Gene therapy trial proves successful:
"Researchers say they see promising results from the first gene therapy trialfor Alzheimer's disease. And one of the trial's patients, Lola Crosswhite,believes the experimental treatment slowed down her disease for two years.But now her memory loss is progressing again."

Being 40 and overweight raises Alzheimer's risk
: "High levels of body fat increases chance of developing disease, study finds"

For patients at high risk of Alzheimer's disease, taking a combination of vitamins E and C plus ibuprofen significantly reduces their risk, results of a longitudinal study suggest.
: "Specifically, the combination seems to benefit people who carry a variant of the gene for apolipoprotein, APOE-4, which is known to put them at high risk for developing Alzheimer's disease.'We found that for people at low risk, taking vitamin C and E alone is sufficient to further reduce their risk,' Dr. Majid Fotuhi told Reuters Health. 'But for those with (APOE-4), the combination exerts a synergistic benefit.'Fotuhi, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and his associates followed nearly 5000 elderly residents of Cache County in Utah for 8 years, taking into account their regular consumption of vitamins C and E, and ibuprofen"

Food for thought: Can diet protect memory? - Maintaining Your Memory - MSNBC.com:
"As concern over Alzheimer%u2019s disease grows, more Americans are turning to expensive and potentially unsafe supplements that claim to enhance memory. But prevention of age-related memory loss may be no further away than your refrigerator, and no more expensive than a bag of groceries, experts say"

Dealing with dementia
ID bracelets aim to ensure 'Safe Return' of loved ones
Marsha Sills :
"The bracelet on Cindy Cairns' arm is hard to take off. It was made that way for a reason.The silver bracelet is imprinted with the words: 'Safe Return' and 'Alzheimer's Association.' The back of the bracelet identifies her as a caregiver and number to call if anything should happen to her while she's with her mother-in-law, 93, who has Alzheimer's. Her mother-in-law has a matching bracelet identifying her as someone with a memory disorder."

A new study finds people who are overweight in there 40's have a greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease later in life

Eating Like Birds May Retard Aging Signs - CME Teaching Brief :
"People who pinch their calories like pennies may be able to prolong their lives by reducing at least some of the risk factors associated with aging.

That's the conclusion of researchers in the CALEIRE trial, who found that overweight men and women who ate like birds on a calorie-restricted diet for six months had significant declines in fasting insulin levels and in body temperature, indicating a drop in metabolic rate that could translate into longer lives......"

Biofeedback best for common type of constipation:
"Study findings indicate that biofeedback is far more effective than laxatives in relieving constipation caused by inappropriate contraction or inability to relax the pelvic floor muscles during defecation -- what doctors call 'pelvic floor dyssynergia.''Biofeedback should become the treatment of choice for this common and easily diagnosed type of constipation,' the investigators conclude."

Deadly interplay: Heart disease, depression
: "Heart disease and depression seem to work together to make things worse for people who have them.Doctors have found that not only does heart disease lead to depression, but that depression makes heart disease worse.According to the Mayo Clinic's Women's HealthSource, about one in three people who survive a heart attack experience major depression.


"

Police get tips on Alzheimer's: Safe Return could save lives of wandering sufferers

Tips for Living With Reduced Memory

"Pharmaceuticals announced today that PRX-03140, its highly selective, proprietary serotonin 4 (5-HT4) receptor agonist, was highlighted in R&D Directions' newest annual listing of '100 Great Investigational Drugs.'":

"Breaking News: The Seven Major Markets for Alzheimer's Disease is Expected to Be Worth $7.8 Billion by the Year 2010"
"Over 200 different compounds are at various stages of development for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. These are classified and described. There are non-pharmacological approaches such as vagal nerve stimulation and cerebrospinal fluid shunting, which are in clinical trials. Over 104 clinical trials are listed, of which 77 are still in progress and 27 were discontinued for various reasons.
Alzheimer's disease market in the seven major markets is worth $6.1 billion in the year 2005 and will increase to $ 7.8 billion by the year 2010....."

Statin Power

Two New Drugs for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease are Expected to Enter the Market by 2008 - Forbes.com
: "Currently, the most promising diagnostic agent for Alzheimer's
disease (AD) is Pittsburgh Compound B, an A(beta)-amyloid imaging
agent in development by GE Healthcare. We expect this agent to reach
the market by 2011 and to increase the number of diagnosed and
drug-treated patients by 2013.

- Several drugs are in development for treatment of AD; we expect
two of these to reach the market by 2008. To be most effective, these
treatments must be initiated in patients as soon as possible.

- Besides elucidating the progression of AD, a biomarker for AD
would increase drug-treatment rates and therefore increase revenues
for drug companies with marketed AD therapies. The increase in
drug-treatment rates would result from earlier diagnosis of more
patients and, consequently, longer durations of disease treatment.
However, if no biomarker becomes available during our study period, we
estimate that AD drugs will not attain their full market potential.

- The potential for sales of an AD diagnostic agent could be
significant, due to the increasing prevalence of the disease and the
potential for a diagnostic agent to command better pricing than a
traditional diagnostic, given the large unmet need.

- A diagnostic agent approved by the FDA as an efficacy end point
could dramatically grow the market potential for a disease-modifying
drug by increasing diagnosis rates, drug-treatment rates, and duration
of therapy. A therapeutic agent that demonstrated disease modification
based on a biomarker could command a significant premium.

- An AD biomarker will greatly reduce costs associated with drug
development by enabling selection of a more homogeneous patient
population for smaller, more cost-effective clinical trials. A
biomarker will also accelerate drug development by facilitating
decisions as to whether to pursue or abandon agents in the early
stages of clinical development."

'My Father's War'
"Steve Franco directs a cast of adults and High School students during a rehearsal of his play, 'My Father's War.' Franco's father, Paul, a retired Army master sergeant, is hospitalized with Alzheimers at the VA Medical Center"

Excess Insulin May Lead to Alzheimer's - TIME.com :
"A new study, published in the online version of the journal Archives of Neurology, may offer important clues on the workings of Alzheimer's. Scientists already know that excess insulin in the bloodstream can increase inflammation in the body, and they've also long suspected that inflammation may have some relation to Alzheimer's. So researchers at the University of Washington deliberately raised blood insulin in 16 healthy adults between 55 and 81 years old, and then examined their blood and cerebrospinal fluid. Sure enough, they found not only increased levels of chemicals that mark inflammation, but also increased beta-amyloid protein, typically found in great excess in the brains of Alzheimer's patients."

Quilting Project Sews Together Memories - they used teamwork and stitches to create something capable of retaining their memorie

"Scientists have turned to the brightest brains (the high-IQ society Mensa) in a bid to understand the link between intelligence and dementia.":
A team of researchers from The University of Manchester will be asking members of the high-IQ society Mensa for DNA samples in what will be the world's most sophisticated study of brainpower. The research will allow the team to find genes associated with intelligence and examine how they interact with each other."

New Research Shows That Celebrex Helps Stop Growth of Pre-Cancerous Colorectal Polyps in Patients at High Risk for Colon Cancer