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Researchers have determined that a new instrument known as PIB-PET is effective in detecting deposits of amyloid-beta protein plaques in the brains of living people, and that these deposits are predictive of who will develop Alzheimer's disease. The finding, the result of a survey of more than 100 studies involving the instrument, including those by the scientists, confirms the sensitivity of the tool, still not commercially available. In clinical practice, amyloid deposits are detected only on autopsy........ (Source: Medicineworld.org: New Article Alert)
The benefits of marijuana in tempering or reversing the effects of Alzheimer's disease have been challenged in a newly released study by scientists at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. The findings, reported in the current issue of the journal Current Alzheimer Research, could lower expectations about the benefits of medical marijuana in combating various cognitive diseases and help redirect future research to more promising therapeutics........ (Source: Medicineworld.org: New Article Alert)
For the first time, scientists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have observed 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........ (Source: Medicineworld.org: New Article Alert)
Investigators from the International Center for Biomedicine and the University of Chile, in collaboration with the Center for Bioinformatics of the Universidad de Talca, have discovered that two drugs, the benzimidazole derivatives lanzoprazole and astemizole, appears to be suitable for use as PET (positron emission tomography) radiotracers and enable imaging for the early detection of Alzheimer's Disease. The study is reported in the current issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease....... (Source: Medicineworld.org: New Article Alert)
Cognitive fluctuations, or episodes when train of thought temporarily is lost, are more likely to occur in older persons who are in the process of developing Alzheimer's disease than in their healthy peers, as per researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Cognitive fluctuations include excessive daytime sleepiness, staring into space and disorganized or illogical thinking........ (Source: Medicineworld.org: New Article Alert)
A simple and inexpensive eye test could aid detection and diagnosis of major neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's at an earlier stage than is currently possible, as per new research by UCL scientists. The research, led by Professors Francesca Cordeiro and Stephen Moss and published recently in Cell Death and Disease, demonstrates a new technique that enables retinal, and therefore brain cell death, to be directly measured in real time. The method, demonstrated in an animal model, could not only refine diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders and help track disease progress; it could also aid the evaluation and development of new therapys........ (Source: Medicineworld.org: New Article Alert)
Elderly adults who used the herbal supplement Ginkgo biloba for several years did not have a slower rate of cognitive decline in comparison to adults who received placebo, as per a research studyin the December 23/30 issue of JAMA "Ginkgo biloba is marketed widely and used with the hope of improving, preventing, or delaying cognitive impairment linked to aging and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer disease," the authors write. "Indeed, in the United States and especially in Europe, G biloba is perhaps the most widely used herbal therapy consumed specifically to prevent age-related cognitive decline." However, evidence from large clinical trials regarding its effect on long-term cognitive functioning is lacking........ (Source: Medicineworld.org: New Article Alert)
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In a study that promises to improve diagnosis and monitoring of Alzheimer's disease, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a fast and accurate method for quantifying subtle, sub-regional brain volume loss using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The study will be published the week of November 16 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)........ (Source: Medicineworld.org: New Article Alert)
Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham), the University of British Columbia's Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics and the University of California, San Diego have observed that normal synaptic activity in nerve cells (the electrical activity in the brain that allows nerve cells to communicate with one another) protects the brain from the misfolded proteins linked to Huntington's disease. In contrast, excessive extrasynaptic activity (aberrant electrical activity in the brain, commonly not linked to communication between nerve cells) enhances the misfolded proteins' deadly effects. Scientists also observed that the drug Memantine, which is approved to treat Alzheimer's disease, successfully treated Huntington's disease in a mouse model by preserving norm...
While too much amyloid beta protein in the brain is associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease, not enough of the protein in healthy brains can cause learning problems and forgetfulness, Saint Louis University researchers have found. The finding could lead to better medications to treat Alzheimer's disease, said John Morley, M.D., director of the division of geriatrics at Saint Louis University and the lead researcher on the study........ (Source: Medicineworld.org: New Article Alert)
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