Dementia News and Research

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Dementia is not a specific disease. It is a descriptive term for a collection of symptoms that can be caused by a number of disorders that affect the brain. People with dementia have significantly impaired intellectual functioning that interferes with normal activities and relationships. They also lose their ability to solve problems and maintain emotional control, and they may experience personality changes and behavioral problems, such as agitation, delusions, and hallucinations.

Study sheds light on inner workings of the human heart

Researchers have investigated the function of a complex mesh of muscle fibers that line the inner surface of the heart.

20 Aug 2020

Aspirin may increase risk of disease progression in older adults with advanced cancer

Results from a recent clinical trial indicate that for older adults with advanced cancer, initiating aspirin may increase their risk of disease progression and early death.

11 Aug 2020

West Virginia University performs revolutionary Alzheimer's treatment

A hospital nurse for 33 years, Nanette Miller would call her husband Frank at the end of each shift to let him know she was coming home.

10 Aug 2020

Gut dysbiosis in people with Huntington's disease may offer a potential target for future treatment

A world first clinical study of the gut microbiome in people with Huntington's disease (HD) has found that it is not just a disease of the brain, but also of the body.

7 Aug 2020

Specific protein found at high levels in the blood of people with early signs of Alzheimer's

Two decades or more before symptoms arise, plaques of a sticky protein called amyloid begin forming in the brains of people later diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

29 Jul 2020

Discovering the Critical Role of Astrocytes in Neurodegenerative Diseases

AZoLifeSciences talks to Dr. Shane Liddelow about their research into discovering the critical role of astrocytes in neurodegenerative diseases like glaucoma.

From New York University (NYU) 29 Jul 2020

Study validates new pharmacological target for Alzheimer’s disease

A UB study published in the journal Neurotherapeutics has validated a new pharmacological target for Alzheimer's disease.

28 Jul 2020

Genes and cardiovascular health contribute to a person's dementia risk

Genes and cardiovascular health each contribute in an additive way to a person's risk of dementia, U.S. researchers including Sudha Seshadri, MD, and Claudia Satizabal, PhD, of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) reported July 20 in the journal Neurology.

21 Jul 2020

Study: High levels of iron in the blood can prevent age-related damage

Genes linked to ageing that could help explain why some people age at different rates to others has been identified by scientists.

17 Jul 2020

New link found between impaired brain energy metabolism and delirium

Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have discovered a new link between impaired brain energy metabolism and delirium - a disorienting and distressing disorder particularly common in the elderly and one that is currently occurring in a large proportion of patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

15 Jul 2020

TMEM106B gene reveals the causes of neurodegenerative diseases

Across the globe, approximately 50 million people are living with dementia. The two most common forms are Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), which develop when neurons in specific parts of the brain stop functioning - triggering memory loss and other behavioral or personality changes.

10 Jul 2020

Study may help design effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease

Neurons in the brains of such people are being depleted gradually and inevitably, resulting in the characteristic loss of cognitive function and memory.

29 Jun 2020

Researchers identify how certain gene mutations cause ALS

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified how certain gene mutations cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

11 Jun 2020

Toxic tau may spread in the brain via connected neurons

Toxic versions of the protein tau are believed to cause the death of neurons of the brain in Alzheimer's disease.

1 Jun 2020

Gene linked to dementia increases the risk of developing severe COVID-19

Having a faulty gene linked to dementia doubles the risk of developing severe COVID-19, according to a large-scale study.

From University of Exeter 28 May 2020

Researchers design antibody to identify pathogens of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have found a way to design an antibody that can identify the toxic particles that destroy healthy brain cells - a potential advance in the fight against Alzheimer's disease.

26 May 2020

New model mimics early embryonic stages of the human brain

We know a lot about the human brain, but very little about how it is formed. In particular, the stages from the second to the seventh week of embryonic development have so far been virtually unknown territory to brain researchers.

26 May 2020

Aging neurons build up DNA damage, study finds

MIT neuroscientists have discovered that an enzyme called HDAC1 is critical for repairing age-related DNA damage to genes involved in memory and other cognitive functions.

18 May 2020

Discovering a Protein that Controls Brain-Blood Vessel Development

AZoLifeSciences speaks to Professor Long Nam Nguyen about his research which led to the discovery of a protein that controls brain-blood vessel development.

From National University of Singapore (NUS) 15 May 2020