December 23, 2013

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

The latest research on the origins of Alzheimer's, the year's top biomedicine stories, and what the budget deal means for US science and medical research (read more). 
 

 

Must reads

  • A December 23, 2013 Economic Times article reported that "Scientists have for the first time pinpointed the part of the brain where Alzheimer's originates, a finding that can lead to early diagnosis and better treatments for the nuerodegenerative disease." According to the article, "Using high-resolution functional MRI (fMRI) imaging in patients with Alzheimer's disease and in mouse models of the disease, Columbia University Medical Centre (CUMC) researchers have clarified three fundamental issues about Alzheimer's: where it starts, why it starts there, and how it spreads. In addition to advancing understanding of Alzheimer's, the findings could improve early detection of the disease, when drugs may be most effective." 
  • A December 23, 2013 MIT Technology Review article reported on the most important biomedicine stories of the year including President Obama's BRAIN initiative and research linking chronic traumatic encephalopathy to football. According to the article, "There was remarkable progress in the field of neuroscience this year, but researchers still struggle to understand and treat the brain…Many brain disorders remain difficult to treat. Despite a pressing need and large investments in time and money, an Alzheimer’s treatment continues to evade pharmaceutical companies." 
Federal budget 
  • A December 23, 2013 Reuters article reported on the process of parceling "out more than $1 trillion to fund everything from cybersecurity to student loans." According to the article, "Business groups will push to fund job-training programs, while advocates for the elderly will fight for increased Alzheimer's disease research and teachers' unions will argue to restore money that has been cut from education…For some, it's a chance to restore funding that fell victim to across-the-board "sequester" cuts that took effect in March. For others, it's a chance to launch new initiatives that have been sidelined for years as Democrats and Republicans have opted to renew old spending plans through temporary "continuing resolutions," rather than write new ones."
  • A December 20, 2013 Physics Today article reported that a "budget agreement approved by US lawmakers means more money for science compared with sequester-hit 2013." According to the article, "Senate Budget Committee chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) said the agreement “roll[s] back sequestration’s harmful cuts to education, medical research, infrastructure investments, and defense jobs for the next two years.”“The Bipartisan Budget Act is a modest but important easing of sequestration that makes it possible for Congress to begin closing the nation’s innovation deficit,” commented Hunter Rawlings, president of the Association of American Universities."