Neurology
Alzheimer Disease Risks Are Gender Specific
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The risks of developing Alzheimer’s disease differ between the sexes, with stroke in men, and depression in women, critical factors, suggests research published ahead of print in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
The French researchers base their findings on almost 7000 people over the age of 65, drawn from the general population in three French cities.
None had dementia, but around four out of 10 were deemed to have mildly impaired mental agility (mild cognitive impairment) at the start of the study.
Drinking dulls the brain’s response to threats
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Drinking alcohol dulls the brain’s ability to detect threats, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday in a study that helps explain why people who are drunk cannot tell when the guy at the end of the bar is angling for a fight.
They said the study is the first to show how alcohol affects the human brain as it responds to threats.
“You see this all of the time. People get into confrontations when they are intoxicated that they probably wouldn’t get into when they are sober,” said Jodi Gilman of the National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, whose study appears in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Research Seeks to Understand Memory Loss in Older People
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Today, one out of very 12 people aged 65 and older will experience a decline in their ability to remember, think clearly, reason and make daily decisions. The decline in memory and mental abilities may be subtle, but it limits quality of life and oftentimes leads to depression.
Misericordia University researchers are leading a team of students and faculty from two regional institutions of higher education in a six-month study to better understand how to treat people with memory problems and who have a decreased ability to think clearly.
James Siberski, M.S., assistant professor, Geriatric-Care Manager Certificate Program director and coordinator of the Gerontology Education Center for Professional Development at Misericordia University; and his colleague, Margie Eckroth-Bucher, R.N., associate professor of nursing at Bloomsburg University; are spearheading the research with Misericordia students Jamie Donahue, Mehoopany, Pa.; Grant Greenberg, Douglaston, N.Y.; Pam Roberts, Shavertown, Pa.; Cheryl Wilson, Shohola, Pa.; and Emily Getz, Kunkletown, Pa., at the Maria Joseph Manor’s Continuing Care Community in Danville.
Transitioning patients with pediatric disease to adulthood
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Growing pains can mean one thing for a typical adolescent and quite another to an older teen with cerebral palsy attempting independence in an adult world. A unique program, the Indiana University School of Medicine Center for Youth and Adults with Conditions of Childhood (CYACC) is helping these youths spread their wings and live more independently.
IU pediatricians at Riley Hospital for Children have been at the forefront of innovative care for patients, including advances that over the past three decades have created new challenges for patients with special needs and their caregivers. Now, Riley physicians are leading the way to providing a solution.
CYACC provides interdisciplinary consultation in a health-care setting to specifically address transition and adult life issues regardless of the youth or adult’s diagnosis.
Ground-breaking new insight into the development of Alzheimer’s disease
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Leuven, Belgium ¨C According to estimates there are 85,000 Alzheimer patients in our country and approximately 20,000 new cases every year. This spectacular increase is due to the increasing ageing population. Unfortunately it is still unclear precisely which ageing process forms the basis of this spectacular rise in the occurrence of the disease. VIB scientists affiliated to K.U.Leuven have discovered an important molecular link between Alzheimer’s disease and the development of the typical plaques in the brains of Alzheimer patients. This discovery is an important breakthrough in the fundamental research into the cause of Alzheimer’s disease.
Mid-life high cholesterol raises Alzheimer’s risk
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High cholesterol levels in your 40s may raise the chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease decades later, according to a study underscoring the importance of health factors in middle age on risk for the brain ailment.
The study involving 9,752 people in northern California found that those with high cholesterol levels between ages 40 and 45 were about 50 percent more likely than those with low cholesterol levels to later develop Alzheimer’s disease.
The findings were presented on Wednesday at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Chicago.
Sickened pork workers have new nerve disorder
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Eighteen pork plant workers in Minnesota, at least five in Indiana and one in Nebraska have come down with a mysterious neurological condition they appear to have contracted while removing brains from slaughtered pigs, U.S. researchers and health officials said on Wednesday.
They said the illness is a new disorder that causes a range of symptoms, from inflammation of the spinal cord to mild weakness, fatigue, numbness and tingling in the arms and legs.
“As far as we are aware it is a brand new disorder,” said Dr. Daniel Lachance of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who presented his findings at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Chicago.
Aerobic Exercise Boosts Older Bodies and Minds, Review Suggests
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Aerobic exercise could give older adults a boost in brainpower, according to a recent review of studies from the Netherlands.
“Aerobic physical exercises that improve cardiovascular fitness also help boost cognitive processing speed, motor function and visual and auditory attention in healthy older people,” said lead review author Maaike Angevaren.
Around age 50, even healthy older adults begin to experience mild declines in cognition, such as occasional memory lapses and reduced ability to pay attention. Convincing evidence shows that regular exercise contributes to healthy aging, but could the types of exercise a person does influence his or her cognitive fitness?
How Big Is Your Brain? Its Size May Protect You from Memory Loss
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From autopsies, researchers have long known that some people die with sharp minds and perfect memories, but their brains riddled with the plaques and tangles of Alzheimer’s disease. New research shows that those people have a larger part of the brain called the hippocampus. The research will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 60th Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12 – April 19, 2008.
“This larger hippocampus may protect these people from the effects of Alzheimer’s disease-related brain changes,” said study author Deniz Erten-Lyons, MD, with Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, and member of the American Academy of Neurology. “Hopefully this will lead us eventually to prevention strategies.”
For the study, researchers evaluated the brains of 12 people who had sharp memories and thinking skills at the time of death, but whose autopsies showed a high amount of Alzheimer’s plaques. Their brains were compared to those of 23 people who had the same amount of plaques in their brains, but had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease before death.
UK Alzheimer’s drug fight goes before appeal court
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A test case legal battle over funding for Alzheimer’s drugs in Britain went before the Court of Appeal on Monday, pitching Japan’s Eisai Co Ltd against the healthcare cost effectiveness watchdog NICE.
Eisai and its marketing partner Pfizer Inc are contesting curbs imposed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on the use of Alzheimer’s drugs within the state-run National Health Service.
Brain study may lead to improved epilepsy treatments
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Using a rodent model of epilepsy, researchers found one of the body’s own neurotransmitters released during seizures, glutamate, turns on a signaling pathway in the brain that increases production of a protein that could reduce medication entry into the brain. Researchers say this may explain why approximately 30 percent of patients with epilepsy do not respond to antiepileptic medications. The study, conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy and Medical School, in collaboration with Heidrun Potschka’s laboratory at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany, is available online and will appear in the May 2008, issue of Molecular Pharmacology.
“Our work identifies the mechanism by which seizures increase production of a drug transport protein in the blood brain barrier, known as P-glycoprotein, and suggests new therapeutic targets that could reduce resistance,” said David Miller, Ph.D., a principal investigator in the NIEHS Laboratory of Pharmacology and co-author on the paper.
The blood-brain barrier (BBB), which resides in brain capillaries, is a limiting factor in treatment of many central nervous system disorders. It is altered in epilepsy so that it no longer permits free passage of administered antiepileptic drugs into the brain. Miller explained that P-glycoprotein forms a functional barrier in the BBB that protects the brain by limiting access of foreign chemicals.
Whites fare worst with Alzheimer’s disease
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Whites with Alzheimer’s disease have shorter survival than their African American and Latino counterparts, according to data obtained from more than 30 US Alzheimer’s Disease Centers.
“Reasons for this difference may be due to management, genetic or cultural factors,” lead investigator Dr. Kala M. Mehta from the University of California, San Francisco, told Reuters Health.
Mehta and colleagues estimated the survival rates of nonwhite versus white patients with Alzheimer’s disease in a study involving more than 30,000 subjects with probable or possible Alzheimer’s disease. The report appears in the medical journal Neurology.
Stress May Lead Students to Stimulants
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The performance pressures from end-of-semester exams and papers can take a toll on students, even leading them to turn to potentially harmful substances to keep them awake and alert.
Recent studies show that a growing number of high school and college students are turning to stimulants like ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) drugs and energy drinks to help them through their stress — particularly during exam time, says Jennifer Christner, M.D., an adolescent medicine specialist at the University of Michigan Health System.
“Studies have shown that anywhere from 5 to 35 percent of college students are misusing stimulants around stressful times with academics. There is also some evidence that high school students — anywhere from 8 to 10 percent — can misuse stimulants during these times,” she says.
Potential new target for multiple sclerosis therapy
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Researchers demonstrate both genetic and pharmaceutical evidence for the role of a protein called collagenase-2 in the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), providing a potential new way to combat this debilitating disease.
Collagenase-2 is a member of a protein family called matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs, collagenase-2 is MMP8), a large group of enzymes that break down collagen and other components of the body’s connective tissue. MMPs have been implicated in contributing to MS by degrading the tissue that maintains the blood-brain barrier, thus allowing unwanted cells to invade and break down nerves. In fact, MMPs are found in elevated amounts in the blood and spinal fluid of diseased individuals.
“Give Me 5” stroke awareness campaign launched
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Actress Morgan Fairchild has teamed up with the American Academy of Neurology, the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Stroke Association to launch a new campaign designed to raise awareness about the early warning signs of stroke and the critical importance of early treatment.
“With stroke, every minute counts,” said Fairchild, who cared for her mother who suffered a series of debilitating strokes until her death in 1999.
Recognizing that you or someone you are with is having a stroke as soon as symptoms appear can “make the difference between life and death,” added Dr. Ralph Sacco, member of the American Academy of Neurology.
