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Alzheimer's Disease: Gammagard Fails

From the company press release: Baxter Announces Topline Results of Phase III Study of Immunoglobulin for Alzheimer's Disease DEERFIELD, Ill., May 7, 2013 - Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) today announced that its Phase III clinical study of immunoglobulin (IG) did not meet its co-primary endpoints of reducing cognitive decline and preserving functional abilities in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. The Gammaglobulin Alzheimer's Partnership (GAP) study was conducted by Baxter in collaboration with the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS), a clinical trial consortium supported by the United States National Institute on Aging in the National Institutes of Health. Topline analyses from the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center trial found that after 18 months of treatment, patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease taking Baxter's IG treatment at either the 400 mg/kg or the 200 mg/kg dose did not de...
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MOOC: "Medical Neuroscience" from Duke at Coursera, Week Two

The first week of the new offering "Medical Neuroscience" has ended and the second begun. I read somewhere that 40-odd thousand people had registered for it. This likely means that about 4000 people will see it through, in terms of the trajectories I have seen in other Coursera offerings. A good group of people contributing to the Discussion Forums, including the Instructor (which is good to see). It is an intensive course for a Coursera offering, with a suggested time commitment of 16-to-20 hours per week. Whether this commitment effects un-enrollments over time will be a curious phenomenon. The first week's lectures were a top-notch job of gross neuroanatomy and of cross-sections of interior gross neuroanatomy. Excellent video and presentations. In all, an excellent start to a course that holds a lot of promise for an educational experience!
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Parkinson's Disease: New Biomarker Effort

From the NIH: NIH launches collaborative effort to find biomarkers for Parkinson's New online resource will support data sharing NIH News 15 January 2013 [snip] "A new initiative aims to accelerate the search for biomarkers — changes in the body that can be used to predict, diagnose or monitor a disease — in Parkinson's disease, in part by improving collaboration among researchers and helping patients get involved in clinical studies. "A lack of biomarkers for Parkinson's has been a major challenge for developing better treatments. The Parkinson’s Disease Biomarkers Program (PDBP) supports efforts to invent new technologies and analysis tools for biomarker discovery, to identify and validate biomarkers in patients, and to share biomarker data and resources across the Parkinson's community. The program is being launched by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health." [snip] R...
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Happy Birthday, Muhammad Ali!

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Neuropsychology Abstract of the Day: Telemedicine and Dementia

Telemedicine in a rural memory disorder clinic-remote management of patients with dementia. Canadian Geriatrics Journal 2012 Dec;15(4):96-100. doi: 10.5770/cgj.15.28. Epub 2012 Dec 4. Azad N, Amos S, Milne K, Power B. Abstract BACKGROUND: There are many reasons to develop telemedicine clinics for assessment and management of dementia. Time constraints, location, and poor weather conditions can all impact on the ability of patients and providers to attend rural clinics. The utility of telemedicine in the diagnosis of dementia and subsequent follow-up appears promising in the literature, as it provides a viable means of assessing cognition in patients in remote areas with limited access to medical specialists. RESULTS: This study explored the feasibility of introducing a telemedicine memory disorder follow-up clinic in a rural community. The evaluation of 32 clinic sessions found high levels of satisfaction, with over 90% of physicians and patients indicating that they'd be...
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Neuropsychology Abstract of the Day: Alzheimer's Disease

Neuropsychological Signs of Alzheimer's Disease 8 Years Prior to Diagnosis Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2012 Dec 19. Schmid NS, Taylor KI, Foldi NS, Berres M, & Monsch AU. Abstract We investigated the earliest neuropsychological changes in Alzheimer's disease (AD) by comparing the baseline performance of 29 individuals who subsequently developed AD within an average of 7.91 ± 2.70 years with 29 pairwise-matched individuals who remained cognitively healthy (NC). We hypothesized that subtle, qualitative changes in cognition precede clinical AD by several years, and therefore examined subjective as well as standard quantitative measures of cognition, in addition to subjective estimates of mood and medical status. Participants were selected from the 825 members of the longitudinal BASEL study (BAsel Study on the ELderly), all of whom had been ApoE-genotyped and received comprehensive bi-annual neuropsychological assessments. Within 13 years, 29 were diagnosed with p...
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DSM5 in Distress

The DSM's impact on mental health practice and research by Allen Frances, M.D 02 December 2012 http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dsm5-in-distress/201212/dsm-5-is-guide-not-bible-ignore-its-ten-worst-changes
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Alzheimer's Disease

From today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette : A Life Hijacked: Alzheimer's takes bigger toll on former pilot November 25, 2012 12:08 am By Gary Rotstein / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette <a href=" http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-north/a-life-hijacked-alzheimers-takes-bigger-toll-on-former-pilot-663524/?print=1 ">Read the article</a>
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