‘Ground Zero’ Of Alzheimer’s: Locus Coeruleus Identified As Critical Starting Point Of Disease

A region in the brain called the locus coeruleus, which produces nerepinephrine, may play a crucial role in the development (and potential prevention) of Alzheimer’s, a new study finds. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California, dubs this brain region as the “ground zero” of Alzheimer’s disease.

The locus coerleus is small, but it’s interconnected with a lot of the body’s processes — including the circulatory and cardiovascular systems, attention, memory, cognitive function, and identifying novel information. It’s also involved in the physiological responses to stress and anxiety, and its main function is producing norepinephrine, which plays a role as both a neurotransmitter and hormone during the fight-or-flight response to stress. Norepinephrine can impact heart rate, glucose release, and blood flow as it’s pushed from the locus coerleus to the spinal cord, cerebral cortex, and limbic system.

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Loss For Words Could Be Brain Disorder, Not Alzheimer’s

A mysterious brain disorder can be confused with early Alzheimer’s disease although it isn’t robbing patients of their memories but of the words to talk about them.

It’s called primary progressive aphasia, and researchers said Sunday they’re finding better ways to diagnose the little-known syndrome. That will help people whose thoughts are lucid but who are verbally locked in to get the right kind of care.

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10 Memory Tips for Individuals With Alzheimer’s Disease

Whether you are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, you are caring for, or you know someone with this condition, one of the scariest parts of this disease is the memory loss. When memory loss first becomes noticeable it can be frustrating, emotional and overwhelming for everyone involved. Many people take every memory-lapse as a sign that their condition is worsening and it can make handling dementia and Alzheimer’s disease even more challenging. While there are certain treatments that can slow down the progression of dementia, one of the many things that individuals with Alzheimer’s can do is to start implementing a few strategies that will help them with their memory.

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Nursing-home staff training on dementia debated

Nursing-home representatives and advocates for people with Alzheimer’s disease squared off Monday over whether the state should require care-facility employees to show they understand how to serve people with dementia.

About 20 lobbyists surrounded three legislators giving an initial review to a bill on the matter. House Study Bill 566 would require training about dementia for new employees and would require that they demonstrate they understand the training. Supporters of the bill said the second part would be its main change.

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Alzheimer's preventative drug hope

Scientists have detected a number of drugs which could help protect against Alzheimer's disease, acting like statins for the brain.

In experiments on worms, University of Cambridge researchers identified drugs which prevented the very first step towards brain cell death.

They now want to match up drugs with specific stages of the disease.

Experts said it was important to find out if these drugs could work safely in humans.

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Innovative treatment holds promise for new approach to Alzheimer's treatment

In decades of research, scientists have focused on eliminating the signature plaques of Alzheimer’s to fight the devastating disease. Now, a drug in phase-II trials is taking a new approach, focusing on strengthening cells’ protection against neurological attacks, which may be a game changer, Time reported.

Dr. Frank Longo of Stanford University School of Medicine and his team are studying the treatment LM11A-31, or C31, as his team calls it, in combination with anti-amyloid and anti-tau therapies, which Time reported could be a potent counterpunch to neurological problems from memory loss to confusion to loss of language.

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Alzheimer’s: Four Activities You Can Do to Help Your Loved Ones

Hundreds of thousands of people on this planet live with Alzheimer’s, a devastating disease that slowly shuts down their cognitive functions. Attributed as the most common cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s leads to memory loss, reduction in brain efficiency and problem solving and, often, difficulties with language, whether writing or speaking. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s, but treatment is usually typified by a mixture of drugs and activity - both physical and mental.

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High Stress Levels Can Dramatically Increase Your Risk For Alzheimer’s

Stress is a killer — for both the body and the brain. 

Over time, chronic stress can contribute to a host of negative health outcomes, including heart disease, depression, diabetes and obesity. And according to new research, high stress levels late in life can contribute significantly to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. 

Neurologists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System in New York found that older adults who reported experiencing high stress levels were twice as likely to develop the memory problems that tend to precede full-blown Alzheimer’s. 

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When Someone With Dementia Says, “I Want to Go Home”

I used to dread the moment near the end of a visit with my Gram (who had Alzheimer’s) when she’d perk up from a semi-stupor in which she no longer recognized me: “Where’s my purse? Have we paid yet? Let’s go home.” Briefly, she sounded almost like her jolly old self.

No matter how long I was there, or what we did, it ended like a perpetual restaurant outing. Except of course that she lived at this “restaurant.”

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fMRI Study Documents Decline in Memory Activation Over Time in Cognitively Intact Elders with APOE ɛ4

In recent years, prevention has become a major focus of Alzheimer disease (AD) research because once AD pathology has advanced, treating patients at this stage does little to slow disease progression or improve cognitive function.

The focus of our research at Cleveland Clinic and increasing numbers of other centers has therefore been identifying the brain changes that happen a decade or more before clinical symptoms manifest and finding biomarkers that can be used to assess interventions that can slow or prevent disease progression.

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