Innovative microscopy demystifies metabolism of Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s disease causes significant problems with memory, thinking and behavior and is the most common form of dementia, affecting more than 50 million people around the world each year. This number is expected to triple by the year 2050. Using their own state-of-the art imaging technologies, scientists at the University of California San Diego have … Read more

Newly found genetic variant defends against Alzheimer’s disease

Columbia researchers have discovered a genetic variant that reduces the odds of developing Alzheimer’s disease by up to 70% and may be protecting thousands of people in the United States from the disease. The discovery of the protective variant, which appears to allow toxic forms of amyloid out of the brain and through the blood-brain barrier, … Read more

Familial Alzheimer’s disease transferred via bone marrow transplant in mice

Familial Alzheimer’s disease can be transferred via bone marrow transplant, researchers show March 28 in the journal Stem Cell Reports. When the team transplanted bone marrow stem cells from mice carrying a hereditary version of Alzheimer’s disease into normal lab mice, the recipients developed Alzheimer’s disease — and at an accelerated rate. The study highlights … Read more

New treatment target identified for Alzheimer’s disease

Researchers at the University of Leeds and Lancaster University in the UK have identified a new potential target for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease — PDE4B. Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia and disability in old age. As the number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease is on the increase, new treatments are … Read more

Researchers describe tools to better understand CaMKII, a protein involved in brain and heart disease

The health impacts of a complex protein that plays a major role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease and heart conditions can be lessened by three kinds of drug inhibitors, according to scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. In an overview of the protein and the inhibitors published today in the journal … Read more

Alzheimer’s drug fermented with help from AI and bacteria moves closer to reality

Galantamine is a common medication used by people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia around the world to treat their symptoms. Unfortunately, synthesizing the active compounds in a lab at the scale needed isn’t commercially viable. The active ingredient is extracted from daffodils through a time-consuming process, and unpredictable factors, such as weather … Read more

Blast-related concussions linked to higher Alzheimer’s risk

U.S. veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq who suffered mild traumatic brain injury from exposure to explosive blasts were found to have changes in cerebrospinal fluid proteins that are typically seen in people who develop Alzheimer’s disease, according to researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine and VA Puget Sound Health … Read more

Wrist device that monitors activity could help provide early warning of Alzheimer’s

Monitoring daily activity patterns using a wrist-worn device may detect early warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers analyzed movement data from wristwatch-like devices called actigraphs worn by 82 cognitively healthy older adults who were participants in a … Read more

Amyloid blood levels associated with brain changes in Alzheimer’s study

New research published today suggests there is a link between abnormal blood levels of amyloid — a protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease — and subtle changes in brain microstructures on a type of MRI, findings that could lead to a new way to detect Alzheimer’s earlier in people with no clinical signs. Researchers analyzed the … Read more