Greetings from the National Library of Medicine and MedlinePlus.gov

Regards to all our listeners!

I'm Rob Logan, Ph.D. senior staff National Library of Medicine substituting this week for Donald Lindberg, M.D, the Director of the U.S. National of Medicine.

Here is what's new this week in MedlinePlus.

To listen to Dr. Lindberg's comments, click here

Some recent research findings suggest new treatments and diagnostic options may be on the horizon to find and then possibly restrain Alzheimer's disease.

Currently, there are few medications physicians can prescribe to help slow Alzheimer's progression in a person's brain. The diagnosis of Alzheimer's also is difficult because physicians cannot see into the brain and determine if Alzheimer's telltale plaques are starting to occur. As a result of limited diagnostic and treatment options, it is challenging for physicians to both discover and curtail Alzheimer's so it remains in an early, less damaging state. Hypothetically, early diagnosis -- combined with slowing Alzheimer's progression -- could prevent the disease from advancing to the point where a person can no longer care for himself or herself.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia among adults after age 60. The Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation's website explains five million Americans currently have Alzheimer's disease and 360,000 new cases will be diagnosed this year. By 2050, between 11.2 and 16 million Americans will have Alzheimer's disease, which impacts millions more because of the care, time, and attention often required from a patient's immediate family, or caregivers.

More positively, some new findings released at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease in Chicago in late summer reported that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans located Alzheimer's-like plaques in the brains of rabbits for the first time. Since MRI scans are a well-established medical technology, the prospect of using scans to see brain plaques in adults might transform the ability of physicians to diagnose Alzheimer's in its earlier stages.

In the Canadian-based research, rabbits who received a high cholesterol diet developed an identifiable plague in their brains that was found by an MRI. The scans revealed black spots in key memory areas of a rabbit's brain, such as the hippocampus.

While researchers acknowledged it will be a challenge to duplicate successful animal imaging in humans, they noted that this is the first time conventional MRI scanning equipment was able to detect brain plaques in animals. Other scientists at the Mayo Clinic reported parallel progress in a computer program that may help physicians distinguish between normal and Alzheimer's brain MRI scans in the future.

In addition, another study (that received considerable news media attention) reported preliminary progress in reversing Alzheimer's growth via a new, experimental medication that impacts the brain's tau protein production.  While tau proteins normally help brain cells communicate, in Alzheimer's patients, tau proteins create clogging tangles that can kill brain cells.

In the study's early trials, a drug that inhibits tau production stabilized the progression of Alzheimer's in patients in Singapore and in the United Kingdom during a 50 week period. In a related study, a nasal spray medication that inhibits the brain's tau protein also was linked to improvements in the memory abilities of Alzheimer's patients.

These drugs were envisioned as combined with other under-development medications that inhibit the production of amyloid plaques in the brain (which also are associated with Alzheimer's disease). So, in the future, patients may take a cocktail of medications to inhibit some of the brain chemistry irregularities associated with Alzheimer's progression, which additionally may improve memory and cognitive skills.         

We emphasize the aforementioned tau protein inhibitor research is in mid-level stages of clinical trials (and needs to be further tested with a larger sample of persons to determine its clinical efficacy and possible side effects). As a result, both medications are at best years away from reaching your physician or neighborhood medical center (and may never arrive).

However, it is encouraging to report innovations to diagnose and slow the progression of a devastating disease at a time when millions of patients and families are hoping for more effective diagnostic techniques and treatments.

Earlier this summer I spoke to the annual educational conference of Alzheimer's Community Care, which ably assists patients and caregivers in three Florida counties surrounding West Palm Beach. Alzheimer's Community Care's educational conference draws about 500 persons, including health care providers, patients, caregivers, and family members. It is always moving to hear them describe the challenges to respond to the stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Few of the attendees were surprised to hear that Alzheimer's disease is one of the most consulted topics within MedlinePlus.gov. To repeat what I said at the conference, while MedlinePlus contains many links to websites with information about Alzheimer's Disease, for a one stop gateway, I recommend MedlinePlus.gov's 'Alzheimer's Disease health topic page.'

MedlinePlus' 'Alzheimer's Disease health topic page' provides comprehensive information about: diagnosis/screening, treatment/prevention, disease management, and coping. It provides information about specific conditions, such as: early onset Alzheimer's and Alzheimer's stages.

MedlinePlus' 'Alzheimer's Disease health topic page' additionally contains links to tips such as: modifying a home for Alzheimer's patients, a guide to selecting care providers, making job decisions, when to stop driving, and financial issues associated with Alzheimer's disease.

There are links to special sections on: Alzheimer's research in refereed medical journals; current information about the availability of Alzheimer's clinical trials around the nation, and a gateway to related topic pages about: dementia, memory, brain and nerves, and a special health topic page devoted to Alzheimer's caregivers.

Overall, MedlinePlus.gov's 'Alzheimer's Disease health topic page' is a comprehensive and compact resource with information for most levels of knowledge, interest, and literacy.

To find MedlinePlus' Alzheimer's Disease health topic page, simply type 'Alzheimer's (that's A…L…Z…H…E…I…M...E…R..'…S) Disease' in the search box on MedlinePlus.gov's home page. Then, click on 'Alzheimer's Disease (National Library of Medicine).'

Before I go, this reminder……. MedlinePlus.gov is authoritative,….. free…. does not accept advertising …and is written to help you.

To find MedlinePlus.gov, just type in "MedlinePlus.gov' in any web browser, such as Firefox, Safari, Netscape, or Explorer.

We encourage you to use MedlinePlus and please recommend it to your friends. MedlinePlus is available in English and Spanish.

Your comments about this or any of our podcasts are always welcome. We welcome suggestions about future topics too!
Please email Dr. Lindberg anytime at: NLMDirector@nlm.nih.gov That's NLMDirector (one word) @nlm.nih.gov

A written transcript of recent podcasts is available. Just click on the 'Director's comments' link on MedlinePlus' home page.

The National Library of Medicine is one of 27 institutes and centers within the National Institutes of Health. The National Institutes of Health is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

It was nice to be with you….