Lifestyle changes in 4 areas may improve brain health, major US study finds
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The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Scottish Nobel chemist predicts Alzheimer's drug in 5 years
Professor David MacMillan, originally from North Lanarkshire and now based at Princeton University, told the BBC's Scotcast podcast: 'I would bet my house that within five years we have marketed drugs for Alzheimer's.' He said the rapid pace of development in neurological research gave him confidence that major treatment breakthroughs are close, calling the progress "phenomenal". READ MORE: Scottish oil and gas firm to shut down with jobs lost and staff 'unpaid since May' MacMillan, whose father and aunt both suffered from dementia, was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside Professor Benjamin List for developing a revolutionary method of constructing molecules. Their discovery has already contributed to new approaches in treating Alzheimer's, as well as cancer and cardiovascular disease. He used his share of the prize money to launch The May and Billy MacMillan Foundation, named after his parents, to fund educational opportunities for underprivileged young Scots. Education, he said, was his 'passport to the world". Born in New Stevenston near Bellshill, MacMillan studied chemistry at the University of Glasgow before moving to the United States for postgraduate research. After academic posts at Harvard and Berkeley, he joined Princeton in 2006. While he has long praised the scale and ambition of American scientific research, MacMillan expressed concern about recent political pressure on universities. His Princeton research group, he said, has gone without government funding for seven months for the first time in 25 years. He attributed this to growing hostility towards higher education to the Trump-Vance administration. He warned that the cuts could reflect a broader attempt to exert political control over academic institutions, describing the trend as 'quite sinister.' READ MORE: Scottish Government approves one of world's biggest wind farms amid controversy Despite these challenges, MacMillan said he has no immediate plans to return to Scotland, though he visits regularly to see family and, now, a close friend. After winning the Nobel, he received an unexpected congratulatory call from Sir Alex Ferguson. The two Glaswegians have since become friends and plan to attend a Manchester United match together later this year. MacMillan's achievements have also been honoured in Scotland's National Portrait Gallery, where a new painting by Christabel Blackburn depicts him in his Princeton office. A lab coat from his former school, Bellshill Academy, hangs in the background – a quiet reminder of how far he has come.
Medical News Today
a day ago
- Medical News Today
Dementia may take 3.5 years to diagnose after symptoms begin, but why?
Dementia is a hard disease to diagnose for a number of reasons.A new study has found that people who have dementia are, on average, diagnosed 3.5 years after symptoms first appear. This is even longer — an average of 4.1 years after symptoms first show — for people with early onset dementia. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 57 million people around the world in 2021 were living with dementia — an umbrella term for a group of conditions that impact a person's memory and ability to think and communicate, such as Alzheimer's disease. Dementia is a hard disease to diagnose. There is currently no single test to diagnose the condition, and symptoms of dementia are very similar to those of other diseases. Additionally, for some people, their dementia symptoms are very subtle in the early stage of the disease, making it hard for a doctor to make a complete diagnosis. Over the last few years, researchers have been focusing on finding new ways to help doctors detect and diagnose dementia as early as possible. 'Timely diagnosis of dementia is crucial for several reasons,' Vasiliki Orgeta, PhD, associate professor in the Division of Psychiatry, Faculty of Brain Sciences at University College London, explained to Medical News Today. 'First and foremost, early detection empowers individuals and their families to plan ahead, and make informed decisions about their care.' 'From a healthcare perspective, timely diagnosis reduces the strain on healthcare systems by enabling proactive rather than reactive care,' she continued. 'As our global population ages, the prevalence of dementia is rising sharply. Timely diagnosis, therefore, is key to addressing this growing public health challenge.' Orgeta is the lead author of a new study recently published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry that reports people who have dementia are, on average, diagnosed 3.5 years after symptoms first appear. This is even longer — an average of 4.1 years after symptoms first show — for people with early onset dementia. The time between symptoms and dementia diagnosisFor this study, researchers analyzed the results of 13 previously published studies, encompassing more than 30,000 participants. Scientists focused on the average time span between when symptoms were first noticed by patients or their family members, to their dementia diagnosis. 'We decided to examine the average interval between symptom onset and final diagnosis of dementia because this timeframe has significant implications for patient outcomes, families, and the overall healthcare system,' Orgeta said. 'Despite increasing awareness, many individuals still face delays of months or even years before receiving a formal diagnosis,' she said. 3.5 years for a dementia diagnosis once symptoms beginAt the study's conclusion, researchers found that dementia diagnosis occurs, on average, about 3.5 years after symptoms begin to show. This timespan average jumped to 4.1 years for participants with early onset dementia. 'The finding that it typically takes 3.5 years to receive a dementia diagnosis — and even longer, 4.1 years, for those with early-onset dementia — highlights a critical delay in the diagnostic journey, during which individuals and their families may be living with uncertainty, and without access to the support and planning resources they need.'— Vasiliki Orgeta, PhD'These findings underscore the urgent need to improve public awareness, enhance training for healthcare providers, and streamline referral pathways,' Orgeta said. Younger age, frontotemporal dementia linked to longer diagnosis timeOrgeta and her team also discovered that participants with a younger age at symptom onset and those diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia correlated with a longer diagnosis time. 'These delays mean that many younger individuals are left without the clarity, support, or medical care they need for years,' Orgeta said. 'Our findings emphasize the need for greater awareness and education among healthcare professionals to recognize the early signs of less common dementias, particularly in younger populations. Improving early detection in these groups is essential to ensure timely support, reduce misdiagnoses, and improve long-term outcomes.' 'We plan to work closely with people affected by dementia and their families, clinicians and policymakers to develop strategies that support earlier identification and more efficient diagnostic pathways — particularly for younger individuals and those with less common forms of dementia like frontotemporal dementia,' she added. What causes a delay in dementia diagnosis? MNT also spoke with Adel Aziz, MD, FAAN, cognitive and behavioral neurologist, assistant professor of neurology at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, and memory specialist at JFK University Medical Center, about this study. 'I would like to stress that experienced clinicians rarely find the concept of delayed dementia diagnosis surprising,' Aziz commented. 'What this meta-analysis adds is a shared language — 'Time To Diagnose (TTD)' — and empirical weights for each contributing factor. By translating anecdotes into measurable variables, it empowers specialists to benchmark performance, tailor interventions, and advocate for policy change.' Aziz explained that delays in diagnosing dementia arise at multiple points: when patients and families postpone seeking help, when primary providers hesitate to refer, and when early cognitive symptoms are misattributed to aging or anxiety.'This multifaceted issue intertwines with social determinants like education, socioeconomic status, minority identity, sex, age of symptom onset, dementia subtype, and the strength of a patient's support system,' he help lower the time between first dementia symptoms and formal diagnosis, Aziz said it will require community awareness campaigns to demystify dementia signs across diverse populations, provider education programs to train frontline clinicians on early, atypical dementia presentations, policy and advocacy to advocate for insurance coverage of cognitive assessments, and new technologies such as a telehealth cognitive screening for remote areas. 'With these layers of action — spanning public education, clinical training, policy reform, and technological innovation — we can move toward a future where dementia is recognized and managed as early as possible,' he added.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
What is CTE? Doctors explain brain disorder New York shooter Shane Tamura claimed to have
The suspected shooter who killed four people in a Manhattan skyscraper Monday claimed to suffer from the brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, which experts say could explain his violent behavior. Shane Tamura, 27, is accused of driving from Las Vegas to New York City, entering an office building that houses major financial firms and the National Football League and killing four people before shooting himself. In a suicide note Tamura reportedly had in his pocket, he criticized the NFL and claimed to suffer from CTE, which is most commonly seen in athletes who have suffered repeat concussions and brain injuries, causing permanent brain damage. Tamura was once a talented football player and his note, revealed by a source to CNN, stated: 'Terry Long football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze,' referring to the former NFL player who was diagnosed with CTE and died by suicide after drinking antifreeze in 2005. Authorities have also said Tamura, 27, had a 'documented mental health history' and in the car he was seen exiting before the shooting, they found cannabis and Zoloft, an antidepressant. Studies of American football players have revealed the consequences of repeated head trauma and traumatic brain injuries, including aggression, depression, impulsivity, psychosis, cognitive confusion, and premature death. However, the only way to diagnose CTE is by an autopsy after a person has died, so there is no way to know if the alleged shooter had the condition. Tamura's suicide note said he wanted his brain to be studied Dr Keith Vossel, a neurologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, told 'Often, criminality is not really common with most of the neurodegenerative diseases - criminality or homicidal or suicidal behaviors - but they can occur.' And while not all CTE sufferers will become homicidal or suicidal, those traits 'seem to be more common in the syndrome that we associate with CTE,' Dr Vossel added. Dr Vossel told this website: 'We're pretty sure that CTE is associated with impulsivity, sometimes suicidality, other mental health issues, due to strong association studies. 'It's really difficult to currently definitively prove the connection, but I think we're on the right track.' Dr Harrison Martland, a clinical pathologist, first named the condition 'punch drunk' in 1928, as it was more commonly seen in men who had entered and left the boxing arena multiple times. Since then, research and understanding of the condition have evolved. Doctors have determined that repeated blows to the head generate tau, a small protein found in brain cells that can break off and cause harmful tangles. But there is no test to screen for CTE in living patients, and symptoms often mimic those of Alzheimer's, PTSD, or Parkinson's. Tamura was a former high school football player who left a note in his pocket blaming his actions and mental health crisis on CTE. 'Study my brain please,' the note said. 'I'm sorry.' Dr Carole Lieberman, a board-certified psychiatrist, told 'What stands out in this case is how the NYC gunman chose to shoot himself in the chest rather than the head. 'This highly unusual decision suggests he wanted his brain preserved for autopsy, strongly indicating he believed he had CTE and wanted it confirmed.' To determine CTE in deceased brains researchers look for a buildup of tau in certain parts, including the frontal lobe, which plays a crucial role in problem-solving, self control, emotion regulation, impulsivity, and aggressive behavior. It is not known when, or if, an autopsy will be performed on Tamura. 'We know from other degenerative diseases like frontotemporal dementia that when the tau accumulates in regions that control our impulsivity and our social decorum… that can be associated with changes in personality and it can result in behaviors that can be disturbing for those around them,' Dr Vossel said. A 2024 study of nearly 2,000 former football players conducted by Harvard Medical School found that 34 percent think they have CTE, reporting more cognitive problems, depression, suicidal thoughts, chronic pain, and other issues not reported by people who did not believe they had CTE. Doctors have found that hundreds of football players have had CTE over the years. In 2023, the Boston University CTE Center announced that it posthumously diagnosed 345 former NFL players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy out of 376 retired players studied, equating to about 92 percent. Dr Vossel added that not all CTE sufferers become homicidal, but the disease does lead to major personality changes: 'Some people might start with more memory issues, and it's maybe a different rate of decline. 'It could be slower, and it could be older people, and they could look like they have Alzheimer's disease.' He continued: 'And then these more striking cases, the mental health issues tend to be occurring in younger people in whom it might be more difficult to disentangle any pre-existing mental health issue from CTE-related changes.' In the past, NFL athletes who have taken their own lives or those of others have been confirmed post-mortem to have had CTE. Several former players, including Dave Duerson and Junior Seau, died by suicide using firearms. Duerson and Seau intentionally shot themselves in the chest, like Tamura. Both former athletes were later diagnosed with CTE. Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend before driving to Arrowhead Stadium and taking his own life in front of his coach and general manager. According to a post-mortem report, Belcher's brain showed signs of CTE. And former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez was diagnosed with late-stage CTE after his 2017 suicide. He had been convicted of murder, having killed Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player, in 2015. In the final years, Hernandez became increasingly paranoid, convinced that people were out to kill him. Dr Lieberman said: 'The connection between neurological injury and sudden acts of violence should not be underestimated.' It is unclear whether Tamura suffered from symptoms linked to CTE, such as cognitive issues. And a post-mortem won't be able to detect if he also had a mental health condition, like depression, or separate any mental health issues he was contending with from symptoms, and consequences, of CTE. Dr Lieberman added: 'Clinical signs, such as mood instability, paranoia, aggression, and suicidal ideation, combined with a history of repeated head trauma, often point to it.
