by Medical XPress:

Researchers at the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome and the University of Colorado School of Medicine have found that a single mechanism may underlie the damaging effect of cholesterol on the brain and on blood vessels.

High levels of blood cholesterol increase the risk of both Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease, but it has been unclear exactly how cholesterol damages the brain to promote Alzheimer’s disease and blood vessels to promote atherosclerosis.

Using insights gained from studying two much rarer disorders, Down Syndrome and Niemann Pick-C disease, researchers at the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome and the Department of Neurology of the University of Colorado School of Medicine found that cholesterol wreaks havoc on the orderly process of cell division, leading to defective daughter cells throughout the body.

by Global Post:

Coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body as the drink has already been linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s Disease,research suggests.

A vital barrier between the brain and the main blood supply of rabbits fed a fat-rich diet was protected in those given a caffeine supplement.Experts said it was the “best evidence yet” of coffee’s benefits,BBC health reported.

Caffeine is a safe and readily available drug and its ability to stabilise the blood brain barrier means it could have an important part to play in therapies against neurological disorders.

The “blood brain barrier” is a filter which protects the central nervous system from potentially harmful chemicals carried around in the rest of the bloodstream.

by Fiona Macrae for Daily News:

Gorging on junk food may not just make you fat – it could also give you dementia. Evidence is growing that a bad diet triggers Alzheimer’s by poisoning the brain.

With studies on animals strongly implicating the hormone insulin in the process, some believe Alzheimer’s to be another version of diabetes. Bizarre as the claim may seem, confirming the link could speed the search for desperately needed new treatments for Alzheimer’s, which, along with other forms of dementia, affects more than 800,000 Britons.

Bad diets are already linked to dementia, through high blood pressure and cholesterol interrupting blood supply to the brain. But the latest theory points to high levels of fatty and sugary food damaging the brain by interrupting its supply of insulin.

by BBC News:

Being overweight is not just bad for waistlines but for brains too, say researchers who have linked obesity to declining mental performance.

Experts are not sure why this might be, but say metabolic changes such as high blood sugar and raised cholesterol are likely to be involved. Obesity has already been tipped as a risk factor for dementia.

The work, published in Neurology, tracked the health of more than 6,000 British people over a decade. The participants, who were aged between 35 and 55, took tests on memory and other cognitive skills three times over a 10-year period.

People who were both obese and who had unhealthy metabolic changes showed a much faster decline on their cognitive test scores compared to others in the study.

by Jonathan Benson for Natural News:

Emerging research on the widespread degenerative brain disease known as Alzheimer’s suggests that this prevalent form of dementia is actually a type of diabetes. Published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, a recent study out of Rhode Island Hospital (RIH) confirms that Alzheimer’s is marked by brain insulin resistance and corresponding inflammation, a condition that some researchers are now referring to as type-3 diabetes.

Dr. Suzanne de la Monte from RIH is the one responsible for making this fascinating connection, having found in her research that diabetes is closely associated with several key neuronal factors implicated in dementia. It turns out that Alzheimer’s progresses as a result of the brain developing resistance to insulin, which in turn prevents proper lipid (fat) metabolism. Over time, these lipids build up in the brain rather than properly absorb, which results in increased stress and inflammation, as well as the symptoms commonly associated with dementia.

by Medical XPress:

Australian researchers have found biomarkers in the blood that could help develop a test to identify people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

University of New South Wales School of Psychiatry Professor Perminder Sachdev and his team looked at apolipoproteins, which transport cholesterol in the blood, and found they were dysregulated – or abnormal – in patients with mild cognitive impairment. The research findings are published in the journal PLOS ONE.

“Essentially, this is one step towards developing a suite of biomarkers to include a number of different proteins that will identify individuals with mild cognitive impairment who will probably go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease or dementia in the future,” Professor Sachdev says.

Evidence suggests these proteins are involved in Alzheimer’s disease and some other brain diseases, Professor Sachdev says.

by Zee News:

Researchers who examined the link between metabolic syndrome and cognitive disorders has stressed the need for new lines of research to identify effective therapeutic targets.

No effective treatments are currently available for the prevention or cure of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most frequent form of dementia in the elderly.The most recognized risk factors, advancing age and having the apolipoprotein E 4 gene, cannot be modified or treated. Increasingly, scientists are looking toward other risk factors to identify preventive and therapeutic strategies.

Much attention recently has focused on the metabolic syndrome (MetS), with a strong and growing body of research suggesting that metabolic disorders and obesity may play a role in the development of dementia.

by National Institute of Health:

Researchers may have discovered a mechanism behind the largest known genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The finding suggests possible strategies for prevention as well as a potential new drug target.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in older adults, affecting more than 5 million Americans. A hallmark of the disease is a protein fragment called beta-amyloid, which is thought to be toxic and forms clumps, or plaques, within the brain. Past studies have revealed several genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease. A gene called APOE has shown the strongest connection to the most common, late-onset form of the disease.

APOE encodes a protein that helps regulate the levels and distribution of cholesterol and other lipids in the body. The gene exists in 3 forms. APOE2 is thought to play a protective role against both Alzheimer’s and heart disease, APOE3 is believed to be neutral, and APOE4 confers a higher risk for both conditions. Outside the brain, the APOE4 protein appears to be less effective than the other versions at clearing away cholesterol. How it contributes to Alzheimer’s disease in the brain, however, has been a mystery.

by Jessica Berman for Voice of America:

Scientists have discovered what they believe to be a major piece of the puzzle in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, a degenerative brain disorder that causes memory loss, mental decline and eventual death.  The finding sheds new light on the role played by cholesterol in triggering the disease, and could potentially lead to new, life-saving treatments.

There’s been plenty of evidence gathered in recent years that cholesterol promotes Alzheimer’s disease.  What wasn’t clear was how it does this. Cholesterol is a fatty substance found in tissue that’s essential for normal body functioning. But in the brain, experts have suspected that cholesterol plays a unique biochemical role in the onset of Alzheimer’s.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee have described for the first time the molecular structure of a protein, called amyloid precursor protein, or APP. That is the initial source of amyloid beta, the toxic protein that forms clumps on the brain cells of Alzheimer’s victims, causing memory loss and dementia.

by Medical XPress:

The molecular structure of a protein involved in Alzheimer’s disease – and the surprising discovery that it binds cholesterol – could lead to new therapeutics for the disease, Vanderbilt University investigators report in the June 1 issue of the journal Science.

Charles Sanders, Ph.D., professor of Biochemistry, and colleagues in the Center for Structural Biology determined the structure of part of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) – the source of amyloid-beta, which is believed to trigger Alzheimer’s disease. Amyloid-beta clumps together into oligomers that kill neurons, causing dementia and memory loss. The amyloid-beta oligomers eventually form plaques in the brain – one of the hallmarks of the disease.

“Anything that lowers amyloid-beta production should help prevent, or possibly treat, Alzheimer’s disease,” Sanders said.