It might seem odd, but a steaming cup of coconut chicken noodle soup can go a long way toward advancing patient care, research and education. Similarly, a medical school’s success can be enhanced with a simple reassurance when young scientists worry about research funding, lab experiments or their futures. Or an empathetic “I understand” to […]
Seven Washington University in St. Louis faculty members have been named fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), joining 23 existing fellows at Washington University. The new fellows are among 162 colleagues inducted March 25 in Arlington, Va. Election to AIMBE’s College of Fellows is limited to the top 2% of […]
Two pathologies drive the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Early on, amyloid beta plaques lead the way, but around the time cognitive symptoms arise, tau tangles take over as the driving force and cognition steadily declines. Tracking the course of the disease in individual patients has been challenging because there’s been no easy way to measure […]
Several progressive neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, are defined by having tau proteins in the brain. Researchers are seeking to identify the mechanisms behind these tau proteins to develop treatments, however, their efforts to detect biomarkers in blood has been hampered by the protective blood-brain barrier. At Washington University in St. Louis, new research from […]
Three experimental blood tests used to identify people in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease perform differently in Black individuals compared to white individuals, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The study showed that a fourth blood test — the PrecivityAD test, which is commercially available in the […]
Alzheimer’s disease usually is diagnosed based on symptoms, such as when a person shows signs of memory loss and difficulty thinking. Up until now, MRI brain scans haven’t proven useful for early diagnosis in clinical practice. Such scans can reveal signs of brain shrinkage due to Alzheimer’s, but the signs only become unmistakable late in […]
In efforts to identify who is at risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia, researchers over the years have zeroed in on several signs — or biological markers — that indicate early stages of the disease. If individuals could be identified long before symptoms of dementia begin to appear, doctors could target those patients with future preventive […]