Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, have identified a series of novel proteins in human cerebrospinal fluid. The proteins, which carry specific sugar molecules, are found in greater concentrations in patients with dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease than in patients with dementia caused by other diseases. This gives hope for new forms…    



People with Early Alzheimer’s Disease May Be More Likely to Have Lower BMI

Studies have shown that people who are overweight in middle age are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease decades later than people at normal weight, yet researchers have also found that people in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease are more likely to have a lower body mass index (BMI). A current study examines…    



Changes in Cerebrospinal Fluid May Signal Early Alzheimer’s

Searching for a better screen for early Alzheimer’s disease, researchers think they have found a marker of change in the brain that precedes the onset of the disease by five to 10 years.

The indicator of trouble to come, they say, is a shift in the levels of specific components of the cerebrospinal fluid…    



Alzheimer’s Markers Seen Way Before Symptoms

Beta amyloid protein measurements may begin to show abnormalities more than 2 decades before overt symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease appear, researchers said.

Imaging and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analyses of patients with a powerful genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease showed that AB42 (a form of beta amyloid protein with 42 amino acids) levels began to…    



Biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid can identify patients with Alzheimer’s disease

Analysis of specific biomarkers in a cerebrospinal fluid sample can differentiate patients with Alzheimer’s disease from those with other types of dementia. The method, which is being studied by researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, may eventually permit earlier detection of Alzheimer’s disease.

Due to the similarity of the symptoms, differentiating patients with Alzheimer’s from those…    



MRI May Tell Alzheimer’s from Other Dementias

Three-fourths of patients with Alzheimer’s disease or frontal-lobe degeneration had MRI-detected biomarker levels that correlated with the diagnoses, suggesting MRI has potential as a screening tool for the conditions, investigators reported.

MRI-predicted values for total tau and β-amyloid ratio (tt/Aβ) in gray matter correctly pinpointed the diagnosis in 75% of patients with genetically or…    



Study finds that sleep apnea and Alzheimer’s are linked

A new study looking at sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and markers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and neuroimaging adds to the growing body of research linking the two.

But this latest study also poses an interesting question: Could AD in its “preclinical stages” also lead to SDB and explain the increased…