June 21, 2013
Today's Top Alzheimer's News
The Economist on how Alzheimer's "wrecks lives," the first high-resolution 3-D brain model, and the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer's Disease makes a big announcement at White House event (read more)
Must reads
- A June 22, 2013 The Economist article reported on the efforts of researchers to develop an Alzheimer's treatment. According to the article, "Alzheimer's disease wrecks lives. And as people live longer, it will wreck more with every passing year. It also wrecks budgets. In America in 2010, the cost of treating those with dementia was $109 billion. That exceeds the cost of treating those with heart disease or with cancer. The RAND Corporation, a Californian think-tank, reckons this cost will more than double by 2040. A treatment for Alzheimer’s is therefore needed for fiscal as well as humanitarian reasons…Trial after trial has failed, to the point where researchers are tearing their hair out. But still they try."
- A June 20, 2013 Agence France Presse (AFP) article reported that German and Canadian researchers have developed the first high resolution three-dimensional digital model of the human brain. According to the article, "The 3-D map, described in the US journal Science, aims to offer a new perspective for scientists who want to study everything from Alzheimer's to Parkinson's disease and other disorders.Known as BigBrain, it is "the first ever brain model in 3-D which really presents a realistic human brain with all the cells and all the structures of a human brain," said senior author Karl Zilles, professor at the Julich Aachen Research Alliance in Germany."
Research and science
- A June 20, 2013 Foxnews.com article reported that "Contracting a common virus called cytomegalovirus (CMV) may contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease." According to the article, "The study did not show a cause-and-effect link between CMV and Alzheimer's. It is possible that other stimulants of inflammation, including other viral infections, might also lead to the brain changes seen in the study, which could cause a decline in cognitive function leading to Alzheimer's disease."
USA2
- A June 20, 2013 Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer's Disease press release "announced the Alzheimer’s Disease Big Data Challenge at the White House’s Open Science Champions event, which recognized individuals and groups that promote open science." According to the statement, "The challenge marks an effort to increase innovation and identify new Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers through the use of open source data from Alzheimer’s patients that was provided by the North American Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). The development of new Alzheimer’s biomarkers would help researchers better identify Alzheimer’s disease early on and potentially open new doors to therapy and treatments."