2011 January » Alzheimer's Association

Updates in the World of Alzheimer’s Disease Research

Current Studies 1 Response »

Jan 312011

Updates in the World of Alzheimer’s Disease Research

Dear Readers, There are two notable updates in this week’s blog. First, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Advisory Committee decided that it could not recommend approval of Amyvid™ (florbetapir) at this time based on the currently available data (13-3); but, voted unanimously (16-0) to recommend approval of Amyvid conditional on specialized training being instituted for the medical professionals who would administer it. They must train readers in a consistent technique, and then re-evaluate [...]

A New Method to Test for Alzheimer’s Disease?

Current Studies, Diagnosing Alzheimer's 7 Responses »

Jan 252011

A New Method to Test for Alzheimer's Disease?

Using a new technology that relies on thousands of synthetic molecules to fish for disease-specific antibodies, researchers have developed a potential method for detecting Alzheimer’s disease with a simple blood test. The same methodology might lead to blood tests for many important diseases, according to the report published by Thomas Kodadek’s group at the Scripps Research Institute in the January 7th issue of the journal Cell. The new method relies on the notion that many [...]

Dietary Vitamin D and Cognition in Older Women

Women & Minorities No Responses »

Jan 162011

Dietary Vitamin D and Cognition in Older Women

Dear Readers, I was recently on a conference call with women physicians discussing the latest in Women’s Health and was asked about vitamin D and its effect on cognition. Indeed vitamin D has received a lot of media attention lately; attention focused on its potential effect on cardiovascular and bone health, in addition to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects. Thus, it was not a surprise to me when the discussion turned to “cognitive health” and [...]

The Amyloid Plateau

Current Studies 2 Responses »

Jan 142011

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, report in last month’s issue of the journal Brain, on the postmortem examination of the first-ever person with Alzheimer’s to be followed prospectively by positron emission tomography using Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB-PET), which allows visualization of amyloid plaques. They analyzed the brain of a woman with Alzheimer’s who had volunteered for the first PET-PIB scan ever performed. She received an additional PIB scan two years later, and [...]

Alzheimer’s Disease: 2010 Year In Review

Uncategorized 1 Response »

Jan 052011

Alzheimer's Disease: 2010 Year In Review

In this final blog of the year, we would like to review some of the highlights of what has happened in the AD world, and the new directions that we will likely be heading into in 2011. This year Medivation’s Dimebon, which started life as a Russian antihistamine and showed some promise against Alzheimer’s, failed in its first late-stage clinical trial. Later in the year, Eli Lilly halted development of semagacestat after the compound actually [...]