Alzheimer’s drug promising? Page 1. Alzheimer’s drug not so promising? Page B12

Not sure how STAT played this on their site. In the the print version of The Boston Globe, it ran it on A1 Thursday Hopes rise again for a drug to slow Alzheimer’s disease The follow-up in today's print edition ran on B12, with this headline: Interpreting an Alzheimer's trial. Have yet to find in on …

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5/7: Boston health events this week

Thanks to Boston Science and Engineering Lectures for listings. We  urge you to double-check the "Details" links for changes and cancellations and to note the asterisks regarding limited access to some events. Tuesday 2p.  "Recent Insights into the Protein Biology of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases."  Dennis J. Selkoe.   Brigham & Women's:  Building for Transformative Medicine, …

Selkoe to discuss #amyloid and #Alzheimer’s in wake of another disappointing drug study

A recent story in The Atlantic asks "Is the Leading Theory About Alzheimer's Wrong?" For years, scientist have been arguing about whether amyloid protein in the brain is a cause,or just a symptom of condition.  Pharma has been confident -- or desperate -- enough in the science to bet on amyloid clearing drugs, but they …

#STATnews asks: Are #Alzheimer’s numbers inflated?

In her "Gut Check" column, STAT's Sharon Begley notes that a NEJM report  from Boston University's Framingham Heart Study claims that "The percent of people developing dementia each year is falling significantly... raising hope that some cases can be prevented and, possibly, that the worst forecasts of a “looming dementia crisis in the United States are overblown" …

Nurses and nursing homes: Watchdog health reporting at the Globe

How evil is it to charge people for Alzheimer's care and not deliver it? How dangerous is it for people to go around saying they're licensed nurses when they are not? Stuff like this is hard to track because, last we checked, the people in charge of records like these were not real helpful.  Liberal Massachusetts is known …

TedMed2012: Alzheimer’s research and a”ticking time bomb” from Brandeis

Say what you will about TED talks, they do offer an impressive list of speakers. TEDMED is underway in DC. And while the organization's own site features more videos about parties than talks, you can find a nice post here about what two local researchers had to say.  From Chemical and Engineering News Gregory Petsko knows why he came …

Globe, WBUR on Alzheimer’s disease

Both The Globe and WBUR have had recent series on Alzheimer's disease. On Sunday, the Globe ran the last of a four-part, year-long series on a family coping losing their patriarch to early stage Alzheimer's. Bruce Vincent sits at a table in a stark room at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Charlestown research center, just a few …

Are fears of Alzheimer’s overblown?

Margaret Morganroth Gullette’s op-ed in last week’s NYTimes dared to suggest that our fears about Alzheimer’s may be overblown.  The Brandeis-based writer said:  The mere whiff of perceived memory loss can have terrible consequences in an insecure economy in which midlife workers are regularly (and illegally) laid off on account of their age. This epidemic …

French/American Alzheimer’s summit and the future of brain science

Related but separate events early this week.  Both are free but require registration At the Broad all day Monday: AD: The Pursuit of Personalized Medicine', the seminar will comprise six interactive sessions which will explore the latest research and innovative therapeutic strategies. Contact person: Lynda Inséqué,617-832-4468, Email:deputy-inno.mst [ at ] consulfrance-boston.org Organized by the Office of …

New Alzheimer’s guidelines will fuel pressure for new treatments

See Nature Network Boston for a post on the implications of the proposed diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer's disease. As noted in today's NY Times story:  More from BHN here. The changes could also help drug companies that are, for the first time, developing new drugs to try to attack the disease earlier. So far, there …