As a disease that is best detected and treated early after onset, Alzheimer disease is characterized by a variety of aberrantly regulated proteins and molecules, which once identified can be used as biomarkers for disease and integrated into Alzheimer’s diagnostic tests. New research at the University of Illinois at Chicago by co-authors Dr.
Decreasing aggregates of amyloid beta peptide (Aβ) is the most common strategy for treating Alzheimer’s disease. One treatment that is undergoing phase 3 clinical trials is beta site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) inhibitors, which are predicted to decrease the production of Aβ and prevent neurotoxic fibril and…
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) are looking to flip the molecular switch for inflammatory diseases such as Alzheimer’s to the “off” position. Masao Kaneki, MD, PhD, in the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine at MGH, discovered that nitric oxide acts on the protein SIRT1, leading…
Difficult decisions facing Alzheimer’s and other advanced dementia patients must be made with careful consideration for the health and well-being of patients and their caregivers. A report in Nutrition in Clinical Practice, entitled, “Gastrostomy Tube Placement in Patients With Advanced Dementia or Near End…
Another protein was recently identified as being involved in Alzheimer’s disease by researchers at the Gladstone Institutes in California. Progranulin, a protein in the brain, can lead to amyloid-beta plaque formation when its levels are depleted. “This is the first study providing evidence for a protective role of progranulin in…
For some Chinese Alzheimer’s disease patients, genes can have an impact on cognitive decline. A recent study from Beijing Hospital & Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Ministry of Health, entitled “APOE and APOC1 Gene Polymorphisms Are Associated with Cognitive Impairment Progression in Chinese Patients with Late-Onset…
Amid the rapidly changing political climate surrounding medical marijuana, researchers at University of South Florida (USF) found that low levels of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a compound in marijuana, have the potential to slow or halt Alzheimer’s disease progression. Extremely low doses of THC were shown to reduce the production of…
Although obese individuals are at a 35% higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease than healthy-weight individuals, it might be possible to reduce the risk by losing weight through bariatric surgery. “Changes in Brain After Bariactric Surgery,” published in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism…
Individuals with frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) may soon benefit from research priorities directed toward curing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. The Association of Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) broke word of plans to formally include FTD in national research priorities by the year 2025. According to AFTD Executive Director Susan…
Vitamin D, known as the sunshine vitamin due to its mechanism of production in the body, is usually associated with calcium absorption and bone health, but researchers are finding that vitamin D is strongly linked to the risk for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Dr. David Llewellyn, from the University…
Get regular updates to your inbox.