http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a new set of genetic markers for Alzheimer's that point to a second pathway through which the disease develops. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-genetic-markers-id-alzheimer-pathway.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:32:42 EST news284297477 UCLA researchers have used a brain-imaging tool and stroke risk assessment to identify signs of cognitive decline early on in individuals who don't yet show symptoms of dementia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-brain-imaging-tool-cognitive-decline-early.html Neuroscience Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:22:38 EST news284214149 Injecting synthetic tau fibrils into animal models induces Alzheimer's-like tau tangles and imitates the spread of tau pathology, according to research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania being presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego March 16-23, 2013. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-tau-transmission-doors-alzheimer-parkinson.html Neuroscience Fri, 15 Mar 2013 11:52:17 EST news282567109 Brain diseases associated with the misformed protein tau, including Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with tau pathologies, are characterized by neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) comprised of pathological tau filaments. Tau tangles are also found in progressive supranuclear palsy, cortical basal degeneration and other related tauopathies, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy due to repetitive traumatic brain injuries sustained in sports or on the battle field. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-transmission-tangles-alzheimer-mice-authentic.html Neuroscience Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:00:01 EST news277470484 The two infamous proteins, amyloid-beta (Aβ) and tau, that characterize advanced Alzheimer's disease (AD), start healthy neurons on the road to cell death long before the appearance of the deadly plaques and tangles by working together to reactivate the supposedly blocked cell cycle in brain cells, according to research presented on Dec. 17 at the American Society for Cell Biology's Annual Meeting in San Francisco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-neurons-die-alzheimer-faulty-cell.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:00:10 EST news274961394 Researchers at the University of Minnesota's Center for Drug Design have developed a synthetic compound that, in a mouse model, successfully prevents the neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-alzheimer-drug.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:04:19 EST news273773050 The discovery of the molecular pathway that drives the changes seen in the brains of Alzheimer's patients is reported today, revealing new targets for drug discovery that could be exploited to combat the disease. The study gives the most detailed understanding yet of the complex processes leading to Alzheimer's. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-discovery-molecular-pathway-alzheimer-disease.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:09:49 EST news272628571 The findings of a new study suggest that the protective effects of an active cognitive lifestyle arise through multiple biological pathways. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-brain_1_2.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:12:35 EST news254567541 New research in humans published today reveals that the so-called FKBP52 protein may prevent the Tau protein from turning pathogenic. This may prove significant for the development of new Alzheimer's drugs and for detecting the disease before the onset of clinical symptoms. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-alzheimer-disease-role-fkbp52-protein.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:14:41 EST news251471644 A compound that previously progressed to Phase II clinical trials for cancer treatment slows neurological damage and improves brain function in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study in the March 14 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings suggest the drug epothilone D (EpoD) may one day prove useful for treating people with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-cancer-drug-memory-mouse-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:00:09 EST news250869436 One of the most distinctive signs of the development of Alzheimer's disease is a change in the behavior of a protein that neuroscientists call tau. In normal brains, tau is present in individual units essential to neuron health. In the cells of Alzheimer's brains, by contrast, tau proteins aggregate into twisted structures known as "neurofibrillary tangles." These tangles are considered a hallmark of the disease, but their precise role in Alzheimer's pathology has long been a point of contention among researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-untangling-mysteries-alzheimer.html Neuroscience Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:02:16 EST news247410108 French scientists said on Tuesday that lack of a key brain protein was linked to Alzheimer's, a finding that threw up a tempting target for drugs to fight the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-alzheimer-french-scientists-focus-key.html Neuroscience Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:24:45 EST news246626648 The brains of individuals with Alzheimer's disease contain protein aggregates called plaques and tangles, which interfere with normal communication between nerve cells and cause progressive learning and memory deficits. Now, a research team led by Takaomi Saido from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Wako has identified a particular fragment of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) that contributes to the formation of plaques in the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-characterizing-toxic.html Neuroscience Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:50:02 EST news242635245 Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the elderly, but little is known about the underlying biology of its development in older adults. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-imaging-technique-ids-plaques-tangles.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:39:28 EST news239974757 Neurofibrillary tangles – odd, twisted clumps of protein found within nerve cells – are a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. The tangles, which were first identified in the early 1900s by German psychiatrist and neuropathologist Aloysius Alzheimer, are formed when changes in a protein called tau cause it to aggregate in an insoluble mass in the cytoplasm of cells. Normally, the tau protein is involved in the formation of microtubules, hollow filaments that provide cells with support and structure; abnormal tau tangles, however, cause that structure to break down, and lead to cell death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-chemical-decipher-mystery-neurofibrillary-tangle.html Medical research Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:59:18 EST news239428728 Scientists from the National Institutes of Health in the United States have made an important discovery that should forever change the scope and direction of Alzheimer's research. Specifically, they have discovered that the protein tangles which are a hallmark of the disease involve at least three different proteins rather than just one. The discovery of these additional proteins, called neurofilaments and vimentin, should help scientists better understand the biology and progression of the disease as well as provide additional drug discovery targets. This discovery was published in the November 2011 issue of the FASEB Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-tangled-web-alzheimer-protein-deposits.html Neuroscience Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:55:03 EST news239360065 Years after a single traumatic brain injury (TBI), survivors still show changes in their brains. In a new study, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania suggest that Alzheimer's disease-like neurodegeneration may be initiated or accelerated following a single traumatic brain injury, even in young adults. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-traumatic-brain-injury-prompt-long-term.html Neuroscience Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:21:23 EST news230228475 Researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI) and their collaborators have shed light on the function of a little-studied amyloid peptide in promoting Alzheimer's disease (AD). Their surprising findings reveal that the peptide is more abundant, more neurotoxic, and exhibits a higher propensity to aggregate than amyloidogenic agents studied in earlier research, suggesting a potential role in new approaches for preventing AD-causing amyloidosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-overlooked-peptide-reveals-clues-alzheimer.html Neuroscience Sun, 03 Jul 2011 13:00:22 EST news228916442 Obesity is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, but weight loss due to bariatric surgery may reduce the risk of this common dementia, a new study suggests. The results will be presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-weight-loss-gastric-bypass-surgery.html Medical research Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:35:05 EST news226571685