May 16, 2013

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

Cloning and Alzheimer's, skin cancer linked to Alzheimer's, and Sen. Patt Murry on the need to restore NIH funding (read more)

Science and research 
 
  • A May 15, 2013 Los Angeles Times article reported that "For the first time, scientists have created human embryos that are genetic copies of living people and used them to make stem cells — a feat that paves the way for treating a range of diseases with personalized body tissues but also ignites fears of human cloning. If replicated in other labs, the methods detailed Wednesday in the journal Cell would allow researchers to fashion human embryonic stem cells that are custom-made for patients with Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and other health problems."
  • A May 15, 2013 Yahoo! News article reported researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York have found that people diagnosed with some forms of skin cancer are at a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's. According to the article, "Study participants who had been diagnosed with either basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer were nearly 80 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's…The researchers followed 1,102 people age 70 and older, for an average of 3.7 years, checking them annually for Alzheimer's and skin cancer."
 
Press releases 
  • A May 15, 2013 MetLife Foundation press release announced the recipients of its 2013 Awards for Medical Research in Alzheimer’s Disease, including: Yueming Li, Ph.D., member and professor, Sloan-Kettering Institute and director and professor, Graduate Program in Pharmacology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and Lennart Mucke, M.D., director, Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Joseph B. Martin Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience and professor of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
  • A May 15, 2013 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center press release announced that the organization "called on Congress to support restoring full funding to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which supports pioneering research that saves lives. Funding was recently cut due to sequestration." The release quoted Senator Patty Murry (D-WA) as stating, “I’ve seen firsthand the positive and lasting impact that NIH funds have had in Washington state for patients with cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. These investments save lives, create jobs, and drive innovation, and NIH funding is crucial to making new breakthroughs.”