October 14, 2013

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

George Vradenburg calls on G8 to tackle Alzheimer's, the NFL ignores Alzheimer's awareness, Japanese researchers may have developed method to suppress Alzheimer's protein (read more).
 
 
 
 
 

 

Must reads
  • An October 13, 2013 McClatchy-Tribune News Service opinion piece by USA2 Chairman George Vradenburg called on the G8 to tackle Alzheimer's. According to Vradenburg, "Government, for example, must fund basic research, foster an innovation-friendly environment and transform health care systems built for acute care into more integrated health and social support systems to support chronic care needs…Moreover, industry must place a high priority on scientific advances such as biomarkers that predict those at risk for the disease before symptoms appear, much like cholesterol does for heart disease.Advancing this agenda would be a true game-changer in the history of Alzheimer’s, but no country can do it alone. It will take an initiative like that proposed by the G-8 to make it happen."
  • An October 11, 2013 Orlando Sentinel opinion piece by George Diaz highlighted the NFL's commitment to raising breast cancer awareness despite the need to address other diseases like Alzheimer's. According to Diaz, "Obviously the NFL does not want to draw attention to any correlation between getting your brain bounced around every Sunday and the fact that it could lead to some long-term health issues. It is, after all, a league of denial. Marshall would have been fine if he was suited up Pretty in Pink, however. And that highlights a bigger issue:The marketing monopoly breast cancer has over other diseases. No doubt Susan G. Komen For the Cure does fine work trying to find a cure for breast cancer. But what about the fine work of  the Alzheimer’s Association, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the American Heart Association and other groups?"
  • An October 11, 2013 GreenvilleOnline.com (SC) opinion piece by non-profit executive Kevin Parker called for increased government funding for Alzheimer's research. According to Parker, "Federal spending for Alzheimer’s research equals less than 10 percent of amounts spent on cancer research, and less than 30 percent of research funding for heart disease. In fact, federal spending on Alzheimer’s research has remained flat for several years. And as meaningful as the donations from the Alzheimer’s Association and other private sources are, government funding is sorely needed to avert the coming crisis.
 
Research and science 
  • An October 11, 2013 UPI article reported that "Japanese researchers say they developed a compound to suppress the formation of a protein believed to cause Alzheimer's disease." According to the article, "Satoru Funamoto, associate professor of neuropathology at the Doshisha University and colleagues, said they hoped the substance, which inhibits the formation of beta amyloid, might help establish preventive measures against the disease or treatment methods with fewer side effects, Kyoto News reported."
  • An October 11, 2013 Harvard Magazine article reported that "scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, whose work this magazine has followed closely for nearly a decade, are one step closer to creating a drug that may provide some of the same neurological benefits (described here in earlier coverage) that endurance exercise provides,  but without the hard work." According to the article, "The researchers isolated a protein that increases with endurance exercise and gave it to sedentary mice. The protein turned on genes that promote brain health and lead to the growth of new neurons involved in learning and memory."