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Confronting Alzheimer's

Newsweek
June 18, 2007

Millions of boomers are caring for parents afflicted with a disease that steals minds and memories. What life is like when your mother doesn't know you, or her own name.

As Minds Age, What’s Next? Brain Calisthenics

The New York Times
December 27, 2006

Is there hope for your hippocampus, a new lease for your temporal lobe? Science is not sure yet, but across the country, brain health programs are springing up, offering the possibility of a cognitive fountain of youth.

Living With Alzheimer’s Before a Window Closes

The New York Times
March 29, 2007

Mary Blake Carver gazes from the cover of a neurology magazine this month, under the headline “I’m Still Here!” She often feels like shouting the message to her friends, her children, her husband.

Love in the Time of Dementia

The New York Times
November 18, 2007

Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s husband, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, has a romance with another woman, and the former justice is thrilled — even visits with the new couple while they hold hands on the porch swing — because it is a relief to see her husband of 55
years so content.

An Alzheimer's Fingerprint?

Newsweek
December 12, 2006

An experimental test that analyzes proteins in spinal fluid offers hope for definitive diagnosis of the disease.

Zen and the Art of Coping with Alzheimer’s

The New York Times
August 14, 2007

During the YouTube forum with the Democratic presidential candidates in July, the first question about health care came from two middle-age brothers in Iowa, who faced the camera with their elderly mother. Not everybody with Alzheimer’s disease has two loving sons to take care of them, they said, adding that a boom in dementia is expected in the next few decades.

Alzheimer’s: Smoothing the transition on moving day

Mayo Clinic
December 21, 2007

Moving is often difficult — but it's especially challenging for a person with Alzheimer's disease. Add familiar touches to make the transition as comfortable as possible.

Use It or Lose It Part I: Brain Fitness

Assisted Living Consult
November/December 2007

Carol Lupkie enrolled in the care community's Brain Fitness Program– a series of computer-based exercises designed to improve important brain functions. Along with other residents, she visited a computer lab 1 hour a day for 8 weeks– a total of 40 sessions. Many of the exercises were based on honing recall skills. "The story-telling was good, and the programs were colorful and entertaining," she adds.

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Stress, Prescription Medications,
and Alzheimer's Disease

Natural News
December 28, 2007

Medications and stress may be contributing to the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. In a recent study conducted at the University of California, Irvine, researchers discovered that when genetically modified mice were injected with dexamethasone, a glucocorticoid similar to the body's natural stress hormones, the levels of the proteins beta-amyloid and tau in the brain increased by 60 percent. This is significant because these are the same proteins that form the plaques and tangles which form the hallmark brain legions in Alzheimer's disease.

Denial, Stigma Delaying Alzheimer's Diagnoses

Alzheimer's Weekly
March 21, 2006

Most diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease are delayed until more than two years after the first symptoms appeared, according to a survey released Tuesday.
Ignorance, denial and stigma are conspiring to delay the diagnosis, the researchers reported, which can have a serious medical impact, since medications to slow the illness' progress are most effective in its early stages.

New Test Could Spot Dementia Earlier

Alzheimer's Weekly
November 2, 2006

A new means of spotting dementia can detect early, mild cognitive problems in elderly people that are missed by a standard test, U.S. researchers say.

According to researchers at Saint Louis University, where the new tool was developed, it takes about seven minutes to administer The Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination (SLUMS), in which patients are asked to perform tasks such as simple math calculations, naming animals, recalling facts, and drawing the hands on a clock.

The Workings of the Brain

The Washington Post
January 8, 2008

Your brain has three main parts. 1. The cerebrum is involved in thinking, feeling, remembering and problem-solving; it also controls much of the body's movement. The cerebrum has a wrinkled gray surface called the cortex. 2. The cerebellum controls coordination and balance. 3. The brainstem manages automatic responses such as breathing and heart rate.

Loneliness May Up Alzheimer's Risk

Web MD Medical News
February 5, 2007

Lonely individuals are twice as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease as those who are not lonely, according to a new study.
Researchers focused on the effects of emotional isolation, or loneliness, in which people perceive themselves as feeling socially isolated and disconnected from others -- sometimes even if they're surrounded by family and friends.

Early Alzheimer's May Hamper Driving

Web MD Medical News
January 23, 2008

Even the early stages of Alzheimer's disease may impair driving ability, new research shows.

In a new study, people with very mild or mild Alzheimer's disease had more accidents and worse scores on a road test than people of the same age without Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer’s Research Target May Be a Dead End

Health Day Reporter
January 27, 2008

A once-promising pathway for research into preventing and treating Alzheimer's disease may have been derailed by a surprise chemical finding, researchers report. Latest Alzheimers News

* Antipsychotic Drugs Don't Help Alzheimer Patients * With Alzheimer's, It Takes a Family * Brain Scan Technique Spots Alzheimer's * Belly Fat in Midlife, Dementia Later? * Baby Boomers Face Alzheimer's, Report Says

Scientists in laboratories around the world have been investigating drug candidates called amyloid inhibitors, which many experts believed could keep proteins such as amyloid-beta from sticking together in brain tissue.

Alzheimer’s Disease Natural Remedies

Prevention
October 3, 2007

Several clinical trials have found that acetyl-L-carnitine supplementation delays the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, improves memory, and enhances overall performance in some people with Alzheimer’s disease.

New Gene Linked to Alzheimer’s Disease

The Age
January 15, 2007

Scientists say they have pinpointed a new gene linked to Alzheimer's disease, the incurable brain disorder that is the top cause of dementia in the elderly.

Abnormalities in a gene called SORL1 increased the risk for the disease, and this finding could help scientists develop new treatments, the researchers reported in the journal Nature Genetics.

Study Examines Genetic Risk Factors For Alzheimer's Disease

Science Daily
March 6, 2007

Several genes were found to show evidence of contributing to Alzheimer' disease, the most interesting gene being 'GALP' which could affect the development of tangles within brain cells, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

Heart Disease a Risk Factor for Alzheimer’s

Forbes
June 10, 2007

There's more evidence that cardiovascular problems help drive Alzheimer's disease, scientists say, and that treating the heart might help protect the brain.

The findings "represent hope that interventions with well-known drugs can interfere with the disease's progression," said lead investigator Yan Deschaintre, a neurologist and research fellow at the University Regional Hospital Center in Lille, France.

How brain protein turns toxic in Alzheimer's disease

New Scientist
January 20, 2007

The long-suspected link between Alzheimer's disease and abnormalities in the way amyloid protein is processed in the brain has been confirmed at last.

Usually harmless, the amyloid protein is thought to trigger neurological damage when it is broken down and transformed into toxic fragments of beta-amyloid. Previous studies have shown that people with Alzheimer's have reduced levels of several proteins involved in processing amyloid.