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 […]
Suzanne Schindler, MD, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, discusses the promise of blood-based biomarkers for treatment monitoring. Data has been presented on plasma phosphorylated-tau 217 (p-tau217) as a method to monitor the effects of lecanemab and donanemab. This research is investigating if medication discontinuation is feasible if p-tau217 […]
Nearly every person with Down syndrome eventually develops Alzheimer’s disease, yet people with the syndrome routinely are excluded from Alzheimer’s clinical trials, as the cognitive assessment tools designed for the general population often are inappropriate for people with developmental disabilities. Consequently, nobody knows whether the new Alzheimer’s therapeutics hitting the market will work for people […]
Patients who live in less affluent neighborhoods and those from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups are less likely than others to receive specialized care for dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates. Further, the research shows that Black people are more likely than white people […]
Suzanne Schindler, MD, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, gives insight into the need for more diverse cohorts to improve our understanding of the impact of sex, age, and race on biomarker levels and trajectories in Alzheimer’s disease. While efforts to study racial and ethnic minority populations have improved, […]
Two pathologies drive the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Early on, amyloid beta plaques lead the way, but around the time cognitive symptoms arise, tau tangles take over as the driving force and cognition steadily declines. Tracking the course of the disease in individual patients has been challenging because there’s been no easy way to measure […]
The COVID-19 pandemic will forever be associated with unprecedented lockdowns and inconveniences such as wearing masks in public. And that’s largely because health experts had no idea exactly where the SARS-CoV-2 virus was lurking, and how risky crowded settings such as workplaces, classrooms, and public transportation were.