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Trial Set to See if Drug Can Prevent Alzheimer's

Posted 12 days ago by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, May 15 – Researchers are preparing to test an experimental drug in people genetically primed to develop Alzheimer's disease. The best-scenario hope is that the drug will lead to a way of preventing the progressive brain-wasting disease, and to a better understanding of its destructive processes, U.S. officials announced Tuesday. The study volunteers will include some Americans as well as 300 members of an extended Colombian family – some only 30 years old – thought to have more relatives with Alzheimer's than any family in the world, The New York Times reported. None of the study participants will have any signs of dementia at the start of the five-year, $100 million study. Dr. Francis Collins, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, said this study is "the first to focus on people who are cognitively normal but at very high risk for Alzheimer's disease," ... Read more

Related support groups: Alzheimer's Disease

Smell Tests Don't Predict Alzheimer's, Study Finds

Posted 17 days ago by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, May 10 – Smell tests should not be used to predict Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, according to a new study. Although there is a link between the two, researchers found other medical problems may cause people to lose their sense of smell, and it may not necessarily mean they will develop the progressive brain disorder later in life. "A nonspecific association between poor smell function and Alzheimer's dementia is not the same as actually being able to use a smell test to predict Alzheimer's," Dr. Gordon Sun, a general otolaryngologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said in a university news release. "Unfortunately, this misinterpretation of the research has led to the promotion of these tests by the media and public figures like Dr. Oz," he added. "This study helps set the record straight about where the evidence currently stands." In ... Read more

Related support groups: Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease

Depression in Mid-Life Linked to Higher Odds for Later Dementia

Posted 20 days ago by Drugs.com

MONDAY, May 7 – People who suffer depression when they're middle-aged or elderly may also have an higher risk of dementia later, a new study suggests. Researchers evaluated long-term data from more than 13,000 people in California. They found that depressive symptoms occurred in about 14 percent of participants in midlife only, while about 9.2 percent of cases of depression developed in late life only. Just over 4 percent of people in the study had depression that stretched over midlife and late life. Over six years of follow-up, 22.5 percent of the participants were diagnosed with dementia. The study found that 5.5 percent of the participants developed Alzheimer's disease and 2.3 percent developed vascular dementia, which is caused by brain damage resulting from impaired blood flow to the brain. According to the research team, people with late-life depression were twice as likely to ... Read more

Related support groups: Depression, Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment

Having a 'Purpose in Life' May Help Shield You From Dementia

Posted 20 days ago by Drugs.com

MONDAY, May 7 – If you're looking for a way to keep dementia at bay, a new study suggests you can do so by developing a firm purpose in life. The findings don't prove that having a purpose will make a difference, and it's possible that the researchers missed another important factor that's at play. Still, the study found that people who had more purpose – as defined by the researchers – seemed to be less affected by the brain-clogging gunk that's considered to be a cause of Alzheimer's disease. "Somehow, having a purpose allows people to cope with the physical signs of Alzheimer's disease," said Patricia Boyle, an associate professor at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Boyle and colleagues looked at tests given to 246 older people who later died and underwent autopsies that explored the state of their brains. The researchers ... Read more

Related support groups: Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment

Eating More Foods Rich in Omega-3s May Lower Alzheimer's Risk: Study

Posted 2 May 2012 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, May 2 – Consuming foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids may guard against Alzheimer's disease, new research suggests. The finding stems from work conducted among roughly 1,200 dementia-free patients over the age of 65. All underwent blood tests to assess levels of a key Alzheimer's-associated protein after providing the study authors with a dietary breakdown dating back more than a year. "Past research has shown that, in this population, higher levels of the beta amyloid protein appear related to a higher risk for developing Alzheimer's disease," said study author Yian Gu, an associate research scientist with the Taub Institute for Research in Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain at Columbia University in New York City. "So we wanted to try and figure out if what we eat can affect these levels." "We considered only the omega-3 nutrient content in [study participants'] diets," ... Read more

Related support groups: Lovaza, Alzheimer's Disease, Fish Oil, Omacor, MaxEPA, Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, Marine Lipid Concentrate, Animi-3, Sea-Omega 30, Super-EPA, Mi-Omega, Omega-500, EPA Fish Oil, Divista, Sea-Omega

Eating Berries Might Help Preserve Your Memory

Posted 26 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, April 26 – Regular consumption of berries, such as blueberries or strawberries, may help keep your brain functioning well as you age, new research suggests. The study found that women with the highest intake of berries appeared to delay cognitive aging by up to 2.5 years. Cognition refers to brain activities such as thinking, remembering and reasoning. "Given that we know that fruits and vegetables are good for our health in general, our findings add to the idea that we should be consuming more, especially berries, as a way to help maintain memory in older ages," said the study's lead author, Elizabeth Devore, an instructor in medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, in Boston. "Berries are a simple dietary intervention that may be helpful to the brain," Devore added. Results of the study were published online April 26 in the Annals of Neurology. ... Read more

Related support groups: Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment

Strength Training May Give Boost to Seniors' Brains

Posted 23 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, April 23 – Elderly women noticing the first signs of memory decline might ward off full-blown dementia by engaging in routine strength training, new research suggests. But while supervised weight-lifting seemed to boost mental functioning among those struggling with incipient memory loss, aerobics-based activity programs did not confer a similar mental health benefit, the study team found. "Most studies have looked at aerobic training, but this study compares both aerobic and strength training," explained study co-author Teresa Liu-Ambrose, an assistant professor in the department of physical therapy at the University of British Columbia. "And among people who don't yet have dementia but are already at a high risk in terms of mild memory and executive function impairment, our study shows that strength training, but not aerobics training, does have benefits for cognition." ... Read more

Related support groups: Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment

New Method to Reveal Alzheimer's Marker Shows Promise

Posted 17 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, April 17 – New research adds to the growing pile of scientific strategies aimed at revealing beta-amyloid (protein) plaques, the brain-clogging fragments that have been associated with Alzheimer's disease. In a study funded by Bayer Healthcare Berlin, researchers report that they were able to use a drug and PET scans to successfully detect plaques in the brains of patients whose Alzheimer's was confirmed after death. More than 200 patients near death – including some with apparent Alzheimer's disease – underwent the PET scans. They received doses of the drug florbetaben, which was used as a "tracer" to allow the PET scans to detect the plaques. Thirty-one patients died and had autopsies to confirm that they had Alzheimer's disease. The researchers determined that one way of interpreting the PET scan results correctly pinpointed Alzheimer's disease 100 percent of the time and ... Read more

Related support groups: Alzheimer's Disease

Researchers ID Genes That May Determine Mental Illness

Posted 15 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

SUNDAY, April 15 – Genes that increase or reduce the risk of certain mental illnesses and Alzheimer's disease have been identified by an international team of scientists. The researchers said they also pinpointed a number of genes that may explain individual differences in brain size and intelligence. "We searched for two things in this study," senior author Paul Thompson, a professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine and a member of UCLA's Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, said in a university news release. "We hunted for genes that increase your risk for a single disease that your children can inherit. We also looked for factors that cause tissue atrophy and reduce brain size, which is a biological marker for hereditary disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, Alzheimer's disease and dementia," he explained. The ... Read more

Related support groups: Schizophrenia, Alzheimer's Disease, Autism

FDA Approves Amyvid (Florbetapir F 18 Injection) for Use in Patients Being Evaluated for Alzheimer's Disease and Other Causes of Cognitive Decline

Posted 9 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

INDIANAPOLIS, April 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Eli Lilly and Company and Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Lilly, today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Amyvid, a radioactive diagnostic agent indicated for brain imaging of beta-amyloid plaques in patients with cognitive impairment who are being evaluated for Alzheimer's Disease and other causes of cognitive decline.[1] Amyvid binds to amyloid plaques, a hallmark characteristic of Alzheimer's Disease,[2],[3],[4] and is detected using PET scan images of the brain.[1] A negative Amyvid scan indicates sparse to no amyloid plaques are currently present, which is inconsistent with a neuropathological diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease and reduces the likelihood that a patient's cognitive impairment is due to Alzheimer's Disease.[2] [5] A positive Amyvid scan indicates moderate to ... Read more

Related support groups: Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Diagnosis and Investigation

New Drug Might Reduce an Alzheimer's Marker: Study

Posted 2 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, April 2 – An experimental drug might lower a marker of Alzheimer's disease seen in the spinal fluid of patients with mild to moderate disease, a small new study finds. However, whether this new drug – bapineuzumab – will have a beneficial effect on slowing or stopping the degenerative process of Alzheimer's isn't known, the researchers said. And an Alzheimer's expert said it's far too soon to draw conclusions for the preliminary study. "This is interesting incremental information from a quite small group of subjects, but no conclusions can be drawn at this point," said William Thies, vice president for medical and scientific affairs at the Alzheimer's Association. Thies, who was not involved in the study, added that "an important question remains whether such changes in spinal fluid markers correlate with clinical benefit." The study authors said that this issue is being ... Read more

Related support groups: Alzheimer's Disease

Antipsychotic Drugs Might Raise Heart Attack Risk: Study

Posted 28 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, March 28 – Antipsychotic drugs can raise the risk of heart attack in older patients with dementia, a new study suggests. It's common to prescribe antipsychotics to older patients with dementia to control symptoms such as agitation, hallucinations and aggression. Previous studies have found that this use of the drugs may be linked to an increased risk of stroke and death from all causes. But until now, the risk of heart attack associated with the use of antipsychotic drugs in older people with dementia had been "poorly examined," wrote study author Dr. Antoine Pariente, of Universite Bordeaux Segalen in France, and colleagues. They looked at nearly 11,000 patients, aged 66 and older, in Quebec who were being treated with cholinesterase inhibitors for dementia and were also prescribed antipsychotics. Within a year of starting treatment with the antipsychotics, 1.3 percent of ... Read more

Related support groups: Seroquel, Abilify, Geodon, Zyprexa, Risperdal, Seroquel XR, Saphris, Risperidone, Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, Latuda, Quetiapine, Invega, Clozapine, Olanzapine

Brain Scans Suggest How Alzheimer's Spreads

Posted 21 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, March 21 – Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia appear to spread through linked nerve cells in the brain, new research indicates. The findings from MRI brain scans of dementia patients suggest that it may be possible to use MRI to predict the progression of dementias and to monitor the impact of treatments, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) researchers said. They found that Alzheimer's disease and four other common types of dementia appear to move between connected neurons in similar ways, even though they affect different brain networks. The study appears in the March 22 issue of the journal Neuron. "Our next goal is to further develop methods to predict disease progression, using these models to create a template for how disease will progress in the brain of an affected individual," study co-leader and neurologist Dr. William Seeley said in a ... Read more

Related support groups: Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease

Antioxidants May Not Help Alzheimer's Patients

Posted 19 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, March 19 – Researchers have suggested that antioxidants might help thwart Alzheimer's disease, but a new study finds that a "cocktail" of vitamins E, vitamin C and alpha-lipoic acid has no effect on certain indicators of the brain disorder. The supplements may even have hastened mental decline, the researchers said. "The benefit on oxidative stress in the brain was small and is of unclear significance," said lead researcher Dr. Douglas Galasko, a professor in residence in the department of neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego. "Patients did not show cognitive improvement in this short-term study; in fact, there was a slight worsening on one test of cognition in patients who received the antioxidant combination," Galasko said. Aging causes oxidative damage in the brain, which is extensive in people with Alzheimer's disease. Clinical trials looking at whether ... Read more

Related support groups: Alzheimer's Disease

More Insight on Possible Role of Vitamin D Against Alzheimer's

Posted 12 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, March 12 – Scientists have pinpointed how vitamin D3 works with some of the body's cells to help clear the brain of amyloid beta, the main component of plaques that are seen in Alzheimer's disease. Researchers took blood samples from Alzheimer's patients and healthy people and then isolated immune cells called macrophages, which consume amyloid beta and other waste products in the brain and the body. They found that vitamin D3 may activate certain genes and cellular signaling networks to trigger the immune system to clear amyloid beta, according to the study published in the March 6 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Previous research by the same University of California, Los Angeles, team found that therapy with vitamin D3 and curcumin – a chemical found in the spice turmeric – seemed to boost the ability of macrophages to clear amyloid beta from the brains of ... Read more

Related support groups: Alzheimer's Disease, Vitamin D3, Cholecalciferol, Delta D3, D2000, D3-5, D400, D 1000 IU, D3-50

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