Compounds Have Potential For Diagnosis, Treatment Of Alzheimer’s Disease – “New research suggests that a select group of compounds that interact with a protein in the brain might be used in the early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia disorders…” (more)
Polyphenols protect nerves from damage but not in Alzheimer’s – “Plant nutrients called polyphenols are known to protect nerves from damage, but to expect a similar effect in case of Alzheimer’s would be ‘unwise,’ warns Indian-Canadian researcher Charles Ramassamy…” (more)
MIT zeroes in on Alzheimer’s structures – “MIT engineers report a new approach to identifying protein structures key …read more

Minnesota Public Radio has the ‘latest on alzheimer’s’ radio broadcast that’s worth a listen. With guests Ronald Petersen, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic Medical School and Alzheimer’s disease researcher, and Benjamin Wolozin, a neurologist at Boston University, the radio program discusses a new Mayo Clinic study. The study seems to show that more people are showing early signs of dementia at a much earlier age.

Cocoa Flavanols Linked To Improved Brain Blood Flow – “Cocoa flavanols, the unique compounds found naturally in cocoa, may increase blood flow to the brain, according to new research published in the Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment journal…” (more)
Language, Culture Barriers Affect Early Alzheimer’s Diagnosis Among Hispanics – “Language and cultural barriers cause a significant number of elderly Hispanics with Alzheimer’s disease to remain undiagnosed and untreated, experts say, the Newark Star-Ledger reports…” (more)
Study Links Statins To Dementia Prevention – “The study followed more than 1,600 people over the age of 60 for five years. Those who were taking a cholesterol-lowering …read more

Signs of Alzheimer’s disease may be present decades before diagnosis – “A team of U.S. scientists report on Monday that people who develop Alzheimer’s disease may show signs of the neurodegenerative illness many decades earlier in life, including compromised educational achievement…” (more)
Physical frailty linked to dementia pathology – “Physical weakness or “frailty” among elderly people can be an early indicator of the presence of abnormal brain plaque and tangles characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease, even before the onset of memory problems, a new study hints…” (more)
PET Scans Spot Early Alzheimer’s – “A special type of positron emission tomography (PET) scan appears …read more

UCI Professor of Clinical Family Medicine Dr. Laura Mosqueda talks about Alzheimer’s disease at a lecture hosted at California State University Long Beach.

Can Alzheimer’s drug halt progress? – “A new drug can slow Alzheimer’s disease progression by up to 80 per cent, according to reports…” (more)
Tracking bracelets protect Alzheimer’s patients – “Westchester County will begin offering radio tracking bracelets to Alzheimer’s patients who tend to wander- a technology, officials say, that might have found a missing 93-year-old Scarsdale man much sooner…” (more)
Thyroid Hormone levels Linked to Alzheimer’s Disease in Older Women
Alzheimer’s-related gene linked to reduced connectivity in brain – “In the first results, presented this week in Chicago at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease, troublesome changes in the brain that …read more

More Doubts On New Alzheimer’s Drug – “In a packed room before thousands of neurologists, Elan and Wyeth presented long-awaited trial results for one of their drugs for Alzheimer’s disease, probably the most watched experimental medicine in the pharmaceutical industry…” (more)
New Tests Could Predict Alzheimer’s – ” New tests promise to detect Alzheimer’s disease before a person shows signs of dementia, giving treatments their best chance to prevent loss of mental function…” (more)
Four Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Address a Variety of Treatment Targets – Amyloid, Tau, Synapse Formation – “Results from four studies of potential new treatments for Alzheimer’s – even …read more

Neuron Membrane Model to Study Alzheimer’s – “NIST scientists have built a model of the membrane that surrounds neurons in the brain, a tool which should help to discover the mechanisms behind Alzheimer’s onset…” (more)
Researchers Find Link Between Dementia And Sound Processing – “People who find it difficult to hear in complex situations with competing noise (such as one conversation among many) are also likely to suffer from mild memory impairment, according to a new study in the July issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery…” (more)
New International Alzheimer’s Disease Research Network To Be Led By WUSTL – “Every …read more

Welcome to the July 20, 2008 edition of  ‘All about Alzheimer’s’ carnival.

Shaheen Lakhan from Brain Blogger writes about Using Infrared Light to Diagnosis Alzheimer’s, saying, “A definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease requires microscopic examination of brain tissue, which is something that cannot be performed safely in a living patient. However, near-infrared optical spectroscopy may be the answer to successfully diagnosing a sick patient.”

Alvaro Fernandez SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution from looks at Computerized Cognitive Assessments: opportunities and concerns, saying, “You know your weight. And your physical fitness. And a variety of health-related metrics. But what about your …read more

Alzheimer’s Research Brings Progress, Setbacks – “In one of two studies in the July 19 issue of The Lancet, an older drug called dimebon significantly improved Alzheimer’s symptoms. But in a second report, a once-promising vaccine failed to prevent the progression of Alzheimer’s — even though it cleared dementia-linked amyloid plaques in the brain…” (more
Russian antihistamine drug does well in Alzheimer’s test – “A nearly forgotten Russian-made drug, formulated to combat hay fever, helps improve cognitive abilities in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the results of a year-long trial published on Thursday…” (more)
Exercise may slow Alzheimer’s brain shrinkage – …read more