News

Using slices of mouse brain tissue kept alive in a lab dish, scientists have identified the earliest molecular changes leading to Alzheimer’s disease. The findings, showing how early alterations in brain amyloid-β balance causes nerve connections called synapses to die, might allow scientist to target the mechanisms and develop therapies to…

Unbalanced, unhealthy zinc levels show in many diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and pancreatic cancer. But lack of information about the molecular structure of zinc transporters hampers the discovery of new drugs to bring zinc to proper levels (homeostasis) with other important elements. Researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) have taken a new step toward the development of…

Two studies from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, reveal new insights into amyloid-β — the plaque-forming protein scientists believe is at the root of Alzheimer’s disease. Both studies homed in on the removal of amyloid-β from the brain, a process thought to be defective in Alzheimer’s…

Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI) at the University of Southern California, and Janssen Research & Development will collaborate for a  Phase 2/3 clinical trial of Jansen’s BACE blocker intended to delay or even prevent Alzheimer’s symptoms. The BACE blocker is a drug that prevents the action of an enzyme involved in…

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee  has forwarded a draft bill that could deliver nearly $1.4 billion in federal funds to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research in 2017. In all health concerns related to the proposed bi-partisan bill, lawmakers recommend $34 billion – a $2 billion increase over fiscal year 2016 – to the…

Recent research published in The Lancet Neurology demonstrates that blood vessel changes such as arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis in the brain are linked to Alzheimer’s disease. The findings suggest that investigating the mechanisms behind how blood vessel disease might contribute to the development of dementia might enable the…