Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Senior Health: Therapeutic strategy to combat Alzheimer's ♦ Frailer older patients at higher risk of readmission or death ♦ New mechanism for Alzheimer's disease confirmed

New mechanism for Alzheimer's disease confirmed Decreased removal of toxic peptides in the brain causes the onset and first clinical signs of Alzheimer's disease, rather than overproduction as has previously been assumed. This information can now be used to target specific genes to enhance their function in the brain of elderly or people at risk.
Frailer older patients at higher risk of readmission or death after discharge from hospital Frailer older patients are at higher risk of readmission to hospital or death within 30 days after discharge from a general internal medicine ward, but health care professionals can assess who is at risk using the Clinical Frailty Scale.
Hospice use linked to fewer depressive symptoms for surviving spouses Spouses of patients receiving hospice for three or more days more frequently reported reduced depression symptoms.
Oldest old less likely to be investigated or aggressively treated after surgery Patients aged 80 and above are significantly less likely to be investigated or aggressively treated after surgery than their younger counterparts.
New insights could result in changes to the therapeutic strategy to combat Alzheimer's, reduce animal testing A typical characteristic of the brain of an Alzheimer sufferer is the presence of insoluble Tau protein aggregates. Scientists have demonstrated that the distribution of these aggregates through the brain is facilitated by synaptic connections between brain cells. This news is highly significant because the focus is increasingly on repairing synaptic connections as a therapeutic strategy in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. In fact, it is generally accepted that a loss of synaptic connections leads to a loss in cognitive skills.

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