Former Whsmith Ceo Kate Swann Announced As New Chair Of Alzheimers Research Uk
Former CEO of SSP Group and WHSmith Kate Swann has been announced as the new Chair of Alzheimers Research UK with the business leader vowing to help lead the search for cures for dementia after witnessing first-hand the devastation the condition causes. Kate will become a Trustee of the charity from 1 October 2022,
What The Results Say
The researchers found that when the amyloid-beta proteins made in the liver of the test mice combined with fats and traveled to the brain, they interfered with the proper functioning of the brains microscopic blood vessels, or capillaries.
This dysfunction in the blood-brain barrier led to the protein-fat complexes leaking from the blood into the brain, resulting in inflammation. This inflammation occurred in both the test group and the control group, but it started at a much younger age in the test group.
Unlike in the control group, this inflammation was also associated with marked degeneration in the brain cells of the mice in the test group when examined under a microscope. The scientists only rarely saw this neurodegeneration in the control mice, and it was usually at a much older age.
The team also assessed a marker of neurodegeneration and found it to be approximately two times greater in the test mice than in control mice of the same age.
So, it was unsurprising that during the test for cognitive function, the test mice performed approximately half as well as the control group at retention of learning.
These findings suggest explanations to long standing questions about the role of amyloid-beta in Alzheimers disease development.
Warren Harding, board chairman of Alzheimers WA, revealed to MNT the significance of the study results. He said:
Searching For Existing Drugs
Another focus of research is the examination of existing drugs that might prevent Alzheimers from taking root in the brain.
In his lab, Harvards Tanzi uses tiny organoids composed of human brain cells that can develop the typical amyloid plaques and tau tangles of Alzheimers in just over a month. Tanzi and Harvard cocreators Doo Yeon Kim and Se Hoon Choi published a seminal paper on their discovery in 2014, dubbing it Alzheimers in a dish.
Tanzi and his team have spent seven years testing drugs that the US Food and Drug Administration has already approved on the brain in the dish. Since the FDA has already verified the safety of those drugs, finding a candidate from that group would accelerate federal approval of the drug for Alzheimers, thus getting treatments to patients faster, he said.
Tanzi also tested natural products, such as herbs, spices, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, for their ability to affect the plaques and tangles in his mini-brains creation.
We were able to rapidly screen every approved drug and over 1,000 natural products, Tanzi said. And now we have over 150 identified drugs and natural products that could be tested in clinical trials to hit plaques, tangles or neuroinflammation.
Its all about hitting the right person with the right drug, at the right time in the course of their disease, he told CNN.
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Tulsa Research Lab Is Part Of A Worldwide Study To End Alzheimers
TULSA, Okla. Central States Research in South Tulsa is participating in the AHEAD Study that aims to help prevent Alzheimers disease. Dr. Sarah Land, owner of Central States Research, LLC, says the experimental drug called B-A-N 2-4-0-1 attacks amyloid plaques that build up in the brain and eventually lead to Alzheimers. December 30, 2021.
This Looks Like The Real Deal: Are We Inching Closer To A Treatment For Alzheimers
After years of setbacks, dementia researchers are getting excited about a new antibody drug called lecanemab. No one expects it to stop cognitive decline, but even slowing it would be a breakthrough
At the end of November, thousands of researchers from around the world will descend on San Francisco for the annual Clinical Trials on Alzheimers Disease meeting. The conference is a mainstay of the dementia research calendar, the place where the latest progress and all too often, setbacks in the quest for Alzheimers treatments are made public for the first time.
This years meeting is poised to be a landmark event. After more than a century of research into Alzheimers, scientists expect to hear details of the first treatment that can unambiguously alter the course of the disease. Until now, nothing has reversed, halted or even slowed the grim deterioration of patients brains. Given that dementia and Alzheimers are the No 1 killer in the UK, and the seventh largest killer worldwide, there is talk of a historic moment.
Lecanemab has already sparked debate. Antibody drugs are so costly they are beyond the means of many countries. Lecanemab itself is not easy to administer, unlike pills and capsules: patients are required to attend clinic for an intravenous infusion twice a month. And the side-effects call for extensive monitoring: patients on the trial had regular scans for brain swelling and haemorrhages, a service many hospitals cannot provide at scale.
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Disproportionate Impact On Women
Globally, dementia has a disproportionate impact on women. Sixty-five percent of total deaths due to dementia are women, and disability-adjusted life years due to dementia are roughly 60% higher in women than in men. Additionally, women providethe majority of informal care for people living with dementia, accounting for 70% of carer hours.
Alzheimer’s Treatment Study Seeks Volunteers Including Two Sites In Portland
The AHEAD Study team is testing a new investigational treatment, examining whether they can slow or stop the earliest brain changes due to Alzheimers disease in people with a higher risk of developing the disease later in life. The team is seeking volunteers on its website. KATU 2 Portland, June 15, 2021
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New Study Identifies Likely Cause Of Alzheimer’s Disease
Ground-breaking new Curtin University-led research has discovered a likely cause of Alzheimer’s disease, in a significant finding that offers potential new prevention and treatment opportunities for Australia’s second-leading cause of death.
The study, published in the prestigious PLOS Biology journal and tested on mouse models, identified that a probable cause of Alzheimer’s disease was the leakage from blood into the brain of fat-carrying particles transporting toxic proteins.
Lead investigator Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute Director Professor John Mamo said his collaborative group of Australian scientists had identified the probable ‘blood-to-brain pathway’ that can lead to Alzheimer’s disease, the most prevalent form of dementia globally.
“While we previously knew that the hallmark feature of people living with Alzheimer’s disease was the progressive accumulation of toxic protein deposits within the brain called beta-amyloid, researchers did not know where the amyloid originated from, or why it deposited in the brain,” Professor Mamo said.
“Our research shows that these toxic protein deposits that form in the brains of people living with Alzheimer’s disease most likely leak into the brain from fat carrying particles in blood, called lipoproteins.
Alzheimer’s WA Chairman Adjunct Professor Warren Harding said the findings may have a significant global impact for the millions of people living with Alzheimer’s disease.
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Impact On Families And Carers
In 2019, informal carers spent on average 5 hours per day providing care for people living with dementia. This can be overwhelming . Physical, emotional and financial pressures can cause great stress tofamilies and carers, and support is required from the health, social, financial and legal systems. Fifty percent of the global cost of dementia is attributed to informal care.
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Researchers Demonstrate How Dna
- Date:
- PLOS
- Summary:
- Researchers have developed a new method to identify people who are at greater genetic risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, before any symptoms appear — which could help speed creation of novel treatments.
Researchers have developed a new method to identify people who are at greater genetic risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease before any symptoms appear — which could help speed creation of novel treatments. Manish Paranjpe of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS Genetics on September 1.
People with Alzheimer’s disease experience gradual loss of memory and other cognitive functions. While some treatments can ease symptoms, it has been challenging to develop treatments to prevent or slow disease progression. Some clinical trials investigating potential treatments may have been unsuccessful because they involved patients whose disease was too advanced to be treated. Better methods to identify people at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s could aid treatment research.
The researchers note that their DNA-based method is unlikely to be suitable for doctors to predict a patient’s risk of Alzheimer’s because it may be less accurate for non-European populations, it could impact insurance, and it could cause anxiety without the relief of reliable preventive treatments. However, it could be applied to speed Alzheimer’s research.
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Stem Cells And Dementia
Stem cells are “building block” cells. They can develop into many different cell types, including brain or nerve cells.
Scientists have taken skin cells from people with certain types of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, and “reprogrammed” them into stem cells in the lab. They’ve then triggered these stem cells to become brain cells.
These brain cells can also be used to test potential treatments at a very early stage.
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Dementia Alzheimer’s Not An Inevitable Part Of Aging: Study
The study showed centenarians without cognitive decline despite risk factors.
Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease may not be an inevitable part of aging, according to a recent Dutch study, which identified 100-year-olds with high cognitive performance despite risk factors for decline.
This six-year study of centenarians — people who are over 100 years old — found that despite high levels of a brain marker associated with cognitive decline, called amyloid beta, these centenarians were still sharp and performed well on cognitive tests. The researchers concluded these elderly subjects may have resilience mechanisms protecting them from memory loss.
In fact, they said the risk of dementia may not necessarily increase once you pass your 100th birthday.
“A person between 70 and 95 years old is exposed to the same dementia risk as a person who lives between age 100 and 102,” said Henne Holstege, Ph.D., of Amsterdam University Medical College in the Netherlands, who was involved in the study.
Blood Vessel Breakthrough Major Step Towards Alzheimers Treatment
A breakthrough in our understanding of Alzheimers disease has revealed changes to blood vessels in the brain, potentially presenting a path for developing new drugs to help fight the disease, according to University of Manchester research funded by the British Heart Foundation and published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 1.
Alzheimers Disease is traditionally thought of as a disease of the brain cells, where a protein called Amyloid-beta accumulates and forms plaques. There is growing evidence that the blood supply to the brain is also affected, however, how this happens is unknown.
Now, researchers at the University of Manchester have found that a smaller version of the protein – called Amyloid- 1-40 – builds up in the walls of the small arteries and reduces blood flow to the brain.
The surface of the brain is covered with small arteries, called pial arteries, that control the brains supply of blood and oxygen. If these arteries become narrowed for too long, the brain cant get enough nutrients. This is one of the causes of memory loss seen in people with the disease.
When the team looked at pial arteries of older mice with Alzheimers that produced too much A1-40, they found that the arteries were narrower compared to those of healthy mice.
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El Uso De Una Prueba De Sangre En Un Ensayo Clnico Dirigido A Prevenir La Prdida De Memoria Ayudara A Identificar A Personas En Riesgo De Presentar Sntomas De Enfermedad De Alzheimer
Un estudio presentado hoy resalta las ventajas de utilizar pruebas de sangre para ensayo clínico que busca prevenir el Alzheimer. Hasta 75 centros de investigación de toda Norteamérica utilizarán pruebas de sangre. Las pruebas de sangre servirán para identificar a las personas con mayor riesgo de sufrir cambios en el cerebro debido a la enfermedad de Alzheimer. Se anticipa que este descubrimiento ayudará a acelerar las investigaciones sobre su prevención. November 11, 2021
Many Roads Lead To Alzheimers
With so many genes contributing to the development of Alzheimers and other types of dementia, scientists are convinced that each persons journey may be different.
There is a saying: Once you have seen one person with Alzheimers, youve seen one person with Alzheimers, said Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of the Alzheimers Prevention Clinic in the Center for Brain Health at Florida Atlantic Universitys Schmidt College of Medicine.
Alzheimers disease is a multifactorial disease, made up of different pathologies, and each person has their own road. The disease presents differently and progresses differently in different people.
One key genetic pathway is APOE 4, a gene variant responsible for encoding proteins that carry cholesterol in the brain. Having one copy of the gene puts people over the age of 65 in danger, while having two copies is considered the strongest risk factor for the future development of Alzheimers in that age group.
But its not a given. Some people with APOE 4 dont go on to develop Alzheimers, while others without the gene may find themselves with the hallmark signs of tau tangles and beta amyloid plaques.
Another pathway to Alzheimers is inflammation, which is common to all chronic disease, Farrer said. Several new genes discovered this year appear to play a role in how the bodys immune system removes damaged cells from the brain.
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These results provide a hopeful glimmer to some that although dementia and Alzheimer’s is more likely to occur with an increase in age, it won’t be everyone’s fate.
“Age is the No. 1 risk factor for Alzheimer’s, but these findings show us that it’s possible for centenarians to thrive despite their advanced age,” said Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, who headed the study.
Although these findings shed light on aging and cognitive function, it still remains a complex phenomenon that needs more exploration, according to some experts.
“Dementia and Alzheimer’s tend to be multifactorial conditions, meaning that a mix of genetics, age, environment, lifestyle behaviors and medical conditions that coexist together and can lead a person toward or away from cognitive decline,” said Isaacson.
Researchers still aren’t sure exactly why some people are protected from cognitive decline, while others are spared. The researchers in the study proposed some of these protective factors associated with cognitive performance could be education, frequent cognitive activity and even IQ. But there can be more at play.
“There could be protective immunologic and cardiovascular risk factors that help keep their brains resilient and cognitively functional even in old age,” said Dr. Gayatri Devi, a neurologist and psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
Alzheimer’s Disease May Be Detectable By Key Blood Test Study Finds
A new blood test may identify more than 80% of people with increased likelihood of having amyloid in the brain, a protein thats a risk factor for developing Alzheimers disease, according to a recent study that was presented this week at Bostons international Clinical Trials on Alzheimers Disease conference. November 12, 2021
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Common Forms Of Dementia
There are many different forms of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form and may contribute to 60-70% of cases. Other major forms include vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies , and a group of diseases that contribute to frontotemporal dementia . Dementia may also develop after a stroke or in the context of certain infections such as HIV, harmful use of alcohol, repetitivephysical injuries to the brain or nutritional deficiencies. The boundaries between different forms of dementia are indistinct and mixed forms often co-exist.
Daily Multivitamin May Improve Cognition And Possibly Protect Against Decline Study Suggests
- Date:
- Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
- Summary:
- New research shows that taking a daily supplement may improve cognition in older adults. In the study, researchers estimated that three years of multivitamin supplementation roughly translated to a 60-percent slowing of cognitive decline .
Could taking a daily multivitamin help maintain cognitive health with aging and possibly prevent cognitive decline? According to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, conducted in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, taking a daily supplement may improve cognition in older adults, but additional studies are needed to confirm these findings before any health recommendations are made. The study also showed that daily use of a cocoa extract supplement does not benefit cognition.
The findings were recently published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 6.5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and 1 in 3 seniors die with the disease or another form of dementia.
According to Baker, cocoa extract is rich in compounds called flavanols, and past research suggests that these compounds may positively impact cognition. Baker also said that several micronutrients and minerals are needed to support normal body and brain function, and deficiencies in older adults may increase the risk for cognitive decline and dementia.
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