A simple blood test to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease soon may replace more invasive and expensive screening methods such as spinal taps and brain scans.
More than 7 million people in the U.S. live with a movement disorder called essential tremor. Symptoms of this condition include a rhythmic shaking of the hands; in some people, hands and feet may shake, and the voice may also be involved. Stress can cause these tremors to worsen, as can caffeine and alcohol. Because […]
An analysis of two large, population-based databases suggests that people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are at lower risk for developing multiple sclerosis (MS), a finding hinted at in previous research. In particular, people who are HIV-positive with a history of taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) were less likely to develop MS than people in the […]
The Washington University School of Medicine celebrated Thursday the opening of its 11-story Neuroscience Research Building, touted as one of the largest neuroscience research buildings in the world, built to match the school’s reputation as the nation’s premier research institution in neurology.
A new generation of blood tests is poised to change the way doctors determine whether patients with memory loss also have Alzheimer’s disease. The tests detect substances in the blood that indicate the presence of sticky amyloid plaques in the brain — a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. So these tests have the potential to replace current […]
Alzheimer’s disease has plagued one large Colombian family for generations, striking down half of its members in the prime of life. But one member of that family evaded what had seemed would be fate: Despite inheriting the genetic defect that caused her relatives to develop dementia in their 40s, she stayed cognitively healthy into her […]
Doctors managing deceased organ donors routinely treat the donors’ bodies with thyroid hormones in a bid to preserve heart function and increase the quantity and quality of hearts and other organs available for transplantation. However, according to a recent clinical trial led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Mid-America […]
In Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, cognitive decline is driven by the overaccumulation of a normal brain protein known as tau. Wherever tau builds up, nearby brain tissue starts to degenerate and die.
The Washington University Tuberous Sclerosis Center is recognized by the Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Alliance as one of only 13 TSC Centers of Excellence across the globe and the only in Missouri. Its multispecialty team is equipped to provide the highest level of comprehensive, medical care for children and adults with tuberous sclerosis complex while conducting cutting-edge […]
Under normal circumstances, tau protein is part of the brain’s infrastructure, important for stabilizing neurons into their proper shapes. But sometimes tau gets knotted up into tangles and turns toxic, injuring brain tissue and causing tauopathies, a group of brain diseases characterized by problems with learning, memory and movement. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common […]