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The New York Times on Tuesday examined research that found “many Hispanics may have more risk factors for developing dementia than other groups” and that a “significant number appear to be getting Alzheimer’s earlier” than most U.S. residents, who commonly develop the disease in their 70s or 80s. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, about 200,000 Hispanics in the U.S.

Individual budgets can give people more choice, flexibility and control over their personal care, according to a pilot scheme evaluation report launched today by Care Services Minister Phil Hope. The independent evaluation was conducted by a combined team of five university research units.

Removing an enzyme that regulates fatty acid levels improves cognitive deficits in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research to be published Nature Neuroscience. Researchers identified specific fatty acids that may contribute to Alzheimer’s as a potential avenue for further investigation.

Amyloid plaques are the defining characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but several studies suggest that soluble amyloid protein is more damaging to neurons. In fact, many signs of neurodegeneration occur before amyloid plaques appear. One such sign is neuronal re-entry into the cell cycle, which occurs in several neurodegenerative diseases.

Debiopharm Group (Debiopharm), a global biopharmaceutical development specialist that focuses on serious medical conditions and particularly oncology, announced that the first healthy elderly subjects have been randomised in a clinical bioequivalence bridging study, conducted in the United States under IND (Investigational New Drug).

An independent team of scientists is leading Alzheimer’s disease research in a new, promising direction. Through a $1 million grant they received last year from Alzheimer’s Disease Research, a program of the American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF), Donald F. Weaver, M.D., Ph.D.

A team of world-renowned scientists announced the launch of Archer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a new company that will use modern technologies for the identification of novel treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Archer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., led by Chief Executive Officer Michael Mullan, M.B.B.S., Ph.D. and Chief Technical Officer Fiona Crawford, Ph.D.

Amyloid precursor protein (APP), whose cleavage product, amyloid-b (Ab), builds up into fibrous plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients, jumps from one specialized membrane microdomain to another to be cleaved, report Sakurai et al.

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) and the University of California have found that complete or partial removal of an enzyme that regulates fatty acid levels improves cognitive deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

People with more education and more mentally demanding occupations may have protection against the memory loss that precedes Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published in the October 21, 2008, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.