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...journal Neurology, a team led by Stephen Rao, a brain-imaging specialist, describes a study of 69 healthy men and women aged 65 to 85. The researchers divided the group into three: those who had no risk factors for Alzheimer's, those who had a family history of the disease but no genetic indicators of it themselves and those who had both family members with Alzheimer's as well as a version of a gene for a protein called apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4) that has been linked to the condition. They slid all of the subjects into an fMRI machine...
...team found that when volunteers saw names such as Britney Spears, George Clooney, Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe, those who were at the highest risk of developing Alzheimer's - those with both the genetic makeup and a family history - showed high levels of activity in the hippocampus, posterior cingulate and regions of the frontal cortex, all areas involved in memory. The control group showed the opposite pattern. Their brains became more excited when they saw unfamiliar names, which included Irma Jacoby, Joyce O'Neil and Virginia Warfield...
That could mean that the at-risk people were working harder to recognize the well-known celebrities, compensating for already damaged or destroyed neurons that were no longer functioning, while the control group had to struggle only when trying to place the names of noncelebrities, recruiting more nerve cells and connections, racking their memory banks and recall centers. Significantly, in neither group did pictures of the brain designed to pick up structural changes associated with dementia, like signs of atrophy and dead neurons, show any differences - at least not yet. (Read "Can Language Skills Ward Off Alzheimer's? A Nuns...
While doctors can now test for the presence of ApoE4, you have to have two copies of a particular form of the gene to be at real risk of Alzheimer's. If you do have them, your chances of developing the disease increase 10- to 20-fold. So far, the Alzheimer's Association does not recommend widespread screening for the gene, even among those with a family history of Alzheimer's, since most people who have the risky version of ApoE4 don't have the necessary gene copies. But looking more closely at people who have a family history...
...risk is that the hopelessness and helplessness has become so great by the time you reach the final destination that people on both sides say, 'All that, just for this? Forget it,' " Mekelberg says. "On the other hand, really big breakthroughs clearly aren't in the cards right now, so small steps are really the only choice you have. When things are this tight, small movement is big compared to no movement." (See pictures of Israeli soldiers sweeping into Gaza...