A new cellular therapy improved learning and memory in mice with Alzheimer’s disease, researchers report. The therapy — developed at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) — relies on both the immune system to fight key aspects of Alzheimer’s, plus modified cells that zero in on the brain protein plaques that are a hallmark of the disease.  In patients with Alzheimer’s, amyloid-beta protein forms plaques that prevent nerve cells from signaling each other. One theory is that this might cause irreversible memory loss and behavior changes characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. The new study was recently published in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration. Researchers used genetically modified immune-controlling cells called Tregs to target amyloid-beta.  When the UNMC team injected the modified Treg cells into the bloodstreams of mice, buildup of plaque and brain inflammation slowed. Thinking skills also appeared to improve in the diseased mice. While the results of animal studies often turn out differently in humans, researchers were encouraged by the findings. “The study is an important development in the field that advances the possibility of using cell-based therapies for targeting protein aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases,” said senior investigator Dr. Avindra Nath, of the National Institutes of Health, which funded the study. Researchers said the engineered immune cells could offer a targeted and more effective treatment for Alzheimer’s, a disease affecting an estimated 6.7 million…  read on >  read on >

Stroke patients often suffer from “spatial neglect” — an inability to see things on the side of the body opposite to where the brain injury occurred. Now, new research suggests that spatial neglect can also affect folks who’ve had a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The study makes clear that screening for spatial neglect “is warranted in TBI rehabilitation as well as in stroke rehabilitation programs,” said study lead author Peii Chen. She’s a senior research scientist at the Kessler Foundation, in East Hanover, N.J. The nonprofit focuses on rehabilitation medicine. In a Kessler news release, the researchers noted that spatial neglect affects many stroke survivors. It’s more common among folks who suffered brain damage to the right side of their brain (up to 45% of patients) compared to the left (up to 23%). Not being able to comprehend or navigate space on one side of the body can “can lead to prolonged disability after brain damage by impairing daily functions and reducing the effectiveness of rehabilitation therapies,” according to the news release. The new research tracked the symptoms of over 3,600 stroke survivors and 266 head injury patients treated at 16 rehabilitation hospitals across the United States. More than half (58%) of stroke survivors experienced spatial neglect, Chen’s team found, as did 38% of TBI patients following their injury. “We found that spatial neglect affects…  read on >  read on >

A common stomach bug may play a part in Alzheimer’s disease risk. New research found that older folks infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) had greater odds for developing Alzheimer’s, the most common type of dementia. “Given the global aging population, dementia numbers are expected to triple in the next 40 years,” said study co-author Dr. Paul Brassard, an associate professor of medicine at McGill University in Montreal. “However, there remains a lack of effective treatment options for this disease.” For the study, he and his colleagues analyzed health data gathered between 1988 and 2019 from more than 4 million people in the U.K.  They found that people 50 and older with symptomatic H. pylori infections had an 11% higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s.  H. pylori, a stomach bug found in two-thirds of people worldwide, can cause indigestion, gastritis, ulcers and even stomach cancer. The new findings add to previous evidence on the potential role of infections in Alzheimer’s development. They also open up the potential for investigating whether eradicating H. pylori could prevent Alzheimer’s in some people. “We hope the findings from this investigation will provide insight on the potential role of H. pylori in dementia, in order to inform the development of prevention strategies, such as individualized eradication programs, to reduce infections at the population level,” Brassard noted in a McGill news release.…  read on >  read on >

For the growing number of American seniors who live alone, having a beloved dog or cat by their side could help them maintain a healthy brain. New research on more than 7,900 people averaging 66 years of age found that those who lived alone were able to stave off losses in memory and thinking if they had a pet. Pet ownership didn’t seem to affect the cognition of older folks who lived with others, however. Loneliness — or the lack of it — may be key here. Owning a cat or dog “is related to reduced loneliness, a important risk factor for dementia and cognitive decline,” wrote a team led by Ciyong Lu, of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China. They published their findings Dec. 26 in the journal JAMA Network Open. The researchers noted that people are increasingly living solo as they age — 2021 data found 28.5% of all Americans were residing in single-person households. Numerous studies have found that “older persons living alone are at high risk of developing dementia,” Lu’s group noted. Could life with a four-legged friend cut that risk? The new study was based on data collected on thousands of British people aged 50 or older whose lifestyles and mental acuity were tracked between 2010 and 2019. Just over half (56%) were women. The team assessed whats known as…  read on >  read on >

Measles is incredibly contagious, and outbreaks are more common now as people decide against vaccinating their kids. Now, a case involving a rare but fatal brain disease caused by the measles virus may make some rethink that decision. The patient caught measles as a child. It took years for the virus to migrate to their brain, where it mutated and caused the fatal illness, according to Mayo Clinic researchers. “Our study provides compelling data that shows how viral RNA mutated and spread throughout a human organ — the brain, in this case,” said Mayo virologist and study co-lead author Roberto Cattaneo. Reporting Dec. 21 in the journal PLOS Pathogens, Cattaneo’s team explained that while the measles virus initially congregates in the respiratory tract, it can slowly migrate throughout the body years after the illness is over. The brain disease, called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), occurs in about 1 in every 10,000 measles cases, the researchers said. They estimate that it takes about 10 years for the virus to make its way to the brain, where it can begin to mutate. Seizures, memory impairments and mobility issues can signal the onset of SSPE. In the new study, Cattaneo’s team examined the brain of a person who died from the disease. They looked at the genetics of tissues taken from 15 different brain regions. The measles virus’…  read on >  read on >

The smoke billowing from this summer’s devastating wildfires wasn’t just bad for your lungs. Skin problems also seem to worsen, with dermatology visits rising as air quality deteriorates, a new study says. Visits for eczema spiked at dermatology clinics within the Mass General Brigham health system during the Canadian wildfires this summer, researchers found. “We were inspired to investigate the relationship between air pollution and skin inflammation after listening to patients who kept telling us that their skin conditions like eczema were particularly bad, and in some cases ‘worse than ever before,’ this summer,” senior researcher Dr. Arianne Shadi Kourosh said in a news release. She’s director of community health in the Department of Dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “This was strange because typically patients with eczema are more likely to experience worsening symptoms or flares in winter months due to cold dry weather, but we were seeing the opposite: an unusual surge in the summer,” Kourosh said. The MGB hospital system is about 300 miles from the Canadian wildfires, and carbon monoxide (CO) levels peaked in July 2023 as a result of the blaze, researchers found. Researchers compared dermatology visits in 2019 through 2022 to the summer of 2023, and found that the visits tracked with carbon monoxide (CO) levels in the air. Wildfire smoke and chronic air pollution contain substances like…  read on >  read on >

Are you necessarily at higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease just because you’re 80, and not 75? New research shows it’s more complex than that. The findings suggest that it’s the pace of buildup in the brain of Alzheimer’s-linked amyloid protein plaques that matters most, not age. “Our findings are consistent with studies showing that the amyloid accumulation in the brain takes decades to develop,” said study lead author Dr. Oscar Lopez, a professor of neurology at the University of Pittsburgh. His team’s findings were published Dec. 22 in the journal Neurology. Neuroscientists have long known that the slow but steady accumulation of amyloid-beta protein plaques within brain tissue is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, although whether it actually causes the illness is still debated. Rates of dementia do rise with advancing age, but is age alone the key factor? To find out, Lopez’ team examined amyloid buildup in the brains of 94 people who were 85 at the time they enrolled in the study. All were tracked for 11 years or until they died, and all received two PET scans of their brains during that time. The researchers compared levels of amyloid buildup seen in those scans to those seen in scans from a younger group of patients (in their 60s) observed in a prior Australian trial. As expected, amyloid plaque buildup rose over time,…  read on >  read on >