News

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have found that Alzheimer’s disease causes microglia — the immune cells that normally protect brain cells from damage — to change their behavior and instead promote a pro-inflammatory immune response. Their study, “Temporal Tracking of Microglia Activation in Neurodegeneration at Single-Cell Resolution,” appeared in…

Changes in brain cells known as astrocytes mirror transformations in Alzheimer’s disease, and may contribute to patients’ nerve cell degeneration, a Finnish study reports. It is the first time that research has shown that astrocytes may contribute to Alzheimer’s. The University of Eastern Finland team published their work, “PSEN1 Mutant iPSC-Derived Model…

Researchers found that the combination of titanate, a nanoparticle that can penetrate the brain-blood barrier, and cerebrolysin, used in some parts of the world to treat problems with cognition, had superior neuroprotective effects in an animal model of Alzheimer’s disease than cerebrolysin alone. The study, “Co-Administration of TiO2 Nanowired…

U.S. Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan has dedicated a new semipostal stamp to fund research to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Under the Semipostal Authorization Act, five semipostal fundraising stamps will be issued over the next 10 years, with each one to be sold for no…

Immungenetics AG is conducting a Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trial to investigate whether thiethylperazine — a treatment for nausea and vomiting in use since the 1960s — might help people with Alzheimer’s disease by working to slow or stop the early events that underlie disease progression. Thiethylperazine, sold…

Researchers in Wisconsin are looking for veterans with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease to determine whether fish oil can stop brain damage during the disorder’s early stages. “We know fish oil has beneficial effects on heart health,” Dr. Cindy Carlsson, the trial’s leading investigator and a researcher at the…

TauRx Therapeutics’ experimental Alzheimer’s disease treatment LMTX may slow cognitive decline in patients at doses as low as 4 mg — but only when used without other Alzheimer’s drugs — a recent report shows. The findings support data from an earlier Phase 3 trial, which also studied much higher doses…

Anavex Life Sciences has published a study demonstrating the sigma-1 receptor’s role in Alzheimer’s disease. The data contained in it supports the New York-based company’s development of compounds stimulating this receptor as a way of treating the illness. The study, “Sigma-1 Receptor Agonists Induce Oxidative Stress…

Alzheimer’s patients who take benzodiazepines for anxiety, agitation, and insomnia are at a 40 percent greater risk of death than those who don’t take the therapies, a study reports. The research, “Risk of death associated with new benzodiazepine use among persons with Alzheimer disease: A matched cohort study,” was published in…

Doctors tend to miss Alzheimer’s diagnosis in psychotic patients more likely than than non-psychotic ones, according to new research by Canada’s University of Toronto. The study, “Determining the impact of psychosis on rates of false-positive and false-negative diagnosis in Alzheimer’s disease,” appeared in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia:…