World Alzheimer’s Day 2022

An estimated 50 million people around the world currently live with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, dementia being a collective term for progressive syndromes that affect various expressions of cognitive function, such as memory and emotional expression. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for the majority of cases (50 to 70%, varying by country, based on Alzheimer’s Disease International and World Health Organization figures). For those directly affected and their loved ones, dementia can be a frightening experience, particularly as it is so poorly understood. However there remains little or no understanding of dementia in many, and the stigmatization and misinformation that surrounds dementia remains a global issue.

For 2022 World Alzheimer’s Day the theme Know Dementia, Know Alzheimer’s, organized annually by Alzheimer’s Disease International, focuses on diagnosis, the warning signs of dementia, with a special focus on post-diagnosis support. The aim of this international campaign is to highlight the importance of support for people living with dementia and families following a diagnosis.

Effects of aging on nitric oxide bioavailability, physiological function, and exercise performance.
Elsevier,

Nitric Oxide - Biology and Chemistry, Volume 125-126, 1 August 2022

Worldwide, individuals are living longer. This population aging is associated with an anticipated increase in the burden of the leading causes of death in modern societies — chronic, degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular, kidney and Alzheimer's disease — which is largely driven by age-related declines in physiological function. Engaging in healthy lifestyle practices that preserve physiological function with age has important implications for reducing the risk of morbidity and mortality and preserving healthspan — the period of an individual's life when one is generally healthy and devoid of serious chronic disorders. In this regard, regular exercise and physical activity are considered key “first line” strategies for healthy aging.
Elsevier,

SLAS Discovery, Volume 26, March 2021

Tauopathies are neurological disorders characterized by intracellular tau deposits forming neurofibrillary tangles, neuropil threads, or other disease-specific aggregates composed of the protein tau. Tauopathy disorders include frontotemporal lobar degeneration, corticobasal degeneration, Pick’s disease, and the largest cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease. The lack of disease-modifying therapeutic strategies to address tauopathies remains a critical unmet need in dementia care. Thus, novel broad-spectrum tau-targeted therapeutics could have a profound impact in multiple tauopathy disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease. Here we have designed a drug discovery paradigm to identify inhibitors of the pathological tau-enabling protein, MSUT2. We previously showed that activity of the RNA-binding protein MSUT2 drives tauopathy, including tau-mediated neurodegeneration and cognitive dysfunction, in mouse models. Thus, we hypothesized that MSUT2 inhibitors could be therapeutic for tauopathy disorders.
Elsevier,

Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry, Volume 1, December 2019

This paper summarizes the literature findings regarding the most widely and consistently accepted diagnostic biomarkers of the f Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum according to ATN classification. It examined their diagnostic accuracy for AD in comparison with healthy elderly controls and those with other types of dementias and also discussed their limitations and the reasons behind their limited use in routine clinical settings. Moreover, new research avenues in developing biomarkers were also presented.
Elsevier,

Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry, Volume 5, December 2021

This review article examines the various types of diagnostic biomarkers which are used in the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and summerizes the A/T/N classification system for Alzheimer’s biomarkers and its use in the biomarker-based diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Furthermore it reviews the use of structural MRI, 18F-FDG PET, Amyloid PET, Tau PET, cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, and the emerging role of plasma biomarkers in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. In doing so the authors discuss each biomarkers correlation with pathologic findings, ability to distinguish Alzheimer’s disease from healthy aging, ability to distinguish Alzheimer’s disease from other neurodegenerative diseases, role in A/T/N classification system, and limitations of each biomarker.
Elsevier,

Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry, Volume 3, December 2020

Change point analysis can reveal when a biomarker starts to diverge from the pattern of normal aging. This paper analyzes several biomarkers from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) to estimate the sequence and timing of their change points relative to a subsequent clinical diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in subjects initially considered cognitively normal (CN).

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