Blocking IL-12 and IL-23 in APPPS1 Mouse Model Shows Promise as an Experimental Therapeutic Approach to Alzheimer’s Disease
A recent study, published in Nature Medicine is perhaps the first one to show interleukin (IL)-23 involvement, and implicates both IL-23 and IL-12, key pro-inflammatory cytokines in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Importantly, it also demonstrates that in the APPPS1 Alzheimer’s disease mouse model, preventing the effects of these mediators, or ‘immune hormones’, with antibodies […]
Long Term Use of Common Anticholinergic Drugs Linked To High Risk of Dementia
A new report published in JAMA Internal Medicine (formerly, Archives of Internal Medicine) indicates that cumulative anticholinergic medications exposure and use in the past 10 years is associated with a significantly increased risk for developing dementia. Common anticholinergic drugs include tricyclic antidepressants, first-generation antihistamines, and urinary bladder antispasmodics or some anti-vertigo drugs. In the JAMA […]
Julianne Moore Performing in Alzheimer’s Drama ‘Still Alice’ Wins Hollywood Actress Award
Among the winners of this year’s Hollywood Film Awards is Julianne Moore – she wins this award for her performance as a linguistics professor with Alzheimer’s disease in the movie ‘Still Alice’. The Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland’s movie is based on the 2007 novel ‘Still Alice’, written by Lisa Genova, an American neuroscientist and […]
Benzodiazepine Use May Increase the Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
In a recent case-control study based on almost 9000 elderly people living in the province of Quebec, Canada, French and Canadian researchers demonstrate that the risk of Alzheimer’s disease is increased by 43-to-51% among those who had used benzodiazepines in the past. The study was published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). There was a […]
Lena Johansson, Stress and Alzheimer’s Risk in Women
SHORT FEATURES and FACES ARTICLE In this recent editorial, Lena Johansson outlines some current concepts and research trends related to the long terms effects of stress and their impact on risk and development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in women. Dr. Johansson has authored two population studies – perhaps the first in this area – on […]
Large Population Study Links Stress in Middle Age Women to Dementia and Alzheimer’s Risk Decades Later
A Swedish study, published in the August 2013 online issue of BMJ Open indicates that a higher number of psychosocial stressors in middle-aged women were associated with increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) decades later in life. This is perhaps the first population study on the relationship between midlife stressors and increased risk […]
Perispinal Etanercept Improves Neurological Function in Chronic Brain Injury
A new case report by Tobinick et al. in the May 2014 issue of Clinical Drug Investigation describes striking success with a single perispinal etanercept dose in a patient who sustained brain injury 3 years prior. Multiple reports have shown promise for use of etanercept, a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor, in patients with chronic […]
A Set of 10 Lipid Biomarkers May Predict Alzheimer’s and Mild Dementia
A study published in Nature Medicine indicates that a research team from the Georgetown University, Washington, DC and six other US institutions has identified a blood lipid profile test that can eventually predict the development of mild dementia or Alzheimer’s disease (AD) within three years. In the last 15 years there have been over 100 […]
Drug Companies and NIH in $230 Million Joint Project for Alzheimer’s, Diabetes, Lupus and Arthritis
Along with funding from the United States government and ten large pharmaceutical companies, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland will split the cost of a new multimillion project targeting common chronic human diseases. The companies involved include Pfizer Inc., Eli Lilly & Co, AbbVie Inc., Biogen Idec Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Glaxo Smith […]
Massachusetts Neuroscience Consortium: A Collaborative Model between Government, Academia and Industry
Laboratories in academia and industry often work independently, but recently, a coalition of academic researchers, pharmaceutical companies and state governments announced the formation of the Massachusetts Neuroscience Consortium. The $1.75 million partnership intends to fundamentally shift the neurological disease research. Founders of this new project recognized that a highly collaborative and coordinated effort must be […]
