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dNews captures Dementia and Alzheimer news stories as they happen, saving you time trawling the internet for the latest articles.
The following articles are the news stories that I found most interesting &/or informative this week…
Hibernating Bears could be key in help against Alzheimer’s Disease
In the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease, researchers have been looking into the brain chemistry of hibernating animals. Are they going to put dementia patients into hibernation? No, nothing like that. Researchers are interested in the protein RBM3, which hibernating animals release when they first come out of hibernation. This protein helps animals to restore brain activity after long periods of hibernation. If scientist can better understand how this protein works, they may be able to use its restorative effects on individuals with Alzheimers. It’s a fascinating read.
You can read more at the Telegraph.co.uk.
Potential Stem-Cell Treatment For a Common Form of Dementia:
One of the most common forms of dementia in people is frontotemporal dementia (FTD). This form of dementia makes up approximately 50% of diagnoses for people under the age of 60. One of the main obstacles to studying this type of dementia was that FTD results from mutations in the progranulin (GRN) gene. When scientists created the same mutation in mice (where most research starts), the symptoms were dissimilar to those observed in humans.
However, a recent method of studying the disease using stem cells has created a potential breakthrough. When scientists used a drug known as “WNT” on the stem cells, it suppressed a critical pathway that allowed the stem cells to develop normally.
The whole article is over at the Guardian.
$50 Million Study Looks Into Effects of Aspirin in Treating Dementia
The largest ever scientific study to be conducted in Australia is going to look into the efficacy of treating people with aspiring to help prevent the onset of dementia. Now, because this study is about preventing the onset of dementia (instead of treating it), the sample size needs to be massive in order to truly see if Aspirin is having a statistically-significant effect on preventing dementia in the general population. Indeed, the study currently has 19,000 participants.
Scientists are interested in Aspirin’s anti-inflammatory properties, which may help prevent Dementia from developing in otherwise healthy people.
You can read more about it in the Australian newspaper “The Age“.