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☆ Doubts abound about a new Alzheimer’s blood test
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Judith Graham | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The Quest Diagnostics blood test, AD-Detect, measures elevated levels of amyloid-beta proteins, a signature characteristic of Alzheimer’s. But Alzheimer’s researchers and clinicians aren’t convinced the Quest test is backed by sound scientific research. Though blood tests for Alzheimer’s are likely to become common in the years ahead, the Alzheimer’s Association said it’s premature to offer a test of this kind directly to consumers. Because the science behind blood tests for Alzheimer’s is still developing and because “patients may not really understand the uncertainty of test results,” Edelmayer said, the Alzheimer’s Association “does not endorse the use of the AD-Detect test by consumers.”Quest’s blood test is one of several developments altering the landscape of Alzheimer’s care in the United States. The bottom line: Before taking a test, “older adults need to ask themselves, ‘Why do I want to know this?

Persons: aren’t, Alzheimer’s, Michael Racke, ”, there’s, Suzanne Schindler, St . Louis, That’s, ” Schindler, Racke, Meera Sheffrin, —, Rebecca Edelmayer, ” Edelmayer, Eric Widera, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, Emily Largent, ’ ”, Munro Cullum Organizations: Health, Diagnostics, Alzheimer’s Association, Quest, University of Michigan, International Conference, Washington University School of Medicine, Senior, Stanford Healthcare, The University of Michigan, FDA, National Institute, Aging, University of California, Get CNN, CNN Health, University, Pennsylvania’s Perelman, of Medicine, HIPAA, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Kaiser Health, KFF Locations: U.S, San Diego, St ., United States, San Francisco

☆ Volunteering in late life may protect the brain, research finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New research backs her up: Volunteering has been linked with better scores on tests of cognitive function, according to research presented Thursday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam. “We hope these new data encourage individuals of all ages and backgrounds to engage in local volunteering — not only to benefit their communities, but potentially their own cognitive and brain health.”Previous studies have found positive links between volunteering and cognitive function. These adults were around age 74 on average and had participated in the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences Study or the Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans. Barberena thinks volunteering helps maintain her cognition by engaging her memory, verbal and reasoning skills, she said. Previous studies have found socializing and physical activity, both often involved in volunteering, to be beneficial for brain health.

Persons: Celia Barberena, Barberena, ”, “, Donna McCullough, —, it’s, Maria C, Carrillo, wasn’t, hadn’t, ” Carrillo, Yi Lor, Lor, ” Barberena, ” Lor Organizations: CNN, Alzheimer’s Association International, “ Volunteers, Alzheimer’s Association, Healthy Aging, Aging, University of California, Alliance Locations: Latina, Pacific Grove , California, Amsterdam, Davis, Monterey County, “, California’s Monterey

☆ Constipation linked with cognitive decline, research finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Chronic constipation has been linked with inflammation and mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, but there have been many unanswered questions about the relationship between digestive health and long-term cognitive function, according to a news release. Cognitive function refers to a person’s mental capacity for learning, thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, decision-making, remembering and paying attention. To find clues to these queries, the authors assessed more than 112,000 adults who had participated in the Nurses’ Health Study, Nurses’ Health Study II and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. The authors of the latest research collected data on participants’ bowel movement frequency from 2012 to 2013, participants’ self-assessments of cognitive function between 2014 and 2017, and details on some participants’ objectively measured cognitive function between 2014 and 2018. But bowel movement frequency and subjective cognitive function were also linked with the participants’ gut microbiomes, the authors found.

Persons: ”, Chaoran Ma, pooped, Maria C, Carrillo, wasn’t, “, ” Ma, Butyrates, Ruminococcus, ” Carrillo Organizations: CNN, Alzheimer’s Association International, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Nurses, Health, Alzheimer’s Association, Cleveland Clinic, Food and Drug Administration Locations: Amsterdam, “, North America

☆ Treating Alzheimer’s Very Early Offers Better Hope of Slowing Decline, Study Finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Pam Belluck | More About Pam Belluck | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Treating Alzheimer’s patients as early as possible — when symptoms and brain pathology are mildest — provides a better chance of slowing cognitive decline, a large study of an experimental Alzheimer’s drug presented Monday suggests. The study of 1,736 patients reported that the drug, donanemab, made by Eli Lilly, can modestly slow the progression of memory and thinking problems in early stages of Alzheimer’s, and that the slowing was greatest for early-stage patients when they had less of a protein that creates tangles in the brain. For people at that earlier stage, donanemab appeared to slow decline in memory and thinking by about four and a half to seven and a half months over an 18-month period compared with those taking a placebo, according to the study, published in the journal JAMA. Among people with less of the protein, called tau, slowing was most pronounced in those younger than 75 and those who did not yet have Alzheimer’s but had a pre-Alzheimer’s condition called mild cognitive impairment, according to data presented Monday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam. “The earlier you can get in there, the more you can impact it before they’ve already declined and they’re on this fast slope,” Dr. Daniel Skovronsky, Eli Lilly’s chief medical and scientific officer, said in an interview.

Persons: Eli Lilly, donanemab, “, they’ve, Dr, Daniel Skovronsky, Eli Lilly’s Organizations: Alzheimer’s Association International Locations: Amsterdam

☆ Second Alzheimer’s drug to slow disease’s progression may be approved in the US this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Meg Tirrell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

It was shown in May and in fuller Phase 3 clinical trial results released at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Monday to delay the disease’s progression. More than 6 million Americans are estimated to have Alzheimer’s disease, with about 1 million estimated to be in the early symptomatic stages where these drugs have shown benefit. Both Leqembi and donanemab work by clearing buildups of a protein in the brain called amyloid, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. It’s been a hypothesis that treating Alzheimer’s earlier with amyloid-clearing drugs would yield better results; Skovronsky said the donanemab trial bore that out. “We could look at people who had mild cognitive impairment, MCI, which is the earliest stage, versus mild Alzheimer’s versus moderate Alzheimer’s,” Skovronsky explained.

Persons: Leqembi, Eli Lilly’s donanemab, Lilly, “ Donanemab, Jennifer Manly, Kacie, ”, Dr, Gil Rabinovici, Renaud La Joie, Daniel Skovronsky, “, Skovronsky, ” Skovronsky, It’s, Eric Widera, Sharon Brangman, University of Wisconsin’s Dr, Nathaniel Chin, Donanemab, Lilly hasn’t, Lawrence Honig, Honig, White, Sanjay Gupta, Deters, ” Lilly, it’s “, it’s, there’s, Joe Montminy Organizations: CNN, Alzheimer’s Association, Food and Drug Administration, American Medical Association, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, University of California, MCI, SUNY, University of Wisconsin’s, Leqembi, FDA, donanemab, CNN Health, ” Manly Locations: Los Angeles, “

As yet another Alzheimer's drug targeting plaque buildup in the brain fails to improve cognition in patients, leading scientists said a significant shift is underway in the search for effective treatments for the disease. By 2050, that number is projected to rise to nearly 13 million, according to an estimate from the Alzheimer’s Association. Alzheimer’s disease is often referred to as “Type 3 diabetes,” a brain-specific form of diabetes that is the result of the brain’s neurons lacking glucose, said John Didsbury, the CEO of T3D Therapeutics. Data from the longest-ever phase 3 trial of exercise on cognition released at the conference on Tuesday found that exercise may stall cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients. He said it’s only a matter of time before we see more research discoveries that show potential for slowing Alzheimer’s disease, possibly within the next year or two.

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