MARIN COUNTY, CA (KGO) — Recent developments in Alzheimer’s research are underscoring the hope and frustration involved in trying to conquer the disease. While potential treatments are moving forward, others have taken a step back.

Former teacher Jean Simpson can still rip through a crossword puzzle with the vocabulary she has built over decades, but at the same time, she no longer has enough short-term memory to read a book.

“I can’t remember once I get to page six. It’s like, ‘Whoops. What was that they said back there?’” she says.

She is taking part in a phase three clinical trial, testing a new drug that shows promise for treating Alzheimer’s disease. It is an open-label trial which means all patients will receive the drug Bapineuzumab.

Alzheimer’s researcher Jerome Goldstein says it is “a medication that addresses the plaques, the amaloy plaques in Alzheimer’s disease.”

Dr. Goldstein says a new imaging technique has allowed researchers to document the drug’s effect on the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, where it was recently shown to reduce clumps of plaque associated with the disease. In clinical trials, patients also showed some slowing of their memory loss.

“At the present time, we see some degree of stabilizations of the disorder,” Goldstein says.

But, in a battle where even marginal progress is a victory, he is still cautious about any long-term predictions for Bapinuezumab.

In early March, another highly-publicized drug, developed in part by Bay Area start-up Medivation, failed a late-stage clinical trial. The future of that drug, Dimebon, is now unclear.

“The main point here is that we’re 100 years into knowing the description of Alzheimer’s disease without any effective treatment,” says Dr. Dale Bredesen at the Buck Institute for Age Research in Marin County.

The Buck Institute is one of several labs now working on alternative targets for Alzheimer’s drugs.

“We have a completely different view of this disease and it used to be thought that the plaques were the bad actors and it looks more now like they’re the garbage dumps. Yes, they can smell bad. Yes, they can look bad, but they’re not the most important thing,” Bredesen says.

Buck Institute researchers have focused on a protein that helps guide nerves and their connections in the brain, rather than targeting the plaque. A video provided by the Buck Institute shows mice, genetically-altered with the same mutation found in people with Alzheimer’s can no longer swim to their target in the pool. But, when scientists alter the protein, the mice quickly find their goal.

That research has evolved and scientists have found the addition of a protein called Netrin-1 has a similar effect.

At Goldstein’s San Francisco clinic, Jean Simpson is hoping the current trial of Bapineuzumab will eventually lead to a new therapy to slow the symptoms of a disease that now affects more than five million people in the U.S.

“So, if they find something with one of us, we’ve gained, and that’s why I’m here,” Simpson says. “I just hope that it works and can help others.”

Johnson & Johnson, the parent company of Elan — the group that is testing Bapineuzumab — has announced that they are extending the length of the clinical trial before they release results. Researchers say the company wants a larger pool of patients before they take their data to the FDA.

Mr Furnaces One Hour

Air Quality’s One Hour

Dimebon Online

http://www.dimebonalzheimers.com/

                  Easily said simply having a purpose in life helps steer patients from the evil grip of the aging process , dementia and perhaps along the way a means of prevention or slowing the onset of dementia and perhaps even Alzheimer’s Disease , its incidence and progression as well.

                  Often “older people”  who avidly follow such tasks and interests as daily crossword puzzles keep themselves mentally fit.

Crossword Puzzles – Crossword puzzles are said to be the most popular word game in the world. Find out more about these addictive word puzzles: their history, various types of crosswords, where to find free puzzles online, and how to make and sell your own …

Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: TUESDAY, Jun. 16 2009 … – this one is my favorite]; atmarosi http://twitpic.com/7h8ey – the bus driver is seriously doing a crossword puzzle – on the job…only in paris; celro just saw a transvestite smoking weed on the curb with a cop sitting on the corner …

Diary of a Crossword Fiend: Thursday, 6/18 – Any relation to the Dutch tradition of Zwarte Piet, Santa’s helper in blackface? No, apparently Mickey’s enemy is a ginormous anthropomorphized cat or bear. Pete’s first appearance was as a “collector of rare cross word puzzles” in a …

Brain exercises: Do They Work (chapter 1) | Psychology Today – When I was writing my book “Can’t Remember What I Forgot,” the seminal question that friends and acquaintances asked me was whether doing crossword puzzles was really going to help them avoid Alzheimer’s and other kinds of cognitive …

Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: WEDNESDAY, Jun. 17 2009 … – A Crossword Blog – PLEASE NOTE: In syndication, the Sunday NYT puzzle runs a week behind, and the dailies are five weeks behind. The puzzle number is the original publication date (e.g., 1122 = Nov. 22). …

The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated: 06.18.09 – The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated. Illustrations and cartoons for the day’s crossword. A subsidiary weblog of. The New York Times Crossword in Gothic. About Me. My Photo. DONALD. View my complete profile . ———-. Blog Archive …

Writing.Com: Three Stooges Crossword Puzzle (Crossword Puzzle) – Think you’re up to snuff on your Stooges knowledge? Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!

Coolest Crossword Puzzle Cake – We made this cake for my mother in-law’s 65th birthday party. We used a 13X9 cake for the base and covered it in brown/marbled fondant and then gave.

Not doubt about that.  It is no accident or accidental twist of fate – or of clinical trials .

Dimebon Alzheimer’s Disease

Medical Tourism Resource

http://www.dimebonalzheimers.com

Dimebon News and Information » Blog Archive » Have a Purpose in … – This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 3:28 pm and is filed under Dimebon New Drug Information. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. …

Alzheimer’s Reading Room: Dimebon Connection Study Complete … – Medivation, Inc. (MDVN) today announced the completion of patient enrollment in the CONNECTION study, a six-month, confirmatory, pivotal Phase 3 trial of the investigational drug dimebon in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s …

Dimebon Studies and other Clinical Trials « Help for caregivers of … – If you are interested in a deeper discussion of dimebon or drug trials please go to a blog that set up just for that. drugtrials. Unfortunately, wordpress is unable to allow certain things like signup lists, which I need to have if I am …