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All his life, Greg O’Brien has had a front-row seat for Alzheimer’s disease. Growing up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, he was the caregiver in a family of 10 children for his mother. His maternal grandfather and paternal uncle had Alzheimer’s, and his father was diagnosed with dementia and had…

Boosting mitophagy — a natural process that clears neurons from damaged mitochondria (cells’ energy powerhouses) — decreased amyloid plaque formation and reversed cognitive deficits, namely memory impairments, across different animal models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). “When the cleaning system does not work properly, there will be an accumulation of defective…

Use of anti-epileptic therapy is not linked to an increased risk of dementia, according to the results of a real-world study with more than 100,000 patients followed in general and neuropsychiatrist practices in Germany. However, generic forms of the anti-epileptic medicine levetiracetam may potentially have a deleterious effect on cognition.

HIV therapies that block an enzyme that is essential for viruses to replicate, called reverse transcriptase, may offer a new way of treating age-related disorders like Alzheimer’s, a study suggests. The study, “L1 drives IFN in senescent cells and promotes age-associated inflammation,” was published in the journal Nature.

A higher level of education is not related to better cognitive reserve — the ability of the adult brain to maintain normal cognitive function in the presence of neurodegeneration — in old age, a study suggests. However, the study, titled “Education and cognitive reserve in old age,” did find that it…

Upon hibernation, the brains of Syrian hamsters undergo metabolic changes that involve the phosphorylation of tau protein — a hallmark of Alzheimers’ disease. However, this process is rapidly reversed upon waking and understanding it could lead to the development of new therapies for Alzheimer’s, a study suggests. The study, “…

Addressing fundamental questions about the possibility that Alzheimer’s disease might be brought about by infections, Alzheimer’s Germ Quest has released a series of eight videos, each about one minute long. Alzheimer’s Germ Quest supports research into the prospective infectious quality of the disease the Alzheimer’s Association says affects…

Porphyomonas gingivalis, a bacteria that causes a type of gum disease known as chronic periodontitis, was found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, providing evidence of its possible role in the disease’s development, a study reports. The release of toxic enzymes from this bacteria was blocked by a…

The Alzheimer’s Association has funded a two-year extension of the SPRINT-MIND study — SPRINT MIND 2.0 — to further explore the role of intensive treatment to lower blood pressure and the risk of dementia. The funding, which totals more than $800,000, will allow researchers to follow the participants of the original trial for…

Two Phase 3 trials — CREAD 1 and CREAD 2 — evaluating crenezumab as a therapy for early Alzheimer’s disease have been discontinued, Genentech announced. The decision was based on an interim analysis by an independent data monitoring committee that ruled that crenezumab was unlikely to meet its primary…