Research and Progress
Oral pill slows rate of decline in ALS patients
September 8, 2020
Although it’s not a cure for ALS, an oral drug slowed patients’ rate of functional decline in a clinical trial that included five patients at UT Health San Antonio. If the finding is repeated in larger trials, the drug could give families more time with their loved ones who have ALS. The New England Journal […]
Biggs Institute gains $2M to study rapamycin for Alzheimer’s
August 25, 2020
In the war on cancer and other diseases including COVID-19, old drugs approved for other conditions are being studied for new purposes. It’s a strategy that will now be tested in Alzheimer’s disease with a drug called rapamycin. A $2 million grant will enable a clinical trial in which 40 individuals with mild cognitive impairment […]
Synapse-saving class of proteins discovered, opening intriguing possibilities in Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia
July 17, 2020
UT Health San Antonio researchers have discovered a new class of proteins that protect synapses from being destroyed. Synapses are the structures where electrical impulses pass from one neuron to another. In Alzheimer’s disease, loss of synapses leads to memory problems and other clinical symptoms. In schizophrenia, synapse losses during development predispose an individual to […]
Data, lots of it, may detect who will have dementia and what type
July 6, 2020
What if, by inputting information about dementia and a patient into a supercomputer and crunching the data, a treatment team could quantify the individual’s risk of developing the disease? And what if, based on the results, the team could diagnose which type and subtype of dementia that the patient might develop? And what if the […]
Stroke bleeds in the brain not decreasing, study finds
June 9, 2020
Brain bleeds called intracerebral hemorrhages remained stable in incidence among all age groups over the past 30 years, but they increased in people 75 and older, according to a new analysis of the Framingham Heart Study. The findings are in JAMA Neurology. Use of anticoagulants also increased in senior adults threefold over the period, but authors cautioned against […]
Medical Xpress: Cognition and gait speed often decline together, study shows
May 7, 2020
Do thinking and walking go hand in hand in determining the health course of senior adults? A study published by UT Health San Antonio researchers found that, indeed, the two functions often parallel each other in determining a person’s health trajectory. The researchers analyzed data from 370 participants in the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of […]
‘Reasons for Hope’ summarizes dementia advances, encourages 300
February 28, 2020
“No matter how long it takes, no matter how much it costs, UT Health and I are in this fight until we win. This disease motivates us to expend our maximum energy at every moment, because there is so much at stake and there are so many depending on us.” With those words, William Henrich, […]
Biggs Institute joins NIH network studying post-stroke dementia
February 25, 2020
UT Health San Antonio is part of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) stroke research network announced Feb. 19 at the International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles. Sudha Seshadri, M.D., professor of neurology and founding director of the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases, is serving on the Steering Committee as co-leader of […]
Inflammatory marker linked to dementia
December 12, 2019
An inflammatory marker called sCD14 is related to brain atrophy, cognitive decline and dementia, according to a study of more than 4,700 participants from two large community-based heart studies. The study was published Dec. 9 in the journal Neurology. “We have strong reason to believe that sCD14 can be a useful biomarker to assess a person’s […]
Medical Xpress: Rapamycin prevents age-related brain vascular deterioration
November 7, 2019
Featured in Medical Xpress A just-released study by UT Health San Antonio and collaborating institutions shows age-related decreases in blood flow to the brain and memory loss can be modified with the drug rapamycin. This finding, if furthered, holds implications for aging in general and perhaps offers an avenue to prevent Alzheimer’s dementia in some […]