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Jets great Mark Gastineau revealed in a radio interview Thursday with WOR’s Pete McCarthy he has been diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The franchise’s all-time sacks leader, known for his colorful demeanor and hard-nosed play, said he believes his health issues are the result of his playing style and that new techniques could have prevented his diagnosis. “When my results came back, you know, I had dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,” Gastineau told McCarthy.

Tests that measure the sense of smell may soon become common in neurologists' offices. Scientists have been finding increasing evidence that the sense of smell declines sharply in the early stages of Alzheimer's, and now a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease confirms that administering a simple "sniff test" can enhance the accuracy of diagnosing this dreaded disease. The sniff test also appears to be useful for diagnosing a pre-dementia condition called mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which often progresses to Alzheimer's dementia within a few years....

An experimental Eli Lilly & Co. drug failed to significantly help Alzheimer’s disease patients in a closely watched clinical trial, dealing another blow to the pharmaceutical industry’s long quest to find a better treatment for the condition. The disappointing outcome also may revive doubts about an entire branch of Alzheimer’s research that has dominated the industry’s efforts in the past decade. Lilly and other companies have developed drugs that try to stop the buildup of a sticky protein in the brain known as beta amyloid—believed by many to be the primary culprit in the disease. But none of these drugs...

A diagnosis of AlzheimerÂ’s, sadly, has become almost like a rite of passage in so-called developed countries. AlzheimerÂ’s is considered the most common form of dementia, which is defined as a serious loss of cognitive function beyond what is expected from normal aging in previously unimpaired persons. A 2006 study estimated that 26 million people throughout the world suffer from this condition, and that by 2050, the prevalence will quadruple, by which time one in 85 people worldwide will be afflicted with the disease. Given the global extent of the problem, interest is growing in safe and effective preventive and...

Brock Yates, Car and Driver’s Assassin, lost his long battle with Alzheimer’s on October 5, 2016. We take solace in the words he crafted for this publication, his screenplays, and his books, a legacy that long ago became permanent and prominent chapters of the American legend... Yates joined Car and Driver in 1964, as managing editor—although he claimed no experience in either managing or editing... Yates created the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash in 1971, a coast-to-coast public road race...

However, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies believe the cure to Alzheimer's disease might come from a readily available substance: marijuana. In order to test their theory, researchers at the Salk Institute modified nerve cells to produce high levels of beta-amyloid. Researchers then noted that these higher levels of beta-amyloid production led to the expression of pro-inflammatory proteins and eventually nerve cell death. The ongoing death of these nerve cells is what leads to the progressive cognitive decline witnessed in Alzheimer's patients. This itself was an intriguing finding, as it was long believed that an immune-like response, not...

(CNSNews.com) – The Unites States should phase-out all denominations of the U.S. dollar larger than a $10 bill to thwart money launderers and tax evaders, Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff told attendees at a Council on Foreign Relations event this week in Washington, D.C.“Cash is not used in ordinary retail transactions. It’s used by tax evaders and in a lot of crime of all types, including drug trafficking, human trafficking, extortion, racketeering, you name it,” said Rogoff, a member of the economic advisory panel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and author of The Curse of Cash.“Cash is being used...

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A revolutionary drug that could stop people from ever developing Alzheimer’s disease has been unveiled by scientists. Trials have produced ‘unprecedented’ results and the medicine has been hailed as a potential game-changer in the fight against the cruel disease. In future, healthy pensioners could be prescribed the drug to ward off dementia, in much the same way as statins are given today to those at risk of heart attacks. One British expert described the drug, which is about to be tested in hospitals around the UK, as the best yet, others called it ‘ingenious’ work with ‘tantalising’ results.And a US...

Eighty year old Ted McDermott has been entertaining most of his life and was well known for singing in clubs around England. His nickname – The Songaminute Man – was given to him because of his incredible ability to remember so many songs. In the past few years his memory has deteriorated as he battles Alzheimer’s, but the songs remain. Simon McDermott, 40, uploaded dashcam video of him and his dad, 80-year-old Ted, driving around and singing. “In the last few years his memory has deteriorated a lot – often not recognising family and with many aggressive episodes. When we’ve...

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...

Marijuana compound removes toxic Alzheimer's protein from the brain An active compound in marijuana called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has been found to promote the removal of toxic clumps of amyloid beta protein in the brain, which are thought to kickstart the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The finding supports the results of previous studies that found evidence of the protective effects of cannabinoids, including THC, on patients with neurodegenerative disease. "Although other studies have offered evidence that cannabinoids might be neuroprotective against the symptoms of Alzheimer's, we believe our study is the first to demonstrate that cannabinoids affect both inflammation and amyloid...

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...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Pat Summitt's family said Sunday that the last few days have been difficult for the former Tennessee women's basketball coach as her Alzheimer's disease progresses.

But it does revolve around the conceit that the 40th president had no knowledge of where he was or what he was doing throughout his entire second term. The protagonist is Frank Corden, a low-level White House aide with a sweetly idealized view of American democracy. The first clues that Reagan is not in his right mind come early on: As Frank prepares coffee for Reagan re-election staffers, he overhears Treasury Secretary Don Regan (depicted as a stern, mentor-like figure) in a heated phone conversation with Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger (cartoonishly abusive, he's described as "all Brylcreem and forehead...

Will Ferrell has backed out of a comedy about Ronald Reagan’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease following outrage from the former president’s family. The 48-year-old comic confirmed Friday that while he had seen the script and considered signing on to star and produce “Reagan”, he was no longer going ahead with the project.

Patti Davis, daughter of late President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan, penned an open letter Thursday to Will Ferrell, criticizing the actor for agreeing to play the 40th president in an upcoming satirical film about his battle with dementia. “I saw the news bulletin — as did everyone — that you intend to portray my father in the throes of Alzheimer’s for a comedy that you are also producing,” Ms. Davis, a former actress, wrote in her blog. “Perhaps you have managed to retain some ignorance about Alzheimer’s and other versions of dementia. Perhaps if you knew more, you would...

Scientists from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Glasgow University injected mice with a protein called IL-33 on a daily basis, which resulted in a full reversal in cognitive decline and the symptoms of Alzheimer’s in a matter of days. Though the tests have so far been limited to rodents, the team believes it possible that the same technique could be used to treat human patients. The mice had been bred to exhibit the same kinds of symptoms as those of Alzheimer’s, though within a week were brought back to their prior cognitive capacities with the protein injections....

Alzheimer’s disease could be caused by viruses like herpes, a group of renowned dementia experts have warned, as they call for urgent investigation into the link. The worldwide team of 31 senior scientists and clinicians, which include specialists from Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Manchester Universities and Imperial College, have written an editorial which suggests that microbes are the major cause of dementia. The herpes virus - the type which causes cold sores - and chlamydia bacteria are named as the major culprits, as well as a type of corkscrew-shaped bacteria called spirochaete. “There is incontrovertible evidence that Alzheimer’s Disease has...

Former first lady Nancy Reagan has died at the age of 94, according to TMZ. She married Ronald Reagan in 1952 and served as first lady in from 1981 to 1989.