that uses doubly labeled water, made from isotope variants of hydrogen and oxygen. Participants in the five-year study drank a small amount of this special water, and by measuring the isotope variants in their urine, their energy expenditure can be calculated.

"What we found was a strong relationship between activity energy expenditure and the risk of incident cognitive impairment, she says, "with those of higher activity energy expenditure had 90 percent reduced risk of incident cognitive impairment over the follow-up period compared to those with very low energy activity expenditure." Laura Middleton and her colleagues describe their findings online in the Archives of Internal Medicine, published by the American Medical Association. In the same issue, another paper - this one from French researchers led by Marie-Noël Vercambre of the Foundation of Public Health in Paris - studied the exercise-dementia link in a large group of women with cardiac risk factors such as obesity or diabetes. In this study, the women who got the equivalent of a brisk, half-hour walk every day had a lower risk of cognitive impairment.

Dr. Eric Larson of the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, Washington, says the studies add to the evidence that physical activity can reduce the risk of cognitive decline. "It's not obvious to people that exercise would make your brain healthier," he says. "And as each study does more detailed analyses of special groups or a different way of making the measurements, it just makes the scientific basis for this relationship a lot more convincing." Larson writes that, with accumulating evidence of the link, research should now focus on how best to encourage people to be active, especially in later life.

Source

 

[whitehall]

I don't mean to put down the big pharm R&D establishment but the "findings" are hardly noteworthy. It's a drug company probably trying to get lucrative federal funding for a drug by making claims of "breakthru's" that are just theories and decades in the future.

 

[percysunshine]

i hope soon alzheimer's will be like small pox...a forgotten disease

No one is going to let you forget that one sb...chuckle