Category Archives: News

Alzheimer’s Disease Imaging Agents

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Three of the late-breaker studies (dubbed “Emerging Science” in the meeting program) address imaging agents for detecting beta-amyloid plaques in the brains of live patients.

One such product, florbetapir (Amyvid), was just approved by the FDA, but competing products are not far behind.

Meeting attendees will hear new results with two of these, florbetaben and flutemetamol. Like florbetapir, both are 18F-labeled compounds that bind selectively to beta-amyloid plaques and light up on PET scans.

The florbetaben study abstract indicates that findings on PET scans in near-death patients correlated strongly with their actual plaques measured at autopsy a short time later.

A similar study with flutemetamol came up with similar results, according to its abstract.

In a study with possibly more clinical relevance, flutemetamol binding in the brains of 11 community-dwelling older people with memory loss correlated significantly with their performance on a cognition test.

Read all about it HERE

visit us at AlzheimerHeadlines.com

Antibiotics for Alzheimer’s?

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Researchers believe they have gained key insights on the development and progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

The findings could lead to the development of antibiotic treatments that could prevent the onset of the devastating illness.

Investigators have learned that a key protein, called a tau-protein, transforms from being a critical component of normal brain function to a sinister malformed villain that destroys brain cells.

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) developed the technology that distinguishes the two tau isoforms — one healthy and one disease-causing. Their research shows that only the disease-causing isoform is found in the neurons of Alzheimer’s patients and is exhibited at a very early stage of disease.

Read all about it HERE

visit us at AlzheimerHeadlines.com

Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease: Need to Study these Brain Illnesses

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Following Alzheimer’s disease, Vascular dementia is another common cause of dementia. It is hard to believe for any individual that he is suffering from such a disease which makes him forget even his own home and family. In UK, around 200,000 people are affected by this disease. But experts still have to find out the reason behind the occurrence of this illness. The origins of vascular dementia are still unknown to them.

Read all about it HERE

visit us at AlzheimerHeadlines.com

A Bold New Attack on the Alzheimer’s Scourge

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What if a preeminent global health authority declared there’s a public health “time bomb” among us? What if he were the person most responsible for leading the coalition that turned HIV/AIDS from a certain death sentence into a manageable illness? And what if this expert also warned that this crisis was a scourge that, due to the tragic and cruel torture it inflicts on its victims, also demanded, on ethical grounds, to be elevated to a human rights issue?

And what if −- as we already know −- this health crisis was poised to become the fiscal nightmare of the 21st century?

Last week in London, Dr. Peter Piot made each of these declarations at the Alzheimer’s Disease International global meeting.

Read all about it HERE

visit us at AlzheimerHeadlines.com

Is it Alzheimer’s or depression?

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Because symptoms of Alzheimer’s and depression are very similar, a wrong diagnosis can be costly.

“Chronic depression can cause a structure in your brain to shrink, and that structure is called the hippocampus and that structure is responsible for new learning and remembering,” said psychologist Dr. Shannon Gould.

While depression can be treated and often cured, Alzheimer’s can only be managed. An early diagnosis means early treatment. Neuropsychological evaluations can help determine if it’s dementia or depression.

“We are looking at attention, concentration, processing speed. I may have my patients read a short story and recall as much of that story as they can,” said Dr. Gould.

Depression is not always common in Alzheimer’s patients, but a deficit in their daily living is.

“Difficulty taking medication, maybe they are missing a dosage of medication here, or let’s say a person has always managed the finances, was impeccable with balancing the check book, now suddenly they have difficulty writing out a check properly,” said Dr. Gould.

Read all about it HERE

visit us at AlzheimerHeadlines.com

Researchers find way to predict disease in people with a rare form

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Remembering family members who can’t remember themselves, Alexandra looks through pictures of several relatives struck with an aggressive form of Alzheimer’s disease.

The 35-year-old woman, who will be identified as Alexandra to protect her identity, lost her mother to familial Alzheimer’s. Her mother was diagnosed with the disease at age 42 and died in her early 50s.

“It’s sad, and the sadder part about it is she didn’t have a life that she should have deserved,” Alexandra said.

Like other relatives, Alexandra’s mother died from familial Alzheimer’s in her early 50s. Doctors say having the specific gene mutations predict with 100 percent certainty the carrier will develop the disease. While familial Alzheimer’s disease, or FAD, accounts for less than 2 percent of total cases, the disease process is similar to common forms.

Read all about it HERE

visit us at AlzheimerHeadlines.com