"Researchers are working hard to find a cure to Alzheimer's disease … Through their efforts, new research and studies have proven helpful in ways to prevent the disease and even possible treatments. We learn about these findings from our panel of medical experts …. We also discuss The 90+ Study, which studies people over the age of ninety, how they live to that age, and whether their minds show any signs of decline. … Guests: Dr. Ahmad Sajjadi, Cognitive Neurologist, Associate Professor of Neurology and Pathology, University of California, Irvine…." Learn more here >
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Eat This, Not That! - Nov. 1, 2022 'An increase in dementia cases is alarming, especially since there's no cure and Dr. Michael Yassa, neurobiologist and director of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California, Irvine shares why there's an uptick. "Remember that the biggest risk factor is age, and we are an aging population. Advances in medical care have managed to extend our lifespan beyond anything we could have ever imagined a hundred or two hundred years ago. So the prevalence of dementia is increasing because we have more and more people…
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Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD and David Sultzer, MD A recent article in STAT highlights potential safety risks for anti-amyloid therapies, the frequent subject of postings in the UCI MIND blog. The focus of the article is on one patient who died after taking the anti-amyloid antibody lecanemab, a drug that was recently announced to have positive results in a Phase 3 clinical trial and is the treatment being tested in the AHEAD Study ongoing at UCI MIND and elsewhere. The patient experienced bleeding in the brain. APSTOCK As described in the article, the case was complicated but potentially important.…
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Message from the Director Dear Friends of UCI MIND, We hope that you had a summer full of sun, fun, and good health. As you can see in this issue of MIND Matters, it has been a busy summer here at UCI MIND. Our investigators played a prominent role at the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), a focus of this issue (p 1, 3, 6, and 7). We’re very proud of our own Maria Corrada, ScD, who played a role in planning this important meeting (p 1 and 7), as well as the many researchers who presented their work.…
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University of California, Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman states: "Our faculty continues to do a tremendous job of winning research grants, the lifeblood of our research efforts. In just the last couple of months...our renowned Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, known as UCI MIND, received a grant of $47 million from the National Institute on Aging; an interdisciplinary UCI team will receive $10 million from the National Institutes of Health...Clearly, the future of science at UCI is very bright indeed." The UCI research team is directed by (seated, from left) Frank LaFerla, Andrea Tenner and Kim Green. Other investigators…
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The CHOC Children's Neuroscience Institute and Alzheimer Biomarkers Consortium — Down Syndrome (ABC-DS) have teamed up to sponsor the 2022 Buddy Walk hosted by the Down Syndrome Association of Orange County (DSAOC). Funds raised for the walk support the programs and services DSAOC provides to their constituents. The event will be held on Sunday, Nov 6th starting at 11:00 am at the Santa Ana Zoo (admission included with registration)! In support of DSAOC, Eric Doran, MS, of UCI has created The CHOC/UCI Down Syndrome Program Team. Please consider supporting this event by: Joining our team (using the highlighted link or QR code above) Making a gift Sharing the event with…
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The newest edition of MIND Matters is now available to view digitally and will arrive in mailboxes soon! This issue is a special edition on Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) and covers: UCI MIND converges upon San Diego for AAIC Buzzworthy Brain News Evening on the Peninsula Michael Chang Foundation A December to Remember is back! In-person! Bright MINDs Shine at AAIC Spotlight on 90+ Learn more here > Donate to UCI MIND here >
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Responding to an article written in AlzForum on the future of Alzheimer's treatment and research from October 7th, Joshua Grill, PhD, from UCI MIND, and his colleague, Jason Karlawish, MD, from the University of Pennsylvania, write: Josh Grill, Professor, Psychiatry & Human Behaviorphoto: Steve Zylius/UCI "Anticipation that FDA will grant full approval of lecanemab (or another disease-modifying treatment) invites an exciting but challenging thought exercise: How will such treatments change research and practice for Alzheimer’s disease (AD)? We’ve considered some of the issues. Our top line point is that a new disease-slowing treatment is unlikely to make use of placebo…
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Then and now: Laguna Woods resident Helen Weil plays accordion as a young woman and today, 80 years apart. Weil turned 101 this year. She survived the Nazis in Germany but lost her parents and older sister. (Photo by Daniella Walsh) When Weil was in her 90s, she enrolled in the 90+ Study, a UC Irvine program initiated in 2003 to study “the oldest-old.” The program started in 1981 as the Leisure World Cohort Study, in which Leisure World residents in their 90s filled out surveys about what contributed to their longevity. … UCI researchers visit participants every six months…
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Contributed by Christian Salazar, PhD, MPH, Hye-Won Shin, PhD, and Joshua Grill, PhD Recent papers in JAMA Network Open and JAMA Neurology further our understanding of potential differences among self-reported racial and ethnic groups in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarkers. The two new papers add to a growing literature that suggest AD biomarkers may work differently in people of different races. Perhaps the most consistent finding so far is that people who self-report as Black may have lower levels of phosphorylated tau in the cerebrospinal fluid and now (in the paper from colleagues at Emory University) in the plasma. As noted by…
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