Asthma may reduce risk of brain tumors — but how? (Links to an external site)

Asthma has been associated with a lowered risk of brain tumors, and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis now think they know why: Immune cells activated under conditions of asthma are less able to promote the growth of brain tumors. The findings could lead to new therapeutic approaches.

There’s not much good that can be said about asthma, a breathing disease in which the airways become narrowed and inflamed. But there’s this: People with asthma seem to be less likely to develop brain tumors than others. And now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis believe they have discovered why.

International Alzheimer’s clinical trial to test two drugs in combination (Links to an external site)

Trial participant Rachel Habiger meets in 2018 with Randall J. Bateman, MD, the director of the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit (DIAN-TU) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The DIAN-TU has announced that it will be targeting two key Alzheimer’s proteins — amyloid and tau — as part of its Tau Next Generation Alzheimer’s prevention trial.

Researchers leading a worldwide clinical trial aimed at finding treatments for Alzheimer’s disease are modifying an arm of the trial to evaluate a combination of drugs targeting two brain proteins: amyloid and tau. The trial – known as the Tau Next Generation Trial (Tau NexGen) – originally was announced with a focus on drugs that […]

Hit the sleep ‘sweet spot’ to keep brain sharp (Links to an external site)

Older adults who sleep short or long experienced greater cognitive decline than those who sleep a moderate amount, even when the effects of early Alzheimer’s disease were taken into account, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. (Photo: Getty Images)

Like so many other good things in life, sleep is best in moderation. A multiyear study of older adults found that both short and long sleepers experienced greater cognitive decline than people who slept a moderate amount, even when the effects of early Alzheimer’s disease were taken into account. The study was led by researchers […]

$35 million to support study of sleep disorder linked to neurodegeneration (Links to an external site)

A study participant wears monitoring equipment as part of a sleep study on REM sleep behavior disorder. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) of McGill University have received a five-year grant expected to total $35.1 million for an extension of a study designed to develop biomarkers that indicate which people with the sleep disorder will go on to develop neurodegenerative diseases.

People with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder act out their dreams. While sleeping safely in bed, for example, they might throw up their arms to catch an imaginary ball or try to run from an illusory assailant. Such actions are more than just a nuisance. People with the disorder have a 50% to […]

Investigational Alzheimer’s drug improves biomarkers of the disease (Links to an external site)

Randall Bateman, MD, director of the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network-Trials Unit (DIAN-TU), an ongoing international clinical trial to evaluate experimental Alzheimer’s drugs, speaks with DIAN-TU participant Taylor Hutton. One of the drugs tested in the DIAN-TU, gantenerumab, improved biomarkers of disease despite unclear cognitive effects, prompting study leaders to offer participants the option of continuing to receive the drug and participate in follow-up examinations as part of a so-called open label extension.

An investigational Alzheimer’s drug reduced molecular markers of disease and curbed neurodegeneration in the brain, without demonstrating evidence of cognitive benefit, in a phase 2/3 clinical trial led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis through its Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network-Trials Unit (DIAN-TU). These results led the trial leaders to offer the drug, […]

Protein linked to heart health, disease a potential therapeutic target for dementia (Links to an external site)

Mice prone to developing Alzheimer’s-like brain damage have potentially damaging activated immune cells in their brains (above). Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that high levels of a normal protein associated with reduced heart disease also protect against Alzheimer’s-like damage in mice, opening up new approaches to slowing or stopping brain damage and cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer’s.

By the time people with Alzheimer’s disease start exhibiting difficulty remembering and thinking, the disease has been developing in their brains for two decades or more, and their brain tissue already has sustained damage. As the disease progresses, the damage accumulates, and their symptoms worsen.

Podcast: Pandemic contributing to uptick of mental health problems in kids (Links to an external site)

Although children tend to be at lower risk of COVID-19, the number of kids with mental health and behavioral problems has exploded during the pandemic, driving an increase in pediatric hospital admissions nationwide. In this episode of "Show Me the Science," child psychiatrist John Constantino, MD, and pediatric neurologist Christina Gurnett, MD, PhD, discuss some of Washington University's efforts to reverse that trend.

Infections with the virus that causes COVID-19 are not the only cause of pandemic-related hospitalizations. Although children tend to be at lower risk of COVID-19, the number of kids with mental health and behavioral problems has exploded during the pandemic, driving an increase in pediatric hospital admissions nationwide. Stressors associated with remote schooling, fear of […]