USA2 SPOTLIGHT

An August 6, 2018 The Wall Street Journal article [subscription] looked at millennials and caregiving. The burden is growing as America ages. According to the article, “About one in three millennials who are taking care of someone with dementia, which is the most demanding type of family caregiving, said they have cut back hours, lost benefits or been fired because of caregiving demands, according to a 2017 report by UsAgainstAlzheimer’s and USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging. Fourteen percent stopped working entirely because they couldn’t handle both work and care, which means loss of contributions to Social Security and 401(k) plans.”

MUST READS

An August 9, 2018 Time article featured the SPRINT MIND trial, testing whether aggressively lowering blood pressure has an effect on the risk of cognitive decline, including symptoms of dementia related to Alzheimer’s disease. According to the article, “Indeed, the trial’s results are now the first solid confirmation that lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of both mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a degree of brain decline that’s considered the gateway to dementia, and probable dementia.” “It’s one of the first real demonstrations of a lifestyle modification having an impact on late-life cognition,” said Dr. Ronald Petersen of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

An August 8, 2018 New Atlas article probed the link between degenerative eye diseases and the onset of Alzheimer’s, which could help doctors identify patients at risk of developing AD before major symptoms appear. People with age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy or glaucoma, were 40 to 50 percent more likely to develop Alzheimer's compared to those without. According to the article, “The researchers are clear that there are no definable causal connections between these eye conditions and Alzheimer's at this stage, but the study does highlight the potential of using the eye as a way to better understand what is going on in the brain.” Also covered by EurekAlert! and UW Medicine Newsroom.

MUST WATCH

An August 8, 2018 Inside Science video asked, ‘will we ever be able to cure Alzheimer’s disease?’ Research is turning toward “beefing up” brain cells, or keeping neurons healthy and synapses growing, to live alongside AD. According to the video, “One thing we can all do is combat the disease by adapting our lifestyle. Exercise, diet and mental stimulation are all potential ways to help to keep the brain robust, so it can hold off the disease for longer. We will unravel the riddle that causes Alzheimer’s -- there are many exciting theories -- soluble amyloid, the glymphatic system, microglial inflammation to name but a few -- and when we finally know the cause, the cure cannot be far behind.”

RESEARCH AND SCIENCE

An August 9, 2018 Newswise article reported that an Australian-Chinese research collaboration have been investigating tauopathies, or misfolding of tau protein, which is a major hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. It was previously unknown how the gene mutation was responsible for causing cell death or damage. According to Professor Xin-Fu Zhou, “Our research found that in both the animal model and human brains, the signal of neurotrophins and receptors is abnormal in brains with FTLD [frontotemporal lobe degeneration]. We discovered an increase in the neurotrophin signalling pathway that is related to life and death of nerve cells, known as proNGF/p75, and then found blocking its functions was shown to reduce cell damage.”

According to an August 7, 2018 EurekAlert! release, scientists at the Technical University of Munich have described a new class of designed macrocyclic peptides that are highly potent inhibitors of amyloid formation, which is a major hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. "We have discovered an MCIP that is stable in human blood plasma and can also overcome the human blood-brain barrier in an in vitro cell culture model. So far we were 'only' able to demonstrate these properties in the test tube - thus further research is necessary. But these are two highly desirable properties for inhibitors of Alzheimer's amyloid,” said Aphrodite Kapurniotu. Also covered by Science Daily.