Articles related to ALZHEIMER'S/DEMENTIA

The Lumipulse G β-Amyloid Ratio (1-42/1-40) test could potentially eliminate the need for positron emission tomography (PET) scans to assess amyloid plaques in patients’ brains, Jeff Shuren, MD, JD, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement.

A fact-filled video program all about ALZ-801 (valiltramiprosate), an oral medication with a novel mode of action that aims to slow or stop Alzheimer’s disease altogether.

Data for this study came from Danish medical registries over a 20-year period for 247,305 people who visited a hospital or were prescribed antiviral medication for herpes zoster and 1,235,890 people who did not have the disease. These individuals were an average age 64. Up to 21 years later, 9.7% of those with vs. 10.3% of those without herpes zoster developed dementia.

Scientists have made a breakthrough when it comes to triggering lucid dreams. Building on their previous work, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Lucidity Institute in Hawaii wanted to investigate how acetylcholinesterase inhibitors might promote lucid dreaming. A common drug used to treat memory decline in Alzheimer’s disease – galantamine – is a fast-acting AChEI with only mild side effects, so researchers recruited 121 participants to see what effect the drug had on their ability to have and recall lucid dreams. The findings were surprising.

“MB” is a frail, wheelchair-ridden, nearly blind, and mostly deaf woman living with early dementia and neglected lung cancer. What this oncologist thought MB wanted and needed was a lot different than what MB actually wanted and needed after discussing various options with her and talking to her family on numerous occasions. A humbling, honest view of an oncologist’s biases.

This CME program from the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine explores a patient with a history of major depressive disorder, progressively worsening altered mental status, intermittent blank staring, blurred vision, bilateral incoordination of the upper and lower extremities, difficulty following commands, and decreased verbal communication. Would you rule out stroke? Serotonin syndrome? Earn some credits while discovering the diagnosis.