Archive for August, 2008
A report published by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in the August 20 issue of JAMA suggests that measuring how much an individual’s performance varies across several neuropsychological tests enhances the accuracy of predicting whether older adults will develop dementia. Developing strategies to improve the prediction and diagnosis of dementia has critical therapeutic and public health implications.
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Two neuroscientists at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center are turning magic tricks into science. Stephen Macknik, Ph.D., director of the Laboratory of Behavioral Neurophysiology; and Susana Martinez-Conde, Ph.D., director of the Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience; are working with world-famous magicians to discover the brain’s mechanisms underlying attention and awareness.
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According to an article published in the August 20 issue of JAMA, there is likely an association between within-person variability on neuropsychological testing and the development of dementia in older adults. Roee Holtzer, Ph.D. (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, New York) and colleagues write that, “Developing strategies to improve the prediction and diagnoses of dementia has paramount therapeutic and public health implications.
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Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has been associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) with earlier onset, longer duration, and greater severity, according to an article released on August 11, 2008 in the Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. As the transitional stage between the effects of aging and dementia itself, much interest has been placed in this stage as a potential warning indicator for Alzheimer’s and cognitive disorders.
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Cocoa flavanols, the unique compounds found naturally in cocoa, may increase blood flow to the brain, according to new research published in the Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment journal. The researchers suggest that long-term improvements in brain blood flow could impact cognitive behavior, offering future potential for debilitating brain conditions including dementia and stroke.
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During the programme Terry Pratchett criticises the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’s (NICE) decision to limit Alzheimer’s drugs. Terry Pratchett is right. It’s an absolute disgrace that people with early-stage Alzheimer’s continue to be denied access to the only drugs proven to treat the disease. Time and quality of life is being snatched away from thousands of vulnerable people who are unable to pay privately for their own treatment.
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According to the HSJ, Care Quality Commission chair Baroness Young has pledged to crack down on NHS organisations that fail to adopt National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance. Ignoring guidelines could result in marked-down annual assessment ratings and lower pay, she told the journal in her first interview in her role at the new health and social care regulator.
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A study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that the sleep patterns of older adults who live with and provide direct care during the night for a person with dementia are significantly worse than other older adults. When sleep was measured objectively, and after adjusting for depressive symptoms, age, health condition and education, adults who take care of a person suffering from dementia took longer to fall sleep and had less total sleep than noncaregivers.
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A virus that commonly infects potatoes bears a striking resemblance to one of the key proteins implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and researchers have used that to develop antibodies that may slow or prevent the onset of AD.
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It all started because of failure, a missing person who couldn’t be located in time. It was and still is a story that happens monthly, if not weekly all across our nation. For families and caregivers exploring options of how to protect a loved one who wanders away from the safety of their home due to Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Autism, Intellectual Disabilities or other wandering conditions, there is hope.
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