Dementia and Alzheimer Disease

Research into AD pathogenesis and identification of early biomarkers could contribute to the development of new treatments. We present several recent findings.

Discover 3 exciting developments in Alzheimer disease research.

These two new drugs for Alzheimer disease, presented at AAN 2015, are too good not to review. Here, a 6-slide summary of aducanumab and encenicline studies.

Proteins linked in a pathway, drugs that may prevent memory loss, the positive role of sleep, a new memory app-check out these latest new concepts in AD diagnosis and treatment.

A new way to treat dementia and other diagnosis and treatment developments are in the news.

While a majority of persons with the 4 most common cancers are told the diagnosis, fewer than half of persons with AD get that kind of information. This could be a problem.

There’s a new app for tracking symptoms of Parkinson disease, Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases may share characteristics with mad cow disease, and a skin test may one day be used to detect both AD and PD.

Focused ultrasound works like a noninvasive knife, cutting away amyloid plaques in mice. But is this new method safe and effective in humans?

Anticholinergics could confer an increased risk, one dependent on the dose and amount of use. Give them to older patients or consider alternatives?

Prostaglandin may block protective microglial cells in Alzheimer disease, a study shows. This work could form the basis for future therapies.

The 1-leg standing test is an easy way to determine if a patient has early signs of being at risk for a stroke and cognitive impairment and whether additional evaluation is needed,

Here: a quick look at tests that can be a valuable part of a neuropsychological evaluation.

What happens before the demyelinating lesions of MS appear? Does smoking confer protection against Parkinson disease? How is NMDA receptor-associated disease reversed? Here are 4 fine papers from 2014 that set out to answer these questions.

A new study bolsters evidence that bilingualism contributes to cognitive reserve, postpones symptoms of dementia, and delays diagnosis of Alzheimer disease.

Identification of a brain circuit implicated in Alzheimer disease and schizophrenia could aid in comprehension of brain disorders and point to prevention strategies.

Study results suggest that more stimulating work environments may help people retain their cognitive abilities.

The latest scientific developments about the brain and how it works were presented this week at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Potential new treatments were identified.

These findings advance knowledge about the link between brain inflammation and the progression of brain disorders and suggest possible targets for future treatments.

Could the common herpes simplex virus be associated with Alzheimer disease? These researchers think it is possible.

Here: 5 new things to know about stroke -- its link with perioperative A-fib; the danger of cocaine; rehab possibilities with an Alzheimer drug; reducing stroke risk with potassium; and a potential screen for occult A-fib after cryptogenic stroke.

Increased orexin in this disorder is associated with disease severity, total tau protein levels, sleep impairment, and cognitive deterioration.

Why ask patients to “spit in a cup”? Statistically significant protein differences have been found in Alzheimer disease saliva, and trends have been observed for Parkinson disease.

Does smell identification have any predictive value for later Alzheimer disease?

Cerebrospinal fluid biomarker assessment could conceivably become a part of routine clinical practice.

Try to stay current with the flood of published dementia studies these days and you may miss a few with human subjects. Here, a quick review of 2 non-animal analyses that might make you think differently in clinic tomorrow.

The notion that vitamin D deficiency is associated with a substantially increased risk of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease was confirmed by the results of the largest study of its kind.

As clinicians, we can daily apply knowledge learned from a few patients with pure amnesia to patients we see often-those who have memory deficits, such as so-called Mild Cognitive Impairment and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's.

The remarkable coffee bean is associated with reduced prevalence of several diseases, including Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

Here: an update on the current state of CSF fluid-borne markers for Alzheimer disease and what they may portend.