In the News

MGH News (April 11, 2020): Mass General Team Detects Alzheimer’s Early Using Electronic Health Records - April 11, 2020

As the cornovirus advances, it is taking a particularly harsh toll on the many who are caring for for a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia. According to a report by the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 16 million Americans are providing unpaid care for those with Alzheimer’s or other ...

Medscape Medical News (April 8, 2020) Strong Support for Amyloid as Dementia Prevention Target - April 9, 2020

A project called Artrip is giving people with dementia a creative outlet via art appreciation groups. Yoko Hayashi, a representative of the non-profit organization Arts Alive, says people with dementia speak their minds freely and often lead the discussions. https://www.facebook.com/thejapantimes/videos/10155375891568344/?t=48

New York Times (March 20, 2020): When Dementia Meets the Coronovirus - April 8, 2020

The study of autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease (ADAD) has substantially improved the understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease. Yakeel T. Quiroz, PhD, director of the Familial Dementia Neuroimaging Lab and the Multicultural Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues previously characterized approximately 1,200 members of the world’s largest known extended family with ADAD in Colombia, South America, who carry ...

Forbes (March 25, 2020): Latinas In STEM Lead The Way In The Fight Against Alzheimer’s Disease - March 26, 2020

When scientists began tracking the health of 268 Harvard sophomores in 1938 during the Great Depression, they hoped the longitudinal study would reveal clues to leading healthy and happy lives. They got more than they wanted. After following the surviving Crimson men for nearly 80 years as part of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the ...

MGH News (February 28, 2020): Case of Resistance to Autosomal Dominant Alzheimer’s Disease Suggests New Direction for Treatment - March 9, 2020

A new study at Massachusetts General Hospital reveals more information about how to prevent neuroinflammation, a response to the buildup of amyloid plaques that promote Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Rudolph E. Tanzi, PhD, director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Mass General, Ana Griciuc, PhD, neuroscientist, and colleagues sought to learn more about “crosstalk” between genes and ...

MGH News (January 17, 2020): White Matter Is Altered in Functional Neurological Disorder - March 9, 2020

The beta-amyloid hypothesis has dominated Alzheimer’s disease research for nearly 35 years. It proposes that plaques, comprised of the protein beta-amyloid, destroy synapses and stimulate the development of neurofibrillary tangles of the tau protein, which kills neurons in patients with the disease. Resultantly, neuroinflammation is triggered, which destroys more neurons and ultimately leads to dementia. Thus ...

MGH News (February 4, 2020): The Innate Immune Protection Hypothesis of Alzheimer’s Disease - February 10, 2020

The woman’s genetic profile showed she would develop Alzheimer’s by the time she turned 50. She, like thousands of her relatives, going back generations, was born with a gene mutation that causes people to begin having memory and thinking problems in their 40s and deteriorate rapidly toward death around age 60. But remarkably, she experienced no cognitive ...

MGH News (November 7, 2019): “Crosstalk” Between Genes Promotes Brain Inflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease - December 10, 2019

Thank you for being in touch about the recent Biogen announcement. We understand you have many questions about it and thank you for your patience. At this time, the information we have is similar to what you have read and heard. There is a scientific meeting scheduled for December at which more data will be presented ...

New York Times (November 4, 2019): Why Didn’t She Get Alzheimer’s? The Answer Could Hold a Key to Fighting the Disease - November 12, 2019

Hospitalization is a choice. That may sound surprising coming from a health care provider, but the fact is that hospitalization is not a necessity, especially for end-of-life patients with cognitive impairment. A trip to the hospital can be stressful — and downright torturous — for someone with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia — ...

U.S. News & World Report (October 21, 2019): Hospitalization Can Traumatize People with Alzheimer’s - October 22, 2019

Doctors may be not be diagnosing women as early as men with brain problems associated with early signs of dementia because of how well women typically perform on simple memory tests, a study published Wednesday suggests. Women generally perform better on verbal memory tests, according to the study published in the peer-reviewed journal Neurology. So when these common tests are used ...

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