Alzheimer’s disease tagged posts

Years before symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease manifest, the brain starts changing and neurons are slowly degraded. Scientists at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (HIH) and the University Hospital Tuebingen now show that a protein found in the blood can be used to precisely monitor disease progression long before first clinical signs appear. This blood marker offers new possibilities for testing therapies. The study was carried out in cooperation with an international research team and published in the journal Nature Medicine.

“The fact that there is still no effective treatment for Alzheimer’s is partly because current therapies start much too late,” say...

Scientists who recently identified the molecular start of Alzheimer’s disease have used that finding to determine that it should be possible to forecast which type of dementia will develop over time – a form of personalized medicine for neurodegenerative diseases.

A new study from UT Southwestern shows that single toxic tau proteins that stick together and spread degeneration across the brains of dementia patients have different shapes. The folds of these molecules hold information that could help diagnose – and perhaps one day treat – neurodegeneration in its earliest stages.

The finding comes from a team of scientists appointed this month to a newly c...

Greg Van Stavern, MD, (seated) and Rajendra Apte, MD, PhD, examine Kathleen Eisterhold’s eyes, using technology that one day may make it possible to screen patients for Alzheimer’s disease during an eye exam. In a small study, the eye test was able to detect the presence of Alzheimer’s damage in older patients with no symptoms of the disease.
Credit: Matt Miller

Noninvasive test may screen for disease before symptoms appear. It may be possible in the future to screen patients for Alzheimer’s disease using an eye exam. Using technology similar to what is found in many eye doctors’ offices, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have detected evidence suggesting Alzheimer’s in older patients who had no symptoms of the disease.

Their study, involving 30 patients, ...

Whole-brain low-intensity pulsed ultrasound therapy markedly improves cognitive dysfunctions in mouse models of dementia -Crucial roles of endothelial nitric oxide synthase Journal: Brain Stimulation. DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2018.05.012

Ultrasound waves applied to the whole brain improve cognitive dysfunction in mice with conditions simulating vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The research, conducted by scientists at Tohoku University in Japan, suggests that this type of therapy may also benefit humans.

The team, led by cardiologist Hiroaki Shimokawa, found that applying low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) to the whole brain of the mice improved blood vessel formation and nerve cell regeneration without having obvious side effects...