Articles related to ALZHEIMER'S/DEMENTIA

The disappointing findings from the $100 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) project, the first-ever prevention trial for Alzheimer’s disease, which tested an antiamyloid monoclonal antibody called crenezumab in people with the Paisa mutation, the most common cause of familial, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

This study enrolled individuals with AD who had been on a stable dose of donezepil forat least 90 days. They were then treated for 12 weeks with the addition of themodulator of cholinergic neurotransmission AD101, or placebo. Those receiving AD101had mean improvement of approximately 2 points on the Alzheimer DiseaseAssessment Scale-Cognitive (ADAS-Cog) Subscale. Individuals who had continued donezepil plusplacebo showed declines on ADAS-Cog.

The findings supported the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer’s Association (NIA-AA) research framework for Alzheimer’s disease, which is based on biomarkers of amyloid, tau, and neurodegeneration.

The update, which was presented during a panel discussion at the Alzheimer Association International Conference 2022 (AAIC2022) in San Diego, CA, is based on evidence from real-world use of aducanumab and is intended to improve risk mitigation, safety monitoring, patient selection, and shared decision-making.

Scientists have started questioning the veracity of images accompanying University of Minnesota Sylvain Lesné, PhD’s studies touting major breakthroughs. Lesné’s images had supported a theory that oligomer species Aβ*56 was the most important of many oligomers thought to be more pathogenic than other plaques — and thus, a potential drug target.

Higher levels of physical activity were associated with greater processing speed reserve in older women but not in older men, according to a recent study. This is good news, as dementia may be slowed by cognitive reserve, the capacity to maintain cognition in the face of brain damage. A cognitively active lifestyle that includes reading and information processing may delay the onset of dementia in Alzheimer’s disease by up to 5 years in persons in their 80s, according to recent research. Other research has suggested that cognitive reserve may be one factor in some centenarians’ ability to resist cognitive decline in the face of brain dysfunction.