How do omega-3's impact memory? CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Holly Phillips speaks about a new study that suggests fatty acid foods are linked to a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Saturday, 5 May 2012
Daisy Asks for Ideas
I only wish I could do something for him to bring them closer together again.
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Our reader Daisy is seeking gift ideas.
Hi, I´m wondering if anyone could share a good idea for a gift for my grandpa? The thing is my grandmother has Alzheimer´s and she not able to express by words anymore (except the words yes and no).
My grandpa use to visit her every second day but now he is no longer available to go because of is own illness.
A few days ago I saw a lot of sorrow and sadness in his eyes (almost like he was completely falling apart).
I only wish I could do something for him to bring them closer together again.
More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room
- What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
- Something Had to Change
- Alzheimer's Caregivers are the Chosen
- What is Alzheimer's Disease?
- What is Dementia?
- Communicating in Alzheimer's World
- Alzheimer's and Learning How to Trust
- Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
- Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
- Rewiring My Brain and Stepping into Alzheimer's World
- Why I Invented Alzheimer's World and the Power of Positive Reinforcement
Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room
Alzheimer's Photo of the Day, Memory Pooches
Say cheese.
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| Dementia patients from the Sidmouth Club in Devizes with winning whippets Monty and Dave |
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More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room
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- What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
- Something Had to Change
- Alzheimer's Caregivers are the Chosen
- What is Alzheimer's Disease?
- What is Dementia?
- Communicating in Alzheimer's World
- Alzheimer's and Learning How to Trust
- Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
- Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
- Rewiring My Brain and Stepping into Alzheimer's World
- Why I Invented Alzheimer's World and the Power of Positive Reinforcement
  Creating Moments of Joy: A Journal for Caregivers, Fourth Edition |  The 36-Hour Day A Family Guide to Caring for People with Alzheimer Disease |
Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room
Friday, 4 May 2012
Biosynthetic Grape Derived Compound Prevents Progression of Alzheimer's
This group of researchers found that certain grape seeds extracts, comprised of a complex mixture of naturally occurring polyphenols, were capable of lessening cognitive deterioration and reducing brain neuropathology.
+Alzheimer's Reading Room
Polyphenols, which occur naturally in grapes, fruits, and vegetables, have been shown to prevent the cognitive decline associated with AD in a mouse model, but the molecules are very complex and are extensively metabolized in the body.
This is the first study to determine which specific subfraction of these molecules penetrates the animal brain, and demonstrate that a drug compound similar to polyphenols can exert similar bioactivities.
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Biosynthetic grape-derived compound prevents progression of Alzheimer's disease in mice
A research group led by Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PhD, Saunders Family Professor and Chair in Neurology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, has been exploring the application of specific grape-derived polyphenols for the treatment of AD. Previously, this group found that certain grape-seeds extracts, comprised of a complex mixture of naturally occurring polyphenols, were capable of lessening cognitive deterioration and reducing brain neuropathology in an animal model of AD, but they did not know how to manipulate the natural extract into a pharmaceutical compound that could be used by the brain.
"My team, along with many members of the scientific community, did not know how we could harness the efficacy of naturally occurring polyphenols in food for treatment of Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Pasinetti said. "We were skeptical that these naturally occurring polyphenols would reach the brain because they are extensively metabolized following ingestion."The researchers separated the natural occurring polyphenols from grapes, sorted them by size, and administered each for five months through drinking water to mice genetically altered to develop AD, after which they assessed brain neuropathology and cognitive function of the mice. They identified a specific grape polyphenol metabolite that was capable of selectively reaching and accumulating in the brain. This compound reduced the neuropathology of AD in the brain by preventing the accumulation of abnormal proteins in the brain, a hallmark of AD.
Dr. Pasinetti's team analyzed the structure of this polyphenol by nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and recreated it biosynthetically in the laboratory. Dr. Pasinetti and his collaborators discovered that the synthetic polyphenol generated in the laboratory also promoted plasticity and benefits in learning and memory functions in the brains of the mice.
"While this is an exciting development, we have a lot to discover and many years of testing before this agent can be considered in humans," said Dr. Pasinetti. "I look forward to further studying this compound to determine its feasibility as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease."Dr. Pasinetti is currently exploring the possibility of delivering biosynthetic polyphenols nasally or subcutaneously, thereby preventing them from being metabolized in the liver.
Mount Sinai researchers are supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti is a named inventor of a pending patent application filed by Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MSSM) related to the study of Alzheimer's disease. In the event the pending or issued patent is licensed, Dr. Pasinetti would be entitled to a share of any proceeds MSSM receives from the licensee.
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About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals.
For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org.
More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room
Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room
ARR Constant Contact, Omega 3, Tau, Grapes, and More
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Thursday, 3 May 2012
Alzheimer's and Dementia News 137
Believe It or Not Edition...
Alzheimer's Reading Room
THE chief executive of Luton Borough Council has described an incident in which an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s was left locked in a minbus overnight as “appalling”.
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Luton Council 'shocked' at Alzheimer's sufferer left on bus (Video) -- BBC
Luton Borough Council has said it is "deeply shocked" that a woman suffering from Alzheimer's was left locked on one of its minibuses overnight.
The woman, who is in her 80s, was picked up from the Hockwell Ring Day Centre in Luton on Monday.
She should have been taken back to her sheltered accommodation but was found on Tuesday morning at Kingsway depot.
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Nurse 'threatened to nail dementia patient's hand to the floor' -- The Telegraph
A nurse told a vulnerable patient suffering from dementia she would "f---ing nail your hand to the floor" if she touched her buzzer again, a misconduct hearing heard.
Sally Miller pushed, grabbed and swore at patients in her care, telling one vulnerable resident "I'm sick of you" adding: "if you keep coming and complaining, I will sort you out."
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Sacked carer who fed vulnerable OAP dog biscuit claims twisted prank was 'just a laugh' -- Daily Record
A CARE home worker who fed a dog biscuit to a dementia patient has dismissed the vile prank as “just a laugh”.
Karen Morton, 49 – whose identity we reveal today – shrugged it off as “only one biscuit”.
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‘Cruel’ carer’s sex taunts to OAPs with dementia -- Shields Gazette
A CRUEL carer launched a vile bullying campaign on elderly dementia sufferers he was supposed to be looking after in a South Tyneside residential home, a court heard.
It was claimed Christopher Allen, 36, gave elderly residents cruel nicknames, made inappropriate sexual comments and gestures towards them, kicked a ball into their faces as they slept, swore at them, teased them and made a 90-year-old woman cry.
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Missing Woman with Dementia May Be in Chicago's West or South Sides -- Fox News
A woman with dementia has been missing since last week from her Calumet City home is believed to be traveling on CTA buses in the South and West sides of Chicago.
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Mystery still surrounds dementia patient death -- The Canberra Times
Mystery still surrounds the death of a 94-year-old resident of the facility, who was found with facial injuries after a disturbance in the 32-bed secure dementia ward of the Jindalee Aged Care Residence in Narrabundah in January.
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Lawyer Gets Prison Time For Cheating Alzheimer's Patient -- Indiana News
An Indianapolis lawyer who cheated an Alzheimer's patient out of tens of thousands of dollars and drained another family's trust was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison.
Read More
Pooches help to spark happy memories at Alzheimer’s Support in Devizes -- Wiltshire News
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| Dementia patients from the Sidmouth Club in Devizes with winning whippets Monty and Dave |
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More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room
- What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
- Something Had to Change
- Alzheimer's Caregivers are the Chosen
- What is Alzheimer's Disease?
- What is Dementia?
- Communicating in Alzheimer's World
- Alzheimer's and Learning How to Trust
- Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
- Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
- Rewiring My Brain and Stepping into Alzheimer's World
- Why I Invented Alzheimer's World and the Power of Positive Reinforcement
Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room
Understanding of the Tau Mechanism in Alzheimer's Disease Progression
Mount Sinai scientists have determined how a pathological brain protein called tau contributes to the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have gained insight into the mechanism by which a pathological brain protein called tau contributes to the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative disorders.
This finding, published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, may provide the basis for future investigations on how to prevent tau from damaging brain circuits involved in cognitive function.
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Researchers Gain Better Understanding of the Mechanism Behind Alzheimer's Disease Progression
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| Giulio Maria Pasinetti |
A research group led by Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PhD, Saunders Family Chair in Neurology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, explored whether misfolded tau released by neurons from the human brain – also known as paired helical filaments (PHFs) – could actually be taken up by surrounding cells and promote the spread of tau neuropathology. The evidence was gathered by treating human neuronal cell lines with human Alzheimer's disease-derived PHFs. The researchers found that not only did the cells in fact internalize the human PHFs, the abnormal tau then propagated its abnormal state to the native, normal tau protein in the cells.
"While these findings are potentially important for possibly opening new therapeutic avenues in Alzheimer's disease, they also shed light on a new therapeutic target for a wide variety of disorders sharing pathological features with Alzheimer's disease, for which there are currently no cures," said Dr. Pasinetti. "Such diseases include Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, frontotemporal dementia, and other devastating neurodegenerative disorders in which misfolded tau forms aggregates in the brain."Next the researchers treated the same cell lines with a grape-seed extract enriched in polyphenols, which are natural compounds found in grapes, fruits, and vegetables, based on 2011 research showing the efficacy of this extract in preventing the progression of AD in mice. Dr. Pasinetti's group found that a subfraction of this natural grape-seed extract enriched in polyphenols was able to prevent the cell-to-cell spread of tau pathology in the same human neuronal cell lines.
"Pathology in neurodegenerative disorders is thought to be initiated decades before disease onset," said Dr. Pasinetti. "While further research is needed in humans, we hypothesize that this grape-derived compound may be a promising therapy for not only treating but preventing neurodegenerative disorders involving tau neuropathology."Dr. Pasinetti and Jun Wang, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Mount Sinai, are named inventors of a pending application filed by Mount Sinai School of Medicine titled "Methods Preventing Neurodegenerative Disease" related to the use of grape-seed extracts for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and may benefit financially from this patent.
About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States.
For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org.
More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room
- What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
- Something Had to Change
- Alzheimer's Caregivers are the Chosen
- What is Alzheimer's Disease?
- What is Dementia?
- Communicating in Alzheimer's World
- Alzheimer's and Learning How to Trust
- Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
- Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
- Rewiring My Brain and Stepping into Alzheimer's World
- Why I Invented Alzheimer's World and the Power of Positive Reinforcement
Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room
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