Showing posts with label Alzheimer’s disease. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alzheimer’s disease. Show all posts

Monday, 16 April 2012

Flutemetamol for Alzheimer's, Results of Phase 3 Studies

The ability to detect or exclude significant amyloid deposits in the brain, along with other diagnostic tests, may help physicians make a more accurate assessment of patients with suspected Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive disorders.

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GE Healthcare (GE) today announced the preliminary results of two Phase 3 studies of its investigational PET amyloid imaging agent, [18F]flutemetamol, where both studies met their primary endpoints.

One study, in terminally ill patients who agreed to undergo brain autopsy, showed strong concordance between flutemetamol PET images and Alzheimer’s disease-associated beta amyloid brain pathology.

The other study, in young healthy volunteers under age 40, had results concordant with the known lack of brain amyloid in this population.

Full results of these studies will be presented in the coming months. [18F]Flutemetamol is a GE Healthcare PET imaging agent in development for the detection of beta amyloid.


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“The ability to detect or exclude significant amyloid deposits in the brain, along with other diagnostic tests, may help physicians make a more accurate assessment of patients with suspected Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive disorders. The results from these studies are quite encouraging in demonstrating the potential of flutemetamol in that regard,” said Carl Sadowsky, MD, Clinical Professor of Neurology at Nova Southeastern University Ft. Lauderdale, FL. “We need an accurate diagnosis and better treatment, as accurate diagnosis has the potential to enable better patient management, and may also save cost.”
The accumulation of beta amyloid in the brain is believed to play a role leading up to the degeneration of neurons in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and is one of several pathological characteristics implicated in the development of AD. Currently, AD is confirmed by histopathological identification of core features, including beta amyloid plaques, in post-mortem brain samples.[i] Targeted amyloid imaging agents are being studied to determine their ability to help physicians detect amyloid deposition in living humans.
“Flutemetamol may well prove to be a clinically valuable component of a broader diagnostic workup that neurologists use when assessing patients with cognitive impairments, who may have AD,” said Jonathan Allis, MI PET Segment Leader, GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics. “These studies support our application for regulatory approval of [18F]flutemetamol, and we intend to file later this year.”

[18F]Flutemetamol is one component of a broad portfolio of diagnostic solutions that GE Healthcare is currently developing in the Alzheimer’s field. GE Healthcare is taking a comprehensive approach to understanding AD through its ongoing research to uncover the causes, risks and physical effects of the disease. For example, the company is partnering with pharma to identify a biosignature, or a biological indicator, which may help physicians diagnose Alzheimer’s disease prior to the onset of clinical symptoms.

GE Healthcare offers a broad portfolio of imaging resources, which support accurate visualization of the signs of neurodegenerative diseases via state-of-the-art scanners, including MRI, PET and CT which deliver clear visualization of the brain; an expanding portfolio of imaging agents are being developed to enhance visual evidence of disease and innovative software applications which can aid physicians in image interpretation and determination of disease management. More specifically, our portfolio today includes cyclotrons and chemistry systems to manufacture PET imaging agents; PET and MR scanners to scan patients; and image analysis software to interpret the results.


GE Healthcare has also been a key contributor to the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) since its inception. GE Healthcare also plays a key role in PredictAD, an EU-funded research project to develop solutions to enable earlier diagnosis of AD, and Coalition Against Major Diseases (CAMD).

Additionally, the combination of our different business offerings positions us well to offer an integrated global diagnostics solution for the next generation of therapies. To that end, we are working with potential partners in the pharmaceutical industry to understand their strategic needs. and design solutions accordingly, which may support market entry via conduct of pivotal trials, provision of complex technologies, and (potentially) expedited time to market.

ABOUT GE

GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.


About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.

More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room

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Wednesday, 11 April 2012

Dementia Must Be A Global Health Priority - World Health Organization

A report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) calls upon governments, policymakers and other stakeholders to make dementia a global public health priority.

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Dementia: A Public Health Priority
This new report provides the most authoritative overview of the impact of dementia worldwide.

To prepare the report, the World Health Organization and ADI commissioned reports from four working groups of experts and sought additional inputs from nearly two dozen international contributors and more than 20 expert reviewers.

In addition to valuable best practices and practical case studies from around the world, it contains the most comprehensive collection of data, including hard-to-get statistics, thereby dramatically underscoring that this is truly a global problem and not just a “disease of the industrial world.”

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Get the full report, Dementia a Public Health Priority (PDF)

Key messages from Dementia: A Public Health Priority
  • Dementia is not a normal part of aging.
  • 35.6 million people were estimated to be living with dementia in 2010. There are 7.7 million new cases of dementia each year, implying that there is a new case of dementia somewhere in the world every four seconds. The accelerating rates of dementia are cause for immediate action, especially in low- and middle-income countries where resources are few.
  • The huge cost of the disease will challenge health systems to deal with the predicted future increase of prevalence. The costs are estimated at US$604 billion per year at present and are set to increase even more quickly than the prevalence.
  • People live for many years after the onset of symptoms of dementia. With appropriate support, many can and should be enabled to continue to engage and contribute within society and have a good quality of life.
  • Dementia is overwhelming for the caregivers and adequate support is required for them from the health, social, financial and legal systems.
  • Countries must include dementia on their public health agendas. Sustained action and coordination is required across multiple levels and with all stakeholders - at international, national, regional and local levels.
  • People with dementia and their caregivers often have unique insights to their condition and life. They should be involved in formulating the policies, plans, laws and services that relate to them.

The time to act is now by:
  • promoting a dementia-friendly society globally;
  • making dementia a national public health and social care priority worldwide;
  • improving public and professional attitudes to, and understanding of, dementia;
  • investing in health and social systems to improve care and services for people with dementia and their caregivers;
  • increasing the priority given to dementia in the public health research agenda.

To prepare the report, titled “Dementia: A Public Health Priority,” WHO and ADI commissioned reports from four working groups of experts and sought additional inputs from nearly two dozen international contributors and more than 20 expert reviewers. The project leaders were Dr. Shekhar Saxena, Director, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO; Marc Wortmann, Executive Director, ADI; Dr. Daisy Acosta, Chairman, ADI; Prof. Martin Prince, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London; and Ennapadam. S Krishnamoorthy, Director and T.S. Srinivasan, Chair, The Institute of Neurological Sciences, India.
“WHO recognises the size and complexity of the dementia challenge and urges countries to view dementia as a critical public health priority,” said Dr. Saxena. “Right now, only eight of 194 WHO member states have a national dementia plan in place, and a few more are in development. Our hope is that other countries will follow suit, using this report as a starting point for planning and implementation. A few, like India, have national strategies developed by civil-society organisations, and we hope this report will prompt their governments to adapt these into official national plans. Since we know the prevalence of the disease will explode in this century as we all live longer - the risk of dementia is 1 in 8 for those over 65 and a shocking 1 in 2.5 for those over 85 – its impact will become greater as the decades go by.”
In her foreword to the report, WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan called the report “a major contribution to our understanding of dementia and its impact on individuals, families and society.” She said the report “provides the knowledge base for a global and national response to facilitate governments, policymakers and other stakeholders to address the impact of dementia as an increasing threat to global health.” Dr. Chan called upon all stakeholders to “make health and social care systems informed and responsive to this impending threat.”

Marc Wortmann of ADI underscored the urgency of action: “With its devastating impact on people with dementia, their families, their communities and national health systems, dementia represents not only a public health crisis but a social and fiscal nightmare as well. Around the world a new case of dementia arises every four seconds. That's a staggering growth rate, equivalent to 7.7 million new cases of dementia every year - the same size as the populations of Switzerland and Israel. Our current health systems simply cannot cope with the explosion of the dementia crisis as we all live longer; this is as much an economic and fiscal disaster waiting to happen as it is a social and health challenge of the highest order. However, the report also shows that there is a lot that can be done to improve the lives of people with dementia and their carers. The entire dementia community, and indeed the world, owes a huge debt of gratitude to the WHO to have taken the leadership in the creation of the report. The WHO is the singular organisation globally capable of such a critical role in matters of public health.”

Publication of the WHO/ADI report comes on the heels of an impassioned plea for action by global public health expert Prof. Peter Piot who, as former UNAIDS Executive Director, helped lead the world in turning HIV/AIDS from a certain death sentence into a manageable illness. In a recent speech, Prof. Piot described dementia - and Alzheimer's disease in particular - as a “ticking time bomb” given the rapid growth in aging populations worldwide. According to ADI research, now given even further legitimacy in the WHO’s report, the number of people living with dementia worldwide, estimated at 35.6 million in 2010, is set to nearly double every 20 years, reaching 65.7 million in 2030 and 115.4 million in 2050. Drawing striking parallels between dementia today and HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, Prof. Piot argued that the world must tackle dementia with a similar level of urgency and concerted resources. “If the world needed a wake-up call, it is on this global crisis. I do not see any alternative than to treat Alzheimer’s with at least the attention we gave HIV/AIDs,” said Piot.
“Given these numbers,” said Michael Hodin, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Global Coalition on Aging and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, “Alzheimer’s, among all non-communicable diseases, demands our urgent and serious focus. We must find the political will and accompanying funding for more effective treatments, earlier detection and diagnosis, and most critically prevention and cures. Absent this level and scope of attention, Alzheimer’s will surely become the fiscal nightmare of the 21st century, quite apart from the personal, family and community devastation it causes in its wake.”
“There is an increasing body of evidence that the risk factors that can increase a person’s chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease are the same as those that cause many other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and lung disease,” says Ann Keeling, Chair of The NCD Alliance and Chief Executive of the International Diabetes Federation. “Last year’s UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs in New York formally recognised that mental and neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, contribute significantly to the NCD burden worldwide. By working together to address these common risk factors, the global health community can make great inroads into the burden of disease caused by Alzheimer’s disease and these other NCDs, that together cause 3 in 5 of all deaths worldwide today."
Source: Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI)

More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room

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Saturday, 24 March 2012

Alzheimer's and Dementia News 125

Ronald Reagan, Pat Summitt, Frank Broyles, God's Eyes, Young Victim, Thief, Alzheimer's Test ...

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God stays beside us, even in the face of Alzheimer's disease
Q: My aunt was always a wonderful and kind Christian, but now she has Alzheimer's disease and has totally changed. She gets angry and lashes out at people, and we can't understand what's happened. Is she guilty in God's eyes for the way she's acting?
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Frank Broyles knows what Darrell Royal's family faces in Alzheimer’s disease
Frank Broyles has seen Alzheimer’s up close. The first sign of the disease that would claim his wife, Barbara, in 2004 came when she called to say she’d resigned from all her activities. Symptoms piled up. She sobbed when she couldn’t balance the checkbook. She got lost driving and couldn’t ask for directions. Her heartbreaking, inexplicable slide left him unsure what to do. He took her keys; Alzheimer’s took the rest.
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Dementia's youngest victims often defy stereotypes
The first clues surfaced around five years ago. She'd forget to pick up her grandchildren at school or plans she made with her husband. She wrote down the wrong medication dosage for a patient. "I have no idea what's going on," she remembered telling her doctor.
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Solicitor jailed for stealing over £50,000 from elderly dementia sufferer who treated him 'like a son'
A solicitor was today jailed for 26 months after stealing more than £51,000 from an elderly dementia sufferer who treated him like a son.
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A New Test Might Facilitate Diagnosis and Drug Development for Alzheimer's Disease
An international team of researchers have developed a new method for measurement of aggregated beta-amyloid -- a protein complex believed to cause major nerve cell damage and dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease.
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Tennessee 'Wonder Woman' Pat Summitt battles dementia
"My mom is always kind of like Wonder Woman," Tyler Summitt said. "She could do seven or eight things at one time."
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Reagan and Alzheimer's: Following Path His Mother Traveled
Before Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980, he said publicly he wanted to be watched for senility, in part because his mother, Nellie, had been senile for several years before her death at the age of 80.
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Wednesday, 25 June 2008

Alzheimer’s Disease as a Case of Brake Failure?

If you are like me you will find this research promising. When I read many of these research articles I experience feelings of hope and then frustration. It is clear this won't help my mother who suffers from Alzheimer's. At the same time, I am hopeful that it will help future sufferers of this sinister disease.

“It changes the logic from a search for a trigger that kicks off the dementia to the failure of a safety that has suppressed it”


Rutgers researcher Karl Herrup and colleagues at Case Western Reserve University have discovered that a protein that suppresses cell division in brain cells effectively “puts the brakes” on the dementia that comes with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). When the brakes fail, dementia results.

This discovery could open the door to new ways of treating Alzheimer’s disease, which affects up to half the population over the age of 85.

Determining the protein’s previously unsuspected role in AD is an important piece of the puzzle and it brings a new perspective to the basis of AD. “It changes the logic from a search for a trigger that kicks off the dementia to the failure of a safety that has suppressed it,” said Herrup, chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

The researchers reported their findings in the in the June 24 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The paper was previously available online in the PNAS Early Edition.

Herrup has spent a good part of his career seeking to unravel the mystery behind unrestrained cell cycling. Looking at AD through the lens of cancer, Herrup sees the rampant cell division associated with cancer mirrored in AD-related dementia.

In cancer, the seemingly uncontrollable cell division enables the disease to overwhelm normal body cells. Adult neurons, or nerve cells, don’t normally divide. (Cancerous brain tumors do not grow from neurons but from glial cells.) Instead of producing new neurons in the brain, the cycling leads to cell death, which causes progressive dementia.

“Every cell wants to divide, and that basic urge never leaves the cell,” Herrup said.

“Homeostasis in the brain has worked out a way to successfully suppress cell cycling, but with age even that highly successful program sometimes fails, resulting in a catastrophic loss of neurons.”

Herrup’s team experimented with a protein family known as cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdk). These enzymes power the cell cycle, driving it forward through its various phases. The scientists focused on one particular kinase – Cdk5 – termed “an atypical kinase” because they could find no involvement in propelling the cell cycle. They found that while it appears to be inert as a cell cycle promoter, Cdk5 in the nervous system actually functions to hold the cell cycle in check.

“Its mere presence helps protect the brain,” Herrup said. “What we discovered is that Cdk5 acts as a brake, not a driver.”

Their latest laboratory research examined the workings of Cdk5 in human AD tissues and in a mouse model. Normally, the protein resides in the nerve cell nucleus, but in the presence of AD – both in the mouse model and in the human tissue – the disease process drives the protein out into the cell’s cytoplasm. This disrupts the status quo, overrides the brake and unleashes a chain of events that ultimately leads to the death of the cells and the resulting dementia.

“The ejection of Cdk5 out of the nucleus is probably related to the changed chemistry of the Alzheimer’s brain and chronic inflammation that accompanies AD,” Herrup said.


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Alzheimer's Disease -- Advice and Insight

Bob DeMarco is the Founder of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. The blog contains more than 2,255 articles with more than 272,100 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.

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