 |
|
Imaging study links key genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease to myelin breakdown
January 03, 2006A new UCLA imaging study shows that age-related breakdown of myelin, the fatty insulation coating the brain's internal wiring, correlates strongly with the presence of a key genetic risk factor for Alzheimer disease.
The findings are detailed in the January edition of the peer-reviewed journal Archives of General Psychiatry and add to a growing body of evidence that myelin breakdown is a key contributor to the onset of Alzheimer disease later in life.
In addition, the study demonstrates how genetic testing coupled with non-invasive evaluation of myelin breakdown through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may prove useful in assessing treatments for preventing the disease.
"Myelination, a process uniquely built up in humans, arguably is the most important and most vulnerable process of brain development as we mature and age. These new findings offer, for the first time, compelling genetic evidence that myelin breakdown underlies both the advanced age and the principal genetic risks for Alzheimer disease," said Dr. George Bartzokis, professor of neurology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine.
"The human brain functions as a high-speed Internet system," said Bartzokis, director of the UCLA Memory Disorders and Alzheimer Disease Clinic and Clinical Core director of the UCLA Alzheimer Disease Research Center. "The quality of the brain's connections is key to its speed, bandwidth, fidelity and overall on-line capability."
Myelin is a sheet of lipid, or fat, with very high cholesterol content - the highest of any brain tissue. The high cholesterol content allows myelin to wrap tightly around axons, speeding messages through the brain by insulating these neural "wire" connections.
As the brain continues to develop in adulthood and as myelin is produced in greater and greater quantities, cholesterol levels in the brain increase and eventually promote the production of a toxic protein that attacks the brain. The protein attacks myelin, disrupts message transfer through the axons and eventually can lead to the brain/mind-destroying plaques and tangles visible years later in the cortex of Alzheimer patients.
The Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype is the second most influential Alzheimer risk factor, after only advanced age. The study used MRI to assess myelin breakdown in 104 healthy individuals between ages 55 and 75 and determine whether the shift in the age at onset of Alzheimer disease caused by the ApoE genotype is associated with age-related myelin breakdown.
The results show that in later-myelinating regions of the brain, the severity and rate of myelin breakdown in healthy older individuals is associated with ApoE status. Thus both age, the most important risk factor for Alzheimer disease, and ApoE status, the second-most important risk factor, seem to act through the process of myelin breakdown.
University of California-Los Angeles
"Myelination, a process uniquely built up in humans, arguably is the most important and most vulnerable process of brain development as we mature and age. These new findings offer, for the first time, compelling genetic evidence that myelin breakdown underlies both the advanced age and the principal genetic risks for Alzheimer disease," said Dr. George Bartzokis, professor of neurology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine.
"The human brain functions as a high-speed Internet system," said Bartzokis, director of the UCLA Memory Disorders and Alzheimer Disease Clinic and Clinical Core director of the UCLA Alzheimer Disease Research Center. "The quality of the brain's connections is key to its speed, bandwidth, fidelity and overall on-line capability."
Myelin is a sheet of lipid, or fat, with very high cholesterol content - the highest of any brain tissue. The high cholesterol content allows myelin to wrap tightly around axons, speeding messages through the brain by insulating these neural "wire" connections.
As the brain continues to develop in adulthood and as myelin is produced in greater and greater quantities, cholesterol levels in the brain increase and eventually promote the production of a toxic protein that attacks the brain. The protein attacks myelin, disrupts message transfer through the axons and eventually can lead to the brain/mind-destroying plaques and tangles visible years later in the cortex of Alzheimer patients.
The Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype is the second most influential Alzheimer risk factor, after only advanced age. The study used MRI to assess myelin breakdown in 104 healthy individuals between ages 55 and 75 and determine whether the shift in the age at onset of Alzheimer disease caused by the ApoE genotype is associated with age-related myelin breakdown.
The results show that in later-myelinating regions of the brain, the severity and rate of myelin breakdown in healthy older individuals is associated with ApoE status. Thus both age, the most important risk factor for Alzheimer disease, and ApoE status, the second-most important risk factor, seem to act through the process of myelin breakdown.
University of California-Los Angeles
Alzheimer Disease Current Events and Alzheimer Disease News RSSDelirium in hospitalized adults: Situation critical, no relief available
Every year as many as seven million adults in the United States experience delirium during hospitalization.
New data demonstrate potential for early detection of Alzheimer's disease
Data published in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease demonstrated that minimally-invasive biospectroscopy was able to identify changes in oxidative stress (OS) levels in blood plasma, which may prove to be a useful biomarker in the early detection of Alzheimer's disease.
Another McGill/JGH breakthrough opens door to early Alzheimer's diagnosis
A new diagnostic technique which may greatly simplify the detection of Alzheimer's disease has been discovered by researchers at McGill University and the affiliated Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital (JGH).
Measuring brain atrophy in patients with mild cognitive impairment
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown that a fully automated procedure called Volumetric MRI - which measures the "memory centers" of the brain and compares them to expected size - is effective in predicting the progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease.
Commonly used medications may produce cognitive impairment in older adults
Many drugs commonly prescribed to older adults for a variety of common medical conditions including allergies, hypertension, asthma, and cardiovascular disease appear to negatively affect the aging brain causing immediate but possibly reversible cognitive impairment, including delirium, in older adults.
Commonly used ulcer drugs may offer treatment potential in Alzheimer's disease
In a new study, published in the May issue of Elsevier's Experimental Neurology, scientists at the University of British Columbia have discovered that drugs commonly used to treat ulcers have significant neuroprotective properties, which appear to be enhanced when used in combination with ibuprofen, a widely used anti-inflammatory drug.
New test for mysterious metabolic diseases developed at Stanford/Packard
Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine have devised a much-needed way to monitor and find treatments for a mysterious and devastating group of metabolic diseases that arise from mutations in cells' fuel-burning mechanism.
Recalibrating 'fight or flight'
A Canadian/U.S. research team has reported a novel approach to stimulating recovery from chronic stress disorders. Details of the therapeutic model, which exploits the natural dynamics of the body's "fight or flight" system, are published January 23 in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology
Vitamin B does not slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer's
A clinical trial led by Paul S. Aisen, M.D., professor of neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, showed that high-dose vitamin B supplements did not slow the rate of cognitive decline in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease.
Protecting patient privacy the new fashioned way
Protecting patient privacy has been recognized as the duty of health-care providers for about as long as doctors have seen patients. In 1996 that duty became a legal obligation when Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
More Alzheimer Disease Current Events and Alzheimer Disease News Articles
 |
A Caregiver's Guide to Alzheimer's Disease: 300 Tips for Making Life Easier by Patricia R. Callone (Editor) Written for patients, their families, and caregivers, the practical information here will help readers understand what is physically happening to the brain so they can empower their own special skills and talents throughout the disease process. The book is divided into three sections that correspond to the progression of Alzheimer’s, and the unique challenges encountered at each stage. *Section A: The four stages of Alzheimer's with hundreds of practical tips for coping at each level *Section B: Q&A for caregivers, including legal and financial issues, medication, helping children understand, handling the holidays and more. *Section C: Resources and websites. This is an essential book for all those who want to focus on the capabilities that... |
 |
Learning to Speak Alzheimer's: A Groundbreaking Approach for Everyone Dealing with the Disease by Joanne Koenig Coste (Author), Robert Butler (Foreword) More than four million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s, and as many as twenty million have close relatives or friends with the disease. Revolutionizing the way we perceive and live with Alzheimer’s, Joanne Koenig Coste offers a practical approach to the emotional well-being of both patients and caregivers that emphasizes relating to patients in their own reality. Her accessible and comprehensive method, which she calls habilitation, works to enhance communication between carepartners and patients and has proven successful with thousands of people living with dementia. Learning to Speak Alzheimer’s also offers hundreds of practical tips, including how to · cope with the diagnosis and adjust to the disease’s progression · help the patient talk about the illness · face the... |
 |
Alzheimer's Disease: Facing the Facts Starring: n/a Directed By: n/a Studio: Wgbh Wholesale Release Date: 03/17/2009 Run time: 56 minutes |
 |
My Journey into Alzheimer's Disease by Robert Davis (Author) A book of encouragement of how one man of faith faced the oncoming darkness of Alzheimer's disease. In a powerful story of courage and faith, Davis shows how God gives strength and grace. |
|
Journal of Alzheimers Disease by Ios Press | |
 |
The Alzheimer's Action Plan: What You Need to Know--and What You Can Do--about Memory Problems, from Prevention to Early Intervention and Care by P. Murali Doraiswamy M.D. (Author), Lisa P. Gwyther M.S.W. (Author), Tina Adler (Author) What would you do if your mother was having memory problems? |
 |
FlameEz-Memory, 60 Capsules/Bottle by FlameEz Memory loss is caused by a condition in which cells of the brain are damaged or lost. Dementia and Alzheimer's disease are the common disorders that cause memory loss. Studies have shown that neuron damage begins long before an individual experiences any symptoms and the symptoms are only recognized when many cells have died and the brains can no longer function properly. Unlike many cells in the rest of the body, neurons are not readily regenerated. For this reason, memory loss is a progressive condition that only gets worse, there is no coming back from it. Advanced science has shown critical role of inflammation in Alzheimer's and neurodegenerative diseases. When the brain is injured or infected, cells in the brain called microglia produce inflammatory cytokines. Normally, this... |
![Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4166K52P7CL._SL160_.jpg) |
Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias [VHS] Directed By: Mark Julian Campbell |
 |
Caring for the Caregiver -- A Guide to Living with Alzheimer's Disease 171 pages |
![Trouble in Mind: Alzheimer's Disease [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41VJXB4JBHL._SL160_.jpg) |
Trouble in Mind: Alzheimer's Disease [VHS] Starring: Kate Jackson |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |