Are you a Knight ADRC affiliated researcher with a news article you would like us to post?
Contact Us

Clues to preventing Alzheimer’s come from patient who, despite genetics, evaded disease (Links to an external site)

Alzheimer’s disease has plagued one large Colombian family for generations, striking down half of its members in the prime of life. But one member of that family evaded what had seemed would be fate: Despite inheriting the genetic defect that caused her relatives to develop dementia in their 40s, she stayed cognitively healthy into her 70s. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis now think they know why. A previous study had reported that, unlike her relatives, the woman carried two copies of a rare variant of the APOE gene known as the Christchurch mutation. In this study, researchers used genetically modified mice to show that the Christchurch mutation severs the link between the early phase of Alzheimer’s disease, when a protein called amyloid beta builds up in the brain, and the late phase, when another protein called tau accumulates and cognitive decline sets in. So the woman stayed mentally sharp for decades, even as her brain filled with massive amounts of amyloid. The findings, published Dec. 11 in the journal Cell, suggest a new approach to preventing Alzheimer’s dementia.

Living with Alzheimer Disease and Other Types of Dementia: Stories from Caregivers (Links to an external site)

People with Alzheimer Disease or other types of dementia often face years of memory and thinking problems that eventually require help from others to assist with daily activities. An estimated 83% of people caring for older adults in the US are family members, friends or other unpaid caregivers. People providing care may have emotional and physical stress, or financial burdens, especially when caring for someone in the later stages of the disease. In this collection of narratives, authors write about the challenges, struggles, and joys of providing care for family members or another close person with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Lowering a form of brain cholesterol reduces Alzheimer’s-like damage in mice (Links to an external site)

…researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found — in mice — that Alzheimer’s-like tau deposits in the brain lead to the accumulation of a form of cholesterol known as cholesteryl esters, and that lowering cholesteryl ester levels helps prevent brain damage and behavioral changes.

Doubts abound about a new Alzheimer’s blood test (Links to an external site)

…Alzheimer’s researchers and clinicians aren’t convinced the Quest test is backed by sound scientific research. The possibility of false-positive results is high, as is the likelihood that older adults won’t understand the significance of their results, they say. The test should be taken only under a physician’s supervision, if at all, they advise. And, priced originally at $399 (recently discounted to $299) and not covered by insurance, it isn’t cheap.