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Prior vaccination against tetanus and diphtheria, with or without pertussis (Tdap/Td); herpes zoster (HZ), better known as shingles; and pneumococcus are all associated with a reduced risk for developing Alzheimer's disease, according to research. Researchers performed a retrospective cohort study that included patients who were free of dementia during a two-year lookback period and were at least 65 years old by the start of the eight-year follow-up period. They compared two similar groups of patients using propensity score matching, one vaccinated and another unvaccinated, with Tdap/Td, HZ, or pneumococcal vaccine. Ultimately, they calculated the relative risk and absolute risk reduction...

A recent phase three study conducted by Eli Lilly examined the safety and efficacy of the study drug donanemab in participants with early Alzheimer's disease (AD). The pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly announced in a press release on May 3, 2023, that a clinical trial of the experimental Alzheimer's drug, donanemab, showed it could significantly slow the progress of cognitive decline, allowing patients increased independence. The drugmaker's announcement revealed that the drug succeeded in halting early AD progression in nearly half of the participants, slowing cognitive decline rates by 35% compared to control participants. Donanemab is an antibody that targets protein...

MIT neuroscientists have discovered a method to reverse neurodegeneration and other Alzheimer’s disease symptoms by blocking an overactive enzyme, CDK5, in patients’ brains. Treating mice with a peptide inhibitor, they observed significant reductions in neurodegeneration, DNA damage, and improved cognitive abilities. The peptide has the potential to be used as a treatment for Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia with CDK5 overactivation, without interfering with essential, structurally similar enzymes. The peptide blocks a hyperactive brain enzyme that contributes to the neurodegeneration seen in Alzheimer’s and other diseases. MIT neuroscientists have found a way to reverse neurodegeneration and other symptoms of...

First human trial for intranasal vaccine for AD represents culmination of 20 years of research led at the Brigham Brigham and Women’s Hospital is set to begin a clinical trial that will test the safety and efficacy of a new vaccine delivered nasally intended to prevent and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The trial represents the culmination of nearly 20 years of research led by Howard L. Weiner, MD, co-director of the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at the Brigham. “The launch of the first human trial of a nasal vaccine for Alzheimer’s is a remarkable milestone,”...

A likely cause of Alzheimer’s disease offers a significant finding that offers potential new prevention and treatment opportunities for Australia’s second-leading cause of death. Ground-breaking new Curtin University-led research has discovered a likely cause of Alzheimer’s disease, in a significant finding that offers potential new prevention and treatment opportunities for Australia’s second-leading cause of death. The study, published in the prestigious PLOS Biology journal and tested on mouse models, identified that a probable cause of Alzheimer’s disease was the leakage from blood into the brain of fat-carrying particles transporting toxic proteins. Lead investigator Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute (CHIRI) Director...

Dallas’ former chief is disappearing. Sarah Dodd knew something was wrong with her husband in November 2019. Though, if she’s being honest, she began to worry at least a year before that, probably longer. Something she couldn’t yet define, something still more feeling than fact. Just that thing, said the former television reporter, “when you’re around someone you love and you know when that person is not …” “... When that person is not himself.” Nov. 14, 2019, was one day after Dodd’s husband, former Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle, turned 69. To celebrate, the couple flew to Santa Barbara,...

Pat Bowlen, who purchased the Denver Broncos in 1984 and oversaw what became one of the NFL’s most successful franchises, passed away late Thursday night after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 75. “Our family wishes to express its sincere gratitude for the outpouring of support we have received in recent years. Heaven got a little bit more orange and blue tonight,” the Bowlen family wrote in a statement released by the Broncos. “Pat Bowlen had a competitive spirit with a great sense of humor. As fun-loving as he was, he always wanted us to understand the big...

Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor revealed in a letter on Tuesday that she has been diagnosed with the "beginning stages of dementia, probably Alzheimer's disease." "I will continue living in Phoenix, Arizona surrounded by dear friends and family," she wrote and added, "While the final chapter of my life with dementia may be trying, nothing has diminished my gratitude and deep appreciation for the countless blessings of my life."

I suppose this is how dementia/Alzheimer's disease progresses... Or is it the medication? Or a combination?

For almost an hour on Tuesday, the White House press corps stooped to a new low of embarrassment and clownishly liberal behavior, lobbing over a dozen questions at Navy Rear Admiral Dr. Ronny Jackson to insinuate that President Trump must be mentally ill to the point of AlzheimerÂ’s Disease. This was all despite JacksonÂ’s insistence that heÂ’s in great health. Whether it was Bloomberg, CBS News Radio, CNN, or The Washington Post, the long knives were out as the liberal media engaged in their own PickettÂ’s Charge to save their narrative that TrumpÂ’s mentally ill and thus must be removed...

Joe DeNucci, a former world class middleweight boxing contender who became a politician and the longest-serving state auditor in Massachusetts history, has died at age 78. DeNucci, who had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, died Friday at his home in Newton, where his death was confirmed by the Andrew J. Magni & Son Funeral Home. In his boxing days he fought quality opponents including Emile Griffith, a world champion in multiple weight classes, before turning to the equally rough-and-tumble world of state politics. As a Democrat, he served as a state representative and later held the office of state auditor for...

New research from Lund University in Sweden has shown that intestinal bacteria can accelerate the development of Alzheimer’s disease. According to the researchers behind the study, the results open up the door to new opportunities for preventing and treating the disease Because our gut bacteria have a major impact on how we feel through the interaction between the immune system, the intestinal mucosa and our diet, the composition of the gut microbiota is of great interest to research on diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Exactly how our gut microbiota composition is composed depends on which bacteria we receive at birth, our...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by a progressive loss of memory associated with other cognitive sphere deficits interfering with social and occupational functioning. The global prevalence of AD was estimated at 26.55 million in 2006. During several years preceding the diagnosis of dementia, there is a gradual cognitive decline with a continuum from the predementia stage to the other stages of the disease. Current treatment strategies address impairments of cholinergic and glutamatergic systems. The cholinergic hypothesis was initially presented over 25 years ago and suggests that a dysfunction of acetylcholine containing neurons in the...

The lanky Tennessee farm girl they nicknamed "Bone" grew to heights that no one could have anticipated. She traveled the world, became a kind of surrogate mom to hundreds of daughters and helped fundamentally change collegiate athletics. She was born on Flag Day, June 14, 1952, and personified the American Dream. Like most iconic figures, she inspired an almost mythical kind of devotion. But how could someone be so larger-than-life magnificent and yet so humbly warm and real? That was the essence of Pat Summitt, the longtime Tennessee women's basketball coach who died Tuesday morning at age 64, nearly five...

Alzheimer’s disease affects some 35 million people worldwide and is expected to affect 115 million by 2050, but the disease cannot be detected before it has already caused loss of memory and function. Even then, a long series of tests is required to accurately diagnose Alzheimer's disease, including costly brain imagining scans and even, sometimes, invasive cerebral spinal fluid tests to rule out other diseases. However, a new discovery by Tel Aviv University, Technion (Rambam Medical Center), and Harvard University researchers is taking the medical community on "a leap forward" in the process of effectively screening and diagnosing Alzheimer's disease,...

Country legend Glen Campbell has been struggling with severe memory loss due to Alzheimer’s disease. A horrible disease in which there is yet not a cure. Now, we learned from his wife Kim that the legend is in the sixth of the seven stages of Alzheimer’s, which means he has lost all ability to communicate. This is tragic! He is responsive to family, but the disease can make him extremely combative at times:Kim, Campbell’s wife of 33 years, says the Country Music Hall of Famer has entered the sixth of the disease’s seven stages so his communication has diminished...

Hollywood actor Omar Sharif is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and struggles to remember his most famous films, his son has revealed. The 83-year-old Egyptian-born actor, who shot to fame in 1962 when he starred in Lawrence of Arabia and later for his title role in Doctor Zhivago in 1965, has been struggling with the illness for the last three years. His son, Tarek El-Sharif, has revealed his father has now retired from acting due to the illness, which has seen him confusing the names of his most famous films and forgetting where they were filmed. He says his father knows...

Rod Hundley, basketball’s irrepressible Hot Rod, who parlayed showmanship on the court with flair at the microphone to become a fan favorite for more than half a century, died on Friday at his home near Phoenix. He was 80. Hundley was an electrifying presence at West Virginia University, played for the Lakers and stamped his persona on broadcasting, mostly for the New Orleans Jazz. “Nobody did the things I did on the court and nobody has done them since,” Hundley said of his collegiate exploits in “Hot Rod Hundley: You Gotta Love It Baby!” (2012), written with Tom McEachin. “I’d...

My mother took up golf in her 69th year. She had a terrible grip since she was missing her left thumb. It had become infected prior to the discovery of penicillin and was amputated. She played golf for more than 15 years on the 9-hole course in Deer River, Minnesota. We bought her a golf cart for her 80th birthday which made her a heavily recruited partner. Those were some the best years of her life. She died at 89.This all came to mind when I saw Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel’s appearance on Morning Joe. He discussed an article he wrote...

Denver Broncos team owner Pat Bowlen is steeping down from day-to-day operations because he is battling Alzheimer's Disease ... The Broncos said Bowlen had already been reducing his role in recent years while he was, "courageously and privately battling Alzheimer’s disease." "The Broncos are very saddened that Mr. Bowlen is no longer able to be part of the team’s daily operations due to his condition," the team said on its website. "We continue to offer our full support, compassion and respect to ‘Mr. B,’ who has faced Alzheimer’s disease with such dignity and strength." Team president Joe Ellis will assume...