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Hot Topics of the Day are picked by experts to capture the latest information and publications on public health genomics and precision health for various diseases and health topics. Sources include published scientific literature, reviews, blogs and popular press articles.

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239 hot topic(s) found with the query "Alzheimer's disease"

Early dementia diagnosis: blood proteins reveal at-risk people The results of a large-scale screening study could be used to develop blood tests to diagnose diseases such as Alzheimer’s before symptoms take hold.
M Naddaf, Nature, February 13, 2024 (Posted: Feb 13, 2024 9AM)

From the article: "An analysis of around 1,500 blood proteins has identified biomarkers that can be used to predict the risk of developing dementia up to 15 years before diagnosis. The findings are a step towards a tool that scientists have been in search of for decades: blood tests that can detect Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia at a very early, pre-symptomatic stage. Researchers screened blood samples from more than 50,000 healthy adults in the UK Biobank, 1,417 of whom developed dementia in a 14-year period." They found that high blood levels of four proteins — GFAP, NEFL, GDF15 and LTBP2 — were strongly associated with dementia. "

Assessment of Mendelian and risk factor genes in Alzheimer disease: a prospective nationwide clinical utility study and recommendations for genetic screening
G Nicolas et al, Genetics in Med, January 24, 2024 (Posted: Jan 25, 2024 7AM)

From the abstract: "We included 700 patients in a prospective study and performed exome sequencing. A panel of 28 Mendelian and 6 risk-factor genes was interpreted and returned to patients. We built a framework for risk variant interpretation and risk gradation and assessed the detection rates among early-onset AD (EOAD, age of onset (AOO) =65 years, n=608) depending on AOO and pedigree structure and late-onset AD (LOAD, 66<AOO<75, n=92).Twenty-one patients carried a LP/P variant in a Mendelian gene (all with EOAD, 3.4%), 20/21 affected APP, PSEN1 or PSEN2. LP/P variant detection rates in EOAD ranged from 1.7% to 11.6% based on AOO and pedigree structure. "

Direct to Consumer Biomarker Testing for Alzheimer Disease—Are We Ready for the Insurance Consequences?
JJ Arias et al, JAMA Neurology, December 18, 2023 (Posted: Dec 18, 2023 0PM)

From the article: "The promise of DTC testing for AD biomarkers may be lauded by advocates pushing for earlier diagnoses and individuals’ right to know. Early diagnosis of AD through DTC or clinical evaluations could provide benefits, including increased monitoring and preventive care. Additionally, DTC tests could reduce barriers that impede a timely diagnosis (eg, access to dementia specialists). However, DTC tests are not without hazard, particularly given gaps in discriminatory protections for individuals at risk of developing AD with known biomarker status. "

Attitudes toward pre-symptomatic screening for Alzheimer’s dementia in five European countries: a comparison of family members of people with Alzheimer’s dementia versus non-family members
IA Angelidou et al, Frontiers Genetics, December 2023 (Posted: Dec 15, 2023 8AM)

From the abstract: " Pre-symptomatic screening is getting more attention in healthcare as it detects the risk for developing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which is very useful for treatment or prevention. AD screening could play an important role in individuals with at least one affected first-degree relative, but also without family history. As the demand for screening is rising worldwide, it is important to consider possible cross-cultural differences in attitudes toward pre-symptomatic screening."

Organ aging signatures in the plasma proteome track health and disease.
Hamilton Se-Hwee Oh et al. Nature 2023 12 (7990) 164-172 (Posted: Dec 12, 2023 10AM)

From the abstract: "Using machine learning models, we analysed aging in 11 major organs and estimated organ age reproducibly in five independent cohorts encompassing 5,676 adults across the human lifespan. We discovered nearly 20% of the population show strongly accelerated age in one organ and 1.7% are multi-organ agers. Accelerated organ aging confers 20–50% higher mortality risk, and organ-specific diseases relate to faster aging of those organs. We find individuals with accelerated heart aging have a 250% increased heart failure risk and accelerated brain and vascular aging predict Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression. "

How CRISPR gene editing could help treat Alzheimer’s
T Thompson, Nature, December 11, 2023 (Posted: Dec 12, 2023 9AM)

From the article: "Last month saw the first-ever approval of a gene therapy that uses the CRISPR–Cas9 gene-editing tool, a treatment for the blood conditions sickle-cell disease and ß-thalassaemia that works by precisely cutting out a faulty gene in people’s stem cells. Now, researchers in search of new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease are hoping to deploy similar strategies against forms of the disease that are caused by genetic mutations."

APOE Genotype and Alzheimer Disease Risk Across Age, Sex, and Population Ancestry.
Michael E Belloy et al. JAMA Neurol 2023 11 (Posted: Nov 06, 2023 6PM)

From the abstract: " How do associations of apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes with late-onset Alzheimer disease (AD) risk differ across age, sex, and population ancestry? In this genetic association study of 68 756 unique individuals, there was a stepwise pattern of decreasing effect estimates for APOE*4 following East Asian, non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic individuals. There was a similar stepwise pattern of increasing effect estimates for APOE*2 following non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic individuals, with no association for APOE*2 in East Asian individuals and Hispanic individuals."

Consumers Can Now Buy a Blood Test to Evaluate Their Alzheimer Disease Risk, but Should They?
R Rubin, JAMA, September 13, 2023 (Posted: Sep 13, 2023 0PM)

From the article: " AD-Detect Test for Alzheimer Disease is the first blood test available for consumers to purchase that measures a biomarker linked to the most common form of dementia. The test uses liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry to assess the ratio of 2 amyloid-ß peptides, 42 and 40, in plasma. Amyloid deposits in the brain are a hallmark of Alzheimer disease, although many people who have them don’t develop cognitive impairment. Some neurologists and at least 1 bioethicist question the wisdom of marketing such a test to physicians, let alone to consumers. The test might not be ready for prime time, they say, expressing concern about the test’s accuracy as well as how consumers might interpret its results."

Emerging diagnostics and therapeutics for Alzheimer disease.
Wade K Self et al. Nat Med 2023 9 (Posted: Sep 05, 2023 9AM)

From the abstract: "Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common contributor to dementia in the world, but strategies that slow or prevent its clinical progression have largely remained elusive, until recently. This Review highlights the latest advances in biomarker technologies and therapeutic development to improve AD diagnosis and treatment. We review recent results that enable pathological staging of AD with neuroimaging and fluid-based biomarkers, with a particular emphasis on the role of amyloid, tau and neuroinflammation in disease pathogenesis."

Cerebrospinal fluid proteomics define the natural history of autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease.
Erik C B Johnson et al. Nat Med 2023 8 (Posted: Aug 08, 2023 8PM)

Here we show that proteomic measurements in autosomal dominant AD cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) linked to brain protein coexpression can be used to characterize the evolution of AD pathology over a timescale spanning six decades. SMOC1 and SPON1 proteins associated with Aß plaques were elevated in AD CSF nearly 30 years before the onset of symptoms, followed by changes in synaptic proteins, metabolic proteins, axonal proteins, inflammatory proteins and finally decreases in neurosecretory proteins. The proteome discriminated mutation carriers from noncarriers before symptom onset as well or better than Aß and tau measures.

Proteomics analysis of plasma from middle-aged adults identifies protein markers of dementia risk in later life.
Keenan A Walker et al. Sci Transl Med 2023 7 (705) eadf5681 (Posted: Jul 24, 2023 1PM)

Here, we used a large-scale proteomics platform to examine the association of 4877 plasma proteins with 25-year dementia risk in 10,981 middle-aged adults. We found 32 dementia-associated plasma proteins that were involved in proteostasis, immunity, synaptic function, and extracellular matrix organization. We then replicated the association between 15 of these proteins and clinically relevant neurocognitive outcomes in two independent cohorts. We demonstrated that 12 of these 32 dementia-associated proteins were associated with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of AD, neurodegeneration, or neuroinflammation.

Identifying healthy individuals with Alzheimer’s disease neuroimaging phenotypes in the UK Biobank
T Azevedo et al, Comm Med, July 20, 2023 (Posted: Jul 21, 2023 8AM)

We trained a Bayesian machine learning neural network model to generate a neuroimaging phenotype and AD score representing the probability of AD using structural MRI data in the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) Cohort (cut-off 0.5, AUC 0.92, PPV 0.90, NPV 0.93). We go on to validate the model in an independent real-world dataset of the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Centre (AUC 0.74, PPV 0.65, NPV 0.80) and demonstrate the correlation of the AD-score with cognitive scores in those with an AD-score above 0.5. We then apply the model to a healthy population in the UK Biobank study to identify a cohort at risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

How one man's rare Alzheimer’s mutation delayed the onset of disease Genetic resilience found in a person predisposed to early-onset dementia could potentially lead to new treatments.
S Reardon, Nature, May 16, 2023 (Posted: May 16, 2023 9AM)

The researchers found that the man had a mutation in a gene coding for a protein called reelin, which is associated with brain disorders including schizophrenia and autism. Little is known about reelin’s role in Alzheimer’s. The study challenges the theory that Alzheimer’s disease is primarily driven by amyloid plaques, which are the targets of several drugs recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. The drugs effectively remove amyloid from the brain, but lead to only a moderate improvement in rates of cognitive decline.

'It Totally Backfired': The Pitfalls of Alzheimer's Genetic Testing
J Steenhuysen, Medscape, April 24, 2023 (Posted: Apr 25, 2023 7AM)

Testing for the APOE4 gene variant among Americans being treated for Alzheimer's has more than doubled from a year ago. The increase was driven by the new treatments that promise to slow the progression of the disease, but also carry risks, especially for people like Nelson carrying two copies of APOE4. Yet few support services are available to help people deal with the implications of APOE4 testing, according to interviews with more than a dozen neurologists and genetic counselors.

Evaluation of Plasma Biomarkers for A/T/N Classification of Alzheimer Disease Among Adults of Caribbean Hispanic Ethnicity.
Lawrence S Honig et al. JAMA Netw Open (4) e238214 (Posted: Apr 21, 2023 6AM)

Can plasma biomarker analytes be used in a low-resource community to improve clinical accuracy in diagnosing Alzheimer disease (AD)? In this decision analytical modeling study of 746 Caribbean Hispanic individuals from the Dominican Republic and New York, a panel of plasma biomarkers, including phosphorylated tau181 (P-tau181) and the ratio of P-tau181 to amyloid-ß Aß42, identified biological evidence of AD. A proportion of asymptomatic individuals without dementia had biomarker evidence of AD and may be presymptomatic, while a proportion of affected individuals with dementia lacked biomarker evidence of AD and may have other dementia disorders.

Deep learning-based polygenic risk analysis for Alzheimer's disease prediction.
Xiaopu Zhou et al. Communications medicine 2023 4 (1) 49 (Posted: Apr 07, 2023 8AM)

The polygenic nature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) suggests that multiple variants jointly contribute to disease susceptibility. As an individual’s genetic variants are constant throughout life, evaluating the combined effects of multiple disease-associated genetic risks enables reliable AD risk prediction. Deep learning models outperform other statistical models for modeling AD risk. Moreover, the polygenic risk derived from the deep learning models enables the identification of disease-associated biological pathways and the stratification of individuals according to distinct pathological mechanisms.

Conquering Alzheimer's: a look at the therapies of the future Researchers are looking to drug combinations, vaccines and gene therapy as they forge the next generation of treatments for the condition.
A Abbot, Nature, April 4, 2023 (Posted: Apr 04, 2023 6AM)

Association of African Ancestry-Specific APOE Missense Variant R145C With Risk of Alzheimer Disease.
Yann Le Guen et al. JAMA 2023 2 (7) 551-560 (Posted: Feb 25, 2023 6AM)

Are APOE amino acid–altering variants, other than the common APOE alleles e2 and e4, associated with Alzheimer disease (AD) risk in individuals of African ancestry? In this exploratory case-control analysis that included 31?929 participants of African ancestry, stratified analyses demonstrated that the APOE e3[R145C] missense variant was associated with an increased risk of AD among individuals with the e3/e4 genotype in a discovery cohort (odds ratio, 3.01), a replication cohort (odds ratio, 2.20), and an external validation cohort (odds ratio, 1.90).

Drug trial for Alzheimer's disease is a game changer.
Eric M Reiman et al. Nature 2023 2 (Posted: Feb 14, 2023 7AM)

An antibody treatment reduces measurements of brain abnormalities called amyloid plaques in people with Alzheimer’s disease, and lessens clinical decline. This result will help in developing therapies to treat and prevent the disease.

The Alzheimer’s risk gene APOE modulates the gut–brain axis
AM Pena et al, Nature, February 6, 2023 (Posted: Feb 07, 2023 6AM)

Signals from gut microorganisms to the brain might be involved in neurodegeneration. It emerges that the gene APOE — variants of which each confer a different risk of Alzheimer’s disease — has a role in modulating this gut–brain communication.

Comparison of amyloid burden in individuals with Down syndrome versus autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease: a cross-sectional study.
Boerwinkle Anna H et al. The Lancet. Neurology 2022 12 (1) 55-65 (Posted: Dec 20, 2022 8AM)

Despite minor differences, amyloid PET changes were similar between people with autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease versus Down syndrome and strongly supported early amyloid dysregulation in individuals with Down syndrome. Individuals with Down syndrome aged at least 35 years might benefit from early intervention and warrant future inclusion in clinical trials, particularly given the relatively high incidence of Down syndrome.

The Use of Cell-free DNA in Clinical Practice: Work in Progress
M Clyne et al, CDC Blog Post, December 14, 2022 Brand (Posted: Dec 14, 2022 5PM)

Since its discovery in 1948, the utility of cfDNA has been studied extensively in screening, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy and monitoring disease progression. Although effort has focused on cancer, and mostly in NSCLC, other areas of research are ongoing, including autoimmune disease, metabolic disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, and other neurologic conditions, COVID-19, myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy, and refractory epilepsy. In addition to circulating cfDNA, potential clinical applications exist for other omics, including epigenetics and exosomal miRNAs, as well as use of cfDNA in other body fluids (e.g. urine).

A Promising Trial Targets a Genetic Risk for Alzheimer’s
G Kolata, NY Times, December 2, 2022 (Posted: Dec 04, 2022 4PM)

Preliminary results offer hope that gene therapy can protect people with a version of the brain disease driven by a particular gene variant. Participants in the study are among the approximately 2 percent of people who have inherited a pair of copies of a gene, APOE4, which markedly increases their risk of Alzheimer’s.

Differential roles of Aβ42/40, p-tau231 and p-tau217 for Alzheimer's trial selection and disease monitoring.
Ashton Nicholas J et al. Nature medicine 2022 12 (Posted: Dec 03, 2022 7AM)

In the BioFINDER-1 cohort, plasma phosphorylated (p)-tau231 and amyloid-ß42/40 ratio were more changed at lower thresholds of amyloid pathology. Longitudinally, however, only p-tau217 demonstrated marked amyloid-dependent changes over 4–6?years in both preclinical and symptomatic stages of the disease. The selective longitudinal increase of p-tau217 and its associations with cognitive decline and atrophy was confirmed in an independent cohort (Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention). These findings support the differential association of plasma biomarkers with disease development and strongly highlight p-tau217 as a surrogate marker of disease progression.

Cost-effectiveness of a gene sequencing test for Alzheimer's disease in Ontario.
Iragorri Nicolas et al. Journal of community genetics 2022 11 (Posted: Nov 28, 2022 11AM)

ONDRISeq saved $54 per patient relative to OOC testing and led to a small QALY gain in the base case (0.0014 per patient). Results were most sensitive to testing costs, uptake rates, and treatment efficacy. ONDRISeq represented better value for money relative to OOC testing throughout 75% of 10,000 probabilistic iterations. Using ONDRISeq is expected to provide health system cost savings. Switching to ONDRISeq for AD genetic testing would be dependent on the ability to accommodate the expected testing volumes.

Exome sequencing identifies rare damaging variants in ATP8B4 and ABCA1 as risk factors for Alzheimer's disease.
Holstege Henne et al. Nature genetics 2022 11 (Posted: Nov 22, 2022 7AM)

We compared the gene-based burden of rare damaging variants in exome sequencing data from 32,558 individuals—16,036 AD cases and 16,522 controls. Next to variants in TREM2, SORL1 and ABCA7, we observed a significant association of rare, predicted damaging variants in ATP8B4 and ABCA1 with AD risk, and a suggestive signal in ADAM10. Additionally, the rare-variant burden in RIN3, CLU, ZCWPW1 and ACE highlighted these genes as potential drivers of respective AD-genome-wide association study loci.

The long road to a cure for Alzheimer's disease is paved with failures.
Moutinho Sofia et al. Nature medicine 2022 11 (11) 2228-2231 (Posted: Nov 18, 2022 6AM)

Alzheimer’s risk variant APOE4 linked to myelin-assembly malfunction
K Carlstrom et al Nature, November 16, 2022 (Posted: Nov 17, 2022 8AM)

In humans, APOE is encoded by the APOE gene, which can exist as different variants. The protein translated from the APOE4 variant differs from the APOE3 product in the substitution of one amino-acid residue. But this simple change renders APOE4 dysfunctional10, and people who carry APOE4 are more susceptible to developing Alzheimer’s disease than are those who do not. Exactly how APOE4 contributes to disease progression is unclear, although several mechanisms have been proposed. It emerges that this might be due to decreased production of a fatty substance called myelin by oligodendrocyte cells.

Dementia risk variants - hunting needles in a haystack.
Oatman Stephanie R et al. Nature reviews. Neurology 2022 11 (Posted: Nov 06, 2022 1PM)

Genome-wide association studies have identified loci associated with neurodegenerative disease risk, but many of the implicated genetic variants are noncoding and their functional roles remain unclear. Using massively parallel reporter assays, CRISPR-based validation and genomic annotations, a new study functionally characterizes regulatory risk variants associated with Alzheimer disease and progressive supranuclear palsy.

Gene-environment interactions in Alzheimer disease: the emerging role of epigenetics.
Migliore Lucia et al. Nature reviews. Neurology 2022 9 (11) 643-660 (Posted: Nov 06, 2022 1PM)

With the exception of a few monogenic forms, Alzheimer disease (AD) has a complex aetiology that is likely to involve multiple susceptibility genes and environmental factors. The role of environmental factors is difficult to determine and, until a few years ago, the molecular mechanisms underlying gene–environment (G?×?E) interactions in AD were largely unknown. Here, we review evidence that has emerged over the past two decades to explain how environmental factors, such as diet, lifestyle, alcohol, smoking and pollutants, might interact with the human genome. In particular, we discuss how various environmental AD risk factors can induce epigenetic modifications of key AD-related genes and pathways.

Diabetes and Alzheimer's disease: shared genetic susceptibility?
J Hardy et al, The Lancet Neurology, November 1, 2022 (Posted: Nov 02, 2022 6AM)

Blood Leukocyte Counts in Alzheimer Disease
J Luo et al, JAMA Network Open (Posted: Oct 10, 2022 0PM)

In this cohort study of 101?582 individuals in the Danish general population, low baseline blood monocyte counts were associated with increased AD risk. In a mendelian randomization framework using the most powerful genomic data sets, genetically determined low monocyte counts were also associated with increased AD risk, an association independent of other types of blood leukocytes. The findings of this study suggest that the observational and genetic association observed between low monocyte counts and increased risk of AD highlights a possible role of the innate immune system in AD pathogenesis.

The amazing power of "machine eyes" The unanticipated deep learning A.I. dividends for medicine
E Topol, Ground Truths, October 4, 2022 (Posted: Oct 05, 2022 0PM)

Today’s report on AI of retinal vessel images to help predict the risk of heart attack and stroke, from over 65,000 UK Biobank participants, reinforces a growing body of evidence that deep neural networks can be trained to “interpret” medical images far beyond what was anticipated. Add that finding to last week’s multinational study of deep learning of retinal photos to detect Alzheimer’s disease with good accuracy. In this post I am going to briefly review what has already been gleaned from 2 classic medical images—the retina and the electrocardiogram (ECG)—as representative for the exciting capability of machine vision to “see” well beyond human limits.

A deep learning model for detection of Alzheimer's disease based on retinal photographs: a retrospective, multicentre case-control study
CY Cheung et al, The Lancet Digital Health, September 30, 2022 (Posted: Oct 03, 2022 6AM)

12?949 retinal photographs from 648 patients with Alzheimer's disease and 3240 people without the disease were used to train, validate, and test the deep learning model. In the internal validation dataset, the deep learning model had 83·6% (SD 2·5) accuracy, 93·2% (SD 2·2) sensitivity, 82·0% (SD 3·1) specificity, and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0·93 (0·01) for detecting Alzheimer's disease-dementia.

Artificial intelligence for detection of Alzheimer's disease: demonstration of real-world value is required to bridge the translational gap
CR Marshall et al, The Lancet Digital Health, September 30, 2022 (Posted: Oct 03, 2022 6AM)

The wide availability of retinal photography could, in principle, support detection of Alzheimer's disease at population level, allowing earlier access to support and treatment. This raises important questions that have yet to be resolved around what constitutes a timely diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, and how effectively earlier detection improves quality of life, prognosis, and future health-care resource requirements.

Polygenic Risk Scores in Alzheimer's Disease Genetics: Methodology, Applications, Inclusion, and Diversity.
Clark Kaylyn et al. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD 2022 7 (1) 1-12 (Posted: Sep 26, 2022 10AM)

Data-driven causal model discovery and personalized prediction in Alzheimer's disease.
Zheng Haoyang et al. NPJ digital medicine 2022 9 (1) 137 (Posted: Sep 09, 2022 8AM)

We develop an innovative data-driven modeling approach to build and parameterize a causal model to characterize the trajectories of AD biomarkers. This approach integrates causal model learning, population parameterization, parameter sensitivity analysis, and personalized prediction. By applying this integrated approach to a large multicenter database of AD biomarkers, the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, several causal models for different AD stages are revealed. In addition, personalized models for each subject are calibrated and provide accurate predictions of future cognitive status.

A family looks for answers into why so many of them develop Alzheimer's disease
J Hamilton, NPR, August 25, 2022 (Posted: Aug 25, 2022 7AM)

Genetics of the human microglia regulome refines Alzheimer's disease risk loci.
Kosoy Roman et al. Nature genetics 2022 8 (8) 1145-1154 (Posted: Aug 08, 2022 10AM)

Here, we performed transcriptome and chromatin accessibility profiling in primary human microglia from 150 donors to identify genetically driven variation and cell-specific enhancer–promoter (E-P) interactions. Integrative fine-mapping analysis identified putative regulatory mechanisms for 21 AD risk loci, of which 18 were refined to a single gene, including 3 new candidate risk genes (KCNN4, FIBP and LRRC25). Transcription factor regulatory networks captured AD risk variation and identified SPI1 as a key putative regulator of microglia expression and AD risk.

The performance of artificial intelligence-driven technologies in diagnosing mental disorders: an umbrella review
A Abd-Alrazak et al, NPJ Digital Medicine, July 7, 2022 (Posted: Jul 08, 2022 7AM)

We included 15 systematic reviews of 852 citations identified. The included reviews assessed the performance of AI models in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease (n?=?7), mild cognitive impairment (n?=?6), schizophrenia (n?=?3), bipolar disease (n?=?2), autism spectrum disorder (n?=?1), obsessive-compulsive disorder (n?=?1), post-traumatic stress disorder (n?=?1), and psychotic disorders (n?=?1). The performance of the AI models in diagnosing these mental disorders ranged between 21% and 100%. AI technologies offer great promise in diagnosing mental health disorders. The reported performance metrics paint a vivid picture of a bright future for AI in this field.

Multimodal deep learning for Alzheimer’s disease dementia assessment
S Qiu et al, Nature Comms, June 20, 2022 (Posted: Jun 20, 2022 10AM)

We report a deep learning framework that accomplishes multiple diagnostic steps in successive fashion to identify persons with normal cognition (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), AD, and non-AD dementias (nADD). We demonstrate a range of models capable of accepting flexible combinations of routinely collected clinical information, including demographics, medical history, neuropsychological testing, neuroimaging, and functional assessments. We then show that these frameworks compare favorably with the diagnostic accuracy of practicing neurologists.

Rare APOE Missense Variants—Can We Overcome APOE ε4 and Alzheimer Disease Risk?
GD Rabinovici et al, JAMA Neurology, May 31, 2022 (Posted: Jun 01, 2022 9AM)

Protective missense variations in APOE are very rare, but the magnitude of their observed effects is large and thus will further our understanding of the biological pathways through which APOE profoundly modifies the risk of AD. A better understanding of these pathways will likely identify novel therapeutic targets that can delay or possibly prevent disease even in individuals at high genetic risk owing to APOE E4.

Association of Rare APOE Missense Variants V236E and R251G With Risk of Alzheimer Disease
Y Le Guen et al, JAMA Neurology, May 31, 2022 (Posted: Jun 01, 2022 9AM)

re APOE missense variants, other than the common APOE alleles e2 and e4, associated with Alzheimer disease (AD) risk? In this genetic association study including 544?384 participants, multiple studies including 67?896 individuals with AD, 28?484 with proxy-AD, and 340?306 healthy controls were meta-analyzed. Two rare missense variants (APOE e3 [V236E] and APOE e4 [R251G]) substantially reduced the risk of AD (by more than 60% and more than 50%, respectively).

A high-generalizability machine learning framework for predicting the progression of Alzheimer’s disease using limited data
C Wang et al, NPJ Digital Medicine, April 12, 2022 (Posted: Apr 12, 2022 0PM)

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that imposes a substantial financial burden on society. A number of machine learning studies have been conducted to predict the speed of its progression, which varies widely among different individuals, for recruiting fast progressors in future clinical trials. However, because the data in this field are very limited, two problems have yet to be solved: the first is that models built on limited data tend to induce overfitting and have low generalizability, and the second is that no cross-cohort evaluations have been done.

Association of Genetic Variants Linked to Late-Onset Alzheimer Disease With Cognitive Test Performance by Midlife
SC Zimmerman et al, JAMA Network Open, April 4, 2022 (Posted: Apr 05, 2022 11AM)

At what age do individuals with higher genetic risk of Alzheimer disease first show cognitive differences from individuals with lower genetic risk, and which of 32 cognitive measures show the earliest difference? In this cross-sectional study of 405?050 individuals, higher genetic risk of Alzheimer disease significantly modified the association of age with 13 of 32 cognitive measures. Best-fitting models suggested that higher genetic risk of Alzheimer disease was associated with changes in cognitive scores of individuals older than 56 years for all 13 measures and older than 47 years for 9 measures.

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
C Bellenguez et al, Nature Genetics, April 4, 2022 (Posted: Apr 04, 2022 1PM)

We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/‘proxy’ AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE e4 allele.

Molecular map of the human blood–brain barrier reveals links to Alzheimer’s disease
Nature Research Briefings, February 14, 2022 (Posted: Feb 15, 2022 7AM)

A method for isolating and analysing the elusive cells of the blood–brain barrier is used to map the expression of genes in the blood vessels of the human brain. Unravelling the molecular basis of this vasculature expands our understanding of overall brain health, disease and treatment.

A needle for Alzheimer’s in a haystack of claims data
E Gunney et al, Nature Aging, December 2021 (Posted: Dec 12, 2021 9AM)

In the era of big data, looking for insights in large datasets has become the norm — and health data are no exception. Combining systems-biology-driven, endophenotype-based analysis of drug targets with large-scale medical claims data points to sildenafil as a potential treatment opportunity for Alzheimer’s disease.

The missing X factor in Alzheimer disease
MT Ferretti et al, Nat Rev Neurology, October 2021 (Posted: Oct 16, 2021 8AM)

Two-thirds of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) are women, and sex differences in AD pathology have been observed, yet little is known about the role of sex chromosomes in AD. New research suggests that X-linked gene expression modifies AD risk in a sex-specific manner. This knowledge could aid the development of precision medicine approaches for AD.

A genome-wide association study with 1,126,563 individuals identifies new risk loci for Alzheimer's disease.
Wightman Douglas P et al. Nature genetics 2021 9 (9) 1276-1282 (Posted: Sep 10, 2021 7AM)

Late-onset Alzheimer's disease is a prevalent age-related polygenic disease that accounts for 50-70% of dementia cases. Currently, only a fraction of the genetic variants underlying Alzheimer's disease have been identified. Here we show that increased sample sizes allowed identification of seven previously unidentified genetic loci contributing to Alzheimer's disease. This study highlights microglia, immune cells and protein catabolism as relevant to late-onset Alzheimer's disease, while identifying and prioritizing previously unidentified genes of potential interest. We anticipate that these results can be included in larger meta-analyses of Alzheimer's disease to identify further genetic variants that contribute to Alzheimer's pathology.

Scoping review: the empowerment of Alzheimer’s Disease caregivers with mHealth applications
E Kim et al, NPJ Digital Medicine, September 7, 2021 (Posted: Sep 07, 2021 6AM)

We searched published literature in five electronic databases between January 2014 and January 2021. Twelve articles were included in the final review. Six themes emerged based on the functionalities provided by the reviewed applications for caregivers. They are tracking, task management, monitoring, caregiver mental support, education, and caregiver communication platform. The review revealed that mHealth applications for AD patients’ caregivers are inadequate.

Sex-Specific Association of the X Chromosome With Cognitive Change and Tau Pathology in Aging and Alzheimer Disease.
Davis Emily J et al. JAMA neurology 2021 8 (Posted: Aug 24, 2021 8AM)

In this cohort study of 508 individuals, X chromosome gene expression assessed by RNA sequencing was associated with cognitive change in women but not men in a manner independent of Alzheimer disease pathology. In contrast with cognition, X chromosome gene expression was associated with neuropathologic tau burden in men but not women.

Controversy and Progress in Alzheimer's Disease - FDA Approval of Aducanumab.
Rabinovici Gil D et al. The New England journal of medicine 2021 7 (Posted: Jul 29, 2021 8AM)

Treatment should be initiated only after shared decision making by patient and clinician, including discussion of current ambiguity regarding clinical benefit. Treatment costs should be balanced against potential benefits, and equitable access should be ensured by robust patient-assistance programs, lest this expensive, specialized therapy exacerbate racial inequities in access to dementia care.

Identifying individuals with high risk of Alzheimer’s disease using polygenic risk scores
G leonenko et al, Nat Comms, July 2021 (Posted: Jul 26, 2021 11AM)

Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS) for AD offer unique possibilities for reliable identification of individuals at high and low risk of AD. However, there is little agreement in the field as to what approach should be used for genetic risk score calculations, how to model the effect of APOE, what the optimal p-value threshold (pT) for SNP selection is and how to compare scores between studies and methods. We show that the best prediction accuracy is achieved with a model with two predictors (APOE and PRS excluding APOE region).

Comparison of CSF biomarkers in Down syndrome and autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease: a cross-sectional study
AM Fagan et al, Lancet Neurology, July 2021 (Posted: Jul 25, 2021 6AM)

Individuals with Down syndrome had patterns of Alzheimer's disease-related CSF biomarkers remarkably similar to carriers of autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease mutations, including reductions (all p<0·0080) in Aß1–42 to Aß1–40 ratio and increases in markers of phosphorylated tau-related processes; neuronal, axonal, and synaptic injury (p<0·080); and astrogliosis and neuroinflammation, with greater degrees of abnormality in individuals with dementia.

Dominantly inherited Alzheimer’s disease: a compass for drug development
GD Rabinovici, Nature Medicine, July 5, 2021 (Posted: Jul 06, 2021 8AM)

Dominantly inherited Alzheimer’s disease (DIAD) accounts for only 1% of cases of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) but has made fundamental contributions to the understanding of this disease. A focus on patients with DIAD as a target population for AD clinical trials has a strong scientific rationale. People from familial AD pedigrees tend to be young, otherwise healthy and highly motivated to participate in research. Mutations are essentially 100% penetrant, with the onset of clinical symptoms occurring at a predictable age.

Using a Digital Neuro Signature to measure longitudinal individual-level change in Alzheimer’s disease: the Altoida large cohort study
IB Meier et al, NPJ Digital Medicine, June 24, 2021 (Posted: Jun 24, 2021 7AM)

Healthy Lifestyle Tied to Reduced Dementia Despite Family History
Medscape, May 2021 (Posted: May 28, 2021 11AM)

Individuals at increased risk for dementia because of family history can reduce that risk by adopting healthy lifestyle behaviors, data from more than 300,000 adults aged 50-73 years suggest.

Prediction of future Alzheimer’s disease dementia using plasma phospho-tau combined with other accessible measures
S Palmqvist et al, Nature Medicine, May 24, 2021 (Posted: May 25, 2021 7AM)

A combination of plasma phospho-tau (P-tau) and other accessible biomarkers might provide accurate prediction about the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia. We examined this in participants with subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment from the BioFINDER (n?=?340) and Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) (n?=?543) studies. Plasma P-tau, plasma Aß42/Aß40, plasma neurofilament light, APOE genotype, brief cognitive tests and an AD-specific magnetic resonance imaging measure were examined using progression to AD as outcome. Within 4 years, plasma P-tau217 predicted AD accurately (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.83) in BioFINDER. Combining plasma P-tau217, memory, executive function and APOE produced higher accuracy (AUC = 0.91, P?<?0.001).

Exploring the feasibility of using real-world data from a large clinical data research network to simulate clinical trials of Alzheimer’s disease
Z Chen et al, NPJ Digital Medicine, May 14, 2021 (Posted: May 15, 2021 7AM)

Extension of Mendelian Randomization to Identify Earliest Manifestations of Alzheimer's Disease: Genetic Risk Score for Alzheimer's Disease Reduces BMI by Age 50.
Brenowitz Willa D et al. American journal of epidemiology 2021 4 (Posted: Apr 18, 2021 8AM)

Weight loss or lower Body Mass Index (BMI) may be an early symptom of Alzheimer's disease (AD) but when this begins to emerge is difficult to estimate with traditional observational data. In an extension of Mendelian randomization, we used genetic risk for late-onset AD risk to estimate the causal effect of AD on BMI and the earliest ages at which AD-related weight loss (or lower BMI as a proxy) occurs. 407,386 UK Biobank participants enrolled 2007-2010 without dementia.

Donanemab in Early Alzheimer’s Disease
A Mintun et al, NEJM, March 13, 20201 (Posted: Mar 14, 2021 0PM)

We conducted a phase 2 trial of donanemab in patients with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease who had tau and amyloid deposition on positron-emission tomography (PET). Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive donanemab (700 mg for the first three doses and 1400 mg thereafter) or placebo intravenously every 4 weeks for up to 72 weeks. donanemab resulted in a better composite score for cognition and for the ability to perform activities than placebo at 76 weeks.

Machine learning identifies candidates for drug repurposing in Alzheimer’s disease
S Rodriguez et al, Nature Comms, February 15, 2021 (Posted: Feb 15, 2021 8AM)

We present DRIAD (Drug Repurposing In AD), a machine learning framework that quantifies potential associations between the pathology of AD severity (the Braak stage) and molecular mechanisms as encoded in lists of gene names. DRIAD is applied to lists of genes arising from perturbations in differentiated human neural cell cultures by 80 FDA-approved and clinically tested drugs, producing a ranked list of possible repurposing candidates

Alzheimer’s Prediction May Be Found in Writing Tests. IBM researchers trained artificial intelligence to pick up hints of changes in language ahead of the onset of neurological diseases.
G Kolata, February 1, 2021 (Posted: Feb 07, 2021 6AM)

Individualized prognosis of cognitive decline and dementia in mild cognitive impairment based on plasma biomarker combinations
NC Cullen et al Nature Aging, November 30, 2020 (Posted: Dec 01, 2020 8AM)

We developed models for individualized risk prediction of cognitive decline in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using plasma biomarkers of ß-amyloid (Aß), tau and neurodegeneration. A total of 573 patients were included in the study. A model combining tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (P-tau181) and neurofilament light (NfL), but not Aß42/Aß40, had the best prognosis performance of all models.

Association of Uncommon, Noncoding Variants in the APOE Region With Risk of Alzheimer Disease in Adults of European Ancestry
EE Blue et al, JAMA Network Open, October 22, 2020 (Posted: Oct 23, 2020 7AM)

Novel Alzheimer Disease Risk Loci and Pathways in African American Individuals Using the African Genome Resources Panel A Meta-analysis
BW Kunkle et al, JAMA Neurology, October 19, 2020 (Posted: Oct 20, 2020 7AM)

In this genome-wide association meta-analysis of 2748 individuals with Alzheimer disease and 5222 controls, several novel genetic loci and pathways associated with Alzheimer disease in African American individuals were identified.

Association between Alzheimer's disease and COVID-19: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization
D Liu et al, MEDRXIV, July 30, 2020 (Posted: Jul 31, 2020 8AM)

Discriminative Accuracy of Plasma Phospho-tau217 for Alzheimer Disease vs Other Neurodegenerative Disorders
S Palmqvist et al, JAMA Neurology, July 28 2020 (Posted: Jul 29, 2020 8AM)

In this cross-sectional study of 1402 participants, plasma P-tau217 discriminated Alzheimer disease from other neurodegenerative diseases (AUC of 0.89 in a neuropathologically defined cohort and 0.96 in a clinically defined cohort), with performance that was significantly better than established Alzheimer disease plasma- and MRI-based biomarkers.

Blood DNA methylation signatures to detect dementia prior to overt clinical symptoms
PD Fransquet et al, Blood Based Biomarkers, July 2020 (Posted: Jul 22, 2020 8AM)

DNAm was measured in 73 individuals prior to dementia diagnosis and 87 cognitively healthy controls matched for age, sex, smoking, education, and baseline cognition. Discernible blood DNAm signatures are in dementia cases before the appearance of overt clinical symptoms. Further investigation is needed to determine clinical utility.

Tau molecular diversity contributes to clinical heterogeneity in Alzheimer’s disease
S Dujardin et al, Nature Medicine, June 22, 2020 (Posted: Jun 23, 2020 8AM)

Association Between Common Variants in RBFOX1, an RNA-Binding Protein, and Brain Amyloidosis in Early and Preclinical Alzheimer Disease
NS Raghavan et al, JAMA Neurology, June 22, 2020 (Posted: Jun 23, 2020 8AM)

A meta-analysis of amyloid positron emission tomographic imaging data collected on 4314 participants in 6 studies noted genome-wide significant associations with single-nucleotide variants in a novel locus, RBFOX1, as well as in APOE. In addition, reduced expression of RBFOX1 appeared to be associated with increased amyloid burden and global cognitive decline.

Risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease breaks the blood–brain barrier
M Ishii et al, Nature News, April 30, 2020 (Posted: Apr 30, 2020 9AM)

People who carry the gene variant APOE4 are at higher-than-average risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. It emerges that this variant is linked to defects in the blood–brain barrier and subsequent cognitive decline

Longevity Gene KLOTHO and Alzheimer Disease—A Better Fate for Individuals Who Carry APOE ε4
DB Dubbal et al, JAMA Neurology, April 13, 2020 (Posted: Apr 14, 2020 0PM)

A new meta-analysis provides strong evidence that individuals who carry APOE4 are not uniformly fated to develop AD and specifically establishes a protective role of KL-VS heterozygosity in the APOE4-AD risk. This work is important because it carries several implications for neurology, clinical trials, and translational research.

Another step forward in blood-based diagnostics for Alzheimer’s disease
RJ Bateman et al, Nature Medicine, March 4, 2020 (Posted: Mar 05, 2020 8AM)

Measurement of phosphorylated tau protein in blood plasma allows Alzheimer’s disease to be distinguished from other neurological diseases and may assist in disease detection during the prodromal stage. Developments in AD testing have led to precise molecular diagnosis of AD that can be implemented in clinical care and clinical trials.

Sex and APOE ε4 genotype modify the Alzheimer’s disease serum metabolome
M Arnold, Nature Communications, March 2, 2020 (Posted: Mar 03, 2020 8AM)

Issues and Questions Surrounding Screening for Cognitive Impairment in Older Patients.
Petersen Ronald C et al. JAMA 2020 Feb (8) 722-724 (Posted: Feb 28, 2020 8AM)

The USPSTF found insufficient evidence for screening older adults for cognitive decline. The absence of evidence for benefit may lead to inaction. Research needs to continue on this topic especially with the inevitable availability of biomarkers for Alzheimer disease and other dementias such as amyloid and tau detected with scans and blood biomarkers.

Assessment of Demographic, Genetic, and Imaging Variables Associated With Brain Resilience and Cognitive Resilience to Pathological Tau in Patients With Alzheimer Disease.
Ossenkoppele Rik et al. JAMA neurology 2020 Feb (Posted: Feb 27, 2020 7AM)

Alzheimer's disease susceptibility gene apolipoprotein e (APOE) and blood biomarkers in UK Biobank (N=395,769).
A Ferguson et al, MedRXIV, Februray 13, 2020 (Posted: Feb 15, 2020 9AM)

The causes and consequences of Alzheimer's disease: A Mendelian randomization analysis
BIORXIV, December 2019 (Posted: Dec 25, 2019 0PM)

Genetic liability for Alzheimer's disease is associated with over 160 phenotypes. However, findings from Mendelian randomization analyses imply that most of these associations are likely to be caused by increased genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease or selection, rather than a cause of the disease.

Active Immunotherapy to Prevent Alzheimer Disease—A DNA Amyloid β 1-42 Trimer Vaccine
RN Rosenberg et al, JAMA Neurology, December 9, 2019 (Posted: Dec 10, 2019 8AM)

Preventing Alzheimer's disease: Can the DNA Aß42 trimer vaccine produce a noninflammatory immune response, and reduce the Aß42 peptide and tau neuropathologies in patients with early Alzheimer's disease.

Using a genetic risk score to estimate the earliest age of Alzheimer's disease-related physiologic change in Body Mass Index
W Brenowitz, et al, MedRXIV, December 2019 (Posted: Dec 05, 2019 7AM)

Genetic testing for Alzheimer's disease: trends, challenges and ethical considerations.
Rentería Miguel E et al. Current opinion in psychiatry 2019 Nov (Posted: Dec 04, 2019 10AM)

Four basic bioethical principles can be applied in the context of genetic testing: autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence and justice. The concepts of clinical validity, clinical utility and personal utility are also necessary for the ethical deliberation of genetic testing for Alzheimer's disease.

La enfermedad de Alzheimer: los genes no determinan nuestro destino (Alzheimer's Disease-Genes Do Not Equal Destiny)
CDC podcast (Spanish), November 2019 Brand (Posted: Nov 22, 2019 8AM)

Spanish version of CDC podcast: A healthy lifestyle may help reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. It may help-even for people at average and intermediate risk because of their genes.

If a Family Member Has Alzheimer's Disease, Will I Have It, Too?
NIH, 2019 Brand (Posted: Nov 19, 2019 8AM)

Learning about your family health history may help you know if you are at increased risk for certain diseases or medical conditions, like Alzheimer's disease. Share this infographic and help spread the word about Alzheimer's genetics.

Common variants in Alzheimer's disease: Novel association of six genetic variants with AD and risk stratification by polygenic risk scores
I de Rojas et al, MEDRXIV, November, 2019 (Posted: Nov 17, 2019 7AM)

We identified six novel genetic variants associated with AD-risk, among which one common APP variant. A PRS of all genetic loci reported to date could be a robust tool to predict the risk and age at onset of AD, beyond APOE alone. These properties make PRS instrumental in selecting individuals at risk in order to apply preventative strategies

Machine Learning-Based Framework for Differential Diagnosis Between Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease Using Structural MRI Features.
Zheng Yineng et al. Frontiers in neurology 2019 101097 (Posted: Nov 13, 2019 8AM)

Long-neglected gene plays a bigger role in Alzheimer’s than suspected, study shows
S Begley, StatNews, November 11, 2019 (Posted: Nov 12, 2019 8AM)

Just days after news that an ultra-rare form of a cholesterol-related gene called APOE protected a Colombian woman from developing early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (as one of her other genes supposedly fated her to), a second study is providing even stronger evidence that APOE might be the basis for preventing or treating Alzheimer’s.

Diagnosis and Management of Dementia: Review.
Arvanitakis Zoe et al. JAMA 2019 10 (16) 1589-1599 (Posted: Nov 04, 2019 8AM)

Additional evaluation with cerebrospinal fluid assays or genetic testing may be considered in atypical dementia cases, such as age of onset younger than 65 years, rapid symptom onset, and/or impairment in multiple cognitive domains.

Predicting Clinical Dementia Rating Using Blood RNA Levels
JB Miller et al, MedRXIV, November 2, 2019 (Posted: Nov 03, 2019 7AM)

The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) is commonly used to assess cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease patients. We then used machine learning to predict cognitive status using only blood RNA levels. We propose that combining individually suggestive, blood RNA levels can significantly improve diagnostic accuracy.

Physical activity and risk of Alzheimer’s disease: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study
BIORXIv preprint, October 29, 2019 (Posted: Nov 01, 2019 9AM)

Evidence from observational studies for the effect of physical activity on the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is inconclusive. We performed Mendelian randomization analysis to examine whether physical activity is a protective factor for AD. We found that genetically predicted accelerometer-assessed physical activity had no effect on the risk of AD.

Association of Apolipoprotein E ɛ4, Educational Level, and Sex With Tau Deposition and Tau-Mediated Metabolic Dysfunction in Older Adults.
Ramanan Vijay K et al. JAMA network open 2019 Oct (10) e1913909 (Posted: Oct 24, 2019 8AM)

Alzheimer's Disease-Genes Do Not Equal Destiny
CDC Podcast, October 22, 2019 Brand (Posted: Oct 23, 2019 8AM)

A healthy lifestyle may help reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Two large, long term studies indicate that adequate physical activity, a nutritious diet, limited alcohol consumption, and not smoking may help-even for people at average and intermediate risk because of their genes.

In shocking reversal, Biogen to submit experimental Alzheimer’s drug for approval
M Herper, Stat News, October 22, 2019 (Posted: Oct 23, 2019 8AM)

Association of Acquired and Heritable Factors With Intergenerational Differences in Age at Symptomatic Onset of Alzheimer Disease Between Offspring and Parents With Dementia
GS Day et al, JAMA Network Open, October 2019 (Posted: Oct 17, 2019 9AM)

Can a Healthy Lifestyle Reduce Your Risk of Dementia Regardless of Your Genes? – Part II
S Bowen et al, CDC Blog, October 2, 2019 Brand (Posted: Oct 04, 2019 10AM)

There is a growing body of evidence that a healthy lifestyle may lower risk of dementia for most people. Perhaps Dr. Licher, the lead author of the Rotterdam based study, says it best: “The importance of a healthy lifestyle to lower the risk of dementia is increasingly recognized. I think these results should not alter that message.”

Can Lifestyle Choices Offset Dementia Risk Genes? Healthy lifestyle tied to lower dementia risk for many people, but not high-risk APOE carriers
J George, Medpage Today, August 26, 2019 (Posted: Aug 28, 2019 7AM)

Genetic predisposition, modifiable-risk-factor profile and long-term dementia risk in the general population
S Licher et al, Nature Medicine, August 26, 2019 (Posted: Aug 26, 2019 11AM)

Genetic predisposition and modifiable risks for late-life dementia
K Rockwood et al, Nature Medicine, August 26, 2019 (Posted: Aug 26, 2019 11AM)

A new Rotterdam study shows that modifiable lifestyle risk factors are able to reduce dementia risk only in people with low genetic risk. The findings of the study contrast with those from another large population-based study using data from the UK Biobank.

A practical computerized decision support system for predicting the severity of Alzheimer's disease of an individual.
Bucholc Magda et al. Expert systems with applications 2019 Sep 130157-171 (Posted: Aug 21, 2019 8AM)

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Disclaimer: Articles listed in Hot Topics of the Day are selected by Public Health Genomics Branch to provide current awareness of the scientific literature and news. Inclusion in the update does not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nor does it imply endorsement of the article's methods or findings. CDC and DHHS assume no responsibility for the factual accuracy of the items presented. The selection, omission, or content of items does not imply any endorsement or other position taken by CDC or DHHS. Opinion, findings and conclusions expressed by the original authors of items included in the Clips, or persons quoted therein, are strictly their own and are in no way meant to represent the opinion or views of CDC or DHHS. References to publications, news sources, and non-CDC Websites are provided solely for informational purposes and do not imply endorsement by CDC or DHHS.
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