dementia views you can use

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Study adds piece to the Alzheimer's puzzle

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Framework of the National Alzheimer's Plan is only the beginning

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Hope for dementia patients after Alzheimer's cells created in lab for first time Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2091716/Hope-dementia-patients-Alzheimers-cells-created-lab-time.html#ixzz1kWG64NIL

Friday, January 27, 2012

More promising news on the Alzheimer's research front

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

New strategies for treatment of disease of protein unfolding

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals,

You will love the Amazon Kindle Fire

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care professionals to get an easyceu or two

Follow Alzheimers1 on twitter

RxPG News

By Northwestern University, [RxPG] Two related studies from Northwestern University offer new strategies for tackling the challenges of preventing and treating diseases of protein folding, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), cancer, cystic fibrosis and type 2 diabetes.

To do its job properly within the cell, a protein first must fold itself into the proper shape. If it doesn't, trouble can result. More than 300 diseases have at their root proteins that misfold, aggregate and eventually cause cellular dysfunction and death.

The new Northwestern research identifies new genes and pathways that prevent protein misfolding and toxic aggregation, keeping cells healthy, and also identifies small molecules with therapeutic potential that restore health to damaged cells, providing new targets for drug development.

The genetic screening study is published by the journal PLoS Genetics. The small molecule study is published by the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

"These discoveries are exciting because we have identified genes that keep us healthy and small molecules that keep us healthy," said Richard I. Morimoto, who led the research. "Future research should explain how these two important areas interact."

Morimoto is the Bill and Gayle Cook Professor of Biology in the department of molecular biosciences and the Rice Institute for Biomedical Research in Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. He also is a scientific director of the Chicago Biomedical Consortium.

The genetic study reported in PLoS Genetics was conducted in the transparent roundworm C. elegans, which shares much of the same biology with humans. The small animal is a valued research tool because of this and also because its genome, or complete genetic sequence, is known.

In the work, Morimoto and his team tested all of the approximately 19,000 genes in C. elegans. They reduced expression of each gene one at a time and looked to see if the gene suppressed protein aggregation in the cell. Did the gene increase aggregation or lessen it or have no effect at all?

The researchers found 150 genes that did have an effect. They then conducted a series of tests and zeroed in on nine genes that made all proteins in the cell healthier. (These genes had a positive effect on a number of different proteins associated with different diseases.)

These nine genes define a core homeostastis network that protects the animal's proteome (the entire set of proteins expressed by the organism) from protein damage. "These are the most important genes," Morimoto said. "Figuring out how nine genes -- as opposed to 150 -- work is a manageable task."

In the Nature Chemical Biology study, Morimoto and his colleagues screened nearly one million small molecules in human tissue culture cells to identify those that restore the cell's ability to protect itself from protein damage.

They identified seven classes of compounds (based on chemical structure) that all enhance the cell's ability to make more protective molecular chaperones, which restore proper protein folding. The researchers call these compounds proteostasis regulators. They found that the compounds restored the health of the cell and resulted in reduction of protein aggregation and protection against misfolding. Consequently, health was restored when diseased animals were treated with the small molecules.

Morimoto and his team then conducted detailed molecular analyses of 30 promising small molecules, representing all seven classes. They discovered some compounds were much more effective than others.

"We don't yet know the detailed mechanisms of these small molecules, but we have identified some good drug targets for further development," Morimoto said.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Bingo! Boost thinking skills and keep your mind healthy

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals,

You will love the Amazon Kindle Fire

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care professionals to get an easyceu or two

Follow Alzheimers1 on twitter

Examiner

Florence McGinn

Lifelong learning’s active mantra of “Use it or lose it” is boosted by new, perception research done by researchers from Case Western Reserve University, Boston University, and Bridgewater State University. Those university-based perception researchers found high-contrast, large bingo cards boosted thinking and playing skills for people with cognitive difficulties and visual perception problems produced by Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Active interventions

With research-based knowledge, productive interventions unfold. The university researchers indicate interventions connected to their studies work to allow individuals with mild dementia and others with visual perception deficits to achieve benefits that facilitate their basic abilities to live independently longer, perform daily tasks, and enjoy life’s simple pleasures.
The research findings were reported in the article, “Bingo! Externally supported performance intervention for deficit visual search in normal aging, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease,” in the journal Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition. Concerning beneficial interventions, the researchers wrote, “The general finding of improved performance across healthy and afflicted groups suggests the value of visual support as an easy-to-apply intervention to enhance cognitive performance.”

Exploration needed in understanding connections

As people age, they begin to lose sensitivity to perceive contrasts. The perception problem is exacerbated in people with dementia, according to Grover C. Gilmore, a psychologist and dean of the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

But, Gilmore, who has done extensive testing in his Perception Lab at Case Western Reserve, indicates, “Little is known about how visual perception problems—common in aging players—affect the way these people think and play.” Gilmore and the study’s lead investigator, Alice Cronin-Golomb from Boston University, have collaborated for two decades on projects that look at visual sensory deficits and cognition among people with dementia. For example, in individuals with Parkinson’s disease, driving is affected by low contrasts as demonstrated in simulated fog situations.

Bingo becomes a research tool

Bingo is often used in nursing homes and senior centers as a social activity, and being socially engaged helps keep the mind healthy. However, Bingo, a popular activity in nursing homes, senior centers and assisted-living facilities, has benefits that extend well beyond socializing.

Perception researchers tested Bingo cards of different sizes, contrasts and visual complexities to find out how visual perception problems impact cognitive functions among the study’s participants: 19 younger adults, 14 individuals with probable Alzheimer’s Disease, 13 Alzheimer’s Disease matched healthy adults, 17 non-demented individuals with Parkinson’s disease and 20 Parkinson’s disease-matched healthy adults.

When study participants played Bingo on computer-generated cards that were manipulated for brightness, size and contrast, the researchers could compare the performance among the different age and health groups.

Benefits in those with mild dementia

With some contrast and size changes to the cards, researchers reported improvement in performances. For those with mild dementia, they could perform at levels of their healthy peers. However, little change was reported for people with more severe dementia.

Living environment interventions

Boosting contrast is among interventions known as Externally Supported Performance Interventions (ESPI). Gilmore and Alice Cronin-Golomb found that boosting contrast in the living environment and also at the table enables people with dementia—who have lost the ability to distinguish between similar-contrast objects—to move safely around their homes and improve their eating.

For example, putting a black sofa in a white room would improve the contrast of the room and make it easier for individuals to move about. Additionally, they found that individuals with dementia actually eat more if they use a white plate and tableware on a dark tablecloth or are served food that contrasts the color of the plate.

Critical research

As more of the world’s population ages and experience age-related issues and diseases, understanding of interventions that can maintain or build mental capacities are critical. Cognitive difficulties can prove to be the silent epidemic that robs an aging population of final years that are active, productive, and meaningful. All of society benefits when systemic, cognitive process insights work to help keep brains active and healthy.