Posts by Kathryn Smith

Dementia Awareness Week: how useful are mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease?

Kathryn Smith on May 24, 2013 at 11:19 am - 0 Comments

Guest blog post by Dr Scott Webster, University of Kentucky, USA

Can Alzheimer’s disease memory problems be studied in a mouse model? A study published today in Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy attempts to answer this question by performing a comprehensive characterization of age-related behavioral changes in an important mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.

A variety of behavioral tasks that measure motor performance, anxiety-like behavior, and cognitive ability were determined through the lifespan of the mice, ranging from young (7 month old), middle age (11 and 15 months old), and old (24 months old) mice. There were no impairments in motor function or anxiety-like behavior in the mice at any age tested. However, the mice developed Alzheimer-like memory problems as …

Dementia Awareness Week: Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy joins the discussion

Kathryn Smith on May 21, 2013 at 4:32 pm - 0 Comments

This week is the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Awareness Week and Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy is talking about the impact of genetic variants on Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

AD is the most common form of dementia in older people and is characterized by behavioral disorders and a progressive decline in memory function. Genetic studies have provided the best evidence for cause and effect relationships in AD, and recent years have seen tremendous progress in genetics technology to allow for full individualized genomic screening across populations and within individuals.

Examples of the advances include identification of mutations in APP, PSEN1 and PSEN2 genes, which provided a link to the characteristic amyloid plaques seen in AD brains and supported the amyloid cascade hypothesis. Also, …

Changes in leadership for Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy

Kathryn Smith on May 21, 2013 at 1:09 pm - 0 Comments

We are delighted to welcome Dr Philip Scheltens to his new position as one of the Editors-in-Chief of Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, joining Dr Douglas Galasko (University of California, San Diego, USA) and Dr Todd Golde (University of Florida, USA). Dr Scheltens is replacing Dr Gordon Wilcock (University of Oxford, UK), who is stepping down from this role after many valuable years of guidance as Editor-in-Chief.

Dr Scheltens is Professor of Cognitive Neurology and Director of the Alzheimer Centre at the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, which he founded in 2000. Dr Scheltens is active in the field of biomarkers and clinical trials, with his main clinical and research interests including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, …

Early pregnancy alters gene signature of mammary stem cells

Kathryn Smith on May 3, 2013 at 12:05 pm - 0 Comments

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the United Kingdom and constitutes the leading cause of cancer-related death in women worldwide. One in eight women can expect to develop breast cancer at some point in their lifetime.

Progress has been made in early detection and treatment of breast cancer but little is understood about how women can reduce their risk of developing the disease. Child-bearing is one factor identified to reduce this risk. If a full-term pregnancy occurs before the age of 20, the risk of developing breast cancer is halved. Yet the mechanism through which this works remains unexplained.

A new publication in Breast Cancer Research uses a novel approach to answer this …

Cognitive aging and dementia – is it inevitable?

Kathryn Smith on April 30, 2013 at 10:53 am - 0 Comments

Cognitive aging in the brain affects all of us, and is the focus of a new thematic series launched in Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy.

Aging can be associated with relatively little cognitive decline. But for some, it can lead to mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or cause a severe loss in cognitive function and result in dementia. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in older people and is characterized by behavioural disorders and a progressive decline in memory function.

In recent decades, there have been significant advances in our understanding of cognitive aging, but little advance in translating this knowledge into therapeutics. The AD epidemic is a looming crisis and there is an urgent need for …

‘Abeta catabolism’ – special series call for submissions

Kathryn Smith on April 5, 2013 at 9:57 am - 0 Comments

Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy is now accepting research submissions for consideration in a special series on abeta catabolism, planned for publication in late 2013.

The publication of these articles will be co-ordinated with a series of commissioned reviews and opinions, guest edited by Dr Elizabeth Eckman (Atlantic Health) and written by leaders in the field including Gary Landreth (Case Western Reserve), Kristin Wildsmith (Genentech), Malcolm Leissring (Mayo clinic), Anthony Turner (Leeds) and Salvatore Oddo (UT Health Science Centre).

Submit your paper to this series and receive a 50% article processing charge discount – simply quote ‘AlzRTabeta’ at submission.

We welcome research manuscripts to accompany a series of articles reviewing the evidence for decreased Abeta clearance …

Critical Care: A selective look back and a glimpse forward

Kathryn Smith on March 28, 2013 at 3:55 pm - 0 Comments

Critical Care has recently published a collection of nine reviews based on presentations from the ‘Future of critical care medicine (FCCM) 2012: Today’s practice and a look to the future’ symposium held in January this year.

The collection covers a wide range of intensive care topics. Professor John J Marini, the Supplement Editor, provides a review on the history of mechanical ventilation and the important lessons that have been learned. The Editor-in-Chief of Critical Care, Professor Jean-Louis Vincent, looks back over the past 60 years of intensive care to find inspiration to discuss the future in his review, ‘Critical care – where have we been and where are we going?’. Other reviews in the collection …

Critical Care publishes two new supplements – free to access

Kathryn Smith on March 25, 2013 at 4:23 pm - 0 Comments

Critical Care has just published two new collections to coincide with the 33rd International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (ISICEM). All articles in both collections are free to access.

The first collection features poster abstracts from the 33rd ISICEM, published as a supplement to the journal. View a full list of the 545 abstracts presented at the conference. ISICEM also provides its delegates with a one year free subscription to Critical Care as part of their registration. All you need to do is register on the Critical Care website using the email address you used to register for ISICEM.

The second, a selection of 10 articles from Springer’s Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine 2012 have …

The new FTD mutation on chromosome 9

Kathryn Smith on February 18, 2013 at 10:06 am - 0 Comments

The second most common form of dementia in younger people is the focus of a thematic series from Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy.

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a rare form of dementia that affects certain areas of the brain. The pathogenic genetic mutation responsible was only identified in 2011 and led to an avalanche of research in this area. Series Editor, Professor Bruce Miller, explains: “the C9ORF72 mutation is the most common mutation associated with both FTD and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the Western hemisphere and Europe (less is known about C9ORF72 in Asia and Africa). It is a gene with strong penetrance, and the vast majority of subjects with C9ORF72 die from a neurodegenerative condition.”

In a …

Making dementia a global health priority

Kathryn Smith on February 12, 2013 at 10:26 am - 0 Comments

Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy is newly affiliated to Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), the international federation of national Alzheimer organisations.

ADI provides a global voice for dementia, empowering national Alzheimer associations to promote and offer services and support for people with dementia and their carers. ADI works globally to focus attention on the Alzheimer’s epidemic, by hosting an annual conference and campaigning for policy change from governments and the World Health Organisation (WHO). For example, ADI commission a number of World Alzheimer Reports and were involved in the recently launched report Dementia: A Public Health Priority by the WHO. Read the highlights of the report in Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy.

Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy shares …