Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

New Autism Brain Bank In Works

Excerpt from: Disability Scoop (click for full article)

 

A new multi-site network will launch this fall to collect brain samples for autism research in an effort to accelerate understanding of the developmental disorder.

The network known as Autism BrainNet will be an expansion of Autism Speaks’ Autism Tissue Program and will be the first such initiative to have sites across the country dedicated to acquiring, processing, storing and distributing brain tissue, organizers said.

Scientists say studying brain samples is the best way to understand autism, but such specimens are in short supply. The need for donations became even more urgent last year when a freezer malfunction at a Massachusetts brain bank left one-third of the world’s largest collection of autism brain samples unusable, though backers say the network set to launch later this year was already in the works when the failure occurred.

Failure Of Baxter's Trial Another Blow To Alzheimer's Treatment

Excerpt from: Forbes (click for full article)

 

In yet another blow to a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, Baxter International BAX +3.57% (BAX) said its late-stage clinical trial failed to meet its endpoints for “reducing cognitive decline and preserving functional abilities” for patients.

Like other treatments once they reach the third phase and a broader clinical trial with more patients, Baxter’s drug did not “indicate a statistically “significant difference in the rate of cognitive decline as compared to placebo.” Here’s a link to Baxter’s statement on the trials end.

Though Baxter’s biologic derived from plasma known as intravenous immuno globulin (IVIG) was seldom mentioned alongside other companies working on Alzheimer’s treatments like Pfizer PFE 0% (PFE), Merck (MRK), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) and Eli Lilly (LLY), it was unique in that the product was already on the market. Gammagard is used primarily as an immune system booster and could have reached Alzheimer’s patients sooner given doctors could technically have prescribed it earlier.

But hopes for Alzheimer’s patients with moderate and mild disease are the latest to be dashed.

Healing hormone provides hope for brain injury

Excerpt from: Emory.edu (click for full article)

 

If Don Stein were the kind of man who listened to what others said, he would have shut down his lab years ago. The Emory neuroscientist spent more than two decades investigating progesterone as a treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI) — a pursuit that was unappreciated at best and maligned at worst. A naturally occurring hormone was too simple a solution to too complex a problem, according to the prevailing wisdom.

Today Stein stands if not on the threshold of vindication, at least within the general neighborhood. After better-than-hoped-for results from the first human trial, progesterone is being tested in two nationwide phase 3 trials and also internationally in more than 20 countries.

And Stein is now expanding his scope to test whether progesterone can work its magic in other conditions, such as stroke, pediatric TBI and brain tumors.

Treatment with VX-661 and Ivacaftor in a Phase 2 Study Resulted in Statistically Significant Improvements in Lung Function in People with Cystic Fibrosis Who Have Two Copies of the F508del Mutation

Excerpt from: Vertex (click for full article)

 

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced data from a Phase 2 study of VX-661 and ivacaftor that showed statistically significant improvements in lung function among adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) who have two copies (homozygous) of the most common mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, known as F508del. The study evaluated four dose levels of VX-661 (10, 30, 100 and 150 mg) dosed once daily for 28 days in combination with ivacaftor (150 mg) dosed twice daily. The study also evaluated a separate group of patients who received VX-661 (10, 30, 100 and 150 mg) dosed without ivacaftor for 28 days. Dose-dependent, mean relative improvements in lung function (percent predicted forced expiratory volume in one second; FEV₁), both within group and versus placebo, were observed across the combination dosing groups. Patients in the 100 and 150 mg combination dose groups showed statistically significant mean relative improvements in lung function, versus placebo, of 9.0 percent (p=0.01) and 7.5 percent (p=0.02), respectively, at Day 28. In contrast, patients who received placebo showed a 0.03 percent mean relative change in lung function at Day 28 (within-group). The mean relative FEV₁ across the combination dose groups returned toward baseline during the post-treatment 28-day washout period. VX-661 was generally well-tolerated, both as monotherapy and in combination with ivacaftor, and most adverse events were mild to moderate in severity and similar between the treatment groups and those who received placebo. Vertex plans to conduct additional studies of VX-661 to further evaluate its potential for late-stage development, pending regulatory discussions.

App Could Transform How Autism Is Diagnosed

Excerpt from: Disability Scoop (click for full article)

 

With too few autism specialists, it can take months or even years for a child to be diagnosed. But a new app that’s being developed with federal grant money may change that.

The idea is that pediatricians without experience diagnosing autism will be able to recommend the smartphone software to families with a child they suspect of having the developmental disorder. Then, parents would take a series of videos of their child and submit the footage to autism experts who could remotely assess — and potentially diagnose — the child. Ultimately, results would then be relayed back to the child’s doctor to communicate to the family.

Testing of the app — a collaboration of the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center in Phoenix, an Idaho medical technology company and the Georgia Institute of Technology — is expected to begin this summer and a final product could be available by 2014. The National Institutes of Health provided a $2.2 million grant for the project.

Those behind the effort say the app could lead to diagnosis within a month. “This could really change the face of how autism is diagnosed,” one of the app’s developers told The Arizona Republic.

Specialist dementia programme reduces antipsychotic medication in dementia care homes by nearly half

Excerpt from: Care Home (click for full article)

 

Data from 16 homes on the programme was analysed and revealed a 48 per cent drop in use of antipsychotic medication plus a reduction in use of a range of other medications. There was also a corresponding improvement in the well-being of care home residents.

The analysis revealed that medication to alleviate anxiety fell by 40 per cent, the depression score fell in 30 per cent of residents while use of anti-depressant medication reduced by 19 per cent. Requirement for medication to induce sleep fell by 44 per cent.

A corresponding increase in well-being was measured among 46 per cent of residents. While 42 per cent gained weight, against the expectation that people living with dementia would lose weight.

This is the second study of the outcomes from Four Seasons’ specialised dementia units and it supports the findings of its initial study at eight other homes in 2010.

How Exercise And Other Activities Beat Back Dementia

Excerpt from: NPR (click for full article)

 

The numbers are pretty grim: More than half of all 85-year-olds suffer some form of .

But here's the good news: Brain researchers say there are ways to boost brain power and stave off problems in memory and thinking.

In other words, brain decline is not necessarily an inevitable part of aging. "It's simply not pre-destined for all human beings," Bryan James tells Shots. He's an epidemiologist at the in Chicago. "Lots of people live into their 90s and even 100s with no symptoms of dementia."

So what can you do to increase the odds? Neuroscientist Art Kramer, who directs the at the University of Illinois, has a number of suggestions. First and foremost, Kramer says, is to exercise. Research shows it's the best thing you can do for your brain.

Kramer did a in which he scanned the brains of 120 older adults, half of whom started a program of moderate aerobic exercise — just 45 minutes, three days a week, mostly walking. After a year, the MRI scans showed that for the aerobic group, the volume of their brains actually increased.

Diabetics develop dementia 2 years sooner than others, researchers find

Excerpt from: McKnight's (clickf or full article)

 

People with diabetes are at risk of developing dementia earlier and dying sooner, according to recently published research.

Researchers at Australia's Curtin University analyzed hospital inpatient, mental health outpatient and death records for people in western Australia who developed dementia between 1990-2005. Diabetics developed dementia an average of 2.2 years earlier than non-diabetics, the researchers found.

“Diabetes is a risk factor for dementia, but relatively little is known about the epidemiology of the association,” the researchers noted.

Those with diabetes and dementia died an average of 2.6 years earlier than non-diabetics, and those with a long history of diabetes who were diagnosed with dementia before turning 65 died almost twice as fast, the researchers said. However, as people get older, the impacts of having both diabetes and dementia become less pronounced.

The study appears in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Antibiotic May Improve Behavior, Anxiety, Study Finds

Excerpt from: Disability Scoop

 

New research suggests that a readily-available antibiotic can bring about improvements in behavior and anxiety for those with the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability.

In a small study published this week, researchers found “modest” but meaningful gains in those with fragile X syndrome taking the drug minocycline as compared to a placebo.

The finding is significant, researchers say, because the medication — which is commonly used to treat severe acne — is currently available by prescription.

For the study, 66 children with fragile X ages 3 to 16 were divided into two groups, one receiving minocycline and the other group given a placebo. After three months, the groups switched treatments. All the while, both parents and doctors were not aware who was receiving the real drug versus the placebo.

People Who Normally Practice Sport Have a Better Attention Span Than Those With Bad Physical Health

Excerpt from: Science Daily (click for full article)

 

This research has been carried out by scientists from the University of Granada.

New scientific evidence seems to confirm the famous Roman saying "Mens sana in corpore sano." Researchers from the University of Granada have demonstrated that people who normally practice sport have a better cognitive performance than those with bad physical health. More specifically, the results of this research indicate that the former have a better sustained attention span (they react more rapidly to an external stimulus introduced randomly while carrying out a monotonous task). Their autonomic nervous system also appears to work better when dealing with cognitive loads over a longer time period.

In an article published in the latest edition of the journal PLoS One scientists compared the cognitive performance in specific tasks such as sustained attention, time-oriented attention (generating expectations of when an event will occur) and time perception.