Dementia in the News

Scientists have selected three different types of Alzheimer's drugs to be tested in the first large-scale international attempt to prevent the disease in people who are otherwise doomed to get it.

UNITED NATIONS:  THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

Researchers investigating a known gene risk factor for Alzheimer's dsiease discovered it is associated with lower levels of beta amyloid - a brain protein involved in Alzheimer's - in cognitively healthy older people. The findings suggest that a mechanism other than one related to beta amyloid accumulation may influence disease risk associated with the gene. The study, by researchers at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Health, was published online September 27, 2012 in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

Teresa Gómez Isla estuvo este verano dando un curso magistral sobre la enfermedad de Alzheimer en la Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, en Santander.

Ahora, desde Boston, esta investigadora, quien ha tratado al expresidente de la Generalitat catalana Pasqual Maragall, que sufre alzhéimer desde 2007,  habla con EFEsalud para analizar esta grave enfermedad.

Scientists have discovered a system that drains waste products from the brain. The finding may reveal ways to treat neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease.

YOU die alone, philosophers say. But you could die sooner if you live your life in loneliness. Close connections to friends and family may ward off poor health and premature death, recent research suggests.

With an Alzheimer's epidemic looming, scientists, health officials, policymakers and the public are asking if anything can slow down this disease. Some prevention trials in the U.S. will test drug interventions but what about lifestyle modifications, such as eating better or exercising more? Some data suggest that tweaks in our routine could help, but in 2010 a panel from the National Institutes of Health deemed that evidence insufficient to justify formal recommendations.

Retired pro football players seem to have higher-than-average risks of dying from Alzheimer's or Lou Gehrig's disease, U.S. governement researchers reported Wednesday.

In a study of more then 3,400 retired National Football League (NFL) players, the researchers found that death rates from the two brain diseases were four times higher than those in the general U.S. population. The researchers, from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), cannot be sure of the reasons.

Goldilocks was on to something when she preferred everything "just right." Harvard Medical School researchers have found that when it comes to the length of mitochondria, the power-producing organelles, applying the fairy tale's mantra is crucial to the health of a cell. More specifically, abnormalities in mitochondrail length promote the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.

John Becklenberg says his wife, Mary Ann, still cooks their dinner, although her favorite recipes are simplified to one or two steps. She also hasn't relinquished tidying up the kitchen of their Dyed, Ind., home, but there's more clattering of pots and pans than ever before.