News

Abnormalities in the brain’s cellular power plants, known as mitochondria, may drive early Alzheimer’s processes — even before the telltale amyloid plaque that marks the disease starts forming in the brain. The finding suggests that treatments that target the abnormal energy-making processes may be a new way of approaching Alzheimer’s…

BrightStar Care, a national at-home senior care franchise, has launched an Alzheimer’s awareness campaign — Memories and Connections — for Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. The campaign is designed to equip family or care partners with information, educational tips, and activities to create meaningful connections with loved ones living with Alzheimer’s…

Scientists identified two new genes associated with the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in African-Americans. According to the researcher, this new discovery could lead to the development of new drugs that target these genes for the treatment of AD.

Antibodies extracted from llamas can visualize amyloid-beta plaque and tau deposits in the brains of live animals — a finding that may lead to a way to track Alzheimer’s disease-related brain changes in people before symptoms appear. The antibodies were shown to work in mice, but researchers have been unable to visualize their…

Scientists have reported the discovery of a factor capable of lowering levels of tau in the brain. Tau is a protein high on the list of potential villains in Alzheimer’s disease. The study, “Reduction of Nuak1 Decreases Tau and Reverses Phenotypes in a Tauopathy Mouse Model,” was published in the journal Neuron. The…

The mutated gene, as well as the position of the mutation within a gene, impact the kind of symptoms patients with dominantly inherited Alzheimer’s disease develop, according to new research. These findings also underscored the notion that familial Alzheimer’s is a highly variable condition, making genetic testing a crucial component…

Patients with inherited forms of Alzheimer’s disease have neurological symptoms other than memory loss, suggesting that physicians need watch for less typical symptoms when suspecting familial Alzheimer’s in a patient. While the study also found atypical symptoms can differ among patient groups, a comment suggested that such differences partly reflect the large…

Researchers working in a mice reported that an experimental drug, NTRX-07, may treat Alzheimer’s by targeting a potential cause — it was seen to ease brain inflammation in the animals by restoring the brain’s ability to remove clumps of the beta-amyloid protein that is a hallmark of the disease. The excessive…

Low-calorie diets are a known benefit for the overall health of the body, but the exact mechanisms underlying this effect remain elusive. Now, a study published in the journal Aging Cell, has shown that low-calorie intake increases neurons’ capacity to neutralize excessive levels of calcium, which contribute to neuronal damage…

Tau, a protein already linked to Alzheimer’s disease, can be traced in greater concentrations in the blood plasma levels of under-age children with early onset psychosis (EOP), according to a recent study. The study was included at this year’s International Early Psychosis Association (IEPA) meeting Oct. 20-22 in Milan,…