dementia views you can use: July 2018

Monday, July 30, 2018

Light therapy for depression

Caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some great information

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

Your residents 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 alzheimersideas on twitter
The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

NewsMax

Light therapy has long been used to help lift the moods of people suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which strikes during the winter months when daylight hours are fewer.

A study published in JAMA Psychiatry indicates that this inexpensive and easy-to-use intervention also can benefit depressions not related to changing seasons.

Dr. Raymond Lam and his colleagues at the University of British Columbia exposed 100 depressed patients to either 30 minutes of daily bright light therapy or a placebo treatment for eight weeksPatients who took an antidepressant along with light therapy had the best outcomes, with 60 percent reporting feeling back to normal.

Sunday, July 29, 2018

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Saturday, July 28, 2018

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the owner of this email is a hacker
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Alzheimer's:Will any of these experimental drugs work ??

There are 126 drugs in clinical development for Alzheimer's disease and "every single one represents hope," according to Closing in on a Cure: 2017 Alzheimer's Clinical Trials Report. The report, released by the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), identifies the drugs for Alzheimer's that have reached human clinical trials.

"Alzheimer's has too often been a story of failure," says Howard Fillit, MD, Chief Science Officer at the ADDF. "But this report shows a diverse group of promising drugs are nearing the finish line. The first disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer's is likely in clinical trials right now. We are closing in."

While drugs targeting beta-amyloid (a protein that comprises the plaques common in Alzheimer's) remain the most prevalent, other drug targets such as inflammation, mitochondria, and neuroprotection are gaining ground. This broadening of targets is due in part to the efforts of the ADDF, which funds new approaches to treating Alzheimer's. Nearly 20% of the drugs now in clinical stages have received ADDF support.

In addition to the emergence of innovative targets to treat Alzheimer's, the report highlights other aspects of the current clinical pipeline. This includes the relatively small number of repurposed drugs being tested, the shift toward trials with earlier-stage patients, and persistent challenges such as recruitment and the relative lack of validated biomarkers for innovative targets. It also defines a path forward for the field, specifically the need for experimental trial designs and combination therapy approaches.

Closing in on a Cure: 2017 Alzheimer's Clinical Trials Report focuses on potential disease-modifying drugs, which are designed to slow, stop, or possibly even reverse the course of Alzheimer's. Because clinical trials are the final stages of a drug's development, some of the drugs listed in this report could be available to patients in just a few years. Highlights follow:

126 Disease-Modifying Drugs. There are 126 potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease in clinical development.
Half of the Drugs are in Phase 2. We found 33 drugs in phase 1 trials, 68 in phase 2, and 25 in phase 3.
Beta-Amyloid is Most Common Target. Despite a history of failures, 30 drugs in clinical trials are targeting beta-amyloid, a misfolded protein that comprises the plaques found in Alzheimer's. An additional 11 drugs target other misfolded proteins such as tau or mechanisms to clear such proteins.
The ADDF Has Supported 20% of Clinical-Stage Drugs. It has provided funding to support the development of 25 of the 126 treatments now in clinical development.
Additional 19 Drugs to Address Associated Symptoms. There are also 19 drugs in clinical trials designed only to address symptoms experienced by Alzheimer's patients, such as agitation, depression, and insomnia.

To find a clinical trial in your area, go to the U.S. government's site, ClinicalTrials.gov .

SOURCE:

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation
Founded in 1998 by Leonard A. Lauder and Ronald S. Lauder, the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation is the only philanthropy solely focused on accelerating the development of drugs to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease. Its venture philanthropy approach and scientific expertise allows the ADDF to support the most promising ideas around the world. And 100% of every donation funds drug research programs. To learn more, visit http://www.alzdiscovery.org.

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Alzheimer's biomarkers :What do they mean?

Alzheimer's disease "markers" do not guarantee that you will develop dementia, said a new study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Certain biological markers are commonly used to establish a person's risk and likelihood of developing the disease, with several categories laid out for experts to test, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation explains.

However, researchers now suggest that even if a person had the first biological markers of Alzheimer's –such as high levels of abnormal amyloid proteins in the brain or shrinkage of the brain – they may not be doomed to develop dementia, said HealthDay in reporting on the study.

What they found was that the presence of abnormal amyloid proteins and shrinkage of the brain may signal only a minimal risk of future dementia – a risk that is even lower if the amyloid or shrinkage is detected at a later age.
About 6.08 million Americans already have either clinical Alzheimer's or mild cognitive impairment due to the disease, but the risk is growing and new research suggests that 46 million Americans now could be in the early stages of the brain disease.

Brookmeyer said his findings may "provide some reassurance to people that despite testing positive on some screening tests, their chances of developing Alzheimer's dementia may remain low," according to HealthDay.
However, the model still needs work and is in the early stages of development.
"We need to dig into the numbers a little bit more and understand what is happening in the continuum of Alzheimer's disease as it progresses," said James Hendrix, director of global science initiatives for the Alzheimer's Association.

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Demantia:Is your body clock right?

The body clock can show early Alzheimer's disease signs indicated through circadian rhythm disruptions before memory loss is experienced, according to a study earlier this year by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The study's findings, which were published in January in the journal JAMA Neurology, could assist doctors in identifying people at the risk of Alzheimer's earlier than is currently possible, the Washington University statement said.

Alzheimer's damage can start in the brain some 15 to 20 years before clinical symptoms start to show, according to the statement.

"It wasn't that the people in the study were sleep-deprived," study coauthor Dr. Erik S. Musiek, an assistant professor of neurology at Washington University, said in the statement. "But their sleep tended to be fragmented. Sleeping for eight hours at night is very different from getting eight hours of sleep in one-hour increments during daytime naps."

The study, which was featured on Knowridge Science Report on July 15, tracked circadian rhythms in 189 cognitively normal, older adults with an average age of 66, the Washington University statement said. Of the participants, 139 had no evidence of the amyloid protein that signifies preclinical Alzheimer's. Most had normal sleep/wake cycles, although several had circadian disruptions that were linked to advanced age, sleep apnea or other cauThe study stated, that among the other 50 subjects -- who either had abnormal brain scans or abnormal cerebrospinal fluid -- all experienced significant disruptions in their internal body clocks, determined by how much rest they got at night and how active they were during the day, the Washington University statement said.

The statement stated that researchers also conducted a separate study in mice, which was in The Journal of Experimental Medicine on Jan. 30, showing that similar circadian disruptions accelerate the development of amyloid plaques in the brain, which are linked to Alzheimer's.

In another study, the University Cambridge discovered that in fruit flies with Alzheimer's that their the biological clock remained functioning but had become uncoupled from the sleep-wake cycle it usually regulates, Alzheimer's disease have a poor behavioral rhythm because they have a clock that has stopped ticking

Sunday, July 22, 2018

How to make a memory box for those with dementia

Video Tutorial produced by http://www.assisted-living-directory.com Music Attribution: Title: Aretes Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

See how to fill a Memory Box with photos and memorabilia, then position it just right for a person with dementia. It helps "re-orient" them with surroundings, triggers conversations with visitors, helps them find their way and most importantly, recall memories and good times.

watch this video

https://youtu.be/_5SCB73DHPQ

Friday, July 20, 2018

Alzheimer's treatment with iron modifying drugs

Ccaregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some great information

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

Your residents 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 alzheimersideas on twitter
The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

University of Warwick:

DIETARY IRON is an essential element in the brain. That's why it is critical to understand how it affects Alzheimer's. Researchers used advanced X-ray techniques to take a giant step forward in understanding iron chemistry in amyloid plaque, the main culprit behind Alzheimer's. Learn more about their exciting new insights.

Alzheimer's disease could be better treated, thanks to a breakthrough discovery of the properties of the metals in the brain involved in the progression of the neurodegenerative condition, by an international research collaboration including the University of Warwick.

Dr Joanna Collingwood, from Warwick's School of Engineering, was part of a research team which characterized iron species associated with the formation of amyloid protein plaques in the human brain -- abnormal clusters of proteins in the brain. The formation of these plaques is associated with toxicity which causes cell and tissue death, leading to mental deterioration in Alzheimer's patients.

Iron Oxide in the Alzheimer's Plaque

They found that in brains affected by Alzheimer's, several chemically-reduced iron species including a proliferation of a magnetic iron oxide called magnetite -- which is not commonly found in the human brain -- occur in the amyloid protein plaques. Amyloid plaques are the body's most notorious culprits behind Alzheimer's.

The team had previously shown that these minerals can form when iron and the amyloid protein interact with each other. Thanks to advanced measurement capabilities at synchrotron X-ray facilities in the UK and USA, including the Diamond Light Source I08 beamline in Oxfordshire, the team has now shown detailed evidence that these processes took place in the brains of individuals who had Alzheimer's disease. They also made unique observations about the forms of calcium minerals present in the amyloid plaques.

More Effective Therapies

In brains affected by Alzheimer's, researchers identify chemically reduced iron species, with mineral forms including a magnetic iron oxide which they hypothesize are produced during formation of amyloid protein plaques. (Credit: University of Warwick/Dr Joanna Collingwood)

Understanding the significance of these metals to the progression of Alzheimer's could lead to more effective future therapies which combat the disease at its root.

Dr Joanna Collingwood, Associate Professor at the University of Warwick's School of Engineering and expert in trace metals analysis, high resolution imaging, and neurodegenerative disorders, commented:"Iron is an essential element in the brain, so it is critical to understand how its management is affected in Alzheimer's disease. The advanced X-ray techniques that we used in this study have delivered a step-change in the level of information that we can obtain about iron chemistry in the amyloid plaques. We are excited to have these new insights into how amyloid plaque formation influences iron chemistry in the human brain, as our findings coincide with efforts by others to treat Alzheimer's disease with iron-modifying drugs." The team, led by an EPSRC-funded collaboration between University of Warwick and Keele University -- and which includes researchers from University of Florida and The University of Texas at San Antonio -- made their discovery by extracting amyloid plaque cores from two deceased patients who had a formal diagnosis of Alzheimer's.

Scanning Alzheimer's Plaque

The researchers scanned the plaque cores using state-of-the-art X-ray microscopy at the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley, USA and at beamline I08 at the Diamond Light Source synchrotron in Oxfordshire, to determine the chemical properties of the minerals within them.

They also analyzed the magnetic state of the iron species in the plaques to confirm the presence of various iron minerals including the magnetic iron oxide magnetite.

The research team proposes that interactions between iron and amyloid that produce the chemically reduced iron species, including magnetite, may account for toxicity that contributes to the development and progression of Alzheimer's.

SOURCE:

University of Warwick:
The University of Warwick’s School of Engineering is one of the leading unified engineering schools in the UK. The department’s research was ranked third in the Research Excellence Framework 2014 for General Engineering.

REFERENCE:

James Everett, Joanna F. Collingwood, Vindy Tjendana-Tjhin, Jake Brooks, Frederik Lermyte, Germán Plascencia-Villa, Ian Hands-Portman, Jon Dobson, George Perry, Neil D. Telling. Nanoscale synchrotron X-ray speciation of iron and calcium compounds in amyloid plaque cores from Alzheimer's disease subjects. Nanoscale, 2018; DOI: 10.1039/C7NR06794A

SUPPORTERS: This work was supported by:

The Alzheimer’s Association (AARFD-17-529742),
University of Warwick alumni donations (VTT, JE),
The RCMI Program from NIH at UTSA (5G12RR013646, G12MD007591),
San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI)-Clusters in Research Excellence Program,
The Semmes Foundation,
EPSRC grants EP/K035193/1 (JFC), EP/N033191/1-EP/N033140/1 (JFC-NDT).

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Prevent vascular dementia with these foods

King's College London

DIET & NUTRITION: A diet that combines unsaturated fats with nitrite-rich vegetables, such as olive oil and lettuce, can protect you from hypertension and vascular dementia. Learn which foods are helpful and why.

A diet that combines unsaturated fats with nitrite-rich vegetables, such as olive oil and lettuce, can protect you from hypertension, suggests a dietary study led by King's College London. Hypertension is a major risk factor for vascular dementia.

The findings, published in the journal PNAS, help to explain why some previous studies have shown that a Mediterranean diet can reduce blood pressure.

The Mediterranean diet typically includes unsaturated fats found in:

olive oil,
nuts
avocados,

along with vegetables that are rich in nitrites and nitrates like:

spinach,
celery
carrots.

When these two food groups are combined, the reaction of unsaturated fatty acids with nitrogen compounds in the vegetables results in the formation of nitro fatty acids.

The study, supported by the British Heart Foundation, used mice to investigate the process by which these nitro fatty acids lower blood pressure, looking at whether they inhibited an enzyme known as soluble Epoxide Hydrolase which regulates blood pressure.

Mice genetically engineered to be resistant to this inhibitory process were found to maintain their high blood pressure despite being fed the type of nitro fatty acids that normally form when a Mediterranean diet is consumed. However, nitro fatty acids were found to lower the blood pressure of normal mice following the same diets.

Thus, the study concludes that the protective effect of the Mediterranean diet, combining unsaturated fats and vegetables abundant in nitrite and nitrate, comes at least in part from the nitro fatty acids generated which inhibit soluble Epoxide Hydrolase to lower blood pressure.

Professor Philip Eaton, Professor of Cardiovascular Biochemistry at King's College London, said:

"The findings of our study help to explain why previous research has shown that a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular problems like stroke, heart failure and heart attacks."

Source:

King's College London

Journal Reference:

Rebecca L. Charles, Olena Rudyk, Oleksandra Prysyazhna, Alisa Kamynina, Jun Yang, Christophe Morisseau, Bruce D. Hammock, Bruce A. Freeman, and Philip Eaton. Protection from hypertension in mice by the Mediterranean diet is mediated by nitro fatty acid inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase. PNAS, May 2014 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1402965111

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Monday, July 16, 2018

Will you get dementia?

Caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some great information

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

Your residents 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 alzheimersideas on twitter
The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

NewsMax Health

Experts say that dementia, the general term for a severe decline in mental ability, affects 47.5 million people worldwide and the numbers are growing. Dementia, like cancer, is an umbrella term that includes Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia which occurs after a stroke, and many other conditions that can cause symptoms of dementia, including some that are reversible, such as thyroid problems and vitamin deficiencies.
However, new research shows that many cases of dementia are triggered by treatable conditions. Incredibly, experts say that one-third or more of the Alzheimer’s and dementia cases may be prevented by better management of lifestyle factors.

"Dementia is the greatest global challenge for health and social care in the 21st century," Dr. Dean Hartley, Ph.D, Director of Science Initiatives at the Alzheimer’s Association tells Newsmax. "One in nine people at age 65 suffers from dementia and that number leaps to one in three by the age of 85. Now that we know the scientifically proven lifestyle factors to prevent the disease, the earlier we adopt these changes the more we can reduce our risk."

And top neurosurgeon Dr. Joseph Maroon, a sports medicine expert who served as the team neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers for over 20 years, tells Newsmax that in his best selling book, "Square One: A Simple Guide to a Balanced Life", he outlines the steps we can take to stay clear minded and healthy.

"Too many people take not only a fatalistic but also a nihilistic approach to getting old and dementia," he says. "There are scientifically proven ways to markedly contribute to brain health and the prevention of dementia." Here are five fixable factors that can lead to dementia:

Drinking alcohol. Alcohol when used in moderation may not pose significant impairment but as we age, it interacts differently with our bodies. Experts say that prolonged alcohol abuse in older adults can result in deficiencies in memory and damage to the kidneys, liver and brain.
Eating lots of sugar. Eating too much sugar in your diet is dangerous, says Maroon. Sugar is directly involved with the brain and can cause major changes including increased risk for stroke which can lead to vascular dementia.
Lack of exercise. Maroon, a renowned triathlete, says that exercise saved him from depression. But it can also help stave off dementia by boosting immunity and tamping down inflammation, he says. "Even Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, emphasized the mind-body connection," he says.
Not getting enough sleep. Your brain needs time to rest and recuperate, just like your body, so it is essential to get a good night’s sleep to keep the brain healthy. "Keep a sleep journal and practice good sleep hygiene," says Maroon. "Establish regular sleep patterns and turn off all electronics at least an hour before bedtime.
Spending too much time alone. A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that older women who maintained large social networks reduced their risk of dementia or prevented cognitive impairment. The results showed that the women were actually 26 percent less likely to develop dementia -- a case in point for keeping socially active as we age, says Maroon.

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Scam protection for those with dementia

The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

The Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center - a service of the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health.

KEEP YOUR MONEY SAFE -

We've all heard stories of crooks taking advantage of people with Alzheimer's. See how to protect people with dementia from scammers.

People with Alzheimer’s may be victims of financial abuse or scams by dishonest

Guard Against Financial Abuse and Fraud

Sometimes, the person behind the scam is a “friend” or family member. Telephone, e-mail, or in-person scams can take many forms, such as:

Identity theft
Get-rich-quick offers
Phony offers of prizes or home or auto repairs
Insurance scams
Health scams such as ads for unproven memory aids
Threats

Warning Signs

Look for signs that the person with Alzheimer’s may be a victim of financial abuse or fraud:

Signatures on checks or other papers don’t look like the person’s signature.
The person’s will has been changed without permission.
The person’s home is sold, and he or she did not agree to sell it.
The person has signed legal papers (such as a will, power of attorney, or joint deed to a house) without knowing what the papers mean.
Things that belong to you or the person with Alzheimer’s, such as clothes or jewelry, are missing from the home.

If you think a person with Alzheimer’s may be the victim of a scam, contact your local police department. You can also contact the State consumer protection office or Area Agency on Aging office.

SOURCE:

The Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center - a service of the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Thursday, July 12, 2018

How do viruses affect Alzheimer's

American researchers found 'unusually high' levels of two strains of human herpes virus 6A (HHV-6A) and human herpes virus 7 (HHV-7) in brains of Alzheimer's sufferers, compared to those free of the disease. This opens up a robust array of new targets in the search for a cure to Alzheimer's.

The quest to understand what causes Alzheimer's disease--and to treat it--is complicated by the disease's long, slow progression and the difficulty of collecting brain tissue samples. But in a large-scale analysis published June 21 in the journal Neuron, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai use data from three different brain banks to suggest that human herpesviruses are more abundant in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and may play a role in regulatory genetic networks that are believed to lead to the disease. This work lends support to the controversial hypothesis that viruses are involved in Alzheimer's disease and offers potential new paths for treatment.

"All I Found Were These Lousy Viruses"

"The title of the talk that I usually give is, 'I Went Looking for Drug Targets and All I Found Were These Lousy Viruses.' We didn't set out to find what we found. Not even close. We were trying to find drugs that could be repurposed to treat Alzheimer's patients, but the patterns that emerged from our data-driven analysis all pointed towards these viral biology themes," says co-senior author and geneticist Joel Dudley. who is also a member of the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center.

The researchers analyzed data from three major brain banks courtesy of the National Institutes of Health's Accelerating Medicines Partnership - Alzheimer's Disease (AMP-AD) consortium, which allowed them to look at raw genomic data for large numbers of Alzheimer's patients in different cohorts. They constructed, mapped, and compared regulatory gene networks in areas of the brain known to be affected by Alzheimer's on multiple levels, looking at DNA, RNA, and proteins.

Search for Sequences from Hundreds of Different Viruses

"This kind of analysis was only possible because the consortium had coordinated for all of these other groups to put their sequencing data in the AMP-AD Knowledge Portal in a precompetitive environment that let us very quickly replicate our work across all these different cohorts. We needed access to sequences that are usually discarded in the course of studying the human genome. We needed to search for sequences from hundreds of different viruses, so having access to that raw, unprocessed data was absolutely key," says first author Ben Readhead.

They found that human herpesvirus DNA and RNA were more abundant in the brains of those diagnosed postmortem with Alzheimer's disease and that abundance correlated with clinical dementia scores. And the two viruses they found to be most strongly associated with Alzheimer's, HHV-6A and HHV-7, were not as abundant in the brains of those with other neurodegenerative disorders. When they constructed networks that modeled how the viral genes and human genes interacted, they were able to show that the viral genes were regulating and being regulated by the human genes--and that genes associated with increased Alzheimer's risk were impacted.

Viruses are Accelerating the Brain Towards Alzheimer's

The brain is shown here as a complex network of interactions, with disruption of connections by the key viral species (HHV-6A, HHV-6B, HHV-7) identified in this study. (CREDIT: Readhead et al. Click to enlarge.)

"Previous studies of viruses and Alzheimer's have always been very correlative. But we were able to do statistical causal inference testing and more sophisticated analysis, which allowed us to identify how the viruses are directly interacting with or coregulating or being regulated by Alzheimer's genes. I don't think we can answer whether herpesviruses are a primary cause of Alzheimer's disease. But what's clear is that they're perturbing networks and participating in networks that directly accelerate the brain towards the Alzheimer's topology," says Dudley.

The researchers believe that their findings align with other current research in the Alzheimer's field on the role of innate immunity in the disease, particularly recent findings that beta-amyloid protein--the culprit behind the plaques that build up in the Alzheimer's-affected brain--may accumulate as part of a defense against infections. In their study, they found that herpesviruses were involved in networks that regulate amyloid precursor proteins.

No New Worries

They argue, however, that their work shouldn't make anyone worried. "While these findings do potentially open the door for new treatment options to explore in a disease where we've had hundreds of failed trials, they don't change anything that we know about the risk and susceptibility of Alzheimer's disease or our ability to treat it today," says co-senior author and Alzheimer's disease specialist Sam Gandy.

This is especially true because HHV-6A and HHV-7 are extremely common and often latent or asymptomatic: in North America, almost 90% of children have one of these viruses circulating in their blood by the time they're a few years old. "There are still a lot of unanswered questions around how we go from being able to detect it circulating in someone's blood to knowing whether it's active in a state that might be relevant to Alzheimer's disease," says Readhead.

Alzheimer's & Viruses: Specific and Testable

But even if questions remain, this research offers strong support for a long-controversial hypothesis that viruses might be involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease. "We didn't have a horse in this virus race whatsoever. It's the data that took us there. And now, not only is the viral hypothesis resurrected: it has specific testable pathways and networks and interactions that can be explored and reconciled with the rest of the work emerging in Alzheimer's," says Dudley.

"All these Alzheimer's brains in these separate, major brain banks have previously unsuspected substantial populations of herpesvirus genomes and that deserves an explanation wherever it falls in the pathogenesis. It doesn't deserve to just be brushed away," says Gandy.

“The hypothesis that viruses play a part in brain disease is not new, but this is the first study to provide strong evidence based on unbiased approaches and large data sets that lends support to this line of inquiry,” said NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D. “This research reinforces the complexity of Alzheimer’s disease, creates opportunities to explore Alzheimer’s more thoroughly, and highlights the importance of sharing data freely and widely with the research community.”

Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out simple tasks. More evidence is accumulating to indicate that this loss of cognitive functioning is a mix of many different disease processes in the brain, rather than just one, such as buildup of amyloid or tau proteins. Identifying links to viruses may help researchers learn more about the complicated biological interactions involved in Alzheimer’s, and potentially lead to new treatment strategies.

The research group, which included experts from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, and Arizona State University, Phoenix, originally set out to find whether drugs used to treat other diseases can be repurposed for treating Alzheimer’s. They designed their study to map and compare biological networks underlying Alzheimer’s disease. What they found is that Alzheimer’s biology is likely impacted by a complex constellation of viral and host genetic factors, adding that they identified specific testable pathways and biological networks.

Robust Findings

“The robust findings by the Mount Sinai team would not have been possible without the open science data resources created by the AMP-AD program–particularly the availability of raw genomic data,” said NIA Program Officer Suzana Petanceska, Ph.D., who leads the AMP-AD Target Discovery and Preclinical Validation Project. “This is a great example of the power of open science to accelerate discovery and replication research.”

The researchers used multiple layers of genomic and proteomic data from several NIA-supported brain banks and cohort studies. They began their direct investigation of viral sequences using data from the Mount Sinai Brain Bank and were able to verify their initial observations using datasets from

They were then able to incorporate additional data from the Emory Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center to understand viral impacts on protein abundance. Through the application of sophisticated computational modeling the researchers made several key findings, including:

Human herpesvirus 6A and 7 were more abundant in Alzheimer’s disease samples than non-Alzheimer’s.
There are multiple points of overlap between virus-host interactions and genes associated with Alzheimer’s risk.
Multiple viruses impact the biology of Alzheimer’s disease across domains such as DNA, RNA and proteins.

No Evidence to Reassess Risk

Important roles for microbes and viruses in Alzheimer’s disease have been suggested and studied for decades, the authors noted. Since the 1980s, hundreds of reports have associated Alzheimer’s with bacteria and viruses. These studies combined suggest a viral contribution but have not explained how the connection works.

While the current findings are more specific, they do not provide evidence to change how risk and susceptibility are assessed, nor the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s, the authors said. Rather, the research gives scientists reason to revisit the old pathogen hypothesis and will be the basis for further work that will test whether herpes virus activity is one of the causes of Alzheimer’s.

MORE INFORMATION:

Note: This article describes a basic research finding. Basic research increases our understanding of human behavior and biology, which is foundational to advancing new and better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease. Science is an unpredictable and incremental process — each research advance builds on past discoveries, often in unexpected ways. Most clinical advances would not be possible without the knowledge of fundamental basic research.
About AMP-AD: The Accelerating Medicines Partnership is a joint venture among the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, 12 biopharmaceutical and life science companies and 13 non-profit organizations, managed by the Foundation for the NIH, to identify and validate promising biological targets of disease. AMP-AD is one of the four initiatives under the AMP umbrella; the other three are focused on type 2 diabetes (AMP-T2D), rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (AMP-RA/SLE) and Parkinson’s disease (AMP-PD). The AMP-AD knowledge portal already has over 1,300 total users. To learn more about the AMP-AD Target Discovery and Preclinical Validation Project, visit: https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/amp-ad.
About the National Institute on Aging: The NIA leads the federal government effort conducting and supporting research on aging and the health and well-being of older people. The NIA is designated as the lead NIH institute for information on Alzheimer's disease. It provides information on age-related cognitive change and neurodegenerative disease, including participation in clinical studies, specifically on its Alzheimer's website.
Reference: Readhead et al. Multiscale Analysis of Independent Alzheimer’s Cohorts Finds Disruption of Molecular, Genetic, and Clinical Networks by Human Herpesvirus. Published in the journal "Neuron". 2018 Jun. 21. Doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.05.023

Neuron (@NeuroCellPress), published by Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that has established itself as one of the most influential and relied upon journals in the field of neuroscience and one of the premier intellectual forums of the neuroscience community. It publishes interdisciplinary articles that integrate biophysical, cellular, developmental, and molecular approaches with a systems approach to sensory, motor, and higher-order cognitive functions. Visit: http://www.cell.com/neuron. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.

SOURCES:

Cell Press
SWNS TV
National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov. NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health®

Watch this video

https://youtu.be/CbKijUj5tbM

dementia views you can use

Monday, July 30, 2018

Light therapy for depression

Sunday, July 29, 2018

venopes@banit.me hacker

Saturday, July 28, 2018

Hacker venopes@banit.me

Alzheimer's:Will any of these experimental drugs work ??

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Alzheimer's biomarkers :What do they mean?

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Demantia:Is your body clock right?

Sunday, July 22, 2018

How to make a memory box for those with dementia

Friday, July 20, 2018

Alzheimer's treatment with iron modifying drugs

Iron Oxide in the Alzheimer's Plaque

More Effective Therapies

Scanning Alzheimer's Plaque

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Prevent vascular dementia with these foods

Monday, July 16, 2018

Will you get dementia?

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Scam protection for those with dementia

Guard Against Financial Abuse and Fraud

Warning Signs

Thursday, July 12, 2018

How do viruses affect Alzheimer's

"All I Found Were These Lousy Viruses"

Search for Sequences from Hundreds of Different Viruses

Viruses are Accelerating the Brain Towards Alzheimer's

No New Worries

Alzheimer's & Viruses: Specific and Testable

Robust Findings

No Evidence to Reassess Risk

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Fitness is important in dementia prevention. Click below for more info

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