If taking nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen or naproxen is to protect you from developing Alzheimer disease then you will have to start taking them at a very early age according to research in a mouse model of the disease. Emerging data indicate that an early molecular event in the development of Alzheimer disease is the induction of neuronal cell cycle events (CCEs). ...

High blood pressure, evidence of arterial disease and markers of inflammation in the blood in middle age appear more common in individuals whose parents have Alzheimer`s disease than in individuals without a parental history of the condition, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Previous twin studies estimate that as much...

Simvastatin, a commonly used, cholesterol-lowering drug, may prevent Parkinson`s disease from progressing further. Neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center conducted a study examining the use of the FDA-approved medication in mice with Parkinson`s disease and found that the drug successfully reverses the biochemical, cellular and anatomical changes caused by the disease. "St...

The immune system`s T cells have the unique responsibilities of being both jury and executioner. They examine other cells for signs of disease, including cancers or infections, and, if such evidence is found, rid them from the body. Precisely how T cells shift so swiftly from one role to another, however, has been a mystery. In a new study, investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Me...

Low levels of vitamin D may account for nearly 60 percent of the elevated risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in African Americans, according to a report in the December Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). "Our study adds to previous evidence linking vitamin D deficiency to the progression of kidney disease and the need for dialysis," comments Michal L. Melamed, MD, ...

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have shown that a highly specific intrabody (an antibody fragment that works against a target inside a cell) is capable of stalling the development of Huntington`s disease in a variety of mouse models. "Gene therapy in these models successfully attenuated the symptoms of Huntington`s disease and increased life span," notes P...

Several cell-based therapy approaches could provide new treatments for patients with Alport syndrome, reports an upcoming paper in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). "Our study opens up many considerations of how new therapies related to the use of stem cells can be devised for our kidney patients with chronic disease," comments Raghu Kalluri, MD, PhD (Harvard Medi...

A new study uses a creative structure-based remodeling strategy to design a therapeutic protein that exhibits significant advantages over currently available treatments for a rare disease that often leads to cardiac and renal failure. The research, published by Cell Press on October 22nd in the American Journal of Human Genetics, describes a new and highly promising candidate for enzyme replacemen...

Patients with chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver disease who drink three or more cups of coffee per day have a 53% lower risk of liver disease progression than non-coffee drinkers according to a new study led by Neal Freedman, Ph.D., MPH, from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The study found that patients with hepatitis C-related bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis who did not respond to standa...

One in five patients with chronic kidney disease is depressed, even before beginning long-term dialysis therapy or developing end-stage renal disease, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found. The study, based on a pool of 272 participants, is the first to examine the rate of depression among these patients using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition (D...