(Press-News.org) Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers are part of a consortium that has identified four new genes that when present increase the risk of a person developing Alzheimer's disease later in life. The findings appear in the current issue of Nature Genetics. The consortium also contributed to the identification of a fifth gene reported by other groups of investigators from the United States and Europe.
"Mount Sinai has unique resources that we contributed to the study, having one of the largest brain banks for Alzheimer samples in the world," said lead Mount Sinai scientist, Joseph Buxbaum, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Genetics and Genomic Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "Follow up studies of the genes identified, to determine how they affect brain biochemistry, are now possible in our samples, and this can help us understand how the genes contribute to Alzheimer's disease"
The study, conducted by the Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium, consisting of investigators from 44 universities and research institutions in the United States, and led by Gerard D. Schellenberg, PhD, at Penn, with primary analysis sites at Miami, led by Margaret A. Pericak-Vance, PhD, and Boston, led by Lindsay A. Farrer, PhD,
analyzed more than 11,000 people with Alzheimer's disease and nearly the same number of elderly people who have no symptoms of dementia. Three additional institutions contributed confirming data, bringing the total number of people analyzed in the study to over 54,000.
The researchers had two main goals for the study. First was the identification of new Alzheimer's disease genes to provide major clues as to its underlying cause. Genetic studies can provide new insights into the molecules at the center of the disease. Obtaining this type of understanding is critical for drug discovery, since the treatments currently available to patients are only slightly effective.
The second goal was for the gene discovery of the type highlighted in the Nature Genetics article to ultimately contribute to predicting who will develop Alzheimer's disease, which will be important when preventive measures become available. Knowing these risk genes will also help identify the first disease-initiating steps that begin in the brain long before any symptoms of memory loss or intellectual decline are apparent. This knowledge will help researchers understand the events that lead to the destruction of large parts of the brain and eventually the complete loss of cognitive abilities.
###
The research published in Nature Genetics was supported by the National Institute on Aging, (part of the National Institutes of Health, which includes 29 Alzheimer's Disease Centers), the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center, the NIA Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease Data Storage Site, the NIA Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease Family Study, and the National Cell Repository for Alzheimer's Disease. These centers collect, store, and make available to qualified researchers DNA samples, datasets containing biomedical and demographic information about participants, and genetic analysis data.
Mount Sinai ranks third in funding by the National Institute of Aging of the National Institutes of Health, including an Alzheimer's Disease Center.
About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of few medical schools embedded in a hospital in the United States. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 15 institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institute of Health funding and by U.S. News & World Report. The school received the 2009 Spencer Foreman Award for Outstanding Community Service from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks The Mount Sinai Hospital among the nation's best hospitals based on reputation, patient safety, and other patient-care factors. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 530,000 outpatient visits took place.
4 new genes identified for Alzheimer's disease risk
2011-04-03
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Nurturing newborn neurons sharpens minds in mice
2011-04-03
Adult mice engineered to have more newborn neurons in their brain memory hub excelled at accurately discriminating between similar experiences – an ability that declines with normal aging and in some anxiety disorders. Boosting such neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus also produced antidepressant-like effects when combined with exercise, in the study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Researchers, for the first time, pinpointed the effects of enhanced adult neurogenesis by creating mice lacking a gene required for programmed cell death of newborn neurons ...
Federal Work-Safety Officials Watching New Jersey Construction Sites
2011-04-03
The United States Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently cited a Rochelle Park, N.J., contractor for four repeat violations and one serious violation because of unsafe scaffolding in renovation of the Somerville, N.J., train station. Federal workplace safety inspectors found the contractor put workers at risk of potential falls.
OSHA has proposed fines of $69,300, although a company representative said the contractor plans to fight the charges, which it had 15 business days to do.
History of Noncompliance
The contractor, Beno ...
AAA Seeks to Improve Licensing Standards for Wisconsin Teen Drivers
2011-04-03
Teen drivers pose many dangers to themselves and others on the road. The data is disturbing, no matter how you approach it. Motor vehicle accidents are still the leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 20. That group is involved in fatal crashes at three times the rate of all other drivers.
The federal government has been trying to address this challenge by offering guidelines on teen driver's licensing standards. Led by Ray LaHood, the Department of Transportation has also waged a proactive awareness campaign against distracted driving.
AAA's ...
High Tension Over Florida High-Speed Rail
2011-04-03
This past month's battle over high-speed rail funding has raised multiple questions, the most significant of which is: did Florida Governor Rick Scott overstep his executive authority by refusing federal funds for the Tampa-Orlando rail project? In a unanimous decision on March 4, 2011, the Florida Supreme Court answered: no.
The debate began on February 16, when Gov. Scott announced that he was rejecting federal funding from the Obama administration's high-speed rail investment plan. He had concerns that the construction cost would exceed the 2.4 billion dollars of ...
Dementia Patient Mentally Competent to Stand Trial?
2011-04-03
A 78-year-old dementia patient in a nursing home killed a 70-year-old living on the same floor by bashing his head with a door, authorities said, but it's unclear whether he will be charged with homicide.
Ray Dunmyer Jr. was charged with aggravated assault and transferred to another facility
Two nurse's aides discovered Shaw lying in a pool of his own blood and saw Dunmyer slamming a heavy wooden door against Shaw's head, state police Trooper Kenneth Durbin said.
The aides struggled to control Dunmyer, who hit one of the aides in the face and kicked the other in ...
Medical Malpractice Claim Filed on Behalf of Client
2011-04-03
Our firm was recently retained by a 54 year old patient who suffered headaches and back pain following an epidural injection. Several days later when he presented himself to the emergency room he had a temperature of 101 degrees, severe headache and was beginning to lose bladder and bowel control.
An emergency room physician gave him one dose of antibiotics. A neurosurgeon discontinued the antibiotics and treated the patient with steroids. During his four day hospital admission he received no additional antibiotic therapy. He was discharged with a diagnosis of arachnoiditis.
After ...
Motorcycle Helmets Necessary for Safety
2011-04-03
A British inventor at the University of Sussex Innovation Centre recently launched a new motorcycle helmet to the market that promises to reduce terminal brain swelling and the long-term effects of traumatic brain injury, both of which commonly occur in motorcycle accidents. The helmet, called the ThermaHelm, contains pockets of ammonium nitrate and water. In the event of a crash, these pockets combine, causing a chemical reaction that cools the interior of the helmet, thus reducing the risk of brain swelling.
Protective Clothing and Equipment Is Essential
Though ...
Workers' Comp Fraud Much Lower Than Industry Estimates
2011-04-03
For years, the insurance industry has carefully created an image of workers taking advantage of the workers' compensation system by faking their workplace injuries or making them out to be much worse than they really are. They have blamed injured workers for taking taxpayer money and putting a financial strain on employers who must continue to pay ever-increasing workers' comp insurance premiums to cover the fraudulent claims.
The truth, however, is that the vast majority of workers' comp claims are filed by honest, hard-working people who sustained legitimate on-the-job ...
Medical Malpractice: Alarm Fatigue Threatens Patient Safety
2011-04-03
Hospitalized patients face many risks in the aftermath of major surgery or during treatment for a severe illness. Medication errors, infection risks, improper charting and failures to respond to patient complaints can lead to immediate complications with tragic consequences. One example of nurse malpractice that has gained recent attention is "alarm fatigue" -- failing to respond to warnings from cardiac monitors, respiratory monitors and other machines that track a patient's vital signs.
A recent Boston Globe investigation showed how increased dependence on monitoring ...
Driver Faces Federal Charges After Fatal Pennsylvania Truck Accident
2011-04-03
In January 2009, 57-year-old Valerijs Belovs was driving a semi-truck with faulty brakes outside of Philadelphia. When rounding a curve on the I-76 expressway, Belovs saw that traffic had halted but was unable to stop his large tractor trailer, which was carrying a load of produce to New Jersey.
The truck slammed into stopped traffic, killing 49-year-old David Schreffler. Recently, Belovs pled guilty to vehicular homicide and now faces federal charges due to 15 falsified entries made in his logbook prior to the 2009 truck crash.
Federal prosecutors discovered that ...