News

A specific chemical alteration present in the presenilin1 (PSEN1) gene may be a biomarker for earlier Alzheimer’s disease (AD) diagnosis and treatment response monitoring, a study suggests. The modification, called DNA methylation, was observed both in brain samples of Alzheimer’s mouse models and post-mortem brain tissue of…

Like many couples, Joe and Linda Lacroix of Milton, Vermont, spent much of their lives working, raising families, maintaining their home, and planning for the future. Unlike most, however, there was always a dark cloud looming on their horizon — a gene for Huntington’s disease carried by Joe’s mother.

Within a few years, doctors will be able to remotely evaluate patients for their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and frontotemporal dementia — without having to hook them up to expensive, cumbersome machines generally found only in hospitals. That’s the vision of Israeli entrepreneur Nathan…

A blood test that measures the levels of a form of tau protein, known as phosphorylated-tau-181 (pTau181), could help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease in patients who show signs of dementia but have an uncertain diagnosis, a study suggests. Moreover, the test could help clinicians quickly differentiate Alzheimer’s from other types…

Sangamo and Biogen are partnering up to develop gene therapies for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, as well as another neuromuscular disease target and up to nine undisclosed neurological disorders. Initially, the collaboration will focus on two molecules in Sangamo’s pipeline: ST-501 for tauopathies such as Alzheimer’s, ST-502…

In recognition of Rare Disease Day Feb. 29, Bionews Services launched a social media campaign last month asking patients to describe what makes them rare. Running Feb. 7–29, the #WhatMakesMeRare campaign was aimed at uplifting people with rare diseases by encouraging them to share their stories and perspectives. The…

The number of commercially insured U.S. residents diagnosed with early onset dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) rose by 200% from 2013 to 2017, and the average age of a person living with either condition was 49, according to a new Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA)…

A Temple University researcher has been awarded a $500,000 two-year grant to develop a treatment that targets chronic brain inflammation and other disease characteristics in Alzheimer’s. Silvia Fossati, associate director of the Alzheimer’s Center at Temple Health’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine, will work with pharmaceutical…

Researchers have found that amyloid, the protein that forms toxic aggregates, or clumps in the brain and is thought to be involved in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), accumulates faster in people with subtle cognitive difficulties compared with cognitively normal people. These findings suggest that measurements of…

DNA from various species of bacteria, some of which — like E. coli — have been identified in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, can cause the tau protein to fold incorrectly and form the toxic, clump-like structures increasingly thought to play a key role in disease progression. The study…