Soy Goo May Fight Alzheimer's

With no treatment available, it could cause unnecessary heartache

(NEWSER) - Advances in medical testing allow Alzheimer's disease to be diagnosed earlier than ever before—sometimes even before symptoms occur. But one man says that his wife's testing, which yielded a diagnosis at age 56, "was the biggest mistake of my life." Linda Dangaard is still the same in many ways, still able to work at the family business, but has lost friends, self-esteem, and her driver's license. "Her golden years were ripped out from under her by a diagnosis that I think is cruel, because there's nothing anybody can do about it," husband Colin tells the Wall Street Journal . More»

Bexarotene removes plaque built up on brain

(NEWSER) - Scientists were "shocked and amazed" at the effects of a common cancer drug in battling Alzheimer's in mice. The disease causes a buildup of plaque in the brain—but just hours after mice received bexarotene, the plaque began to disappear and the mice got smarter, AFP reports. The drug increases a protein that helps get rid of the plaque. "Things like this had never, ever been seen before," says a scientist at Case Western Reserve University. More»

Could the process work for humans?

(NEWSER) - Harvard scientists have reversed the aging process in mice, injecting them with an enzyme that healed tissue and reportedly spurred the growth of new neurons in their brains. Now they’re wondering if they can apply some of these benefits to humans. But differences between human and mice bodies make things complicated—and potentially dangerous, the Guardian reports. More»

And the breakthrough it led to

(NEWSER) - When Thomas Harvey performed Albert Einstein's autopsy, he removed his brain, which was standard procedure. But what he did next wasn't standard at all: He put the brain in a jar of formaldehyde and made off with it. NPR relates the strange tale in a segment this morning. Harvey said he was driven by a sense of scientific duty, and through the years would freely distribute bits of the brain to leading neuroanatomists. More»

(NEWSER) - Moments of forgetfulness attributed to Alzheimer’s disease could in fact be caused by a loss of vision, the Boston Globe reports, and new research asserts that cranking up contrast—by using colored dinner plates, for instance—could help. “Let’s say you put keys down on the counter and can’t find them,” a researcher says. “People say, ‘Of course she can’t find them—she has Alzheimer’s.’ Well, what if she can’t see them?” More»