| FORT COLLINS, Colo. (The New York Times News Service) -- Colorado State University researchers think insulin levels in the brain may be the key to understanding how some types of dementia progress. (The New York Times News Service) -- The sequencing of the human genome has revolutionized scientists' ability to better understand hereditary diseases and created more opportunities for people to get tested. But as genetic information further increases understanding of health, researchers are starting to ask: Do people want to know if they are predisposed to a disease, even if there is no cure? LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A surprising number of frail, elderly Americans in nursing homes are suffering from futile care at the end of their lives, two new federally funded studies reveal. (NewsRx.com) LOS ANGELES -- The standard explanation for what causes Alzheimer's is known as the amyloid hypothesis, which posits that the disease results from of an accumulation of the peptide amyloid beta, the toxic protein fragments that deposit in the brain and become the sticky plaques that have defined Alzheimer's for more than 100 years. WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 35 million people around the world are living with Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia, says the most in-depth attempt yet to assess the brain-destroying illness -- and it's an ominous forecast as the population grays. ATLANTA (AP) -- People who learn through genetic testing that they have a higher than average risk for Alzheimer's disease are able to handle the bad news pretty well, results from the first major study of this suggest. (USA TODAY) -- Veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a significantly higher risk of developing dementia compared with veterans who don't have the disorder, a study reports today. TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A research institute devoted to Alzheimer's and related diseases has teamed up with a major maker of diagnostic tests to speed development of what could be the first test to detect Alzheimer's in its early stages. | News brought to you by: | | | | | | |
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