Microglia are amoeba-like cells that scour the brain for injuries and invaders. But sometimes the usually helpful cells go into overdrive and damage the brain, researchers say.
Aduhelm is the first treatment approved in the country to slow cognitive decline in those living with Alzheimer's. Doctors have refused to prescribe it, given the lack of data and evidence behind it.
Alzheimer's researchers are trying new treatment approaches, including trying to boost the immune system, remove toxic tangles of protein and stimulate brain waves with light and sound.
Weeks after the Food and Drug Administration approved the Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm, doctors are struggling to figure out who should get the drug and how to use it safely.
Some patients who have had COVID-19 develop symptoms resembling early Alzheimer's. Researchers are trying to figure out whether these people are more likely to develop the disease itself.
A plaque-busting Alzheimer's drug called Aduhelm has yet to prove it can preserve memory and thinking. Even so, its approval by the Food and Drug Administration is making some patients opitimistic.
In his resignation letter, Dr. Aaron Kesselheim calls it "probably the worst drug approval decision in recent U.S. history." An FDA official says the agency found the benefits outweighed the risks.
The FDA has until Monday to decide whether to approve the first new Alzheimer's drug in nearly two decades. Two big studies of the drug produced conflicting results.
Nonwhite Americans looking for care for a loved one are much more likely than whites to encounter discrimination, language barriers, and providers who lack cultural competence, a new report finds.
Many senior citizens entered their golden years with more debt than previous generations, and now they're struggling financially as they try to provide care for an ailing relative during the pandemic.
Viewers worldwide are responding to a moving video of Marta C. González, a former dancer afflicted with dementia. But critics are questioning whether González is who the clip makers claim she is.
Researchers launched a major study of an experimental Alzheimer's drug this summer. They also learned a lot about how to protect participants who must make frequent visits to a medical center.
Two new human studies back earlier hints that vaccines designed to prevent respiratory infections might also provide some protection against Alzheimer's disease.
Structures inside healthy brain cells nimbly move from one state to the next to perform different functions. But in certain degenerative brain diseases, scientists now think, that process gets stuck.
