The burden of Alzheimer’s disease doesn’t fall on all communities equally. Black Americans face about double the risk of developing the devastating neurodegenerative disease than non-Hispanic white Americans do.
Asthma may reduce risk of brain tumors — but how? (Links to an external site)
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)
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)
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)
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 […]
Time until dementia symptoms appear can be estimated via brain scan (Links to an external site)
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed an approach to estimating when a person who is likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, but has no cognitive symptoms, will start showing signs of Alzheimer’s dementia.
‘Unprecedented opportunity’ to understand neurovascular recovery after stroke (Links to an external site)
Each year in the U.S., nearly 800,000 people have a stroke, which leads to more than $46 billion spent annually in health care and related costs. A powerhouse team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis is collaborating to understand how the brain remodels after stroke with the goal of finding new therapeutic targets […]
Investigational Alzheimer’s drug improves biomarkers of the disease (Links to an external site)
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)
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)
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 […]