Dementia News and Research

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Dementia is not a specific disease. It is a descriptive term for a collection of symptoms that can be caused by a number of disorders that affect the brain. People with dementia have significantly impaired intellectual functioning that interferes with normal activities and relationships. They also lose their ability to solve problems and maintain emotional control, and they may experience personality changes and behavioral problems, such as agitation, delusions, and hallucinations.

Using Cellular Reprogramming to Make the Heart Function Like New Again

A recent study using mice has revealed a way to turn back the clock after heart attack. The researchers behind the work used RNAs to instruct cells in an injured heart to eliminate scar tissue and recreate cardiac muscle, allowing the heart to function like new again.

20 Apr 2023

New Peptide Blocks a Hyperactive Brain Enzyme Involved in Neurodegeneration

MIT neuroscientists have found a way to reverse neurodegeneration and other symptoms of Alzheimer's disease by interfering with an enzyme that is typically overactive in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

17 Apr 2023

Using better probiotics to maintain a healthy gut microbiome

Bacteria have thousands of genes and functions that we, the human host, do not have. For instance, bacteria can help us digest fiber, provide support to our immune systems, and absorb important nutrients. But reaping the benefits of "good bacteria" is easier said than done.

29 Mar 2023

Brain scans link signs of cellular aging to symptoms of Alzheimer’s

According to a new study led by Anya Topiwala of Oxford Population Health, a division of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and published on March 22nd, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, changes in the brain caused by Alzheimer’s disease are connected to telomeres shortening, the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that shorten as cells age.

23 Mar 2023

Study identifies 238 amyloid toxicity protective or activator genes

An international study led by the Molecular Physiology Laboratory at the UPF Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) identifies new genes that modulate the toxicity of the protein β-amyloid, responsible for causing Alzheimer's disease.

22 Mar 2023

DNA drugs help restore the normal processing of protein-encoding RNA

A protein named TDP-43 has been lost from its normal location in the nucleus of the cell in virtually all persons having amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and in up to half of all cases of frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

From UC San Diego 20 Mar 2023

Delaying paralysis in ALS by using designer DNA drug

In virtually all persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and in up to half of all cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia, a protein called TDP-43 is lost from its normal location in the nucleus of the cell.

20 Mar 2023

New signals of natural selection in humans identified

A team of global experts has discovered new signals of natural selection in humans.

2 Mar 2023

Novel way to block the death of nerve cells in MND

Scientists have found a novel way to block the transportation of mutant RNA and subsequent production of toxic repeat proteins which lead to the death of nerve cells in the most common subtypes of motor neurone disease (MND) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

2 Mar 2023

RNA modification plays a vital role in TDP-43-related neurodegeneration in ALS

Nearly 100% of cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-the progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease known as ALS or Lou Gherig's disease-involve the buildup of a protein called TDP-43.

28 Feb 2023

Scientists discover two ways to preserve diseased upper motor neurons in ALS

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered two ways to preserve diseased upper motor neurons that would normally be destroyed in ALS, based on a study in mice. Upper motor neurons initiate movement, and they degenerate in ALS.

24 Feb 2023

Mount Sinai researchers illuminate the role of DNA methylation in Alzheimer's disease

Mount Sinai researchers have published a study in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association that sheds new light on the role of DNA methylation in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

23 Feb 2023

Beef, pork, chicken, and other meats contain new antioxidants, analysis reveals

Imidazole dipeptides (IDPs), which are abundant in meat and fish, are substances produced in the bodies of various animals, including humans, and have been reported to be effective in relieving fatigue and preventing dementia.

17 Feb 2023

"Poisoned" form of a protein could set off events that encourage cancer growth

Scientists at Scripps Research, with collaborators in Japan, have discovered how a "poisoned" form of a protein could set off a cascade of events that encourage the growth of some cancers.

17 Feb 2023

DZNE scientists discover major role of centrosome in neuronal migration

Researchers from the DZNE have solved an important puzzle in neurobiology: the wiring and the movement of nerve cells are interwoven, but separately controlled.

16 Feb 2023

WashU researcher receives NIH grant to study a poorly understood protein linked to ALS

The relentless neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) eventually shuts down the entire body, but the devastation starts at a molecular level.

14 Feb 2023

Marine plankton samples can help understand the link between ocean pollution and chronic illnesses

Using samples from an almost century-old, ongoing survey of marine plankton, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine suggest that rising levels of manmade chemicals found in parts of the world's oceans might be used to monitor the impact of human activity on ecosystem health, and may one day be used to study the connections between ocean pollution and land-based rates of childhood and adult chronic illnesses.

9 Jan 2023