Free Republic

With tongue fully inserted in cheek, the staff of the conservative Washington Free Beacon on Saturday handed out its “Man of the Year” awards. One of the winners: Ghost...

Clinical studies testing the safety and efficacy of 40Hz sensory stimulation to treat Alzheimer's disease have found the therapy was well tolerated, produced no serious adverse effects and was associated with some significant neurological and behavioral benefits. Tsai's lab discovered exposing mice to light flickering or sound clicking at the gamma-band brain rhythm frequency of 40Hz produced improvements in learning and memory; reduced brain atrophy, neuron and synapse loss; and showed lower levels of hallmark Alzheimer's proteins amyloid beta and phosphorylated tau. In the Phase 1 study, volunteers filled out a questionnaire. Meanwhile, measurements taken with EEG scalp electrodes clustered...

What did Stephen Hawking and Mao Zedong have in common? They both suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), for which a cure remains elusive. Scientists took an important step toward the prevention of ALS and another brain disorder called Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) with their research on the effects of the antibiotic rifampicin on genetically modified mice. "The primary cause of FTD and ALS is a hexanucleotide repeat expansion (HRE) in non-coding regions of the C9orf72 gene," said Professor Takami Tomiyama. This mutation causes neurodegeneration through loss-of-function or gain-of-toxic-function mutations.Rifampicin is an antibiotic that slows bacterial RNA production; it is usually...

Researchers have recently had their study published in Kidney International. This paper is the first study linking activation of cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathways to kidney damage in humans. "In this observational study, we move the pre-clinical research forward by linking the use of cholinesterase inhibitors with preserving kidney function," says Hong Xu. Cholinesterase inhibitors are a group of drugs recommended for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Although the target organ for this group of drugs is the brain, inhibition of the enzyme cholinesterase may affect the kidney through stimulation of the vagus nerve and anti-inflammatory effects. The study shows that, in...

An experimental Alzheimer's disease drug from Eisai and Biogen slowed cognitive decline in a closely watched trial but may carry a risk of dangerous side effects for certain patients, according to new data presented on Tuesday (Nov 29). The drug, lecanemab, was associated with a type of brain swelling in 12.6 per cent of trial patients, a side effect previously seen with similar drugs. Fourteen per cent of patients had microhemorrhages in the brain - a symptom linked to two recent deaths of people receiving lecanemab in a follow-on study - and five patients suffered macrohemorrhages. The companies said in...

Nov. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have discovered a new tool that may help physicians diagnose Alzheimer's disease earlier -- and with a simple blood test -- once a person develops mild cognitive impairment and before significant neurological damage occurs. The study's findings were published Wednesday in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience. The progressive illness, which begins with mild memory loss, may lead to inability to carry on conversations and respond to elements in their environment. "One practical application we can envision is [a] blood-based diagnostic test for checking early signs of Alzheimer's disease," Bin Xu, the study's principal investigator...

A new study has revealed a tenuous but plausible link between picking your nose and increasing the risk of developing dementia. In cases where picking at your nose damages internal tissues, critical species of bacteria have a clearer path to the brain, which responds to their presence in ways that resemble signs of Alzheimer's disease. There are plenty of caveats here, not least that so far the supporting research is based on mice rather than humans, but the findings are definitely worth further investigation – and could improve our understanding of how Alzheimer's gets started, which remains something of a...

Researchers earlier this year showed that the common herpes virus could induce plaques in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease. Now, researchers are working to understand what might slow progression of the disease. They have tested 21 different compounds in Alzheimer's-afflicted neural cells in the lab, measuring the compounds' effect on the growth of sticky beta amyloid plaques. These plaques develop in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. The researchers found that two common compounds—green tea catechins and resveratrol, found in red wine and other foods—reduced the formation of plaques in those neural cells. And they did so with few...

President Joe Biden on Monday put out a statement on Monday declaring this November “National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month” and calling on Americans “to recognize their fellow citizens with Alzheimer’s Disease.” “Alzheimer’s is common and especially cruel, robbing people of their memories, thoughts, and identity over many years,” said Biden in his proclamation. “Across the Nation, this epidemic is growing: In the next 30 years, the number of Americans with Alzheimer’s is expected to reach nearly 14 million, straining families and our health care system,” Biden said. “I call on the people of the United States of America to recognize...

New research from the University of Cincinnati bolsters a hypothesis that Alzheimer’s disease is caused by a decline in levels of a specific protein, contrary to a prevailing theory that has been recently called into question.The research is focused on a protein called amyloid-beta. The protein normally carries out its functions in the brain in a form that is soluble, meaning dissolvable in water, but it sometimes hardens into clumps, known as amyloid plaques.The conventional wisdom in the field of Alzheimer’s research for more than 100 years stated that Alzheimer’s was caused by the buildup of amyloid plaques in the...

Cycles of a diet that mimics fasting appear to reduce signs of Alzheimer's in mice genetically engineered to develop the illness. The researchers found that mice that had undergone several cycles of the fasting-mimicking diet showed less Alzheimer's pathology. The researchers found lower levels of two major hallmarks of the disease: amyloid beta—the primary driver of plaque buildup in the brain—and hyperphosphorylated tau protein. They also found that brain inflammation lessened and better performance on cognitive tests compared to the mice that were fed a standard diet. The fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) is high in unsaturated fats and low in overall...

Older people who were infected with COVID-19 show a substantially higher risk—as much as 50% to 80% higher than a control group—of developing Alzheimer's disease within a year, according to a study of more than 6 million patients 65 and older. Researchers report that people 65 and older who contracted COVID-19 were more prone to developing Alzheimer's disease in the year following their COVID diagnosis. And the highest risk was observed in women at least 85 years old. The findings showed that the risk for developing Alzheimer's disease in older people nearly doubled (0.35% to 0.68%) over a one-year period...

President Joe Biden had some choice of words for his opposing party members during his first political rally speech as the November midterm elections round the corner. While making his rounds in Maryland on Thursday night, Biden portrayed MAGA Republicans as a “threat to democracy,” criticizing former president Trump for creating a movement that so many support. “The MAGA Republicans don’t just threaten our personal rights and economic security… They're a threat to our very democracy. They refuse to accept the will of the people,” Biden boldly claimed, adding “Trump and the extreme MAGA Republicans have made their choice —...

A research team may have found a new way to clear harmful proteins in the brain that trigger cognitive diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, opening the door for new treatments for the devastating conditions. Experts believe that Alzheimer's is triggered by amyloid beta proteins building up in the brain and clumping together, triggering tell-tale symptoms such as memory loss and loss of general cognitive function. Research from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, found that ramping up levels of a separate protein — aquaporin 4 — could help to remove them. In a study on mice...

Drs. Yuhai Zhao and Walter J Lukiw report a pathway that begins in the gut and ends with a potent pro-inflammatory toxin in brain cells contributing to the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). They also report a simple way to prevent it. The researchers found a molecule containing a very potent microbial-generated neurotoxin (lipopolysaccharide or LPS) derived from the Gram-negative bacteria Bacteroides fragilis in the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract generates a neurotoxin known as BF-LPS. "LPSs are probably the most potent microbial-derived pro-inflammatory neurotoxic glycolipids known," says Dr. Lukiw. "Laboratories have detected LPS within neurons of the Alzheimer's disease-affected human...

Science leaders are demanding a crackdown on medical research fraudsters, warning that the worst offenders pose a threat to public health and should be handed prison sentences. And they have also called for academic journals that publish dodgy data to be slapped with hefty fines if they fail to act swiftly when fakes are exposed. The demands come after bombshell allegations that a pivotal study on the cause of Alzheimer’s disease contained manipulated results, potentially leading other scientists down a blind alley, hindering the development of effective treatments and giving false hope to patients and their families. It is just...

Critical elements of one of the most cited pieces of Alzheimer’s disease research in the last two decades may have been purposely manipulated, according to a report in Science.But a neuroscientist in Tennessee, Vanderbilt University professor Matthew Schrag, said in a Science article that he and other reviewers have identified as many as 10 papers on the protein that deserve deeper scrutiny. The report also cited other prominent researchers who have had difficulty replicating results of the studies on the specific proteins.“I focus on what we can see in the published images, and describe them as red flags, not final...

Critical elements of one of the most cited pieces of Alzheimer’s disease research in the last two decades may have been purposely manipulated, according to a report in Science. **SNIP** The highly influential paper, which was published in Nature in 2006, has helped guide billions of dollars in US federal government research into Alzheimer’s, according to Science. The study, which looked at cognitive decline in mice, proposed that a specific amyloid protein may be responsible for cognitive decline. The hypothesis has since dominated the field, and researchers have worked for years to understand the mechanism by which such proteins may...

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that gradually impairs thinking and memory abilities as well as the capacity to do even the most basic activities. The researchers believe that new treatments and medications for the condition might result from the findings More than 5.8 million people in the United States are affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most prevalent form of dementia. AD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Scientists have identified a few gene variants that raise the risk of Alzheimer’s; the APOE 4 allele is the most well-known of them for individuals over the age of 65. Although there...

Alzheimer's Association Supplemental thiamine [vitamin B-1] as a practical, potential way to prevent Alzheimer's disease from commencingFirst published: 28 July 2021 Author: Jeffrey Fessel “… In brief: it is easier to prevent Alzheimer's than to try to reverse it after it has developed. The data supporting the prophylactic use of thiamine are robust. In order to validate its use, a clinical trial is advocated that would enroll persons aged 65 or older who have evidence of depositions of amyloid or tau in their brains, and randomly assign them to take, for as long as 5 years, either thiamine 100 mgs...