Dear Readers, About 750,000 people in the United States develop sepsis each year. Known in lay terms as blood poisoning, sepsis occurs when the bloodstream is overwhelmed with bacteria, usually in response to the body’s attempt to fight severe infection. Sepsis is a leading cause of death in hospital ICUs, and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to this life-threatening blood infection. The thinking had been that once the crisis is over, older people who survive [...]
The Global Economic Impact of Dementia, the first study of such scope to examine the macroeconomics of all types of dementias, released by the non-profit group Alzheimer’s Disease International 2010 includes some hard-to-ignore data. About 35.6 million people worldwide live with some type of dementia — about four times the population of Sweden. That caseload will increase to 65.7 million by 2030 and 115.4 by 2050. It seems that with each new study, the numbers [...]
As we move forward in our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease, insights are constantly emerging from many different fronts. The disease is quite complex, and facts discerned by each new discovery must be assembled into an ever evolving theory. Sometimes, results that initially seem to be at odds with previous findings turn out to be integral to a clearer understanding of the disease. In the field of Alzheimer research, there have been [...]
Brain atrophy involves the loss of neurons. Some degree of atrophy and subsequent brain shrinkage is common with old age, even in people who are cognitively healthy. However, this atrophy is accelerated in people with mild cognitive impairment and even faster in those who ultimately progress from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer’s disease. Many factors have been implicated in affecting the rate of brain atrophy, one of which is high levels of an amino acid [...]
Readers, Amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are the two classic hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but the connection between their two respective proteins—beta-amyloid and tau—has remained mysterious. Now, a paper published on July 21 in the prestigious journal Cell details a molecular mechanism that links tau to beta-amyloid toxicity at the synapse. The groundbreaking new study was led by Professor Jürgen Götz and Dr Lars Ittner, based at the University of Sydney. Back in [...]
Dear Readers, As readers of this blog will recall, years of research have revealed that ß-amyloid is produced by the cleavage of a very large protein found throughout the body called amyloid precursor protein, or APP, by the enzyme gamma-secretase. An obvious ‘target’ for pharmaceutical intervention would be the development of gamma-secretase inhibitors: Blocking cleavage of APP by gamma-secretase to form amyloid-ß would prevent this abnormal accumulation in the brain, and prevent ß-amyloid from exerting [...]
Dear Readers, The “hippocampal theta rhythm” is a specific type of electrical activity that can be observed in the hippocampus and other brain structures in numerous species of mammals including rodents, rabbits, dogs, cats, bats and marsupials. In the oldest EEG literature dating back to the 1920s, Greek letters such as alpha, beta, theta and gamma were used to classify EEG waves falling into specific frequency ranges, with “theta” generally meaning a range of about [...]
Readers, Eli Lilly and Company announced yesterday that it is halting development of semagacestat, a gamma-secretase inhibitor being studied as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The decision was made after preliminary results from two separate phase 3 studies showed that the drug did not slow disease progression and worsened cognition and the ability to perform activities of daily living. In the 2 trials, called IDENTITY (Interrupting Alzheimer’s Dementia by EvaluatiNg Treatment of AmyloId PaThologY) [...]
Readers, Another important finding from the ICAD meeting last week revolves around the relationship between cognitive decline and vitamin D. Several high-profile studies have suggested that high levels of vitamin D lower the risk of developing multiple sclerosis and accumulating evidence suggests previously unsuspected roles for vitamin D in brain development and neuroprotection. Now, a new study shows that low Vitamin D levels may be related to cognitive decline and dementia. Researchers have in fact [...]
Readers, Below is the first of a series of upcoming blogs reporting the news from ICAD, the International Conference on AD taking place this week in Hawaii. For the first time in 25 years, there is a proposal to change the criteria for Alzheimer’s disease, part of a new movement to diagnose and, eventually, treat the disease earlier. As readers will recall, Alzheimer’s is thought to begin years, perhaps even decades, before symptoms are noticeable. [...]
