Monthly Archives: Giugno 2014

Researchers have found that depression leads to the increase of a naturally occurring protein in the brain (beta-amyloid) – a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

Most of the aging population develops depression and this could be a major risk factor of developing Alzheimer’s faster than others.

"Our research results clearly indicate that mild cognitively impaired subjects with depressive symptoms suffer from elevated amyloid-levels when compared with non-depressed individuals," said the study’s principal scientist Axel Rominger, MD, from the department of nuclear medicine at the University of Munich in Germany. "The combination of elevated amyloid-levels and coexisting depressive symptoms constitute a patient population with a high risk for faster progression to Alzheimer’s disease."

The study included 371 patients with mild cognitive impairment who underwent PET imaging with radiotracer F-18 florbetapir and MRI. The subjects were chosen from Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database. The study also included data from 55 different research centers across the U.S. and Canada.

Source: Science World Report

A recent Lancet article assessed the impact of the French Alzheimer Plan (2008-2012). Government funding and coordination was provided by the Ministry of Health, the Alzheimer Foundation Plan and the French National Research Agency.

A bibliometric analysis, summarised in this article, raises interesting speculations on the relationship between public funding for dementia-related research and the resulting scientific productivity and innovation, as measured in terms of the ensuing quantity of high quality research publications.

Reference
Devos, P. Haeffner-Cavaillon, N. [and] Ledoux, S. [et al] (2014). Assessing the French Alzheimer plan. Lancet. May 24th 2014, Vol.383(9931), pp.1805.

The first edition of the World Dementia Council Newsletter, available in six languages, has been published.

The World Dementia Council have also published their Statement of Purpose, explaining the council’s aims and how they intend these to be achieved. The main thrust is to help deliver accurate and early diagnosis, more effective treatments and better care and support. The aim is to offer radical, independent advocacy and global leadership.

Both newsletter and statement of purpose are available at the links below:

Source: London: Department of Health / Dementia Challenge / World Dementia Council