Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Alzheimer's / Dementia News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/alzheimers/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156271.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156271.php Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President & CEO: Haruo Naito, "Eisai") and Eisai Corporation of North America (Headquarters: Woodcliff Lake, NJ, Chairman and CEO Hajime Shimizu) are currently focusing on three clinical development programs for the company's major product Aricept(R) (donepezil hydrochloride tablets) to further contribute to patients with Alzheimer's disease. As progress in those programs has been made, Eisai announces the status as follows: 1. Alzheimer's / Dementia Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156322.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156322.php Researchers in Sweden found that people who have the APOE Alzheimer's gene and who live alone in middle age after being widowed or separated from a life partner, are at higher risk of developing dementia. The study is the work of Dr Krister Hakannson, a research fellow at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and colleagues, and is published in the 2 July online issue of the BMJ. Alzheimer's / Dementia Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156186.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156186.php Scientists at UC Santa Barbara and several other institutions have found laboratory evidence that a cluster of peptides may be the toxic agent in Alzheimer's disease. Scientists say the discovery may lead to new drugs for the disease. In an article published this week in Nature Chemistry, the researchers explain the process in which the toxic Amyloid Beta 42 peptides aggregate, and outline the new technology they use to study these peptides. Alzheimer's / Dementia Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156191.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156191.php A human growth factor that stimulates blood stem cells to proliferate in the bone marrow reverses memory impairment in mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's disease, researchers at the University of South Florida and James A. Haley Hospital found. Alzheimer's / Dementia Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156111.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156111.php On June 11, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) announced that, following consultation with stakeholders on the economic model that underpinned NICE's 2006 guidance on the use of drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease, the guidance remains unchanged despite recognising significant errors within their model. Alzheimer's / Dementia Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156014.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156014.php Neural stem cells represent the cellular backup of our brain. These cells are capable of self-renewal to form new stem cells or differentiate into neurons, astrocytes or oligodendrocytes. Astrocytes have supportive functions in the environment of neurons, while oligodendrocytes form the myelin layer around axons in order to accelerate neuronal signal transmission. Stem Cell Research Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155950.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155950.php Caring for an elderly family member can be stressful and can pose health threats to caregivers. Steven Zarit, professor and head, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Penn State, received a $3 million grant from the National Institute on Aging to study the effects of caregiving on familial caregivers. He will look at people who care for family members with dementia and how adult day care impacts the stress levels of all individuals involved. Caregivers / Homecare Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155959.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155959.php The UK's leading dementia charities united with eminent scientists to urge the government to commit to a national dementia research strategy and triple annual investment to £96 million in five years. The Alzheimer's Research Trust and Alzheimer's Society revealed that the UK government lags behind France, Germany and the US in dementia research funding and has no plans for the future. Alzheimer's / Dementia Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155682.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155682.php This Friday 26 June, Alzheimer's Society representatives and sports personality Micky Quinn will join Richard Dunwoody, in his quest to walk 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours. Turning his half-mile stretch into a 'Memory Walk Catwalk' they will be strutting their wellie-boot chic in Newmarket to raise awareness of Alzheimer's Society's annual fundraiser 'Memory Walk' and boost awareness of the Society's work in the local area. Alzheimer's / Dementia Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155557.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155557.php A multi-institutional team of researchers, led by the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, will begin a five-year, $2.9 million National Institutes of Health-funded study. They will examine the lives of patients with both cataracts and Alzheimer's disease (AD) to document how restored vision improves everyday life for people with dementia. Alzheimer's / Dementia Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155515.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155515.php People in very early stages of Alzheimer's disease already have trouble focusing on what is important to remember, a UCLA psychologist and colleagues report. "One of the first telltale signs of Alzheimer's disease may be not memory problems, but failure to control attention," said Alan Castel, UCLA assistant professor of psychology and lead author of the study. Alzheimer's / Dementia Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155387.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155387.php Dr. Jennifer C Palmer and colleagues at the University of Bristol have discovered that endothelin converting enzyme-2 (ECE-2) may cause the decrease in cerebral blood flow seen in Alzheimer's disease. These results are presented in the July 2009 issue of the American Journal of Pathology. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer's / Dementia Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155392.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155392.php Scientists have uncovered a novel mechanism linking soluble amyloid β protein with the synaptic injury and memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The research, published by Cell Press in the June 25 issue of the journal Neuron, provides critical new insight into disease pathogenesis and reveals signaling molecules that may serve as potential additional therapeutic targets for AD. Alzheimer's / Dementia Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155338.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155338.php Community Care Market News has conducted an annual survey of local authority fee rates for nursing and residential care. Baseline fee rates for the 200,000 council supported elderly people in independent sector care homes across the UK have received an average uplift of 2.6% for financial year 2009/10, according to Laing & Buisson's annual survey published in the June edition of Community Care Market News. Alzheimer's / Dementia Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155083.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155083.php High cholesterol levels are considered to be a risk factor not only for cardiovascular disease including stroke, but also for the development of Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, many cholesterol lowering drugs, including statins, have been developed in recent years. Alzheimer's / Dementia Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155074.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155074.php It is possible to determine which patients run a high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and the dementia associated with it, even in patients with minimal memory impairment. This has been shown by recent research at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The results have been published in the most recent issue of the prestigious medical journal Lancet Neurology. "The earlier we can catch Alzheimer's disease, the more we can do for the patient. Alzheimer's / Dementia Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155035.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155035.php High cholesterol levels are considered to be a risk factor not only for cardiovascular disease including stroke, but also for the development of Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, many cholesterol lowering drugs, including statins, have been developed in recent years. Alzheimer's / Dementia Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154885.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154885.php The rapid development of modern neuroimaging has made a decisive improvement in the diagnosis of neurological illnesses. As Professor Filippi notes: "Neuroimaging makes new diagnostic tools available with the potential to quantify the extent of CNS injury, to define the nature of the different pathological substrates of the various CNS affections and to assess the functional changes following tissue damage with the ability to limit the clinical consequences of injury. Neurology / Neuroscience Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154851.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154851.php Self perceived memory impairment is an indicator of pending Alzheimer dementia but not of vascular dementia, according to results of the LADIS (Leukoaraiosis and Disability) study which explores the impact of brain white matter changes on the functioning of independent elderly individuals over a 3 year period. Alzheimer's / Dementia Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154744.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154744.php New plans to improve the support and care for individuals and their families living with dementia were announced by Health Minister Edwina Hart. Statistics from Alzheimer's Society show that there are currently more than 37,000 people with dementia in Wales, and this is set to rise to almost 50,000 within 20 years. One in three people over 65 are expected to die with a form of dementia, according to the charity. Alzheimer's / Dementia Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154539.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154539.php The National Resource for Aplysia at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science has had its resources grant with the National Institute for Health (NIH) extended for an additional five years. The National Resource for Aplysia is the only facility in the world that cultures and raises Aplysia californica, commonly known as sea hares or sea slugs. Over the course of the next five years, the facility will receive $2. Neurology / Neuroscience Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154398.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154398.php Data published in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease demonstrated that minimally-invasive biospectroscopy was able to identify changes in oxidative stress (OS) levels in blood plasma, which may prove to be a useful biomarker in the early detection of Alzheimer's disease. There is currently no accepted laboratory test for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's / Dementia Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154330.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154330.php A new diagnostic technique which may greatly simplify the detection of Alzheimer's disease has been discovered by researchers at McGill University and the affiliated Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital (JGH). Their results were published June 8 in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Alzheimer's / Dementia Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154239.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154239.php This June, the Alzheimer Society is recognizing the extraordinary efforts of four Canadians who are rising to the challenge in the fight against Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. With a growing number of Canadians looking to the Alzheimer Society for help, the Society is paying tribute to those who go above and beyond in their work to deliver excellence in the care and support of the hundreds of thousands of people touched by this illness. Alzheimer's / Dementia Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154241.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154241.php A report published revealed the social care workforce is unfit to deliver quality care for people with dementia. 'Prepared to Care' a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Dementia found large variation in the dementia skills of the social care workforce. Barriers to delivering good care included low levels of training, ineffective regulation, lack of accreditation for trainers and a limited understanding of dementia by commissioners. Alzheimer's / Dementia