Penn study shows vascular link in Alzheimer's disease with cognition

Presence of vascular disease reported across different neurodegenerative diseases

2013-07-10

(Press-News.org) PHILADELPHIA – Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that, across a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, cerebrovascular disease affecting circulation of blood in the brain was significantly associated with dementia. The researchers contend that people already exhibiting clinical features of Alzheimer's disease and other memory impairments may benefit from effective therapies currently available to reduce vascular problems. Thus, early management of vascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, and adopting a 'heart healthy' diet as well as exercise and other lifestyles in midlife may delay or prevent the onset of dementia due to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

The link between cerebrovascular disease was strongest with Alzheimer's disease -- as compared to other neurodegenerative diseases including frontotemporal lobar degeneration, Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS and Parkinson's disease -- and had the most pronounced effect in younger Alzheimer's patients, according to the study, published in the July 10 issue of Brain.

"While there was evidence already to suggest that vascular disease could play a role in neurodegenerative disease, this is the first study to compare the burden of vascular disease across neurodegenerative diseases with multiple, distinct or different origins," said senior author John Q. Trojanowski, MD, PhD, director of the National Institute on Aging-funded Alzheimer's Disease Core Center at the University of Pennsylvania and professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. "We were surprised to find such a strong link to vascular disease in Alzheimer's disease, especially in younger patients, in comparison to individuals with other neurodegenerative diseases."

Penn researchers analyzed 5715 cases from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) database, which have been collected from 35 past and present NIA-funded Alzheimer's centers across the US since NACC was started in 1999. This is the first study to compare the presence of cerebrovascular disease across the whole spectrum of neurogenerative diseases.

Nearly 80 percent of the more than 4600 Alzheimer's disease patients showed some degree of vascular pathology -- defined as hardened or blocked blood vessels, tissue death due to lack of blood supply, or bleeding -- in the brain, as compared to 67 percent in the control group of people with no remarkable brain disease pathology, and 66 percent in the Parkinson's pathology group.

"In the absence of any disease modifying therapies to change the course of the Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, we hope that the diligent use of existing treatments for vascular conditions and the implementation of campaigns promoting healthy lifestyles in young and middle aged people may have a positive impact on preventing or reducing dementia symptoms in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease " said lead study author Jon B. Toledo, MD, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

The study has implications from a public health perspective and for the design of clinical study cohorts that better represent the general population of people with cognitive impairment. In addition, drugs tested for Alzheimer's disease and other related dementias should consider the impact of the frequent concident presence of cerebrovascular disease on the treatment response of new therapies for Alzheimer's, as most current trials exclude patients with vascular risk factors or cardiovascular disease. Given the prevalence of vascular problems, the researchers note that this large subset of dementia patients should be included in clinical trials to accurately represent the true population dealing with these neurodegenerative diseases, or, at least considered when predicting the clinical impact on patients in a real world population.

###

Additional members of the Penn study team include Steven Arnold, MD, co-director of Penn's Alzheimer's Disease Core Center and Murray Grossman, MD, EdD, director of the Penn Frontotemporal Disease Center; Kevin Raible and Johanness Brettschneider from the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research; and Sharon Xie, from the Department of Biostatics and Epidemiology. Colleagues at the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center at the University of Washington also contributed to this report.

Funding was provided by the National Institute on Aging (U01 AG016976 and P30 AG010124), with additional support from the Fundacion Alfonso Martin Escudero.

Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

School policies reduce student drinking -- if they're perceived to be enforced

2013-07-10

"Just say no" has been many a parent's mantra when it comes to talking to their children about drugs or alcohol. Schools echo that with specific policies against illicit use on school grounds. But do those school policies work? University of Washington professor of social work Richard Catalano and colleagues studied whether anti-alcohol policies in public and private schools in Washington state and Australia's Victoria state were effective for eighth- and ninth-graders. What they found was that each school's particular policy mattered less than the students' perceived ...

Note to teens: Just breathe

2013-07-10

In May, the Los Angeles school board voted to ban suspensions of students for "willful defiance" and directed school officials to use alternative disciplinary practices. The decision was controversial, and the question remains: How do you discipline rowdy students and keep them in the classroom while still being fair to other kids who want to learn? A team led by Dara Ghahremani, an assistant researcher in the department of psychiatry at UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior conducted a study on the Youth Empower Seminar, or YES!, a workshop for ...

Illinois chemical/bioengineers use adhesion to combine advantages of silicones and organic materials

2013-07-10

Introductory chemistry students learn that oil and water repel each other. So do other hydrophobic substances, which carry no electric charge, and hydrophilic substances, which carry an electric charge that allows them to mix with water. In a study reported in the July 1, 2013 Angewandte Chemie, a group of University of Illinois bioengineers have found a way to strongly adhere hydrogels to hydrophobic silicone substrates, an innovation that provides a valuable new tool for microscale biotechnology. The article reporting the work was highlighted by the editors as a "Hot ...

NASA sees Tropical Storm Chantal's heavy rainfall and towering thunderstorms

2013-07-10

VIDEO: On July 8, NASA's TRMM satellite saw Tropical Storm Chantal's heaviest rainfall happening at a rate of over 115.5 mm/hr. (~4.5 inches) near Chantal's center where thunderstorms reached heights of... Click here for more information. Two NASA satellites captured a look at Tropical Storm Chantal, from the inside and outside and revealed powerful, high thunderstorms dropping heavy rainfall. Later in the day at 1700 UTC (1 p.m. EDT) on July 8, the Moderate Resolution ...

Infants' food linked to higher, lower Type 1 diabetes risk

2013-07-10

Infants who get their first solid food before 4 months of age and after 6 months may have a higher risk of developing Type 1 diabetes, University of Colorado researchers have found. The researchers, from the Colorado School of Public Health and the CU School of Medicine's Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, also found that the risk goes down if the mother is still breast-feeding the baby when solid foods, particularly those containing wheat or barley, are introduced into the diet. The results were unveiled Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association publication ...

NASA satellites see strong thunderstorms surround Typhoon Soulik's center

2013-07-10

Visible and infrared satellite data show strong thunderstorms surrounding the low-level center of the tropical storm turned Typhoon Soulik. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Typhoon Soulik in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean on July 9 and two instruments showed the power in the typhoon's center. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Soulik on July 9 at 1:25 UTC (July 8 at 9:25 p.m. EDT). The image shows a tight concentration of thunderstorms around the typhoon's center and ...

Breakthrough study reveals biological basis for sensory processing disorders in kids

2013-07-10

In a groundbreaking new study from UC San Francisco, researchers have found that children affected with sensory processing disorders (SPD) have quantifiable differences in brain structure, showing a biological basis for the disease that sets it apart from other neurodevelopmental disorders. SPD—which is more prevalent than autism and as common as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)—receives far less attention than other neurodevelopmental disorders. For one, SPD often occur in children who also have ADHD or autism, and the disorders have never been ...

Behavior change may have the greatest influence on waves of influenza outbreak: McMaster study

2013-07-10

Hamilton, ON (July 9, 2013) - Three waves of the deadliest influenza pandemic in history, known as the Spanish flu, hit England and Wales in 1918, just as World War 1 was coming to an end. Why flu arrives in multiple waves like this is the focus of a study by McMaster University researchers who discovered three contributing factors: the closing and opening of schools, temperature changes and – most importantly – changes in human behavior. "We found all three factors were important in 1918 but that behavioural responses had the largest effect," said David Earn, an investigator ...

Contemplating the Brazilian dilemma: Abundant grain/inadequate storage

2013-07-10

URBANA, Ill. –Tropical climates that allow for year-round farming would seem to be a tremendous economic advantage, but for corn and soybean farmers in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso it also poses a problem—an abundance of grain followed by about a 10 percent postharvest loss, partially due to a lack of storage. "There is a 34 percent undercapacity of soybean storage, and the situation is aggravated by the rapidly increasing production of second-crop maize," said University of Illinois agricultural economist Peter Goldsmith. "The worst situation occurs in northern ...

Sun's loops are displaying an optical illusion

2013-07-10

The Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, has posed an enduring mystery. Why is it so hot? The Sun's visible surface is only 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, but as you move outward the temperature shoots up to millions of degrees. It's like a campfire that feels hotter the farther away you stand. To understand how the corona is heated, some astronomers study coronal loops. These structures are shaped like an upside-down U and show where magnetic field lines are funneling solar gases or plasma. Our best photos of the Sun suggest that these loops are a constant width, like strands ...

One of the largest studies on preterm birth finds a maternal biomarker test significantly reduces neonatal morbidities and improves neonatal outcomes

One of the largest studies of its kind finds early intervention with iron delivered intravenously during pregnancy is a safe and effective treatment for anemia

Penn study shows vascular link in Alzheimer's disease with cognition

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: