The short answer: No.

No less impressive an organization than the Mayo Clinic thought this an important enough topic to report on. The clinic’s website has a “Connect with an Expert” section, and blogger Angela Lunde used it to address the flu shot topic.

Lunde checked with Dr. Brad Boeve in the Department of Behavioral Neurology. Boeve said there is no evidence that vaccines for flu contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. As has been reported, scientists have found a link between the development of amyloid protein and Alzheimer’s, and there is no connection between a flu vaccine and amyloids. Some books have suggested such a relationship, Lunde wrote.

According to the Mayo Clinic web site, the flu is deadly in itself, and people should not be concerned about getting a flu shot if the reason they are avoiding it is fear of the shot contributing to Alzheimer’s disease.

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The national organization is committed to a vision of “a world without Alzheimer’s,” and to that end, the group has created a website with a letter that can be electronically “signed” by those supporting the initiative.

The letter calls on Obama to lead efforts to eradicate Alzheimer’s disease. Its introduction will educate the new president on Alzheimer’s basic such as:

• A new case of Alzheimer’s develops ever 71 seconds in America.
• Alzheimer’s will affect one in eight members of the Baby Boom generation.
• Alzheimer’s is deadly to those who have it and takes away memories and the opportunity to live independently.
• The disease is also devastating to family members.
• Alzheimer’s results in lost productivity that costs our nation billions of dollars including a strain on the healthcare system.

The association’s letter calls on Obama to make his plans clearly known regarding Alzheimer’s disease and asks that any plans include the following:

• More federal funding now
• Affordable care for Alzheimer’s sufferers who are younger than 65
• Adapting Medicare to meet the needs of Alzheimer’s patients
• Support and services for both Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers.

Bloggers are already starting to get the word out about the letter and encourage people to take part.

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Previous research with mice has shown that medications developed with amyloid beta protein can spur the body to produce an antibody labeled “A?” that slows progression of the disease and might even improve cognition. Amyloid beta is thought to play a major role in contributing to Alzheimer’s disease. The antibody appears to break down the amyloid plaques linked to Alzheimer’s.

There also have been tests on humans, but for safety reasons, those had to be stopped. Researchers believe a way to make the medication safer for humans would be to use a vaccine that is close to the human protein but not the same, much the way smallpox is battled with a cowpox virus.

Robert Friedland and his co-workers developed a protein that is found in potato virus. Then they tested the vaccine on mice with additional shots for four months. The results of the tests, which were published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, showed that the mice began developing antibodies. The mice also developed the antibody called “A?” after receiving shots with vaccine from potato leaf versus vaccine from purified sources.

Friedland pointed out that potato virus is common and offers no humans risk.

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The Wisconsin Comprehensive Memory Program has authorized $50,000 for a study titled “Measuring Medication Adherence and Barriers to Medical Care in Persons with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders.” The lead researcher on the grant will be Joshua M. Thorpe. He works at the Social and Administrative Sciences Division of the UW-Madison Pharmacy School, where he is an assistant professor.

The money is considered a “pilot grant,” to start the research, which is expected to take two years. Thorpe will be working with Betty Chewning, professor in Social and Administrative Sciences, and Carolyn Thorpe, research scientist in the Department of Population Health Sciences.

UW-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health works with the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center of Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in to form the Wisconsin Comprehensive Memory Program. The aim of the program is to bring together academic, clinical and research experts from the organizations under one roof.

Photo: Joshua Thorpe, UW-Madison

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The research could result in new treatments for a variety of debilitating illness and injuries including Alzheimer’s disease. The Foundation’s goal with the gift is to speed the pace of development of groundbreaking applications of stem cell research.

It is the third major gift in this area of research by the Foundation, which was created by Eli Broad after having earned his money through insurance and construction activities. The Foundation earlier gave UCLA $20 million and the University of Southern California $30 million for stem cell research.

Total cost of the new lab in San Francisco facility is projected at $123 million. It was at UC-San Francisco in 1981 that biologist Gail Martin helped identify embryonic stem cells in mice.

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Pratchett is the creator of the Discworld series with more than 60 million books in print which have been translated into more than three dozen languages. He had received the Order of the British Empire in 1998.

It was just last year that Pratchett went public with the fact that he was seeing signs in himself of Alzheimer’s in its early stages. He promised to continue writing, but he has done more than that.

In addition to raising public awareness of the disease, Pratchett has spoken to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at his Downing Street home to request more funding for research into the effects of Alzheimer’s, such as dementia. He also donated more than $700,000 to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust. Finally, he has become an official celebrity patron of the trust.

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Eef Hogervorst, a professor at Loughborough University, recently headed a study on the issue that will be published in Dementias and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders in January. Funding for the study came from the Alzheimer’s Research Trust in the U.K. and allowed researchers to work with colleagues in Indonesia.

Scientists studied the eating habits of 719 advanced-age citizens of Java living in both rural and city setting. The results indicated that for those 68 years old and older, deterioration of memory is linked to eating high tofu in high quantities.

Hogervorst pointed out that products made with soy are micronutrient-rich, but that the effects of these micronutrients – commonly called phytoestrogens – are not clear.

Oddly, better memory seemed linked with high consumption of a product made from fermented soy products called tempe. Hogervorst postulated that the positive side effects of tempe could be tied to the fact that the product has a high level of folate, known to lessen the risk of dementia.

Hogervorst advocates additional research to better understand how the product or a combination of it with other products can reduce the effects of memory loss in the elderly.

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Dr. Richard Hodes, who is the director of the National Institute on Aging, said that scientists have taken great strides in their knowledge of how Alzheimer’s disease works, adding that they are working diligently toward treatments for it. Despite that desire to find answers, however, he said their study showed no preventive effect by the ginkgo supplement on Alzheimer’s disease.

The study and researchers were backed financially by five organizations from the National Institutes of Health, including: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine; National Institute on Aging; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the Office of Dietary Supplements.

The study was titled the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory (GEM) study, and with eight years of work at four sites, it was the largest clinical test of the effects of ginkgo against dementia.

In the study, 3,069 participants were included. Participants had to be 75 or older and have normal cognition or only mild impairment. No patients with dementia were included in the study. After screening, two groups were randomly created with one receiving a ginkgo extract and the other a placebo twice daily.

Evaluation of the results of up to seven years of testing showed no difference in the number from each group who developed more serious cognitive impairment.

According to Dr. Stephen DeKosky, the lead researcher for GEM study, the results confirmed the value of trials and tests such as those conducted. But, he added, older patients who are using dietary supplements like ginkgo and hoping they will prevent dementia should get with their health care providers to look for the best plan of treatment.

Image: Stanford University

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“This finding is significant because it suggests that improving blood flow to the brain might be an effective therapeutic approach to prevent or treat Alzheimer’s,” said the study’s primary author, Robert Vassar, a professor of cell and molecular biology at Northwestern’s Feinberg School School of Medicine.

The study shows that a brain not getting enough sugar glucose launches a process ultimately producing sticky clumps of protein thought to be related to causing Alzheimer’s. This glucose lack can happen in those suffering from cardiovascular disease that restricts arterial blood flow to the brain.

Specifically, a deficient supply of energy to the brain alters a protein, called eIF2alpha, and that in turn boosts production of an enzyme that “flips a switch” starting production of the sticky clumps, Vassar said. His research was conducted on human and mice brains and was published in the journal Neuron.

The good news is relatively simple preventive measures can improve blood flow to the brain. The measures include:

• getting exercise
• reducing cholesterol
• managing hypertension.

“If people start early enough, maybe they can dodge the bullet,” Vassar said, adding that for those already showing symptoms of the reduced blood flow, vasodilators, which increase it, could boost oxygen and glucose delivery to the brain.

It was Vassar who 10 years ago found the enzyme that triggers formation of the sticky clumps of protein outside neurons that disrupt the neuron’s message-transmitting ability. What causes the dangerous levels of the protein has not been known. This study points to energy deprivation as a possible trigger.

Funding Vassar’s research were the National Institute on Aging, the MetLife Foundation and Northwestern University.

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“Doctors should pay close attention when following these patients, as their observations could help define the precursors of diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Lewy body dementia, or multiple system atrophy,” said Dr. Jacques Montplaisir of the University of Montreal and Montreal’s Sacre-Cour Hospital, who was the lead researcher on the study.

Montplaisir worked with Dr. Rondald Postuma from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center.

While strides are being made in diagnosing such ailments before their advanced stages, there is still insufficient data concerning early warning signs, the study’s proponents said. The study showed that patients included in the research who had REM, or Rapid Eye Movement, sleep disorders had a 52.4 percent chance of developing a neurodegenerative disease within 12 years.

Their findings have been published in the Neurology, which is the official publication of the American Academy of Neurology.

Other results of the study include that patients with REM sleep disorder have a 17.7 percent chance of developing a neurodegenerative disease within five years of diagnosis and a 40.6 per cent in 10 years.

“These results establish a clear link and indicate that these sleep disorders could be a predictor of neurodegenerative disease,” Postuma said.

The study included 93 subjects. And while treatments exist for REM sleep disorders, those medications don’t delay onset of neurodegenerative disease, the study said.

Image: Memorial Regional South Hospital

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“These findings show that counseling and support of family members can be of significant benefit to Alzheimer’s caregivers even when the patients are receiving medications for the disease,” said Dr. Mary Mittelman. “Caregivers who are less depressed are better able to take care of their ill family members. Social support and counseling for family members of people with Alzheimer’s disease should be considered essential components of optimal comprehensive care.”

Mittelman is the director of the Psychosocial Research and Support Program at the New York University School of Medicine Silberstein Institute and is on the editorial advisory board for the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation.

The research into this issue concerned 158 older men and women providing home care for a spouse suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Each Alzheimer’s patient in the study was taking donepezil, which also is known as Aricept, and is used to treat the disease’s.

Scientists from institutions in three nations participated in the study, including: NYU Medical Center, the U.K.’s University of Manchester, and the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre at the University of New South Wales’s School of Psychiatry in Sydney, Australia. Under conditions of the study caregivers were split into two groups with one group receiving normal supportive care and education and the other getting enhanced counseling and support services that had been shown to be beneficial.

Those receiving the enhanced support program felt less isolated and depressed. The study could have far-reaching effects as almost 10 million people in the U.S. alone provide care for an Alzheimer’s disease patient. Estimates worldwide are that caregivers number 25 million.

The enhanced support developed at NYU covered:

• Caregiver education about Alzheimer’s effects on the patient and strategies for managing care and responding to symptoms.
• Continued support for the caregiver and family members including counseling and encouragement.
• Working to reduce family conflicts

Resutls of the study were published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

“As we search for a cure or a way of preventing Alzheimer’s disease, we cannot forget about the millions of family members who are caring for relatives who are currently ill,” Mittelman said.

Image: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

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The Picower Foundation announced it would shut down after almost 20 years because of losses it sustained when a prominent New York money manager’s fund, in which the foundation had invested, collapsed. The foundation provided $50 million in initial funding for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory.

“It’s obviously terrible news,” an MIT official said. “The Picowers have made an enormous contribution to neuroscience. Everyone here was shocked and very much saddened.”

As recent as last May, the foundation gave the Picower Institute $4 million, which created the Picower Institute Innovation Fund. The target of the fund was to provide support for cutting-edge research by neurologists on the Picower Institute faculty.

For example, the research included the use of lasers on brain cells to restore memories.

But this week, the foundation announced it would shut down because of losses it sustained, which it said were associated with New York money manager Bernard Madoff’s investment fund.

While the initial $50 million grant was fully funded, the MIT official had no comment on the status of other grants from the foundation to the school.

Founded in 2002 to study neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s, the institute was initially called the Picower Center for Learning and Memory. It was renamed in 2005. At the time, the $50 million represented the school’s largest single gift from any foundation.

Image: MIT

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Researchers published the results of a study in Nature Cell Biology. They believe it documents a link between reduction in blood flow and the amyloid beta buildup, which were previously unknown to be related.

“This is quite unexpected,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Berislav Zlokovic. “On the other hand, both of these processes are mediated by the smooth muscle cells along blood vessel walls, and we know that those are seriously compromised in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, so perhaps we shouldn’t be completely surprised.”

The new findings are the result of a seven-year collaboration between two laboratories. Heading up the University of Rochester’s Center for Neurodegenerative and Vascular Brain Disorders, Zlokovic focused on research investigating possible root causes of Alzheimer’s at the molecular level. After noting a similarity in gene research by cardiovascular scientists and those studying Alzheimer’s patients, Zlokovic teamed with Dr. Joseph Miano of Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute, who co-authored this study with him.

In Alzheimer’s patients, the blood system that normally easily flushes excess amyloids doesn’t do the job, allowing a harmful buildup of the protein, damaging brain cells.

The study looked at two proteins that when working together activate genes that inhibit the removal of the built-up toxic protein.

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Mild impairment such as memory loss was once regarded as simply a sign of advancing age, however, now such signs are seen as a possible early warning of a more serious problems such as Alzheimer’s-related dementia.

“Some change in memory is normal as we grow older, but the warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease are more than simple lapses in memory,” according to the American Alzheimer’s Association.

For example:

• According to the Alzheimer’s Association, it’s normal for someone to forget a particular part of a memory of an occasion, but forgetting everything concerning an event is one indication.
• Anyone can forget where a car is parked in a crowded lot during the holidays. But watch for signs such as someone forgetting how to start their car or turn on devices in the car (radio, lights).
• Similarly, anyone can forget a name of someone they’ve met. Cause for concern is when someone forgets the meeting ever having taken place.
• Finally, forgetfully losing track of items such as car keys or glasses can happen to us all. What doesn’t happen to an unimpaired mind is to find the items in incorrect places such as the refridgerator of a cookie tin.

This is a sample of the signs available from the Alzheimer’s Association, for a complete list visit the organization’s web site.


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]]> http://www.alzdigest.com/alz_dementia/time-observe/feed/ 0 http://www.alzdigest.com/research/86-million-grant/ http://www.alzdigest.com/research/86-million-grant/#comments Mon, 22 Dec 2008 23:28:12 +0000 paul http://www.alznews.net/?p=149
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Starting in 2009, researchers will be able to access a giant “biobank” of health and environmental data to study contributing factors to a variety of current health concerns, including Alzheimer’s disease.
The data repository will be built and maintained by Kaiser Permanente using an $8.6 million grant from the Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

“The unequaled size and power of this biorepository will drive research that can dramatically improve the health and health care of millions of Americans,” according to Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the foundation. “We are proud to help establish this as a premier resource for the nation that can significantly advance medical knowledge and treatments.”

The Northern California Division of Research of Kaiser Permanete will use the grant to accumulate and store the first 200,000 DNA samples, using the samples to create a database of health and environmental information. The foundation and Kaiser Permanente hope to grow the database to 500,000 samples over the next three years. The goal is to create a sufficient statistical sample so that “even subtle effects of environmental and genetic factors in less common health conditions such as mental health disorders or autoimmune diseases” can be identified, according to a foundation press release.

The grant also is to be used to create and put in place policies and procedures allowing access to the to researchers worldwide.
Biobanks critics worry that public access to genetic information could result in discrimination. However, a new federal law prohibits such discrimination, the foundation said. Additionally, the foundation release said, “All biorepository data and DNA samples are de-identified and stored in secure locations with limited authorized access.”

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]]> http://www.alzdigest.com/research/86-million-grant/feed/ 0 http://www.alzdigest.com/research/timing-uncertain/ http://www.alzdigest.com/research/timing-uncertain/#comments Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:01:07 +0000 paul http://www.alznews.net/?p=132

Dr. Jordan Tang

It was nine years ago that Dr. Jordan Tang discovered the enzyme that causes the symptoms – such as memory loss – associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Today, just when that discovery will lead to a cure – or if it will lead to one – remains uncertain, Tang told The Oklahoman newspaper.

The true answer is nobody really knows,” the researcher, who is associated with the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, was quoted in the paper.

Tang estimated that the drug company eventually developing a cure could be looking at a windfall of $20 billion to $30 billion. But even if a possible effective treatment is discovered, there remains a long process of clearing it through the Food and Drug Administration.

That process could take up to three years, assuming initial tests prove to slow onset of the disease’s symptoms. But if a drug gets into testing, Tang told the paper that pressure from the senior community could expedite the process.

That’s what happened with HIV,” he was quoted as saying. “It was an accelerated process. It conceivably could happen.”

Another challenge in testing and proving the effectiveness of a cure is the length both of the testing process – typically 18 months – and the slow rate at which Alzheimer’s symptoms can reveal themselves. The challenge would be to document the progress of the effects of the disease, comparing subjects suffering from it with others who do not have it, over the year and a half time period. The catch being those suffering from Alzheimer’s might not evidence the symptoms during the test period at a rate sufficient to make the test meaningful.

The reality is this issue might require a three-year study versus and 18-month test, Tang said.

Tang told the paper he believes that an effective treatment will be found. Ironically, during his period of work on Alzheimer’s, two researchers on the team have had parents die while suffering from the disease.

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]]> http://www.alzdigest.com/research/timing-uncertain/feed/ 0 http://www.alzdigest.com/research/curry-prevention/ http://www.alzdigest.com/research/curry-prevention/#comments Sat, 20 Dec 2008 06:49:36 +0000 paul http://www.alznews.net/?p=99
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]]> Researchers at Britain’s University of Southampton are investigating a link between an ingredient in the spice curry and a low level of occurence of Alzheimer’s disease in certain Indian communiities.

The ingredient, curcumin, is found in turmeric, which gives curry its yellow color.

“Indian communities that regularly eat curcumin have a surprisingly low incidence of Alzheimer’s, but we do not know why,” said Amrit Mudher lead researcher on the project for the university. “Part of our research will investigate how curcumin may help protect the brain and prevent the disease.”

The goal of the research will be to see if scientists can head off some of the changes that occur in the brain and which are commonly associated with Alzheimer’s disease by using drugs with curcumin. The research will be conducted on fruit flies that have been geneticall altered to exhibit the brain changes seen in Alzheimer’s patients.

This won’t be the first time curcumin has been investigated for medicinal uses. It is already sold throughout the west as a dietary supplement. Additionally, scientists have researched it for possible effectiveness in preventing breast cancer from spreading to the lungs.

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]]> http://www.alzdigest.com/research/curry-prevention/feed/ 0 http://www.alzdigest.com/care/holiday-travel/ http://www.alzdigest.com/care/holiday-travel/#comments Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:31:57 +0000 paul http://www.alznews.net/?p=63
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]]> Alzdigest.com recently wrote of things to consider for the holidays with an Alzheimer’s patient in your home, but the season is also a big one for travel. Similarly, there are steps you can take – and pitfalls you can avoid – to make a road trip the best experience it can be.

Remember, just as at home, over-stimulation and new situations and people can be stressful for one experiencing Alzheimer’s-related dementia. As a result, take the time to carefully plan your trip with your loved one’s special needs in mind.
Here are a few points for consideration:

Keep it simple. Disorientation can be exacerbated by exhaustion. So don’t try to do more than one or two things a day.

Try to get ready for tomorrow tonight. Consider choosing and setting out the clothes both of you will need for the one or two events coming up, and that will give you needed extra time to get ready in the morning.

Bring along known, favorite possessions when going to a new place. This can be simple things such as a blanket or pillow.

If you’re in a new place, chances are good it won’t be secured as your home is. Check for latches.

As much as possible, stick to the schedule you have at home to create a sense of comforting continuity. This includes easy-to-plan activities such as meals and rest or sleep times.

Make sure your luggage has wheels, you’ll need the extra hand, and be certain you keep all vital documents and possessions for both of you.

If flying, advise the airline of your special needs. Their help will make the trip better for you and other passengers.

Finally, your trip can be a great experience and a needed change of pace, but you’ll be doing the work of two. Rest before you go and plan time in your travel schedule for rest to keep you fresh.

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]]> http://www.alzdigest.com/care/holiday-travel/feed/ 0 http://www.alzdigest.com/research/cognitively-normal/ http://www.alzdigest.com/research/cognitively-normal/#comments Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:24:03 +0000 paul http://www.alznews.net/?p=39
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]]> The build up of a certain plaque in the brain may provide an early indicator of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and give insight as to the causes of memory loss in elderly patients.

“Because of the promise of these therapies, we want to identify people who are at really high risk for the disease, but don’t have symptoms yet,” said William Jagust, a scientist at the University of California-Berkeley Lab’s Life Sciences Division. He was aided in the study by Berkley graduate student Elizabeth Mormino and other scientists. Their work has been published online in the journal
Brain

Their research revealed that the higher the levels of a type of plaque called beta-amyloid that is found in the brain, the more likely that brain is to have a smaller hippocampus. That part of brain is where new memories form. Additionally, a person in this condition will have a more difficult time remembering things connected to specific times and places. This is called “episodic memory,” and examples include recalling what a person had for lunch or where they put their sunglasses.

The presence of the beta-amyloid plaque doesn’t necessarily mean that person will become an Alzheimer’s patient. However, Jagust said when the plaque, episodic memory loss and a reduced hippocampus occur together, it should not be ignored.

“These changes in older people are not necessarily benign. When you start to cluster them together, it begins to sound like Alzheimer’s disease,” he said. “And this suggests that some of the changes we are detecting in normal older people may be indicative of the subsequent development of Alzheimer’s.”

The study was conducted on 20 elderly people who showed no indication of cognitive impairment, and the results conformed to other research on people already suffering from Alzheimer’s. The difference-maker in this project is that it was conducted on “cognitively normal” subjects.

“We wouldn’t say they have they have Alzheimer’s by any stretch of the imagination,” Jagust said. “But the fact that these things occur together makes us consider the possibility that this is a very early change in the brain that could be leading to Alzheimer’s disease.”


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]]> http://www.alzdigest.com/research/cognitively-normal/feed/ 0 http://www.alzdigest.com/research/maternal-history-predispose-you/ http://www.alzdigest.com/research/maternal-history-predispose-you/#comments Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:23:43 +0000 paul http://www.alznews.net/?p=21
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NYU Asst. Prof. Lisa Mosconi

If your mother suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, researches say a brain condition that contributed to it may predispose you as well.

In findings presented to the 2008 Alzheimer’s Association Disease Conference, New York University Research Assistant Professor Lisa Mosconi, said her team found a reduction in glucose brain metabolism in subjects of the study who had a maternal – but not a paternal – history of Alzheimer’s.

The results of the study also held true if the subject had no parental history with the disease.

“Our new study shows that subjects with a mother with Alzheimer’s show similarities with Alzheimer’s patients,” Mosconi said. “They have metabolic reductions in the brain regions . . . which worsen over time.”

Researchers tagged glucose in subjects of the study with a chemical that allowed them to trace it using a PET scan. There were 66 participants ranging in age from 52 to 58. Of the subjects, 20 had mothers with Alzheimer’s, 37 had no history and nine had paternal history.

The study followed an earlier, similar research project and adds two years of data. Mosconi said more research is needed.

The study’s primary contribution is that it sheds light on the role reduced brain metabolism might play in transmitting Alzheimer.

The study was conducted by New York University’s Langone Medical Center, Center for Brain Health.


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