WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US drug regulator gave full approval to a new Alzheimer’s medicine on Thursday, a move that makes it more widely available to the public through government-run health insurance for the elderly. Leqembi, developed jointly by Japan’s Eisai and Biogen of the United States, was shown in a clinical trial to modestly reduce cognitive decline among patients in the early stages of the disease. But the study also raised concerns […]
Tag: Alzheimers
Living with Alzheimer’s: China’s health time bomb
The first time Chen Shaohua went missing and was picked up by police, the 68-year-old’s family put it down to confusion. When he disappeared a second time, they realised he was deeply unwell — but it was already too late. “We missed the early signs,” daughter Chen Yuanyuan explained, adding: “For several years our mother complained he was lying… but we couldn’t judge because we haven’t lived with them for years.” Doctors diagnosed Chen with […]
Half of women at risk of dementia, Parkinson’s, stroke: study
by Daniel LAWLER Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Nearly half of women and one in three men are at risk of developing stroke or degenerative neurological diseases such as dementia and Parkinson’s during their lifetime, according to a study published Monday. Dutch researchers considered all three conditions “in order to grasp how big the problem of incurable brain diseases in late life really is,” said the study’s senior author Arfan Ikram. “We grouped […]
Head injury boosts dementia risk: study
PARIS, France (AFP) — Suffering a traumatic brain injury from a blow to the head boosted dementia risk by 24 percent in a Danish study group of nearly three million people, researchers said Wednesday. The survey of 36 years’ worth of data — collected from the Danish national patient register — found that the risk of dementia rose with the number and severity of brain injuries, a team wrote in The Lancet Psychiatry, a medical journal. […]
Bill Gates giving $50 million for Alzheimer’s research
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates announced Monday that he is investing $50 million to fund research into treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Gates, in an entry on his blog, said he was making the investment from his personal fortune and not with his charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Of all the disorders that plague us late in life, one stands out as a particularly big threat to society: Alzheimer’s disease,” Gates […]
When might you get Alzheimer’s? New gene test may tell
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — International researchers said Tuesday they have found a way to assess a person’s genetic risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by a given age, a tool that could lead to better diagnosis and treatment. The report in the journal PLOS Medicine was based on genetic data from more than 70,000 Alzheimer’s patients and elderly people without the disease participating in several major global studies on dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is the most […]
Proximity to clogged highways could increase risk of Alzheimer’s, dementia
(Reuters) — The closer a person lives to a source of pollution, like a traffic dense highway, the more likely they are to develop Alzheimer’s or dementia, according to a study by the University of Southern California (USC) that has linked a close connection to pollution and the diseases. In a mobile lab, located just off of one of Los Angeles’ busiest freeways, USC scientists used a state-of-the-art pollution particle collector capable of gathering […]
Study suggests statins linked to lower dementia risk
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Some cholesterol-lowering drugs, known as statins, appear to be linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease in certain people, suggested a study out Monday. However, not all patients benefited, and the report stopped short of establishing any cause and effect, so experts said rigorous clinical trials are needed to further explore the issue. The research in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Neurology was based on an […]
Alzheimer’s stemmed but not stopped, say experts
by Mariëtte Le Roux PARIS, France (AFP) — Soaring rates of population growth and ageing have long been seen as portending a global explosion of Alzheimer’s, the debilitating disease that robs older people of their memory and independence. But an unexpected, and hopeful, trend may be emerging. In rich countries at least, recent data suggests the rate of new cases has slowed or even reversed — a tantalising hint that quality-of-life improvements may protect against dementia. […]
