January 16, 2019

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

MUST READS

In a February 2019 Scientific American article, Howard M. Fillit of the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation wrote about the need to look beyond drugs targeting beta-amyloid, into novel pathways, for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. New biomarkers can be used to subtype patients, enroll participants in narrowly-targeted clinical trials, and determine the most effective therapies. “Despite the existing tests for diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, few patients in the U.S. have been tested with these confirmatory tests because of cost and access restrictions. And payers, including Medicare, will not cover amyloid PET scans, based on the perception that a definitive diagnosis has little clinical value.”

CLINICAL TRIAL SPOTLIGHT

A January 16, 2019 Bloomberg Businessweek article focused on a small Phase II clinical trial, from Dublin-based United, of their “UB-311” vaccine to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. The vaccine, which cost the company $100 million to-date on research and development, stimulates the immune system to attack amyloid protein clumps, with the aim of slowing clumping, and reversing and restoring brain function. “They claim to get around the immune response, and it looks like they have been successful. So that’s good,” said Frank Longo of Stanford’s neurology department. Also covered by CISION PR Newswire.  

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

A January 15, 2019 Boston Globe article reported that the state of Massachusetts plans to poll 250,000 low-income and disabled Medicaid recipients about their “patient experience” in the doctor’s office. “The results will give state officials a window into how well Medicaid providers care for patients amid a significant restructuring of the program… Eventually, officials plan to publicly release some results, allowing Medicaid recipients to compare the quality of provider networks.”

RESEARCH AND SCIENCE

According to a January 15, 2019 New Atlas article, a new study at the University of Southern California delved into the association between the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier and the onset of cognitive impairment. The study suggests a strong association between cognitive impairment and leaky capillaries in the brain, which could act as an early biomarker. “The fact that we're seeing the blood vessels leaking, independent of tau and independent of amyloid, when people have cognitive impairment on a mild level, suggests it could be a totally separate process or a very early process,” said senior study author Berislav Zlokovic.

LIFESTYLE

A January 14, 2019 Newsmax Health article looked at the link between belly (“visceral”) fat and heightened risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Visceral fat has previously been linked to higher risk of heart disease, including heart attack and stroke, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and premature death. According to Dr. Gayatri Devi at Lenox Hill Hospital, “Brain gray matter shrinkage seems to be associated with obesity and increased visceral fat. All this goes to show that good general health is also very important for brain health.”

VETERANS SPOTLIGHT

A January 8, 2019 Independent Record article shared the story of Virginia and Lavern Bitterman. Laverne is a 90 year-old veteran who has dementia. One in 10 people with dementia in the U.S. is a veteran, and PTSD, depression and traumatic brain injury all heighten risk. According to the article, “He [Lavern] kept a diary every day of his 3½ years in the military. Virginia opened a small notebook and showed some of the drawings he made. When he returned to Montana, Lavern didn’t talk about his time in the military. But the PTSD he suffered leaked out in other ways.”