By delivering brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) directly into the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus, the parts of the brain where memories are formed then consolidated, the researchers successfully tackled damage exactly where Alzheimer’s strikes first.

“We’re administering BDNF directly to the degenerating neurons in memory systems of the cortex, and preventing their death,” says Mark Tuszynski of the University of California at San Diego. The substance, which naturally supports brain cells throughout life, also amplified the numbers of connections, or synapses, between neurons.

“Our most compelling evidence was the observation that brain cell death was prevented, and that connections between neurons rose in density by about 25%,” says Tuszynski. Improvements on this scale happened in all the animals, including mice with a version of human Alzheimer’s disease, elderly rats and monkeys with natural degeneration, plus rats and monkeys given brain lesions similar to those seen in Alzheimer’s.

A quick word of caution - This is obviously very preliminary news and it seems like trials won’t start for at least 2 years.  However, it shows me once again that the extremely large amount of research occurring right now in the Alzheimer’s community is at the minimum producing a lot of potential new treatments and avenues to explore. ..

Thomas B. Shea, PhD, of the Center for Cellular Neurobiology; Neurodegeneration Research University of Massachusetts, Lowell and his research team have carried out a number of laboratory studies demonstrating that drinking apple juice helped mice perform better than normal in maze trials, and prevented the decline in performance that was otherwise observed as these mice aged.

For myself, I drink a can of grape juice in the morning everyday for breakfast.  Not sure if this is common knowledge, but grape juice has as many antioxidants as red wine.  Maybe I should start drinking some apple juice everyday too…

One note that I wanted to share on the more personal side is the sad and continued decline of my father… he is now at the point where he doesn’t recognize himself in the mirror .. and will ask my mom who the person is “looking back at him”.  Recently I’ve been thinking more about the last 8 or so years that he’s had Alzheimer’s and its saddened me to see him go from somebody so intellectually capable (he went to the top university in Taiwan) and see him slowly degenerate into who he is today… I’m sure many of you who read this blog can commiserate.  I guess the only thing we can do is make sure that his days are filled with joy and happiness and do our best to lessen the confusion and fears that he’ll have (esp. when it gets dark).  Another reminder to my readers to really treasure your loved ones and spend as much quality time with them.. hope everyone out there is doing well.. God bless…

British researchers found long-term treatment with antipsychotics nearly doubled patients’ risk of death, according to a study appearing in Lancet Neurology.

The findings, based on a look at 165 patients, aren’t a bolt out of the blue. There have long been concerns about using these powerful meds to treat dementia patients, who tend to be elderly and frail (see here and here). Still, they bolster current recommendations that the drugs only be used under circumstances of extreme agitation or disturbance and for short periods.

This placebo-controlled, double-blind study looked at Alzheimer’s patients in nursing homes in the U.K. who were already taking one of four antipsychotics (J&J’s Risperdal, haloperidol, chlorpromazine and trifluoperazine) and assigned them to continue on their meds or to take a sugar pill for 12 months.

There wasn’t any difference in mortality for the first six months, but at one, two or three years, patients in the antipsychotic group were nearly twice as likely to have died as those in the placebo group.

This study concerned me, since my father was actually given Risperdal during the time that he was in a care facility as a form of “chemical restraint”.  Apparently, this is something that nursing homes have been using frequently even when their patients have no psychotic problems (see here).

I admit its a difficult problem because sometimes patients at care facilities can become very agitated and these medications help calm them down.  On the other hand, from my own experiences of witnessing their care and from these articles, it is not rare that the reason these medications are given is to just “put the patients to sleep and out of commission” for a period of time so the caregivers don’t need to watch them.  Thoughts and comments?

Thoughts and comments?

Apologize for not posting in some time, I’ve been working 14 hour days and then the holidays came.  I hope everyone had a happy holidays and a Merry Christmas.   Came across an interesting article on Alzheimer’s on the social news site Digg today.  Apparently, “starvation” of the brain over time will trigger the biochemical reactions that lead to Alzheimer’s.  In this case, “starvation” refers to when the brain doesn’t get enough glucose as a result of a decreased blood flow to the brain.  Link here and excerpt/thoughts below:

Robert Vassar of Northwestern University, the study’s lead author, found that when the brain doesn’t get enough of the simple sugar called glucose — as might occur when cardiovascular disease restricts blood flow in arteries to the brain — a process is launched that ultimately produces the sticky clumps of protein that appear to be a cause of Alzheimer’s.

Working with human and mice brains, Vassar discovered that a key brain protein is altered when the brain’s supply of energy drops. The altered protein, called eIF2alpha, increases the production of an enzyme that, in turn, flips a switch to produce the sticky protein clumps.

“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,” Vassar said.

The best ways to improve blood flow to the brain and thereby reduce the chances of getting Alzheimer’s is to reduce cholesterol intake, manage high blood pressure and exercise, especially entering mid-life.

One point I want to highlight again is at the end of the excerpt.  As I’ve been advocating from this blog, its very, very important to exercise regularly which will improve blood flow to the brain.  The article also encourages a health diet (reduced cholestorol).  So please, those of you that are out there, exercising regularly is a great new year’s resolution.

And for those of you who think that by simply ingesting more sugar you can get away from exercise?  Excerpt:

We need to improve our cardiovascular health, not eat more sugar,” Vassar said. “What is coming out in terms of the epidemiological studies is that exercise during mid-life is one of the best prevention strategies for Alzheimer’s disease, so people should stay active physically, and they should watch their diets and reduce cholesterol intake, because cholesterol contributes to atherosclerosis, and that is true for the heart and the rest of the body as well as for the brain.”