MUST READS

A June 8, 2015 The Wall Street Journal opinion piece by David Shenk and Rudy Tanzi underscored the importance of basic research to fighting and curing Alzheimer’s. According to the authors, “But the real cutting edge of neuroscience is not a happy clinic of patients enjoying stunning prevention results with drug-free therapies. It is a room full of Ph.D.s soberly sharing painstakingly sequenced genomes, assayed enzymes, and isolated signaling molecules so that safe, effective new drugs can be created and tested…Scientists are making progress but are likely still billions of dollars and years of research away from a true cure. Alzheimer’s health-care costs are more than $200 billion a year, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, and will spiral past $1 trillion as the population ages. Yet the federal government last year spent $591 million on research into the disease—a shamefully low investment compared with the scope of the problem…But the public needs to understand—and researchers need to better explain—that we will beat Alzheimer’s only with its full-throated support of fact-based science.” Mr. Shenk is a senior adviser to Cure Alzheimer’s Fund and Rudy Tanzi is chairman of the Research Consortium at Cure Alzheimer’s Fund and professor of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.

A June 8, 2015 Buzzfeeed article highlighted how Alzheimer’s brought one son and mother closer together. According to the author, “I put her to bed and tell her the story of my 40th birthday – when the entire family came to visit me in London, saw me on stage together, for the first time. The last time she was truly well. Amazing to think how healthy she was then, still; only four years have passed. Amazing to think how insistently we fooled ourselves with “old people are forgetful” back then. How proud she was of me that day. This has been the most surprising and the keenest loss: I have nobody to disappoint or make proud any more. Not in that way. To whom do I run now, with news of my defeats and victories? In a rare moment of absolute clarity, she turns to me and says, “I raised really good kids, didn’t I?” “Happy birthday, Mum,” I respond. I kiss her on the forehead and turn off the light.” This article is part of a series on care issues, read the rest of the series here.

A June 8, 2015 CNN Money article reported on advancements in early detection for Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “"What if we could see inside the brain of a patient 10 or 20 years before they develop clinical signs of Alzheimer's? That's now possible with new scans," Kraft said. It could also be done with new advances in blood-based biomarkers. A study, released last year, found that biomarkers could predict Alzheimer's before it starts by using a simple blood test. Those results are preliminary, but important: catching Alzheimer's early is crucial, especially since the number of Americans suffering from it will increase. The Alzheimer's Association estimates that by 2050, the number of people with the disease could triple, from 5.1 million to 13.8 million. There's also a new eye test that predicts dementia. The testing is still in the early stages, but it's based on research at Duke University, which found that differences in the sizes of blood vessels in the eyes can predict dementia before its onset. That's important because patients are usually treated after they've already endured irreversible brain damage.”

RESEARCH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY  

A June 9, 2015 Bloomberg article reported that “Roche Holding AG is weighing a second test for an experimental Alzheimer’s drug that failed in an initial study, after a similar offering from Biogen Inc. showed promise in slowing the memory-robbing ailment.” According to the article, “Roche may re-run its trial with a higher dose and other adjustments to the study, said Paulo Fontoura, head of neuroscience clinical development for the Basel, Switzerland-based company. Like Biogen’s medicine, gantenerumab is an antibody that targets the beta amyloid protein, suggesting that if Biogen’s drug works, so should Roche’s. “Dose is one of the key factors we are looking at now,” Fontoura said in a telephone interview. “The two molecules are remarkably similar. It’s more to do with how the experiment was set up.” There are 47.5 million people suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia —- more than the population living with HIV/AIDS. The number is set to almost double by 2030, according to the World Health Organization, which estimates that the global cost of dementia care was $600 billion in 2010.”

A June 9, 2015 The Guardian article reported that “Publishers are resisting a change to copyright law that would allow academics to digitally mine published research to help crack intractable problems.” According to the article, “Take, for example, a recent project that used text mining to discover new information about Alzheimer’s disease. Text mining is an analysis technique that involves using a computer to scan thousands of relevant articles at once to “mine’” the facts and data within them and discover connections. Using cutting-edge technology that can speed-read data on a large scale, researchers found out more about the biomarkers that help early diagnosis of the disease. At the moment copyright law limits the amount of data that can be mined by researchers. But things could be about to change. The European Commission is edging towards updating its 2001 copyright laws to better suit the digital age and there is hope that this could give researchers greater access to published work.”

A June 8, 2015 Big Think article reported on the efforts of researchers to unlock the complexities of memory loss. According to the article, “Aizpurua stated in a press release that "the highly widespread belief that memory deteriorates as one approaches old age is not completely true.” Indeed, a recent study found that certain cognitive powers actually peak at varying points in our lives. But when it comes to memory loss, “deterioration appears in episodic memory, but not in semantic memory.” Memories dealing with skills, language, and concepts remain intact. In fact, Aizpurua argues in his paper that “(semantic) and procedural memory are maintained (in some cases they even improve)...” Autobiographical memory makes up a part of episodic memory, and one could argue that knowing our past helps inform us in the present and allows us to think about the future. Aizpurua and his colleagues wanted to see how this part of episodic memory was affected with age.”

A June 8, 2015 Tech Times article highlighted a partnership between NASA and the Mayo Clinic to treat brain disorders using nanotechnology. According to the article, “NASA is best known for its work toward revealing the secrets of the cosmos, but the organization also engages in many efforts to improve life here on Earth. To that end, NASA Ames researchers have been working with doctors and other medical experts at the Mayo Clinic over the past several years to apply cutting edge nanotechnology to improve treatments for brain-related disorders ranging from Alzheimer's and epilepsy to obsessive compulsive disorder and even obesity.”

A June 8, 2015 Medical Xpress article reported that “New research presented during the 2015 annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) demonstrates that amyloid positron emission tomography (amyloid PET) scans of the brain provide clearer diagnosis and earlier, more effective treatment for Alzheimer's patients, when results of a more conventional PET scan remain ambiguous.”