Timothy M. Miller, MD, PhD, a leading researcher in the neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), has been named the David Clayson Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The professorship was established in 2001 through a bequest from David Clayson, PhD, to support innovative research into treatments for ALS, the […]
Michael Wong, MD, PhD, has been named the Allen P. and Josephine B. Green Professor of Pediatric Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Wong sees patients with pediatric epilepsy at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and specializes in basic research into the origins of the illness. Pediatric epilepsy can be caused by genetic mutations and brain […]
In the past few years, despite the best efforts of scientists and medical researchers, drug after drug designed to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease has failed in clinical trials. Some had no effect on the progression of the disease, others made patients’ symptoms worse and yet others produced results so equivocal it […]
Efforts to develop a treatment that stalls the memory-robbing devastation of Alzheimer’s disease have so far been unsuccessful, but scientists are making strides in another important area: the development of better tests to tell who has the condition. Their aim is to develop more accurate, cheaper and less invasive tests to detect the biological markers […]
A blood test can detect whether plaques of beta-amyloid are building up in a person’s brain – a sign that they may develop Alzheimer’s disease. People with Alzheimer’s disease tend to have sticky clumps of beta-amyloid in their brains, although the part these plaques play in the condition is unclear. Until now, the only way […]
Decades before people with Alzheimer’s disease develop memory loss and confusion, their brains become dotted with plaques made of a sticky protein – called amyloid beta – that is thought to contribute to the disease and its progression. Currently, the only way to detect amyloid beta in the brain is via PET scanning, which is […]
In 2015, the global cost of Alzheimer’s disease was US$818 billion. That’s similar to the gross domestic product of the world’s 18th-largest economy. By 2030, the number of people with the disease is expected to rise to more than 70 million worldwide (see ‘Staying ahead’).
How well, not how much, people sleep may affect Alzheimer’s disease risk. Healthy adults built up Alzheimer’s-associated proteins in their cerebral spinal fluid when prevented from getting slow-wave sleep, the deepest stage of sleep, researchers report July 10 in Brain. Just one night of deep-sleep disruption was enough to increase the amount of amyloid-beta, a protein that […]
Americans love to drive. More than 75 percent of adults carry a driver’s license, including 40 million who are 65 and older. But driving is more than just a passion or a pastime: It’s a lifeline. Studies show that giving up driving increases a person’s mortality risk and makes seniors more likely to land in […]
Age can bring moments of forgetfulness. It can also bring concern that the forgetfulness might be a sign of early Alzheimer’s disease. For those who decide to have it checked out, doctors are likely to administer brief memory exams to assess the situation, and medical tests to search for causes of memory loss. Brain imaging […]