[a tearjerker] "Are you a caretaker for someone, perhaps with Alzheimer's? Consider this
story. A nurse writes, 'It was a busy morning,....."

Safety of External Defibrillators Examined: "More than one in five external defibrillators, which are often placed in public places to revive heart attack victims in emergencies, were recalled because of potential malfunctions, new research shows.

The data, based on 10 years of U.S. Food and Drug Administration records, provide some of the first evidence on the safety and reliability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). The findings were presented Thursday at the Heart Rhythm Society's annual meeting in Boston....."

The Aging Population and Health Care Needs: "The number of older people in the U.S. is rising dramatically. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the number of Americans 65 and older tripled over the last 100 years, from 3.1 million in 1900 to 35 million in 2000. The 65-plus group now makes up about 12 percent of the U.S. population. As more baby-boomers age, those numbers will continue to grow. By 2020, researchers estimate 54.6 million Americans will be 65 and older......"

"Having two strokes more than doubles a person's risk of dying in the next two years, a University of Michigan study finds [United Press International] :
Those who live through a stroke should get special attention from their physicians and other health professionals to reduce their risk of having another one, because of their extra risk of suffering another stroke, according to the study published in the journal Annals of Neurology.....

Nanogen Earns Patents for Use of Biomarkers Related to Diabetes and Alzheimers Disease

Researchers Restore Memory Lost in Mice With Alzheimer's
Increasing levels of a key housekeeping enzyme in the brains of mice with a rodent form of Alzheimer's disease successfully restored memory and nerve cell function, according to a new study.

Although only demonstrated in an animal model, the work could point to a promising strategy for battling the debilitating disease and perhaps even reversing its effects in humans.

Columbia University researchers focused on newly discovered aspects of an enzyme called ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase (Uch-L1). It is part of a network that controls a memory molecule that is inhibited by amyloid proteins.

Ubiquitin is a "tag" that marks proteins for destruction by the cellular "garbage disposal" system known as the proteasome. Uch-L1 serves as a gatekeeper to this system by removing the tag to allow the breakdown of protein to start.

"By injecting what is essentially a Uch-L1 drug to raise its levels in the brain, we were able to restore a great deal of brain activity in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's," said Dr. Michael Shelanski, co-author of the study and chairman of the pathology department at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons.

"While amyloid beta is certainly a key player in Alzheimer's disease, and efforts to reduce it remain a worthy goal, our results show that even in the presence of the plaque, damage to memory can be reversed."

The researchers tested the mice's memory by putting them in a cage where they got a mild shock when they touched part of the floor. Mice with normal memories remained still the second time they were placed in the cage, because they recognized the spot and remembered what happened before. Mice with brain changes similar to Alzheimer's effects didn't remember and continued to move around. But after those animals were treated with the enzyme, they acted like normal mice again.

In another test, the scientists treated brain slices with a chemical that blocked the enzyme's function. That brain tissue proved less likely to form and strengthen nerve connections that are the basis of learning and memory. But when the tissue was treated to restore Uch-L1 levels, the deficits in nerve transmission were corrected.

"Because the amyloid beta proteins that cause Alzheimer's may play a normal, important physiological role in the body, we can't destroy them as a therapy," explained Dr. Ottavio Arancio, an assistant professor of pathology at Columbia and co-author of the report.

"What makes this newly discovered enzyme exciting as a potentially effective therapy is that it restores memory without destroying amyloid beta proteins."

Risk of Recurrent Stroke High in Mexican-Americans :
"Mexican Americans have an almost 60% higher risk of a second stroke than non-Hispanic white patients, although ethnicity was not linked to a high risk of subsequent all-cause death in both groups, according to researchers here........."

Cardiovascular Safety Warning Added for Stimulants for ADHD : "With an eye on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the FDA has ordered blanket changes for labels of all stimulants, including Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine sulfate) and Ritalin (methylphenidate).

The new language warned that sudden death 'has been reported in association with CNS stimulant treatment at usual doses in children and adolescents with structural cardiac abnormalities or other serious heart problem.'

Additionally, the labels now warn that although 'some serious heart problems alone carry an increased risk of sudden death, stimulant products generally should not be used in children or adolescents with known serious structural cardiac abnormalities, cardiomyopathy, serious heart rhythm abnormalities, or other serious cardiac problems that may place them at an increased vulnerability to the sympathomimetic effects of a stimulant drug......'"

Researchers Identify New Protein Biomarker Candidates That May Lead to Better Diagnosis and Treatment for Age-Related Diseases

Novartis seeks to patch up Alzheimer%u2019s drug delivery: "Patients suffering from Alzheimers disease are one step closer to receiving Novartiss Exelon as a transdermal patch instead of a capsule following an international clinical study which showed that the new delivery method reduces side effects without compromising on efficacy.

The six-month trial of 1,195 patients in 21 countries demonstrated that the once-daily Exelon patch provided benefits across a range of symptoms and that the target dose was well tolerated, with over 70 per cent of caregivers preferring patches to capsules due to better compliance and less interference with daily lives....."

Stroke risk spikes twice daily:
"The day contains two 'time zones,' one in the morning and one in the evening, when the risk of stroke is greatest, researchers have found.

The Japanese scientists, who published their findings in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, examined 12,957 stroke cases and found that while the risk of stroke was lowest during sleep, it peaked between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., and again between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m............"

FDA Approves New Indication For Plavix (clopidogrel Bisulfate) Offering New Option For Patients With Most Severe Type Of Heart Attack:
"Sanofi-aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for the antiplatelet agent PLAVIX(clopidogrel bisulfate) to reduce the rate of death from any cause and the rate of a combined endpoint of re-infarction, stroke or death in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). STEMI is a severe acute heart attack in which a coronary artery is generally blocked completely. These blockages are caused by clot formation in the arteries, a life-threatening complication of an underlying disease known as atherothrombosis. However, this benefit is not known to pertain to patients who receive primary angioplasty.

'Clopidogrel taken with aspirin has previously been shown to reduce the risk of death, recurrent heart attacks or stroke in patients with unstable angina or less severe heart attacks,' said Dr. Marc Sabatine, TIMI Study Group, Brigham and Women's Hospital. 'Now, based on the positive results of two clinical trials, COMMIT and CLARITY-TIMI 28, clopidogrel has been approved by the FDA for use with aspirin in patients with the most severe types of heart attacks, thereby extending the benefit of clopidogrel to patients across the spectrum of acute coronary syndromes.' ...."

"Thanks for the memories:Support for Alzheimer's research is local woman's way of remembering parents....For seven years Connie Clark watched as Alzheimer's disease took the memory and the life of her father.

For seven years she saw the disease slowly rob the loving and kind pharmacist, who once remembered every one of his customer's names, of his memories, his way of life and his ability to even function.

"That's the tragedy of the disease. Families grieve and grieve as they watch them progress," Clark said. "I think that is the really sad part of this is, where did they go?"......"

"When small tasks turn into huge obstacles
:
" Memory impairment can cause stress on patient, caregiver......"

Solving Alzheimers riddle :
"Forget omega-3 fatty-acid supplements, bridge, and crossword puzzles. If you really want to prevent memory loss and Alzheimer% disease, do everything possible to avoid a stroke. And the most effective way to do that, says Dr. Howard Feldman, is through controlling blood pressure....."