September 20, 2013

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

A new report from Alzheimer's Disease International finds Alzheimer's on the road to triple by 2050, NIH identifies a class of proteins affects the vulnerability to Alzheimer's, the use of fluorescent tags to monitor the real-time progression of Alzheimer's (read more). 
 

Must reads

  • A September 19, 2013 Reuters article reported that Alzheimer's Disease International released a report that found "A global rise in cases of the mind-robbing Alzheimer's disease is creating a chronic shortage of carers, with the number of old people dependent on care set to nearly triple to 277 million by 2050." Also covered by CNNUSA TodayStar TribuneNPRAARPAFP, and several others. 
  • A September 19, 2013 National Institutes of Health post announced that "A class of proteins that controls visual system development in the young brain also appears to affect vulnerability to Alzheimer’s disease in the aging brain." According to the article, "The proteins, which are found in humans and mice, join a limited roster of molecules that scientists are studying in hopes of finding an effective drug to slow the disease process."
  • A September 19, 2013 Forbes article reported on the use of fluorescent tags to monitor the real-time progression of Alzheimer's. According to the article, "The new study used fluorescent tags that can cross the blood brain barrier and latch on to tau. The team first tried the method in mice and then in a handful of human patients. PET imaging showed in three dimensions the brain regions of in which the tags were accumulating. Eric Karran of Alzheimer’s Research in the U.K. told BBC news: “This promising early study highlights a potential new method for detecting tau – a key player in both Alzheimer’s and frontotemporal dementia – in the living brain….If this method is shown to be effective, such a scan could also be a useful aid for providing people with an accurate diagnosis, as well as for monitoring disease progression.”"