First practice guidelines for clinical evaluation of Alzheimer’s disease CHICAGO, July 22, 2018 – Despite more than two decades of advances in diagnostic criteria and technology, symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) too often go unrecognized or are misattributed, causing delays in appropriate diagnoses and care that are both harmful and costly. Contributing to the variability and inefficiency …

New development in 3D super-resolution imaging gives insight on Alzheimer’s disease WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Recent studies show that 40 percent of Americans over the age of 85 have Alzheimer’s disease, and that the disease begins 10 to 20 years before people show up at the doctor’s office with memory problems. One major problem with understanding Alzheimer’s is not being …

Research reveals how Tau aggregates can contribute to cell death in Alzheimer’s disease New evidence suggests a mechanism by which progressive accumulation of Tau protein in brain cells may lead to Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists studied more than 600 human brains and fruit fly models of Alzheimer’s disease and found the first evidence of a strong link between Tau protein within …

Aging-Related Diseases May Be a Negative Outcome of Human Evolution While granting human species some advantages over our primate cousins, recent genomic adaptations appear to have come at a cost. Research published last week (May 23) in Cell Systems proposes that an evolutionary tradeoff, advantageous in early life, contributes to Alzheimer’s and possibly other aging-related diseases. “I find the idea …

Researchers identify gene that helps prevent brain disease Scientists know that faulty proteins can cause harmful deposits or “aggregates” in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Although the causes of these protein deposits remain a mystery, it is known that abnormal aggregates can result when cells fail to transmit proper genetic information to proteins. University of California San …

Plant scientists use big data to map stress responses in corn AMES, Iowa – Plant scientists at Iowa State University have completed a new study that describes the genetic pathways at work when corn plants respond to stress brought on by heat, a step that could lead to crops better capable of withstanding stress. The findings, published as a “large-scale …

Microglia are key defenders against prion diseases Prion diseases are slow degenerative brain diseases that occur in people and various other mammals. No vaccines or treatments are available, and these diseases are almost always fatal. Scientists have found little evidence of a protective immune response to prion infections. Further, microglia — brain cells usually involved in the first level of …

Alzheimer’s-Like Clumping Proteins Found in Diseased Hearts Protein clumps accumulate until they obstruct physiological function. It’s a common theme in neurology, where clumps of β-amyloid are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, just as clumps of α-synuclein are the hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. Now protein clumps are being recognized in cardiology. Specifically, clumps of desmin, a muscle-specific protein that forms support …

What are memories made of New study sheds light on key protein Ask a nonscientist what memories are made of and you’ll likely conjure images of childhood birthday parties or wedding days. Charles Hoeffer thinks about proteins. For five years, the assistant professor of integrative physiology at CU Boulder has been working to better understand a protein called AKT, which …

‘Jumping genes’ may set the stage for brain cell death in Alzheimer’s, other diseases Duke University scientists have identified a mechanism in the molecular machinery of the cell that could help explain how neurons begin to falter in the initial stages of Alzheimer’s, even before amyloid clumps appear. This rethinking of the Alzheimer’s process centers on human genes critical for …

Steering an enzyme’s ‘scissors’ shows potential for stopping Alzheimer’s disease The old real estate adage about “location, location, location” might also apply to the biochemical genesis of Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research from the University of British Columbia. Scientists had previously identified a couple of crucial steps in the formation of a protein called amyloid beta, which accumulates in …

Alzheimer’s damage in mice reduced with compound that targets APOE gene People who carry the APOE4 genetic variant face a substantial risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a compound that targets the APOE protein in the brains of mice and protects against damage induced by the Alzheimer’s protein …

Is Alzheimer’s disease a disorder of energy metabolism? A team of investigators from McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, led by Kai C. Sonntag, MD, PhD, and Bruce M. Cohen, MD, PhD, has found a connection between disrupted energy production and the development of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD). The findings appear in the current issue of Scientific Reports. “These findings …

Parasite Linked with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases, Epilepsy, and Cancer About a third of the world’s population is chronically infected with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that about 11% of the U.S. population aged 6 years and over is infected with the parasite, while in other countries the infection …

Do Microbes Trigger Alzheimer’s Disease? In late 2011, Drexel University dermatology professor Herbert Allen was astounded to read a new research paper documenting the presence of long, corkscrew-shape bacteria called spirochetes in postmortem brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.1 Combing data from published reports, the International Alzheimer Research Center’s Judith Miklossy and colleagues had found evidence of spirochetes in 451 of 495 Alzheimer’s brains. …

  Alzheimer biomarkers up with sleep disordered breathing (HealthDay)—Biological changes in the brain may underlie a relationship between sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research. A trio of studies on the matter were scheduled for presentation at the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, held from July 16 to 20 in London. In one study led by Amanda …

  Using omega 3 fatty acids to treat Alzheimer’s, other diseases? Understanding how dietary essential fatty acids work may lead to effective treatments for diseases and conditions such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, age-related macular degeneration, Parkinson’s disease and other retinal and neurodegenerative diseases. The key is to be able to intervene during the early stages of the disease. That is the …

  Microglial Cells Shown to Play an Active Part in Alzheimer’s Development A scientific team from the Institute for Regenerative Medicine of the University of Zurich, along with collaborators in the U.K. and the U.S., say they have demonstrated that dysfunctional microglial cells contribute to the loss of synapses in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases. These scavenger cells usually …

 Brain’s immune cells linked to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia LA JOLLA–Scientists have, for the first time, characterized the molecular markers that make the brain’s front lines of immune defense–cells called microglia–unique. In the process, they discovered further evidence that microglia may play roles in a variety of neurodegenerative and psychiatric illnesses, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases as well as schizophrenia, …