Tag Archives: Adam Boxer MD PhD

As trialists are retooling in the face of disappointing results in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), researchers in frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) are learning from AD woes and gearing up to take a seat in the front row. This year’s 4th International Conference on Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease, (CTAD), held 3-5 November 2011 in San Diego, California, included a session on preparing for treatment trials in FTD. Presenters made the case that trials in FTD may stand a better chance of succeeding than those in AD. As research has uncovered many molecular pathways common to FTD and related disorders ranging from the common (AD) to the rare amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), any treatments developed for FTD may have broad applications and energize the field of neurodegeneration as a whole. Read more

Frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease – two fatal neurodegenerative disease with distinct symptoms – are triggered by a common mutation in many cases, according to researchers who say they have identified the mutated gene.

In the study, reported in the September 21 online issue of Neuron, the scientists described the discovery of a genetic mutation that is accountable for almost 12 percent of familial FTD and more than 22 percent of familial ALS samples studied. Read more

Neurologists at UCSF have studied a group of people who suffer from two neurological disorders at the same time: Alzheimer’s disease and a movement disorder called progressive supranuclear palsy.

Their study assessed the cognitive impairments in this group and characterized their behavioral abnormalities. The clinical features of the two diseases together, the researchers say, are more than a simple combination of the two.
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