Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Memory, Surgical Research / 23.01.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Pascual Sánchez-Juan, MD, PhD Servicio de Neurología Hospital Universitario "Marqués de Valdecilla" Unidad de Deterioro Cognitivo https://www.facebook.com/deteriorocognitivovaldecilla Director científico Biobanco Valdecilla Avda Marqués de Valdecilla s/n  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Alzheimer's disease is one of the greatest public health challenges. From the moment the first lesions appear in the brain to the clinical manifestations, up to 20 years can pass. Today we can detect the presence of these initial lesions through biochemical markers such as amyloid-β, which is one of the main proteins accumulated in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. The prevalence of cerebral amyloid-β pathology in cognitively asymptomatic individuals increases with age. It has been estimated that 21.1% of the population at the age of 65 will have a positive amyloid scan or a pathological cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid-β determination, and which will double by the age of 90. Due to the aging of our societies and advances made in medical care, an increasing number of elderly and more fragile people are considered candidates for major surgery. In preoperative screenings, respiratory and cardiovascular functions are routinely checked; however, it is not commonly assessed how the brain is going to cope with the intervention. In the clinic, the patient’s relatives frequently tell us that the memory problems began after a surgical procedure or a hospital admission. This posed us the following question: is this just a recall bias or has surgery triggered the appearance of the symptoms in a previously affected brain?” (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Diabetes / 27.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Erin L. Abner PhD Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Center College of Public Health, University of Kentucky Lexington, KY  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Abner: Diabetes is an important public health concern, and it has been linked to cognitive impairment and dementia, including dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, in multiple studies of aging and cognition. Diabetes is considered by many to be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, and there are many good reasons for scientists to have come to this conclusion. But, there are many brain diseases other than Alzheimer’s that cause dementia, and correctly identifying Alzheimer’s in a clinical patient can be deceptively difficult. When we looked at a very large sample of autopsied research volunteers (>2000 persons), we found that brain infarcts were more common among people with diabetes compared to people without, but Alzheimer’s pathology was about the same in both groups. Others have made this observation before, but in much smaller samples. Replicating this finding in a large sample is strong evidence that it is in fact cerebrovascular disease and not Alzheimer’s pathology that should be the primary concern among people with diabetes. In addition, we found that having diabetes was predictive of worsened global cognition at the end of life. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Lipids, UCSF / 15.10.2014

MedicalResearch.comInterview with: Mary Malloy, M.D. Co-director of the Adult Lipid Clinic and the director of the Pediatric Lipid Clinic UCSF Medical Center Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Malloy: We studied an individual whom we found to be homozygous for a rare loss of function mutation in apolipoprotein E. Because apolipoprotein E is necessary for clearance of lipoproteins from plasma, he has very high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in blood, and unusual and very severe xanthomas. He had no evidence of neurocognitive or retinal defects. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Coffee / 08.04.2014

Prof. Dr. Christa E. Müller University of Bonn Pharmaceutical Institute Pharmaceutical Chemistry I An der Immenburg 4 D-53121 Bonn (Endenich) Germany MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Dr. Christa E. Müller University of Bonn Pharmaceutical Institute Pharmaceutical Chemistry I An der Immenburg 4  D-53121 Bonn (Endenich) Germany MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Prof. Dr. Christa E. Müller: Genetically altered mice which show an aggregation of Tau protein and many symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease which progressively worsen with time was used. Caffeine was given to one group of mice at an early stage, when the symptoms were still moderate. The caffeine-treated mice showed better memory and less inflammation and brain damages in comparison to the non-treated control mice. This means that caffeine protected the mice to some extent. The side effects were moderate. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Diabetes, Mental Health Research, NIH, University of Pittsburgh / 01.04.2014

Rosebud O Roberts, M.B., Ch.B. Professor of Epidemiology Professor of Neurology Mayo ClinicMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rosebud O Roberts, M.B., Ch.B. Professor of Epidemiology Professor of Neurology Mayo Clinic MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Roberts: We found that among persons 70 years and older, people with type 2 diabetes had a reduced glucose uptake (hypometabolism) in  brain cells.  We also found a similar association for people without type 2 diabetes but who had elevated hemoglobin A1c levels levels at the time of enrollment (HBA1c is a measure of glucose control, and represents the average blood glucose levels over a 3 month period). However, we did not find an association of diabetes with increased brain amyloid accumulation.  Our findings were based on an investigation of the association of type 2 diabetes with markers of brain pathology: brain hypometabolism was assessed by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography [PET] and amyloid accumulation was assessed by 11-C Pittsburgh Compound B PET imaging. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension / 23.11.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dan Nation Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology at University of Southern California Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer:   The main study findings indicate that high blood pressure, specifically pulse pressure (systolic - diastolic pressure), is associated with increased markers of Alzheimer's disease in the cerebral spinal fluid of healthy middle-aged adults.  These results suggest a connection between blood pressure and Alzheimer's disease prior to the onset of any symptoms of the disease. (more…)