ALZHEIMER'S GENE CHANGES BRAIN EARLY, STUDY FINDS

A gene known to raise the risk of Alzheimer's disease may alter brain activity throughout life, British Researchers reported recently.

They found that young adults with the so-called APOE4 gene type had distinct brain patterns and their finding might lead to a better test for Alzheimer's risk.

Even when they were not doing anything, people with the APOE4 gene had busier brains than people with other forms of the APOE gene, the Researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

When they did a Memory Task, the APOE4 carriers had more activity in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is involved in long-term memory and navigation and which is the first area known to be affected in Alzheimer's disease.

It could be that the brain just wears itself out in some people, said Dr. Christian Beckmann of Imperial College London, who worked on the study.

"We were surprised to see that even when the volunteers carrying APOE4 weren't being asked to do anything, you could see the memory part of the brain working harder than it was in the other volunteers," Beckmann said in a statement.

"Not all APOE4 carriers go on to develop Alzheimer's, but it would make sense if in some people, the memory part of the brain effectively becomes exhausted from overwork and this contributes to the disease."

The APOE4 gene variant is found in about a quarter of the population. Not everyone who has it develops Alzheimer's but those who have one copy have four times the normal risk and people with two copies have 10 times the risk.

"These are exciting first steps toward a tantalizing prospect: a simple test that will be able to distinguish who will go on to develop Alzheimer's," Dr. Clare Mackay of the University of Oxford, who led the study, said in a statement.

The Researchers used a type of real-time imaging called functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI to look at the brains of 36 volunteers aged 20 to 35, 18 who had at least one copy of APOE4.

None of the volunteers had any memory problems and the Researchers stressed the findings did not mean they were fated to develop Alzheimer's.

"We have shown that brain activity is different in people with this version of the gene decades before any memory problems might develop," Mackay said.

"We've also shown that this form of MRI, where people just lie in the scanner doing nothing, is sensitive enough to pick up these changes."

Dr. Peter Nestor of the University of Cambridge, a Neuroscientist who was not involved in the study, said more research is clearly needed.

"The findings of this study are of considerable interest but should not be over-interpreted to mean that Alzheimer's disease is already starting to develop in this young, healthy group of volunteers," Nestor said in a statement.

(Source: Reuters, 06 April 2009)

PROTEIN-FOLDING PROBLEM MAY HELP SPUR ALZHEIMER's

A dysfunction in protein folding contributes to nerve cell death in Alzheimer's disease, a finding that could help lead to new treatments, Dutch researchers report.

The presence of tangles of misfolded proteins is believed to contribute to Alzheimer's disease, the experts explained. A process known as the "unfolded protein response" typically protects cells from the toxic effects of accumulated misfolded proteins. But prolonged activation of the unfolded protein response such as that seen in Alzheimer's patients may result in cell death.

The researchers at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam believed that unfolded protein response contributed to brain damage through its effects on the accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau, a major component of tangles in the brains of people with Alzheimer's.

The study revealed that markers of the unfolded protein response were expressed in areas of tau accumulation in Alzheimer's patients. The unfolded protein response-related proteins were expressed early, in pre-tangle neurons, but were absent in tangle neurons.

The findings suggest that "unfolded protein response activation occurs at an early stage of neurofibrillary degeneration and ... that the prolonged activation of the [unfolded protein response] is involved in both tau phosphorylation and neurodegeneration in [Alzheimer's disease] pathogenesis ... Future studies will address the therapeutic opportunities of this pathway for the treatment of [Alzheimer's disease] and other tauopathies," the Researchers wrote.

(Source: HealthDay, 02 April 2009 - The American Journal of Pathology, April 2009 Issue.)

POOR BALANCE A BAD SIGN IN ALZHEIMER'S PATIENTS

A simple Balance Test may help doctors predict a decline in memory and brain function in people with Alzheimer's Disease, research shows.

In a study, Researchers found that Alzheimer's patients with an abnormal One-Leg Balance Test experienced greater decline in brain function over 2 years than those with a normal One-Leg Balance Test.

"Our results reinforce, in an Alzheimer's Disease population, the growing evidence suggesting a link between physical performances and cognitive decline," Study Chief Dr. Yves Rolland, of the University of Toulouse III, France, noted in a written statement.

"If these results are confirmed by other data, the One-Leg Balance Test could be adopted in clinical practice to identify Alzheimer's Disease patients at high risk of rapid cognitive decline," the Researcher added.

According to a report of the study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 686 patients with Alzheimer's Disease were evaluated by a Geriatrician every six months for up to two years, and their degree of cognitive impairment was measured.

At the same time, a "One-Leg Balance" Test was given, where a participant was asked to stand on one leg for as long as possible. The test was considered abnormal when the participant was unable to stand on one leg for 5 seconds or more.

At the outset, roughly 15 percent of the study subjects had an abnormal One-Leg Balance Test and these patients were significantly older and had significantly more severe cognitive impairment.

In analysis taking into account factors that might influence the results, the Researchers found that subjects with an abnormal One-Leg Balance Test had significantly greater decline in memory and thinking at 12, 18, and 24 months.

For example, the average decline on the Mini-Mental State Examination at 24 months was 9.2 points when balance impairment was present, compared with just 3.8 points with no balance impairment.

"The One-Leg Balance Test is a Stress Test that may characterize subjects with low cognitive reserve," Rolland and colleagues concluded.

(Source: Reuter, 31 March 2009 - Extract from Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, March 2009.)

BRAIN DIFFERENCES MARK THOSE WITH DEPRESSION RISK

People who have a high family risk of developing depression had less brain matter on the right side of their brains on par with losses seen in Alzheimer's disease, U.S. Researchers reported recently.

Brain scans showed a 28-percent thinning in the right cortex -- the outer layer of the brain -- in people who had a family history of depression compared with people who did not.

"The difference was so great that at first we almost didn't believe it. But we checked and re-checked all of our data, and we looked for all possible alternative explanations, and still the difference was there," said Dr. Bradley Peterson of Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The findings are based on imaging studies of 131 people aged 6 to 54 with and without a family history of depression.

The team was looking specifically for abnormalities in the brain that could signal a predisposition to depression, rather than changes that may be caused by the disease.

The thinning on the right side was only linked with a family predisposition to depression. People who actually were depressed also had thinning on the left side of cortex.

"Because previous biological studies only focused on a relatively small number of individuals who already suffered from depression, their findings were unable to tease out whether those differences represented the causes of depressive illness, or a consequence," Dr Bradley Peterson said.

Having a thinner right cortex may increase the risk of depression by disrupting a person's ability to decode and remember social and emotional cues from other people.

They did memory and attention tests on the study subjects and found the less brain material a person had in the right cortex, the worse they performed on attention and memory tests.

The findings suggest rather strongly that if you have thinning in the right hemisphere of the brain, you may be predisposed to depression and may also have some cognitive and inattention issues.

Dr Bradley Peterson said the findings suggest medications used to treat attention problems such as stimulants might be useful in the treatment of depression in some patients.

(Source: Reuters, 23 March 2009)

ENZYMES LINK BRAIN INJURY TO ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

It's known that people who suffer a brain injury have a higher-than-normal risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, and now lab experiments suggest a reason why.

Alzheimer's disease is associated with accumulations of an abnormal protein, amyloid beta, in the brain. Traumatic brain injury triggers accumulation of enzymes required for production of amyloid-beta, Researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, DC, report in the Research Journal Nature Medicine.

"Past research has shown that traumatic brain injury is a risk factor for developing Alzheimer's Disease (AD) in later life," Dr. Mark P. Burns explained to Reuters Health. Many autopsies of brains of people who suffered a traumatic brain injury "have amyloid deposits similar to those seen in Alzheimer's."

Research shown that a biochemical pathway that is active long-term in AD is activated short term in the days immediately following traumatic brain injury.

Burns and his colleagues found that blocking the enzymes in this pathway reduced the effects of brain injury in mice. "We found we could dramatically reduce the amount of brain damage that occurred," he said. "This led to a large reduction in physical disability, and a reversal of the learning problems that occurred after brain injury."

"As there is currently no treatment for traumatic brain injury," Burns concluded, "our research identifies new targets for drug therapy."

Furthermore, the drugs that inhibit the enzymes involved in amyloid beta production "are currently under evaluation in AD clinical trials, so could be quickly made available for traumatic brain injury clinical trials."

(Source: Reuters, 27 March 2009)

Events to Mark ADI's 24th Annual Conference 25 March-28 March 09 at SUNTEC Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre

Dear Members,

In conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Disease International’s 24th Annual Conference which will be held at the SUNTEC Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Center from 25 March to 28March 2009, the Alzheimer's Disease Association of Singapore has organized a series of events o mark the Dementia Awareness Week.

Members and the public are invited to attend the following activities and shows which will be held in Singapore:

(1) A Play on Dementia titled “Don’t Forget To Remember Me”

Date/Time: 26 March-28 March '09
26 March and 27 March '09, both days at 8:00pm
28 March '09 at 3:00PM and at 8:00pm
Venue: Jubilee Hall (Raffles Hotel)
Ticket Price: $10
(excluding SISTIC booking fee $8)

This brand new play deals with the trials and tribulations of people with dementia and their struggles to come to terms with their illness.

For more details, contact SISTC Website: www.sistic.com.sg or Hotline at: 63485555.

(2) “Mass Exercise Workout and Memory Walk” – Be Physically Active to help Reduce the Risk of Developing Dementia.

Date/Time: 22 March 2009 from 8:00am to 12:00 noon
Venue: Marina Floating Platform (next to Esplanade Theatre)
Programme:
- Exercise walkout
- 2.8km walk
- Fringe activities: sports try out stations, carnival games, stage performances, lucky draws. Free T shirt, exercise band and goodie bag for participants.

For more information and registration, call Tel: 63538734 or Email: alzheimers.tp@pacific.net.sg

(3) Date: Sunday, 22 March 2009

Venue: Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel

3:00pm Show: “ORIUME” - Japanese with English Subtitles

7:00pm Show: “THANMATRA” - Malayalam with English Subtitles

(4)) Date: Monday, 23 March 2009

Venue: Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel

7:00pm Show: “SUMMER SHOW” - Cantonese with English Subtitles

Ticket Price: $6

(Excluding SISTIC Booking Fee) $5 (Senior citizens and students)

Buy your tickets through SISTIC Website: www.sistic.com.sg

SISTIC Hotline: 6348 5555& SISTIC authorized agents islandwide

(5) Date: Tuesday, 24 March 2009

Venue: Cathay Cineplex (Handy Road)

7:00pm Show: “AWAY FROM HER”

Ticket Price: $7.50

Sale of Tickets online: www.cathay.com.sg

Medical Journal - Alzheimer's Research & Therapy

Dear Members,

 

A circular from the Editors-In-Chief of Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, a new Medical Journal to be launched soon which may of interest to our medical professionals, counsellors and the public.  

 

An invitation to submit to Alzheimer's Research & Therapy

 

Editors-in-Chief:
Doug Galasko, University of California, San Diego
Todd Golde, Mayo Clinic, Florida
Gordon Wilcock, University of Oxford

 

Now accepting submissions

 

Dear Colleague,

 

We are writing to let you know about Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, a brand new journal soon to be launched by BioMed Central.

 

Alzheimer's Research & Therapy is a peer-reviewed journal that aims to be the major forum for translational research into Alzheimer's disease. The journal will publish basic research with a translational focus, as well as clinical trials, research into drug discovery and development, and epidemiologic studies.

 

Although the journal's primary focus is Alzheimer's dementia, the scope will encompass other neurodegenerative diseases. Review articles and expert commentary will accompany key papers.

The journal is led by three Editors-in-Chief and is supported by a renowned international Editorial Board.

 

We invite you to submit your next outstanding research manuscript to Alzheimer's Research & Therapy. The journal offers rapid, high-quality peer review, and immediate publication on acceptance.

All research published in Alzheimer's Research & Therapy will be open access - freely available to all with the copyright retained by the authors. The published version of your article will immediately be placed in PubMed and PubMed Central, ensuring the high visibility of your research. This complies with the NIH Public Access Policy and the Wellcome Trust Open Access Policy.

 

The journal has unrestricted space, allowing authors to submit unlimited numbers of figures, tables and supplementary material, all at no extra cost to the standard article processing charge. To find out whether your article or concept for a review article is suitable for the journal, you can send a pre-submission enquiry to editorial@alzres.com.

 

Please submit your manuscript via our online submission system. For more information about the journal, contact editorial@alzres.com or visit our instructions for authors.

 

If you would like to keep abreast of news about Alzheimer's Research & Therapy and to receive a copy of the print preview of our inaugural issue simply register your email address on the website:

http://www.alzres.com/info/update.

Kind regards,

Doug Galasko, Todd Golde and Gordon Wilcock
Editors-in-Chief, Alzheimer's Research & Therapy

 

 

 

29 March '09 (Sunday), 3pm-5pm, Penang - Sharing cum Pot Bless Get Together Organized By ADFM Penang Alzheimer's Disease Support Group Committee

To: All Alzheimer’s Disease Caregivers & The Public

We are pleased to announce that the ADFM Penang Alzheimer’s Disease Support Group will be holding a Sharing cum Pot Bless Get Together on:

Day/Date : Sunday, 29 March 2009

Time : 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Venue : Penang Cheshire Home, Babington Avenue, off Barrack Road, Penang

Admission is FREE.

All Caregivers with their mobile loved ones, and Members of the Public who are interested are cordially invited to this get together. Members of The Penang AD Support Group Committee look forward that this is an occasion for each other to seek and share information, advice and experiences on the Alzheimer’s Disease and Care-giving; and sought medical advice.

For further information & attendance, kindly call Tel: (604) 656 4537.

From: NACON

Saturday, 21 March '09, 2:00pm At Rumah Alzheimer's PJ - Awareness Talk "Dementia/Alzheimer's Disease" By Dr Yau Weng Keong, Consultant Physician & Geriatrician of Hospital Kuala Lumpur

Dear All,

In conjunction with our monthly gathering in March, the KL-PJ Alzheimer’s Caregivers Support Group Committee is organizing an Awareness Talk on “Dementia/Alzheimer’s Disease’ by Dr Yau Weng Keong from the ADFM Medical Panel.

Details of the Talk:

Day/Date: Saturday, 21 March 2009
Time: 2:00pm
Venue: Rumah Alzheimer’s (PJ Day Care Centre), No. 6, Lorong 11/8E, Section 11, 46200 Petaling Jaya.

Speaker’s Profile:

DR YAU WENG KEONG , a Consultant Physician & Geriatrician, obtained his basic medical degree from USM in 1990 and MRCP (UK) in 1996. After obtaining his MRCP, he specialized in Geriatric Medicine in Stobhill, Glasgow, UK..

Since then, Dr Yau had been attached to the Aged and Palliative Care in Adelaide (1997), Geriatric Department of Tan Tock Seng Hospital (2000), Dover Park Hospice and Hospice Care Association in Singapore (2000) and worked as a Physician and Geriatrician since 1997 and heading the only Geriatric Unit in MOH.

Dr Yau is currently a Consultant Physician and Geriatrician with the Geriatric Unit, Department of Medicine, Hospital Kuala Lumpur. He started the Post Basic Gerontology Nursing and was instrumental in helping UPM to set up their “Health Care for the Elderly” Undergraduate Programme. In the MOH, he is actively involved in the health programmes for elderly people, conducting regular CME and workshops pertaining to elderly and dementia care; Public Health lectures in UKM and the Memory Clinic in Seremban once a week,

REGISTRATION:

For Refreshments purpose and confirm your attendance, kindly call:
ADFM Secretariat, Katherine/Janet at Tel: 603 – 7956 2008 / 7958 3008 OR Email to: adfmsec@streamyx.com

OR you can register online with the ADFM National Alzheimer’s Caregivers Online Network (NACON) at: adfmcaregivers@gmail.com

"See all of you on 21 March '09 at 2:00pm, Rumah Alzheimer's, PJ Day Care Centre"

Talk On "How To Exercise The Brain", Saturday/25 April '09, 2:30pm, ADFM PJ Day Care Centre

Dear All,

The KL-PJ Alzheimer's Caregivers Support Group Committee is organizing a Talk on "How to Exercise the Brain" by Azlina Ahmad Annuar, who is a Lecturer at University Malaya and one of the pioneers of the KL-PJ AD Support Group between the years 1999-2000 before she left for PhD in UK.

Details of the Talk:

Day/Date: Saturday, 25 April 2009-02-24

Time: 2:30pm

Venue: ADFM Alzheimer's PJ Day Care Centre, No. 6, Lorong 11/8E, Section 11, 46200 Petaling Jaya


Synopsis:

How To Exercise The Brain

Do you find it difficult to remember things? Do you easily forget someone's name or often forget where you parked the car? Everyone loses their memory from time to time, it is a part of normal life.

People often want to know how to improve their memory, and one way to do this is by exercising your brain! The brain is similar to muscle- the more you use it, the stronger it gets. To improve your memory, you can focus on certain tasks to exercise the brain.

This talk will introduce the structures in the brain involved in memory and also briefly explain how the brain records the information. We'll see why people with Alzheimer's disease have a specific type of memory loss and how this impacts on their behaviour.

We will then discuss some practical ideas on how to get the most of your own memory.

Speaker's Profile:

Azlina Ahmad Annuar is a Lecturer at the University Malaya. She is also doing some research on the brain, and is interested in how memory works.

Azlina used to be involved with the KL-PJ AD Support Group between the years 1999-2000 before she left for her PhD in UK. She always had fond memory of the loving, fighting spirit of the caregivers as they face this disease with their loved ones.

Now that Azlina is back to Malaysia, she hopes to do some voluntary work with the Support Group again. We welcome Azlina.

Registration:

For Refreshments purpose, kindly confirm your attendance to:

ADFM Secretariat, Katherine Leong /Janet Low at Tel: 603 – 7956 2008 / 7958 3008 OR Email to: adfmsec@streamyx.com

OR you can register online with the ADFM National Alzheimer's Caregivers Online Network (NACON) at: adfmcaregivers@gmail.com

The above Talk is organized in conjunction with the AD Caregivers Support Group Monthly Gathering. We look forward to your attendance. The Speaker, Azlina will be presenting another Talk on "Genetic Tests for Alzheimer's Disease and Latest Research" in July this year which an announcement will be broadcast at a later stage.


From: NACON & KL-PJ Alzheimer'sCaregivers Support Group Committee