Category: Research

Nearly all adults with Down syndrome will develop evidence of Alzheimer’s disease by late middle age. A new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that the disease both starts earlier and moves faster in people with Down syndrome, a finding that may have important implications for the treatment […]

A drug used to treat children with epilepsy prevents brain tumor formation and growth in two mouse models of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. NF1 is a genetic condition that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body, including the […]

Hypoglossal nerve stimulation reduced obstructive sleep apnea severity; however, this outcome was less likely among those with higher BMIs and those who slept in supine position, according to study results. “Physicians can take both this new information about BMI and sleeping on your back vs. your side into consideration when counseling patients with OSA,” Eric C. Landsness, […]

An implant for obstructive sleep apnea — a serious sleep malady in which breathing stops for 10 seconds to two minutes many times an hour each night — works best in people who are overweight but not severely obese, a new study found. To qualify for the device, called a hypoglossal nerve stimulator, a person over 18 diagnosed with […]

A nerve-stimulation treatment for obstructive sleep apnea that originally was approved only for people with body mass indexes (BMIs) in the healthy range recently was extended to patients with BMIs up to 40, a weight range generally described as severely obese. A healthy BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9.

Alzheimer’s disease starts with a sticky protein called amyloid beta that builds up into plaques in the brain, setting off a chain of events that results in brain atrophy and cognitive decline. The new generation of Alzheimer’s drugs — the first proven to change the course of the disease — work by tagging amyloid for […]

Two studies of commercially available biomarkers of synucleinopathies have reached sharply different conclusions on their reliability, according to the findings from two abstracts presented at the AAN Annual Meeting, held in Denver in April.  

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that results in progressive loss of cognitive function. It is critical to identify individuals who are at the highest risk of developing AD as early as possible so that appropriate treatment plans can be developed. Neuropsychological tests of psychomotor speed, attention, and memory are frequently used to assess […]