The omega-3 in milk

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The omega-3 content of milk can be increased by feeding cows with fish oil, say Australian researchers reporting the results of a new study.

Researchers in Spain are also working to boost levels of the omega-6 fatty acid, CLA, in lamb through changes to the animal's diet.The novel method of fortification did not affect the taste or smell of the milk, they add.

The team from the university of Sydney divided 14 cows in early lactation into two groups. While in individual stalls after each morning milking, one group was offered a mixture of rumen-protected tuna oil and soya in a supplement and the second group acted as control. Both groups grazed together on a spring pasture after supplementation.

Milk from the supplement group saw concentrations of EPA and DHA rise from undetectable levels. Total omega-3 PUFA concentration in milk fat was increased three- to fourfold by tuna-oil supplementation . Meanwhile there were no significant effects on milk production, milk protein or milk fat in the supplemented group. The concentration of total saturated fatty acids in milk fat was significantly reduced (568 v 520g/kg total fatty acids) and there was a 17 per cent reduction in the atherosclerotic index of milk after tuna-oil supplementation.

Demand for omega-3 fatty acids has surged in recent months on the back of increasing scientific evidence for its health benefits. Studies show that intake of these fats can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease and related cardiovascular events. Omega-3 fatty acids also play an important role in mental health - they are increasingly added to infant formula to promote brain development - and evidence suggests that they could reduce risk of Alzheimer's disease.

However omega-3s are produced in biggest quantities from fish oil and this tends to present taste and formulation issues when adding to foods. Companies are increasingly looking at alternatives to fish oil, such as the vegetarian options offered by Martek and Nutrinova derived from microalgae. Irish firm R Craig & Sons Ltd has recently filed a novel foods application for use of ground Chia seed, a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, in bread. UK supplement company Cultech has developed an emulsified fish oil powder, produced using a freeze-drying process, that it claims offers greater stability and longer shelf-life over oils. The product can also be added to a wider range of applications and early tests suggest the DHA and EPA in the powder could be more bioavailable than in the original oil form.

The study, published in a recent issue of the British Journal of Nutrition(2004, vol 91, no 2, pp 271-278(8).

Reduce Side Effects In The Treatment Of Protein Plaques

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When protein plaque builds up in the blood, it can result in serious diseases such as heart disease and Alzheimer's. Cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors, a class of drugs under investigation for the treatment of one cause of plaque build-up, also exhibit negative side effects.

Researchers in the International Institute of Nano and Molecular Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia are studying the possible use of carboranes, which are clusters of boron and carbon atoms, to prevent such side effects. These boron-rich clusters are substituted for carbon-based benzene rings commonly found in pharmaceuticals of all types, including COX inhibitors, which give unwanted side effects. COX activity is seen in common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen. However, prolonged use of COX inhibitors can result in a variety of negative side effects, such as possible digestive and liver problems. Some COX inhibitors have recently been pulled from the market due to an increased risk of heart complications.

The protein transythyretin acts as a shuttle to transport thyroxine, a hormone, throughout the body. As the least important of the three blood proteins that carry thyroxine, transthyretin also has a tendency to fall apart and form tough, insoluble plaques, sometimes causing injury to delicate tissues. Certain people are genetically more likely to have the proteins fall apart, increasing the risks. Investigators have found that in laboratory experiments, certain COX inhibitors help stabilize the structure of transthyretin protein, and therefore prevent harmful plaque formation. "The successful identification of carborane-containing surrogates for known COX inhibitors based exclusively on carbon chemistry greatly strengthens the concept that carboranes can be substituted for carbon-rich portions of known pharmaceuticals, and in so doing, improve its efficacy and safety," said M. Frederick Hawthorne, professor of radiology and chemistry and director of the International Institute for Nano and Molecular Medicine.

Hawthorne and his fellow researchers have found that carboranes can be useful in staving off the negative side effects of COX inhibitors while still completing the task of preventing protein plaque buildup. Carboranes are man-made small molecules that are very stable. Because they are unnatural, the body does not recognize carboranes. This lack of recognition has the benefit of increasing drug circulation time as well as preventing the body from metabolizing the drug into potentially damaging products. Due to their unique structure, even direct carborane analogues of COX inhibitors won't act as pain relievers but will do the beneficial work of preventing protein plaque formation.

Next, researchers will test the carborane analogs with the genetic variant proteins, hoping to find the new drugs to be broadly applicable. Eventually, simple cellular tests will be performed to look for toxicity, which will then lead to the development of a simple animal model. The technique of using carboranes and other boranes in drug development also holds promise for treating other illnesses. Like designing a set of keys that each fit only one lock, researchers hope to use carboranes to make many other drugs that are very specific and therefore reduce detrimental side effects.

Native kinase profiling
ActivX has launched a new profiling platform, ... on various different cancer indications, other drug candidates have targeted kinases' role in Alzheimer's, ...

Low dose aspirin and cognitive function

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Taking low dose aspirin does not protect older women against cognitive decline, finds a large study published on bmj.com today.

Identifying ways to prevent dementia is a public health priority. Evidence suggests that aspirin and other anti-inflammatory drugs may protect against dementia, but data from randomised studies to date have been inconclusive. So researchers in the US decided to test the effect of long term use of low dose aspirin on overall cognitive decline among a large sample of women.

Scientists at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts identified 6,377 women aged 65 years or more, who were taking part in the Women's health study between 1998 and 2004. The women were randomly divided into two groups. Over a period of nearly 10 years, the first group took low dose aspirin (100 mg on alternate days) and the second group took a placebo pill. Each woman had three cognitive assessments at two year intervals to measure general cognition, verbal memory, and category fluency. At the initial assessment (after 5.6 years of treatment) cognitive performance in the aspirin group was similar to that of the placebo group. Average performance across all tests from the first to the final assessment (after 9.6 years of treatment) was also similar in the aspirin group compared with the placebo group. The risk of substantial decline was also comparable between the groups. There was some suggestion that women in the aspirin group performed better in the category fluency test than women in the placebo group. However, the authors stress that this result should be interpreted with caution.

They conclude: "In this study, we observed no apparent benefit of low dose aspirin in slowing cognitive decline over four years. Other methods for preserving cognitive function in older people need to be investigated."

Dairy linked to Parkinson's disease, study
Men who consume large amounts of dairy foods may increase...

Humanizing Dementia Care

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Through an intensive comparative study of two nursing home units using contrasting approaches to dementia care for elders with severely disturbed behaviors, Central Michigan University professor of anthropology Athena McLean has found that "humanizing" approaches to dementia care may not only extend quality of life for patients, but also their length of life.

In McLean's recently published book, "The Person in Dementia: A Study of Nursing Home Care in the U.S.," she discusses the dramatic contrasts in the outcomes of the two approaches to dementia care: a rigid task-oriented maintenance approach emphasizing disease progression and a flexible person-sustaining approach attentive to elders' communication and individual needs.

McLean found dramatic differences between life quality of the patients at the two nursing units. The patients at the unit that focused on "personhood", or looking beyond physical and reasoning abilities to a person's will and relationship with others, were found to be happier, had an overall improved quality of life and even lived longer. Those at the unit emphasizing disability and pathology tended to have their personal needs ignored, were heavily medicated and often failed to thrive.

"These findings address issues that medicine can't answer," said McLean. "They are valuable not only for improving the general quality of life for these elders, but also for the long-term outcome based on how they are treated and cared for. These elders require attention, time and a lot of caring interaction." McLean's findings also demonstrated how relations among professional and administrative staff within a facility can significantly affect the quality of the dementia care elders receive.

"I want people to see that dementia need not evoke the terror that the term Alzheimer's usually raises and that there is still hope in cases that many think are lost," said McLean. "Good caregivers are leaving the profession because they are underpaid and unappreciated. It needs to be understood by policy makers, family members and clinicians alike that money needs to be put into retaining quality caregiving staff, instead of only fancy facilities, which is currently the trend." McLean is a cultural and medical anthropologist who spent more than ten years conducting full-time research before coming to CMU. Her studies of medicine and aging include examination of issues in international aging and the psychiatric consumer/survivor movement in the United States.

Celebrities join milk health push
A group of UK celebrities led by the footballer Wayne Rooney's fiancée have linked up with dairy firms to promote the health benefits of milk among teenage girls...

Key To Memory Storage In Brain

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Scientists know little about how the brain assigns cells to participate in encoding and storing memories. Now a UCLA/University of Toronto team has discovered that a protein called CREB controls the odds of a neuron playing a role in memory formation. The findings, which are reported in Science, suggest a new approach for preserving memory in people suffering from Alzheimer's or other brain injury.

"Making a memory is not a conscious act," explained Alcino Silva, principal investigator and a professor of neurobiology and psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Learning triggers a cascade of chemicals in the brain that influence which memories are kept and which are lost. "Earlier studies have linked the CREB protein to keeping memories stable," added Silva, a member of the UCLA Brain Research Institute. "We suspected it also played a key role in channeling memories to brain cells that are ready to store them."

Silva and his colleagues used a mouse model to evaluate their hypothesis. They implanted CREB into a virus, which they introduced into some of the cells in the animal's amygdala, a brain region critical to emotional memory. To visualize which brain cells stored the mouse's memories about the cage, the scientists tracked a genetic marker that reveals recent neuron activity. When the team examined the animals' amygdalas after the experiment, they found substantial amounts of CREB and the marker in neurons.

"We discovered that the amount of CREB influences whether or not the brain stores a memory," said Silva. "If a cell is low in CREB, it is less likely to keep a memory. If the cell is high in CREB, it is more likely to store the memory." "By artificially manipulating CREB levels among groups of cells, we can determine where the brain stores its memories," he explained. "This approach could potentially be used to preserve memory in people suffering from Alzheimer's or other brain injury. We may be able to guide memories into healthy cells and away from sick cells in dying regions of the brain."

Our memories define who we are, so learning how the brain stores memory is fundamental to understanding what it is to be human, Silva observed. "A memory is not a static snapshot," he said. "Memories serve a purpose. They are about acquiring information that helps us deal with similar situations in the future. What we recall helps us learn from our past experiences and better shape our lives."

Scientists explain luteins anti-inflammatory role
Scientists in the US have identified a mechanism that may explain how lutein acts against...

Patch As Treatment For Alzheimer's

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Results of a large-scale study published last week in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry show that Exelon® Patch, the first skin patch in development for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, was well tolerated and provided benefits across a range of symptoms.

Exelon Patch (rivastigmine transdermal patch) is designed to provide smooth, continuous delivery of the drug through the skin. This maintains steady drug levels in the bloodstream, improving tolerability and allowing a higher proportion of patients to receive therapeutic doses of medication, with potential improvements in efficacy. During the 24-week IDEAL study of 1,195 patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease 1, patients using once-daily Exelon Patch had improved memory and thinking, and were better able to perform everyday activities than those on placebo 1. In addition, the target dose of Exelon Patch 10 provided equivalent efficacy to the highest doses of Exelon capsules with three times fewer reports of nausea and vomiting 1. The patch showed a low level of skin irritation and very good skin adhesion over 24 hours in a range of everyday situations including bathing, and in hot weather.

In addition, more than 70 percent of caregivers in the IDEAL study preferred the patch as a method of drug delivery for reasons including aiding them to follow the treatment schedule, overall ease of use, and less interference with daily life. "In the IDEAL study, the Exelon Patch not only provided significantly superior results compared to placebo, but also similar efficacy to the highest dose of rivastigmine capsules, with dramatically improved tolerability," said lead study investigator Professor Bengt Winblad of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. "These promising data indicate that the Exelon Patch may provide an optimal way to deliver rivastigmine to people with Alzheimer's disease."

Exelon (rivastigmine tartrate) is a dual cholinesterase inhibitor that is already approved in oral form in many countries for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease and dementia associated with Parkinson's disease. The IDEAL study results will support the regulatory submission of the Exelon Patch to health authorities worldwide. If approved, the Exelon Patch would be the first transdermal therapy for Alzheimer's disease, a degenerative brain disorder that affects 24 million people worldwide.

Prebiotics again studied as probiotic encapsulators
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Docosahexaenoic acid
can help prevent the Alzheimer's

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A type of omega-3 fatty acid may slow the growth of two brain lesions that are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, UC Irvine scientists have discovered. The finding suggests that diets rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can help prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease later in life.

This study with genetically modified mice is the first to show that DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid, can slow the accumulation of tau, a protein that leads to the development of neurofibrillary tangles. Such tangles are one of two signature brain lesions of Alzheimer’s disease. DHA also was found to reduce levels of the protein beta amyloid, which can clump in the brain and form plaques, the other Alzheimer’s lesion. Previous studies have shown that DHA may have therapeutic value for Alzheimer’s patients, but this research is among the first to show that it may delay the onset of the disease. DHA is found in fish, eggs, organ meats, micro-algae, fortified foods and food supplements. The scientists also determined the mechanism by which DHA leads to lower levels of beta amyloid. DHA, they found, leads to lower levels of presenilin, an enzyme responsible for cutting beta amyloid from its parent, the amyloid precursor protein. Without presenilin, beta amyloid cannot be generated. When clumped into plaques, beta amyloid disrupts communication between cells and leads to symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

This latest study adds to growing evidence that diet and lifestyle changes may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. LaFerla and his team have previously shown that short but repeated learning sessions can slow the physical progression of Alzheimer’s in mice, suggesting that the elderly can delay onset of the disease by keeping their minds active. The team also found that stress hormones appear to rapidly exacerbate the formation of plaques and tangles, suggesting that managing stress could slow the progression of Alzheimer’s. "We are greatly excited by these results, which show us that simple changes in diet can positively alter the way the brain works and lead to protection from Alzheimer's disease pathology," said Frank LaFerla, professor of neurobiology and behavior and co-author of the study.

Better omega-3 to omega-6 ratio could reduce depression study
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Proteins important in Alzheimer's

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Using a novel video-imaging system, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have been able to observe proteins important in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease moving along axons, extensions of nerve cells that carry proteins away from the cell body. Understanding this process of axonal transport is important for studying many neurodegenerative diseases. The study appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Axonal transport often breaks down and many neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by defects in this process. Of particular interest is a group of transported proteins called slow component-b that includes synuclein and tau, disease proteins involved in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, respectively, in addition to many other proteins critical for axonal growth and regeneration.

"There are two basic transport groups called fast and slow components, with a 200 to 300 fold difference in average velocities," says first author Subhojit Roy, MD, PhD, a neuropathologist and Research Associate in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Roy devised a system to simultaneously visualize the transport of two labeled slow-component-b proteins in living cultured mouse axons. This clarified unique aspects of slow-protein transport. He found that the "slow" proteins actually showed rapid bursts of movement followed by pauses. This intermittent transport behavior of individual cargoes made the overall population slow and suggests that fast and slow proteins use the same basic mechanisms for transport.

Surprisingly, the videos also revealed that multiple slow proteins are transported together as "packets," essentially piggy-backing on each other, possibly on the same specialized proteins called molecular motors. "It makes sense when you think about it - why would the neurons spend so much energy transporting proteins separately when they're going to the same place anyway, like car pooling" speculates Roy.

Tracking Movements Of People With Dementia

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Responding to comments by Science and Technology Minister Malcolm Wicks, the Alzheimer's Society today welcomed the debate on electronic tagging, saying that while the proposal to track the movements of people with dementia could have potential benefits, consideration of ethical and practical issues was needed.

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, says, "Electronic tagging can certainly help people with dementia achieve greater independence and dignity, and reduce the concern and worry that carers may have about the person they care for. But we need to strike a balance between the benefits to an individual and the ethics of electronic tagging." There are a whole range of exciting technologies available to support people with dementia. Electronic tagging may give people with dementia greater freedom, but we need to talk to people with dementia and their carers to understand what is right for them."

A new helpcard recently launched by the Alzheimer's Society provides an effective and discrete tool for people to explain their diagnosis when they are out on their own. Carried inside a purse or wallet it includes contact details for a carer, friend or relative and supports people with dementia to maintain their independence.
-- 1 in 3 older people will end their lives with a form of dementia.
-- 700,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia, more than half have Alzheimer's disease. In less than 20 years nearly a million people will be living with dementia. This will soar to 1.7 million people by 2051. 1 in 5 people over 80 have dementia.
-- The Alzheimer's Society champions the rights of people living with dementia and those who care for them. The Alzheimer's Society works in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Martek expands science behind DHA's Alzheimer's protection
A pre-clinical study, supported by Martek, shows that the omega-3...

Brain structure changes years before

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People who develop dementia or Alzheimer's disease experience brain structure changes years before any signs of memory loss begin, according to a study published in Neurology®, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers say these findings may help identify people at risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which leads to Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers performed brain scans and cognitive tests on 136 people over the age of 65 who were considered cognitively normal at the beginning of the five-year study. Participants were then followed annually with neurologic examination and extensive mental status testing. By the end of the study, 23 people had developed MCI, and nine of the 23 went on to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The brain scans of the 23 people with memory loss were then compared to the 113 people who remained cognitively normal.

Compared to the group that didn't develop memory problems, the 23 people who developed MCI or Alzheimer's disease had less gray matter in key memory processing areas of their brains even at the beginning of the study when they were cognitively normal.

"We found that changes in brain structure are present in clinically normal people an average of four years before MCI diagnosis," said study author Charles D. Smith, MD, with the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington and member of the American Academy of Neurology. "We knew that people with MCI or Alzheimer's disease had less brain volume, but before now we didn't know if these brain structure changes existed, and to what degree, before memory loss begins."

In addition, the study found those people destined to develop MCI had lower cognitive test scores at the beginning of the study compared to the group that didn't develop memory problems, even though these scores were still within normal range.

"These findings of structural changes in cognitively normal people before memory loss begins aren't surprising given Alzheimer's disease may be present for many years before symptoms of the disease begin to appear," said Smith.

Treatment For Alzheimer's Disease

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Alzheimer's disease usually begins after age 60, and the risk increases with age. According to the National Institute on Aging, about 5 percent of men and women ages 65-74 have Alzheimer's disease, and nearly half of those 85 and older may have the disease. The National Institute on Aging estimates that as many as 4.5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease, which leads to dementia by affecting parts of the brain that control thought, memory and language.

A molecule designed by a Purdue University researcher could lead to the first drug treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The new molecule prevents the first step in a chain of events that leads to amyloid plaque formation in the brain.

Jordan Tang, head of the Protein Studies Research Program at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, is one of the discoverers of the critical enzyme and target for intervention. Tang discovered a key enzyme called memapsin 2, or beta-secretase, that is involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease. The action of this enzyme on a special protein, called the amyloid precursor protein, leads to the formation of plaques in the brain. The development of an inhibitor compound targeting memapsin 2 could block this reaction, thus preventing the disease. Utilizing Tang's information about the enzyme, Ghosh, the Purdue professor who designed the first memapsin 2 inhibitor. As a therapeutic target, memapsin 2 has an additional advantage because it belongs to a class of enzymes called aspartyl proteases.

Ghosh's team achieved a breakthrough in Alzheimer's disease research when they were the first to use a method called X-ray crystallography to map the structure of Ghosh's designed inhibitor bound to the enzyme. This revealed information necessary to move the research forward and develop molecules that could be used in drugs.

Research into memapsin 2 faced a setback when memapsin 1, an enzyme very similar in structure, was discovered. Unlike memapsin 2, memapsin1 is involved in many important biological processes and its inhibition would cause serious adverse side effects, Ghosh said. "Unfortunately, all of our early designed compounds that were potent against memapsin 2 also inhibited memapsin 1," he said. "Selective inhibition of memapsin 2, or building selectivity, became very important. The scientific community was faced with a formidable challenge." "According to our studies, inhibition of memapsin 2 does not cause toxic side effects," Tang said.

Ghosh and Tang founded the biopharmaceutical company Zapaq, located in Oklahoma City, which now has merged with CoMentis. San Francisco-based CoMentis has used the research results of Ghosh and Tang to begin to develop pharmaceuticals. A drug from the memapsin 2 inhibitor could go into the first phase of clinical trials this year and begin the lengthy trial process necessary before the FDA approves a drug to be available on the market.

Better omega-3 to omega-6 ratio could reduce depression study
20/04/2007 - Improving the ration of omega-3 to omega-6 in the diet may improve mood and reduce depression, suggests a new study.

Early Diagnosis Of Alzheimer's Offered

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Research by faculty and staff at Rowan University, Glassboro, N.J.; the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; and Drexel University may lead to better diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

In a $1.1-million National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Aging study that team members conducted during the last three years, they determined early Alzheimer's could be diagnosed with a high rate of accuracy evaluating electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. The study may lead to an earlier diagnosis, and therefore earlier treatment and improved quality of life, for people at the earliest stages of the disease.

Rowan University electrical and computer engineering associate professor Dr. Robi Polikar conducted the research with Dr. Christopher Clark, associate professor of neurology, associate director of the NIH-sponsored Alzheimer's Disease Center at Penn and director of the Penn Memory Center, and with Dr. John Kounios, a Drexel psychology professor. "Individuals in the earliest stage of Alzheimer's disease are often not aware of their progressing memory loss, and family members often believe the changes are simply due to aging," Clark said. "Even the patient's personal physician may be reluctant to initiate an evaluation until a considerable degree of brain failure has occurred. The advantage of using a modified EEG to detect these early changes is that it is non-invasive, simple to do, can be repeated when necessary and can be done in a physician's office. This makes it an ideal method to screen elderly individuals for the earliest indication of this common scourge of late life."

Kounios and his team acquired the EEG data from the participants. They used a specific protocol, called the "oddball paradigm with novel sounds," to collect the EEG signals, during which patients hear a series of low- and high-frequency tones as well as some novel sounds. Patients were asked to respond by pressing a button every time they heard the high frequency tone, also known as the "oddball" tone, which generates ERPs in the EEG. Generally, in the ERP of a person without Alzheimer's, that response registers a peak, the P300, about 300 milliseconds after the "oddball" tone. People with dementia, particularly Alzheimer's, may exhibit that peak much later than 300 milliseconds, show a much weaker peak or have no peak at all, according to Polikar. Kounios said the P300 signal is generated by areas of the brain that seem to be attacked at an early phase of Alzheimer's disease, but the results are not always conclusive.

The teams conducted several experiments, ultimately evaluating the parietal and occipital regions of the brains of 71 patients, some already diagnosed with Alzheimer's and some without Alzheimer's. Their diagnostic accuracy rate was 82 to 85 percent using the EEGs (e.g., it matched evaluations conducted at Penn 82 to 85 percent of the time). Alzheimer's disease cannot be confirmed until a patient has died and his or her brain has been examined. Gold standard tests administered at world-class research facilities, such as Penn, have a 90-percent accuracy rate. However, most people are evaluated at community hospitals and clinics, where the diagnostic accuracy is estimated to be around 75 percent.

Though the study's accuracy rate is under that 90-percent figure, it still means the test potentially could have great value to physicians and patients and their families, and the results are particularly significant for patients who have limited access to teaching hospitals, where they may undergo six to 12 months of evaluation for a diagnosis.
"Modern engineering methods are enabling us to take EEG, an 80-year-old technique for measuring brain activity, and turn it into a cutting-edge tool for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease," Kounios added. "We don't envision this replacing a neurologist," Polikar said. "We hope it can serve as a first test for those folks who don't have access to research facilities." If the initial test indicates a possible problem, physicians could refer the patient to a research hospital for further evaluation. "Our ultimate goal is to increase the number of patients who are diagnosed earlier so they can start treatment sooner and slow the progress of Alzheimer's and improve their quality of life," Polikar said.

Ingredients Affecting Health and Wellness: Innovations and Trends to Watch in 2007

Heading into 2007, health and wellness remains the top priority for food manufacturers and consumers alike. The overall number of health messages and the nuances in the messages themselves resultin ... read more

New Device Helps Dementia Patients

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A new device which helps people with dementia to wash their hands has been developed by the computing experts at the University of Dundee. The device, which has been developed in conjunction with the University of Toronto, uses live video of the person washing their hands. If they forget which stage they are at it will prompt them with an audio or visual cue.

Dr Jesse Hoey says, "Hand washing is a very important problem in the development of technology for people with dementia. Often they want to stay in their own home as long as possible, but they can only do that with help. Of course, the bathroom is the one place where they really want some privacy, so we want to develop techniques to help them there. Toileting is a primary concern, but there are a lot of ethical issues when it comes to developing a device that watches a person on the toilet. Hand washing is a safe and simple alternative for research, that nevertheless presents many of the same challenges from a technological point of view.

Dr Hoey recently moved to the University of Dundee from Toronto. He now plans to refine the device, so that it can identify when a persons' dementia is getting worse and react accordingly. Another avenue of research is using the device for other tasks in the home, perhaps tooth brushing, or cooking. Dr Hoey presented a paper on his research at the International Conference on Computer Vision Systems where it won the IAPR (International Association for Pattern Recognition) Best Paper Award. The device is now being tested clinically at a long term care facility in Toronto.

Martek expands science behind DHA's Alzheimer's protection
18/04/2007 - A pre-clinical study, supported by Martek, shows that the omega-3 fatty acid DHA may cut the build-up of a certain protein linked to Alzheimer's, said to be the first such study to show report such results.

Help people to remember

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As approximately 1.9 million elderly people in Europe experience a form of dementia. A pan-European research project is seeking to help them 'navigate their day' and improve their quality of life.

The recently launched CogKnow project, funded under the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), aims to help people to remember, maintain social contact, perform daily life activities and enhance their feelings of safety. Dr Nugent from the University of Ulster in the UK told CORDIS News: 'We are delighted to be involved in this project which is working towards the development of tangible home-based solutions to support persons with memory loss problems. 'The project is unique in the way that both patients and carers will contribute to the design of the discrete user-friendly technology,' he added.

As the technical coordinator of the project, the role of the university will be to research and prototype assistive technologies to support people with memory loss by providing easily recognisable prompts to help them navigate through their day.

Following the results of a first study where people with dementia described their unmet needs, the project partners have now begun work on a portable cognitive prosthetic device which will help with information, communication, safety and reminders. For example, the first function, currently in development, is called 'picture dialling', whereby the user need only press a button with a picture on the device for a phone connection to be made to a carer or a member of the family. Another function being considered uses radio frequency Identification (RFID) technology to track the movements of patients and send out an alarm if they forget an appointment or need to take medicine.

Dr Nugent said that although the project is still in its early stages, this first study had provided invaluable input and guidance on which to base initial technical developments. 'Now we plan to evaluate the deployment of our first technical solutions during the summer of 2007 in Northern Ireland, Sweden and the Netherlands, where we will assess rudimentary issues such as usefulness and user friendliness of the technology,' he said. In its first year the project will stick to developing this low-level technology with an eye on progressing to ambient intelligence and its enhanced possibilities for contextual awareness and automated support functionalities.

Dementia is a progressive, disabling, chronic disease affecting 5% of all persons above 65, and over 40% of people over 90 years old. The term dementia refers to a combination of symptoms involving impairments of memory, speech, thought, perception and reasoning.

Kinases' role in Alzheimer's

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ActivX has launched a new profiling platform, which the company claims allows the functional analysis of twice the number of protein kinases than competing systems.

The KiNativ platform has been launched to address the problem of designing safe and effective kinase inhibitors by allowing the screening of over 450 kinases. The technique will find applications in drug target discovery, lead optimisation, toxicology and clinical development. Protein kinases represent the largest family of mammalian enzymes and regulate cellular signalling pathways by modifying the activity of specific proteins by phosphorylation. There are over 500 human protein kinases which all share striking structural similarities.

The kinase inhibitor market has been predicted by Pharmaprojects to grow to $58.6bn by 2010, with GlaxoSmithKline's Tykerb (lapatinib) the latest inhibitor to have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

While the majority of kinase inhibitors such as Tykerb, AstraZeneca's Iressa (gefitinib) and Bristol-Myers Squibb's Sprycel (dasatinib) all focus on various different cancer indications, other drug candidates have targeted kinases' role in Alzheimer's, diabetes and arthritis.

The new platform uses biotinylated acyl phosphates of ATP or ADP that irreversibly react with the kinases. The labelled fragments can then be sequenced and analysed by LC-MS/MS (liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry). This allows not only the determination of which kinases are present in the biological sample and their relative abundance, but also competition studies between probes and inhibitors to determine inhibitor potency.

The potential health benefits of tea

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Scientists in the US are looking into the potential of green tea polyphenols to stop the Maillard reaction in thermally processed dairy to prevent dark colours and off-flavours.
The potential health benefits of tea, which have mainly focused on green tea, have been receiving considerable levels of study, with scientists reporting a wide range of effects, including a lower risk of certain cancers, improved heart health, weight loss, and protection against Alzheimer's. The control milk and milk with added tea extract were subsequently tested by 80 consumers to evaluate their liking, and therefore acceptance, of the product.The research is one of the few studies that look beyond the health benefits of green tea extracts and reports a food formulation application for the polyphenols.

Green tea contains between 30 and 40 per cent of water-extractable polyphenols, while black tea (green tea that has been oxidized by fermentation) contains between 3 and 10 per cent.The four primary polyphenols found in fresh tealeaves are epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, and epicatechin (EC).

The new research focussed on the ability of green tea flavonoids EGCG and EC to control Maillard browning during the UHT milk.The Maillard reaction is also known as non-enzymatic browing. The carbonyl group of the sugar reacts with the amino group of the amino acid to form N-glycosylamine, which is unstable and, via the "Amadori rearrangement", produces ketosamines. These so-called Amadori compounds are involved in a cascade of further reactions that can eventually result in the formation of dark colours, off-flavours and a loss of nutritional content.

The researchers used front-face fluorescence spectroscopy (FFFS) to monitor the levels of furosine and lactulose (markers of the Maillard reaction) in UHT milk, and found that the control milk (no green tea extract additives) when stored at 35 and 45 degrees had almost double the fluorescence after 150 days. Addition of 0.1 millimoles of EC and EGCG is reported to have reduced Maillard fluorescence, compared to the control milk.

"Consumer sensory testing analysis found the green tea milk samples were liked as well or better than the control milk samples," report the researchers."These flavonoids may be of use to the food industry to control Maillard browning," they concluded.

Only recently the potential of green tea as a luxury flavour was reported by FoodNavigator.com. Japanese firm, Aiya, was at HIE in Frankfurt recently to promote its range of macha tea ingredients, which it believes has huge potential in a number of food categories. The Japanese firm, which has its European head office in Vienna, was promoting macha primarily as a luxury tea flavour, or in other words a premium food and beverage ingredient. Macha, which is used in Japanese tea ceremony and has been drunk for centuries, is different from traditional tea in that it is not infused but ground. It is also grown differently, and is noticeably more expensive.

Is There a Connection Between Mad Cow Disease and Alzheimer's?

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Despite limited evidence, some researchers fear that just such a connection might exist. In his 2004 book, Brain Trust, biochemist Colm Kelleher argues that Mad Cow Disease (also known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE) has actually been in North American cattle since long before 1993 when the first case was publicly "discovered" in a beef cow in Canada's Alberta province.

According to Kelleher's research, undocumented cases date back at least a quarter century and may have tainted many a steak and hamburger already consumed. Further, Kelleher speculates that the infectious "prion" proteins that cause Mad Cow Disease and its brain-wasting human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), could be a factor in the substantial increase in cases of Alzheimer's disease in recent years.

Some other research bears out Kelleher's claims; though blaming all of the increase in Alzheimer's on rampant prions might be pushing it. Dr. Michael Greger, Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States, cites several studies detailing that as much as 12 percent of all senile dementia or Alzheimer's cases diagnosed in North America these days may actually be cases of CJD.

"It would seem CJD is seriously underdiagnosed at present," says Greger. He goes on to describe how the symptoms and pathology of both Alzheimer's and CJD overlap. Also, he points to epidemiological evidence suggesting that people eating red meat more than four times a week for prolonged periods have a three times higher chance of suffering dementia than long-time vegetarians.

"We don't know exactly what's happening to the rate of CJD in this country, in part because CJD is not an official illness," says Greger, explaining that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) does not actively monitor incidences of the disease. He adds that several clusters of CJD outbreaks have been reported across the continent in recent years and stresses that more studies need to be done to determine just how many of the five million North Americans with Alzheimer's-like symptoms might actually have CJD.

Regardless, nutritionists hardly need more evidence about the potentially negative health effects of eating red meat. For starters, the saturated animal fat in red meat contributes to heart disease and atherosclerosis. Recent research also shows that frequent red meat eaters face twice the risk of colon cancer as those who indulge less often. Red meat is also thought to increase the risks of rheumatoid arthritis and endometriosis.

Meanwhile, according to the American Dietetic Association, vegetarian diets can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease, colon cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension, obesity and other debilitating medical conditions. While red meat is a key source of protein and vitamin B12 in North American diets, nutritionists explain that properly planned meat-free diets easily provide these important nutrients while keeping you healthier in the long run.

Healthy lifestyle

If healthy living depends on knowing your body, then knowing what you eat and where it comes from is of equal importance. For several decades, industrialized production and mass marketing of foods have made it increasingly difficult for consumers to maintain or understand their connection with the source of their foods. At the same time, the eating habits associated with convenience foods have had a negative impact on our physical and social well-being.

The family farmers and employees of Organic Valley encourage you to seek out your local food sources and support their healthy production practices at your local farmers market and at the supermarket. With our regional strategy of food production and distribution, we offer you the opportunity to buy products from the Organic Valley farms nearest to you. We offer you product information, recipes, news, and community with regular updates on this web site.

Knowing what we know about the benefits of organic production, we believe the act of selecting and preparing foods from local and organic farmers is an act of love, a celebration of life, and a positive step toward the bright future we envision for your family and for ours.

An enhanced long-term memory

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A mind-altering mutation in mice results in an enhanced long-term memory, researchers report in the April 6, 2007 issue of the journal Cell, published by Cell Press. These findings point to a potential target for the development of a drug to treat memory loss, according to the researchers.

The researchers studied a gene that normally increases levels of a natural memory-blocking protein. Animals that carry a defective version of this gene showed improved performance in classical behavioral memory tests, they show. Moreover, animals treated with a small molecule that had the opposite effect-leading ultimately to an increase in the memory-blocker's concentration-showed signs of memory impairment.

"There are very few examples where you can increase memory, especially by deleting genes," said study author Nahum Sonenberg of McGill University in Montreal, Canada. "It's a small, but important part of the big puzzle of how memory works." "If such a pill could be generated, it might provide a new method for treating people with memory-related diseases such as Alzheimer's," said Mauro Costa-Mattioli, a senior postdoctoral fellow in Sonenberg's laboratory. "While a drug that worked in this way wouldn't cure the disease itself, it might rescue the symptoms of memory loss."

Memories are formed when the repeated activation of brain cells leads to a strengthening of neural connections, or synapses. This process, considered the cellular basis of learning and memory, is known as synaptic plasticity. Both memory and synaptic plasticity have two components, the researchers explained. One, which is evoked by weak training protocols, yields only transient phenomena-including short-term memory, lasting for minutes to hours, or the beginning stages of longer-term memory storage, lasting for one to three hours. The second component, which follows strong or repetitive training, activates mechanisms that stabilize the memory and nerve connections, resulting in long-term memory, lasting days, weeks, or years.

New project probes functional properties of milk
A dairy research body in Australia will get ... consumers, while CRC believes others may be able to improve brain, nerve and memory functions or even help ...

The Genetic Roots Of Alzheimer's

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Scientists have known for more than a decade that individuals with a certain gene are at higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. Now a new study helps explain why this is so.
he research, led by scientists at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), has uncovered a molecular mechanism that links the susceptibility gene to the process of Alzheimer’s disease onset. The findings appear in the April 11 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience and may lead to new pathways for development of Alzheimer’s therapeutics.

Approximately 15 percent of the population carries a gene that causes their bodies to produce a lipoprotein—a combination of fat and protein that transports lipids (fats) in the blood—known as apolipoprotein (Apo) E4. Studies have found that those who inherit the E4 gene from one parent are three times more likely than average to develop Alzheimer’s, while those who get the gene from both parents have a tenfold risk of developing the disease.

In the new study, reseachers discovered that ApoE4 (along with other apolipoproteins) attaches itself to a particular receptor on the surface of brain cells. That receptor, in turn, adheres to a protein known as amyloid precursor protein. The brain cells then transport the entire protein mass inside.

Once inside, cutting enzymes—called proteases—attack the amyloid precursor protein. These cuts create protein fragments that, when present in the brain for long periods of time, are believed to cause the cell death, memory loss and neurological dysfunction characteristic of Alzheimer’s. Although researchers have known for more than a decade that ApoE4 was involved—somehow—in development of Alzheimer’s. While roughly 1 in 7 people carry the E4 gene, the remainder of the population carry only two variations—known as E2 and E3—of that gene. These individuals have a markedly lower incidence of Alzheimer’s than those who carry the E4 gene. The new study found that ApoE4 produced more protein fragments than did E2 or E3.
ApoE4 also has been linked to coronary artery disease. “Ultimately, this work could pave the way for similar study of the pathogenesis of other diseases,” said Prescott. The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association and was done in collaboration with the University of Alabama at Birmingham. At OMRF, Tang heads OMRF’s protein studies research program and holds the J.G. Puterbaugh Chair in Medical Research. His work with proteases has made important contributions to the study of gastric enzymes, HIV and, most recently, Alzheimer’s disease.

Bravo! pours milk into sports drinks
A range of milk-based sports and energy drinks will be launched by US fortified beverage specialist, Bravo!, expanding the dairy sector into traditional soft drink territory.

Studies champion omega-3s for slowing mental decline

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Currently, about 12 million people in the US plus the EU suffer from Alzheimer's, with some estimates predicting this figure will have tripled by 2050. The direct and indirect cost of Alzheimer care is over $100 bn (€ 81 bn) in the US alone. The direct cost of Alzheimer care in the UK was estimated at £15 bn (€ 22 bn).

Increased bloods levels of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA could "postpone" age-related cognitive decline that may precede dementia and Alzheimer's disease, suggest two new studies. An increasing number of studies are reporting potential benefits for regular fish consumption and omega-3 fatty acids with respect to Alzheimer's, but only a limited number of studies have looked at the decline in cognitive function that precedes these diseases.

Two new studies published in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition report that regular consumption of omega-3-rich food could prevent age-related cognitive decline.

The first study, led by Boukje Maria van Gelder from the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, used a longitudinal assessment of 210 men without Alzheimer disease enrolled in the Zutphen Elderly Study. Dietary assessment was collected via cross-check dietary histories in 1990, when the subjects were 70-89 years of age. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

The authors conclude that, over a period of five years, consumption of approximately 400 mg omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) per day had less cognitive decline than those who consumed only about 20 mg per day of the fatty acids. "To prevent cardiovascular disease mortality, the American Heart Association recommends the consumption of fish (preferably fatty fish) at least twice a week," wrote the authors. "That recommendation is compatible with the results of the current study."

A second study, led by May Beydoun from the University of North Carolina, used a prospective design to investigate the potential benefits of omega-3 levels in the blood with cognitive decline in 2251 white adults (average age 57 at baseline).

Blood fatty acid concentrations were measured in all subjects at the start of the study and correlated with cognitive function assessed three and nine years later. The tests assessed the subjects' verbal learning, recent memory, psychomotor performance, linguistic impairment, and global cognition. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, the researchers report that global cognitive decline was not associated with omega-3 blood levels at baseline, but a subgroup analysis examining specific types of cognitive decline found that greater blood omega-3 fatty acid levels may prevent a decline in verbal fluency.

Blueberry compounds linked to colon cancer and Alzheimer prevention

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Pterostilbene, a compound found in blueberries, may prevent the development of tumours in the colon, if results from an animal study can be translated to humans, researchers have said.

Researchers from Rutgers University told attendees at the 233rd national meeting of the American Chemical Society that rats supplemented with pterostilbene had 57 per cent fewer pre-cancerous lesions in the colon than rats not supplemented with the blueberry compound.

The research could boost further the healthy image of the berry, already firmly engrained in consumer's minds for its apparent cholesterol lowering abilities, as well as indications that the fruit could offer protection from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

Sales of the fruit have been booming, going from £10.3m (€14.9m) in 2003 to almost £40m (€58m) in 2005, according to UK supplier BerryWorld, driven by dieticians and scientists hailing the fruit as one of nature's superfoods. "To our knowledge, our studies are the first to show that administration of a blueberry constituent, pterostilbene, strongly inhibits the development of early pre-neoplastic lesions in the colon," lead researcher Bandaru Reddy told attendees in Chicago.

The blueberry compound reduced colonic cell proliferation and inhibited certain genes involved in inflammation, both of which are considered colon cancer risk factors. "The results of the study suggest that naturally occurring components offer an attractive alternative for the prevention of colon cancer," said Reddy. "Our results may support dietary prevention of colon cancer and health benefits of blueberries." Eighty per cent of colorectal cancers may be preventable by dietary changes.

The humble blueberry's cholesterol-lowering activity was also given a boost at the ACS meeting, with Agnes Rimando, co-researcher on the colon cancer study, reporting that hamsters fed a high-cholesterol diet containing blueberry skins (7.6 per cent of the diet) had lower levels of plasma and liver triglycerides (TGs), LDL-cholesterol, free and total cholesterol of 39, 18, 19, 30 and 37 per cent, respectively, compared to animals fed the control diet.

Sniff Out Serious Health Problems

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A new medical device in development by University of Cincinnati researchers may sniff out olfactory disorders that could be an early warning of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other problems outside the typical sensory loss associated with aging. The Sniff Magnitude Test (SMT), an invention of UC Psychology Professor Robert Frank and Professor Emeritus Robert Gesteland of the UC Department of Cell Biology, is now under further development with the WR Medical Electronics Company in Stillwater, Minn. The company will manufacture and market the test.

The Sniff Magnitude Test project, a creation that was seven years in the making, was awarded a total of $1,340,098 from the National Institutes of Health in developmental funding. UC Psychology Professor Robert Frank says that in the near future, UC researchers will begin testing five different prototypes of the SMT built by WR Medical Electronics. Currently, Frank says an earlier model of the SMT is being tested in a high-profile clinic in Germany as well as at the University of Pennsylvania. Frank says the SMT customer base would be primarily otolaryngologists and neurologists.

"The whole test is based on the very simple observation that when you sniff and you detect a smell, you take a smaller sniff than if you inhaled and didn't detect a smell," Frank explains. "For someone with normal sense of smell, the size of the sniff when detecting an odor is cut in half. For someone who cannot detect odor, the size of the sniff for just air and the size of the sniff for an odor are the same."

In humans, Frank says the sense of smell is one of our less robust senses. He says it's more susceptible to harm because there is less neurological machinery in the brain devoted to processing the sense of smell. "So, that's the reason it might be acting a little bit like the canary in the mineshaft. Because it's more fragile, when you have insult to the brain, it may be sensitive to loss earlier in the disease process."

Frank adds that because smells don't have to be identified as part of the Sniff Magnitude Test, the test can be used on adults as well as children (who may be too young to link a smell with a name) and people representing international cultures (who are unfamiliar with some common odors in the U.S.). "What's also unique about this test is that it does not require a good memory, which is an issue in testing people with Alzheimer's or some other dementia-related disease," Frank says. "For instance, other tests ask, 'Does this smell like garlic?' or, 'Does this smell like tar, or roses?' Once there's a problem with memory, this kind of test would be difficult."

So what does it mean if a child, or someone unlikely to have an age-related disease, flunks the sniff test? "If they fail our test, that's a pretty good indication that there's something wrong with their sense of smell. Maybe there's an obstruction - a deviated septum or polyps," Frank says. "Perhaps the olfactory nerve has been damaged due to a head injury or a viral infection."

For those who are proud of their keen sense of smell, this is not a test to tickle their senses. Because the really nasty smells worked best for the Sniff Magnitude Test, Frank says the test subjects get a whiff of three odors: a blend of ripe cheese and rancid meat, a fragrance that combines a burning smell with a skunk-like smell, and amyl acetate, which smells like banana. "You have to get people to really suppress the sniff and that's why the bad odors work so well," explains Frank. "To a certain extent, we put the banana smell in there to give them a little break."

Frank adds that his current research is exploring the patterns of loss of smell that could be an indicator of Alzheimer's. He says the Sniff Magnitude Test is also getting a look by researchers at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago as part of a major epidemiological study on aging, Alzheimer's disease and sense of smell.