Alzheimer's Club

Alzheimer's fails to rob Robert Kapuniai of his proud link to the 100th Battalion
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - Honolulu, HI, USA
In what could be the last big gathering for many, about 80 World War II veterans of the widely known 100th Infantry Battalion attended a luncheon yesterday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village commemorating the unit's 65th anniversary. Among the majority who are nisei, or second generation Japanese Americans, is Robert Kapuniai, believed to be the last of the few Hawaiians who served in the volunteer battalion.
Kapuniai, who just turned 90 and has Alzheimer's disease, has sons who pass on his stories. That is the solemn mission of succeeding generations, said speaker Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya. Robert Kapuniai's Alzheimer's disease does what he tried to do for years with alcohol. It makes him forget his pain. It makes him forget when he stood for days in the river, unable to move, because the Germans were near. Forget the pain of shrapnel as pieces pierced his body, permanently damaging his legs and back. But deep down, as the disease approaches its third stage, he remembers a little. When he hears "100th Battalion" or its nickname, "One Puka Puka," for the group of Japanese-American volunteer soldiers who fought in World War II, he remembers vaguely that he was one of them.

Alzheimer's drug challenge launched
Guardian Unlimited - UK
The Government's medicines watchdog is facing a major legal challenge in the High Court over its decision not to continue funding anti-dementia drugs on the NHS for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
Drug companies supported by the Alzheimer's Society are challenging decisions by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Nice says it made its recommendations because the drug treatment was shown to be not particularly effective for people with mild Alzheimer's disease, and resources should be put into other treatments available on the NHS. The four-day case before Mrs Justice Dobbs at London's High Court centres on the use of acetyl cholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Nice recommended that three anti-cholinesterase drugs - Aricept (donepezil), Exelon (rivastigmine) and Reminyl (galantamine) should not be prescribed for use by patients in the early stages of the disease.
The drug marketers, Eisai and Pfizer, argue the effectiveness appraisal process was unfair. They say those consulted by Nice were provided with a "read only" version of the economic model used by the watchdog to evaluate both clinical and cost effectiveness of AChEIs.

David Hyde Pierce Tackles Alzheimer's
News Channel 7 - SC, USA
WASHINGTON (AP) -- David Hyde Pierce is helping start a campaign against Alzheimer's disease, which he saw two family members suffer from. "I think the hardest thing in both cases, with my grandfather and with my dad, were the moments when they understood what was happening to them," Pierce said on ABC's "This Week" program in a segment that aired Sunday. "It's a disease that takes your brain apart, a piece at a time. And it doesn't stop till it kills you." The longtime co-star of the TV series "Frasier" said the Alzheimer's Association's Champions campaign aims to recruit one American for every person with Alzheimer's. A Web site lets people sign up for events, make donations and buy T-shirts. More than 5 million people in the U.S. live with the disease, according to the association. "All we have to do is find a way to slow it down," Pierce said. "We're not trying to keep people from dying. We're trying to keep people from dying this way." The 48-year-old actor won a Tony award earlier this month for his role in "Curtains."

Queen's graduate wins scholarship for pioneering Alzheimer research
Belfast Telegraph - UK
A Queen's University medical graduate has won a prestigious scholarship award to aid pioneering research on Alzheimer's - the first time it has ever gone outside the US. Dr Bernadette McGuinness, from Coalisland in Co Tyrone, was awarded the Paul B. Beeson Career Development Award for her proposed research into Alzheimer's disease and dementia.The £228,000 grant will allow Dr McGuinness and the Queen's team to continue their research which specifically focuses on neuropsychological changes and genetics in early Alzheimer's disease.The Beeson Award is a career development award given to "high calibre individuals seeking to advance research into ageing and medicine for older people". Dr McGuinness was delighted to receive it at a special conference in New York over the weekend.Graduating with an MD in 2006, Dr McGuinness has worked closely with the Dementia Research Group from Queen's School of Medicine (Drs Peter Passmore, Janet Johnston and David Craig). Her research proposal relates to an enzyme thought to be involved in the Alzheimer's process. The team studied activity of an enzyme in platelets and found that the activity was elevated in patients with Alzheimer's...

Emory Participates in Study to Slow Progression of Alzheimer's Disease
DentalPlans.com - Dania, FL, USA
Nutritionists have long endorsed fish as part of a heart-healthy diet, and recent studies have suggested that omega-3 fatty acids found in the oil of certain fish, algae and human breast milk may also benefit the brain by lowering the risk of Alzheimer's disease. In order to test whether an omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can impact the progression of Alzheimer's disease, researchers at Emory University are evaluating DHA in a clinical trial, the gold standard for medical research. The study is supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health. A nationwide consortium of leading Alzheimer's disease researchers is supported by NIA and coordinated by the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study at the University of California, San Diego. The clinical trial is taking place at 52 sites across the U.S. The study is seeking 400 participants ages 50 and older with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. James Lah, MD, associate professor of neurology at Emory, will lead Emory's participation. Oregon Health and Science University's Joseph Quinn, MD, associate professor of neurology, is directing the national study. Researchers primarily will evaluate whether taking DHA over many months slows the progression of both cognitive and functional decline in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's...

Alzheimer's Drug Based On Secretase Inhibitor Begins Clinical Trials
Medical News Today (press release) - UK
A drug based on the design of a Purdue University researcher to treat Alzheimer's disease began the first phase of human clinical trials this week. "Millions of people suffer from this devastating disease and treatment options are very limited," said Arun Ghosh, the Purdue professor who led the creation of the treatment molecule. "Current drugs manage the symptoms, but this could be the first disease-modifying therapy. It may be able to prevent and reverse the disease."CoMentis Inc., a biopharmaceutical company based in San Francisco, is initiating the clinical trials of the experimental drug CTS-21166...

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. Obtains Validation of European Patent for Clinical Candidate in 18 Countries
PR Newswire UK (press release) - London, UK
Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ILNS), a biopharmaceutical company focused on development of disease-modifying therapeutic agents for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, announced today that European Patent No.1056452 covering the use of indole-3-propionic acid to treat multiple indications has been validated in several Europe countries...
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