USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A February 16, 2018 UsAgainstAlzheimer’s statement welcomed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) revised draft guidance, Early Alzheimer's Disease: Developing Drugs for Treatment, prioritizing the need for new medical treatments for serious neurological disease like Alzheimer's. According to UsAgainstAlzheimer's Chairman George Vradenburg, “UsA2 looks forward to continuing to work with FDA in the areas of increased patient engagement and biomarker development and we urge the Agency to take the lead in engaging other national regulatory bodies in the international community to take similar measures."

According to a February 15, 2018 The Hill op-ed by George Vradenburg, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Co-Founder and Chairman, the fight to stop Alzheimer’s is a uncommon area of collaboration and comradery in an extremely partisan era. “This type of rare bipartisan support underscores the increased urgency that many feel, regardless of party for finding a cure,” said Vradenburg. He continued, “Based on years of tireless research, we know it can be done. This nation’s history of successful strides against many of world’s most devastating diseases — from polio to HIV — gives us confidence that the same fate awaits Alzheimer’s and other dementias.”

MUST READS

A February 15, 2018 Bloomberg article highlighted a new Food and Drug Administration “fast-track” proposal which will allow drugmakers to test Alzheimer’s disease treatments on patients years before symptoms emerge. The proposal could approve therapies based on subtle biological signals, rather than proof they alleviate symptoms. According to the article, “While the FDA acknowledges the lack of an agreed-upon target, it loosened the standard for drugmakers to move ahead. The proposal cuts a line from a 2013 policy calling for “widespread evidence-based agreement in the research community” about the right biological signal.”

A February 15, 2018 Science Media Centre article reported that a study published in Acta Neuropathologica looked at the possibility that brain bleeds caused by amyloid beta build-up in the brain’s blood vessels could have been transmitted by contaminated neurosurgical instruments. According to researchers at The Royal College of Surgeons and the Society of British Neurological Surgeons, “It would perhaps be premature to draw too many conclusions from such a small sample however, if further evidence does conclusively show amyloid beta deposition, which has been linked to Alzheimer’s, may be transmissible through neurosurgical instruments, similar guidance to that aimed at preventing the transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD/ vCJD) could be recommended.”

RESEARCH, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

A February 14, 2018 Alzforum article spotlighted new findings from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston which support the idea that amyloid instigates the spread of tau pathology beyond the medial temporal lobe, which is connected with the cognitive manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease. Aβ starts to accumulate in the neocortices of people affected by an autosomal-dominant AD mutation 10 to 15 years prior to symptoms, and tau deposits emerge in the medial temporal lobe about six years prior, then later spread into the cortex once people start to have trouble with memory. According to Samantha Burnham of Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Canberra, Australia, “This study adds to a growing appreciation for the utility of biomarkers in identifying preclinical AD.”

A February 12, 2018 Providence Journal article reported that scientists at the Memory and Aging Program at Butler Hospital are beginning a new study on the experimental drug Tauriel in people with early to mild signs of Alzheimer’s disease. The drug acts on tau, a major hallmark of AD. According to Dr. Stephen P. Salloway, “This study brings new clinical trial options for patients with early Alzheimer’s disease, and because the study uses a new PET scan technique to visualize and measure the effects of this intervention on tau pathology, it could also prove to be a major advance in brain imaging.”

DISPARITIES SPOTLIGHT

A February 15, 2018 WMTV NBC 15 video spotlighted the disparity between African-Americans and Caucasians when it comes to Alzheimer’s disease. According to the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of Wisconsin, African-Americans are twice as likely to develop the disease. The Center and the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin are offering free memory screenings this weekend.

LIFESTYLE

A February 12, 2018 CBS New York video and article spotlighted dancing as a non-drug therapy for Alzheimer’s disease. Dancing activates multiple, varied brain circuits related to hearing, vision, motor skills, memory and experiencing emotions of dancing in the past. Residents at the Bristal Assisted Living Center at Lake Success on Long Island are part of a study comparing the cognitive function of people who take dance therapy versus those who don’t.