When the Caregiver Becomes the Patient
The stress of providing care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s results in 25 percent of family caregivers having at least one emergency room or hospital visit every six months, says an Indiana University study. It’s long been recognized that family care of an Alzheimer’s patient is difficult, but the Indiana University researchers said their study is the first to actually measure the... Read more
Growth Hormone Boost May Not Slow Alzheimer’s
A compound that boosts growth hormone levels in Alzheimer’s patients may not slow the disease, new research suggests. The study, funded by drug giant Merck, was spurred by promising animal research that had suggested that the compound, called MK-677, might help curb Alzheimer’s effect on the brain. However, “the study suggests that targeting this hormone system may not be an effective... Read more
Sharp-witted elderly shed insight on dementia
People who manage to keep a razor-sharp memory well into their 80s appear to have fewer fiber-like tangles of a protein linked with Alzheimer’s than those who age normally, U.S. researchers said on Sunday. Lower levels of this protein, known as tau, appear to be a critical factor in maintaining memory skills, they said. “It was always assumed that the accumulation of these tangles is a... Read more
‘Cognitive Reserve’ May Help Fight Alzheimer’s
A study using an advanced brain scanning technology supports the growing body of evidence that education levels and some form of intellectual activity decrease the impact of Alzheimer’s disease. People with a greater “cognitive reserve” suffer less damage from the beta-amyloid plaques in the brain that are a leading marker of Alzheimer’s disease, according to the study in the... Read more
Education blunts effects of Alzheimer’s: study
Brain scans of people with an abnormality that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease are strengthening the notion that greater education levels somehow protect against this common form of dementia. People with more education did better on memory and problem solving tests than others with similar amounts of brain plaques related to Alzheimer’s, researchers wrote in the journal Archives of... Read more
Vitamin Holds Promise for Alzheimer’s Disease
Researchers report that huge doses of an ordinary vitamin appeared to eliminate memory problems in mice with the rodent equivalent of Alzheimer’s disease. At the moment, there’s no way to know if the treatment will have the same effect in humans. Researchers are beginning to enroll Alzheimer’s patients in a new study, and scientists aren’t ready to recommend that people try... Read more