Latest news with #neurodegenerative
WIRED
5 days ago
- Health
- WIRED
What Are Exosomes, and Why Are They in Your Skincare?
By now, you've probably seen 'exosomes' wafting across your For You Page, maybe sandwiched between a promo code for snail mucin and someone rendering beef tallow. Scroll through SkinTok long enough, and you'll hit a flood of videos hyping exosome therapy, exosome serums, and exosome treatments promising the skin health of a cherub. Skincare companies have seized the term. Marketed as miraculous regenerative agents, you'll find them on $300 facial menus, in post-micro-needling procedures, and across influencers' skincare routines. TikTok content This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from. What Are Exosomes? An exosome is a teeny sac inside a cell, or what a scientist might call an extracellular vesicle. They act as tiny mailbags, shuttling mRNAs, lipids, and other genetic material through the cell membranes from one cell to another. Exosomes are a part of the body's internal messaging system, regulating everything from cell growth to hormone production and gene expression. They're microscopic, measuring about 40 to 100 nanometers across, so small they make a red blood cell look massive in comparison. Scientists first discovered them under a microscope back in the 1960s, but they didn't gain significant attention until the early 2000s. Why Are Exosomes Controversial? In medicine, exosomes are being studied for cancer therapies, neurodegenerative diseases, and drug delivery systems. Because they reflect the state of the cells from which they originate, cancer cells often release exosomes that contain unique molecular fingerprints. Scientists are already using these biomarkers to assist in the early diagnosis of conditions like prostate cancer. The potential for early, non-invasive detection across a range of diseases is substantial. Because exosomes can cross biological barriers and deliver cargo, researchers are also exploring them as vehicles for targeted drugs. Additionally, they hold potential for wound healing, inflammation reduction, and tissue regeneration. Naturally, the beauty industry caught wind. Now, exosomes are in moisturizers, serums, and hair injectables, promising to repair your skin barrier, boost collagen production, and reverse aging.
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Dementia: Sleep disorders increase risk of dementia, study finds
People who experience sleep disorders are at greater risk of developing neurodegenerative conditions, including dementia, new research has study, conducted by researchers at Cardiff University, found that diagnoses of sleep disorder made people up to twice as likely to develop a neurodegenerative disease in the 15 years that peer-reviewed study used data from more than a million electronic health records. "This increased risk was occurring independently of genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, with sleep disorders almost 'compensating' for low genetic risk," said Prof Valentina Escott-Price, from the UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff University. The researchers examined data from three biobanks – facilities that store biological samples and are used for health research – from which they were "able to obtain accurate, timestamped records of when people experienced sleep disorders".The team analysed those who had been diagnosed with one of more sleep disorder, grouping them into those associated with "circadian rhythm" – or body clock – such as sleepwalking and narcolepsy, and "non-organic" sleep disorders not linked to a known psychological condition, including generalised insomnia and key findings were:Circadian sleep disorders and non-organic sleep disorders were associated with an increased risk of dementia in the 10 to 15 years that followed. The risk was further increased for those with multiple sleep sleep disorders increased the risk of Alzheimer's in the 10 to 15 years following sleep disorder sleep disorders and non-organic sleep disorders increased the risk of vascular dementia in the 5 to 10 years following sleep disorder diagnosis. The risk was further increased for those with multiple sleep sleep disorders and non-organic sleep disorders increased risk of Parkinson's in the 10 to 15 years following sleep disorder Emily Simmonds, bioinformatician at the UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff University, said the study aimed to "understand the complicated relationship between sleep and dementia".She said: "People living with dementia often experience sleep problems, but there is not yet enough evidence to say for sure whether poor sleep increases risk of dementia."Our results are compelling, indicating a clear increased risk of neurodegenerative disease following a sleep disorder."Prof Escott-Price, also from Cardiff University, said that while further investigation is needed the research "points towards sleep disorders as a risk factor for these conditions".Future research will examine whether improving sleep through the use of medication leads to a reduction in risk.
Telegraph
6 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
Nightmares linked to higher dementia risk, study finds
People who have nightmares or sleepwalk are twice as likely to develop vascular dementia than those who sleep soundly, a study has found. Scientists have long known that serious sleep disorders increase the risk of neurodegenerative conditions, but the latest research has shed more light on the connection. Analysis of more than a million people's medical records has found individuals with sleep problems who have not been diagnosed with anything physically wrong are also at increased risk. So-called 'non-organic' sleep disorders which are not linked to a known physiological condition include night terrors, sleepwalking, nightmares, and forms of insomnia and hypersomnia. Sufferers from these disorders were found to be more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with vascular dementia in later life, and to be at 67 per cent higher risk of dementia and 68 per cent higher risk of Parkinson's disease. The study, led by Cardiff University, involved data from three biobanks containing the records of people in Britain and Finland. The research compared the subjects' sleeping patterns with their genes and their long-term health outcomes. 'By using biobank data, we had timestamped records of when people had sleep disorders, and exactly when they were subsequently diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease – rather than relying on self-reporting,' said Dr Emily Simmonds, one of the study authors and a bioinformatician at the UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff University. 'Our results are compelling, indicating a clear increased risk of neurodegenerative disease following a sleep disorder, across three large biobank datasets.' The scientists found people often experienced sleep disorder symptoms up to 15 years before they started seeing symptoms of the neurodegenerative conditions. Link to sleep problems could speed treatment Kristin Levine, a study co-author from the US National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Centre for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias, said: 'One of the exciting things about identifying people at higher risk of developing a neurodegenerative disease 10-15 years before diagnosis, is that it gives us time to implement treatments that may delay or prevent development of disease.' A link was seen between sleep problems and the neurodegenerative diseases even in people whose genes put them at low risk, the study authors found. 'Perhaps most interestingly, this increased risk was occurring independently of genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, with sleep disorders almost 'compensating' for low genetic risk,' said Hampton Leonard from the NIH Centre, the study's co-leader. 'One would expect that if sleep disorders were caused by neurodegeneration, genetic risk of sleep disorder and neurodegenerative disease would line up. Further investigation is needed, but this points towards sleep disorders as a risk factor for these conditions.' The scientists hope future research will build on their findings, and investigate if any interventions that target sleep problems can improve the outlook for neurodegenerative conditions.
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Early warning signs I blamed on stress that were actually early-onset Alzheimer's in my forties
Rebecca Luna says she can't remember the previous day 'seven to eight times out of 10.' She occasionally blacks out in the middle of conversations with friends: 'It's almost like I'm not there, it's black, and it feels blank. It's a complete nothingness.' When she comes to, she doesn't know what she's just said or done. The mother-of -two has also forgotten to turn the stove off and unknowingly started her car. These lapses are all part of Luna's rare diagnosis: early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Her symptoms began two years ago, and she started seeing psychiatrists for her memory 'blips', which Luna first chalked up to perimenopause or her ADHD. Luna also suffered from alcoholism for years - she is now 15 years sober - and feared her lapses could be repercussions of her addiction. It wasn't until a neurologist administered a two-hour cognitive test, which she failed, and took detailed MRI scans, that she learned the truth nine months ago. The Canadian native has grappled with the knowledge that the neurodegenerative disease will rob her of time with her children and has had to explain to them that, given her diagnosis, the mother they know her as will likely begin to disappear within a few years. Early-onset Alzheimer's is more progressive, with a shorter life expectancy of about eight years from diagnosis. Luna said: 'It's really hard to think about that stuff because I am in denial. So when my brain is like, let's look at the facts, sometimes I look at my neurology documentation with all the scientific facts – they're not just out of nowhere, they're not perimenopause. 'I have to look at that stuff to make it real for myself because I just love gaslighting myself… It is a progressive illness. We're catching it super early, which is amazing, but there is no cure.' Luna had noticed a growing number of troubling instances over around two years in which she couldn't remember doing basic, everyday tasks. One day, she returned to her car in the gym parking lot and realized she couldn't find her keys. She checked around and underneath the car and even looked on the roof, thinking she had left them there like she'd done in the past with her coffee. Then, she realized: the car was running, and the keys were in the ignition. She had already gotten in the car and turned it on but it didn't register. 'My car was on that whole time. I had completely blanked out the process of getting in, putting the key in, and turning the ignition on,' she told Yahoo!. Another time, she began boiling an egg on the stove, forgot about it, and left home for about half hour. When she eventually realized what she had done, she ran home to find her kitchen filled with smoke. 'So, it literally almost caught my house on fire,' she said. Luna's psychiatrist administered several cognitive tests, which ask people to recall words, name objects, follow simple instructions, or draw shapes. Doctors also check for memory, language, and problem-solving skills. She failed all of them. Nine months ago, when she went to a neurologist for specialized care to confirm what the tests had found, she underwent a more expansive series of tests assessing her memory, attention, language, reasoning, visual-spatial skills, and emotional health. Each test in the neurological evaluation has its own scoring system based on what is normal for a person's age beyond just looking at whether the patient scored high or low on a test. At the end, the doctor reviews all of the individual test scores to spot certain patterns, such as an usually low memory score with normal attention and language skills. This helps the doctor spot signs their patient is dealing with Alzheimer's specifically, the type of dementia whose first symptom is memory problems. Luna said: 'Then he looked at my MRIs, looked at other things noted by the psychiatrist, and he just walked in with pamphlets of early-onset Alzheimer's. 'There was no diagnosis at that time. This was his suspicion.' Further testing, including her medial temporal atrophy (MTA) score, which is a diagnostic tool for dementia, led to a diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's. Early-onset Alzheimer's affects a small subset of the population diagnosed with this memory-robbing form of dementia caused by shrinking brain tissue. Just five percent of the nearly 7million Americans with the disease are diagnosed between the ages of 45 and 65, well before the average diagnosis age of 80. Early-onset Alzheimer's is not typical Alzheimer's disease at a younger age. It often runs in families. In some cases, it's passed down directly from parent to child, while in others, people may inherit a mix of genes that increase their risk. The disease tends to progress faster in people with an early-onset diagnosis compared to those who develop it later in life. Even after accounting for the general risks of aging, people with early-onset Alzheimer's have a higher risk of dying compared to those with late-onset or typical Alzheimer's. This causes a significant number of premature deaths in adults aged 40 to 64 caused by complications due to Alzheimer's, like infections, seizures, and pneumonia caused by food or liquid enters the lungs instead of the esophagus. The wide variety of causes of death means quantifying the annual death toll linked to the condition is difficult to pin down. Still, about 120,000 people with Alzheimer's, both typical and early-onset, died in 2022 (the most recent year for which data is available). While early-onset Alzheimer's if often hereditary, Luna did not say whether she has a family history of the condition. Additionally, people with early-onset Alzheimer's often go about 1.6 years longer before getting diagnosed than those with late-onset Alzheimer's, likely because symptoms are missed or doctors take more time to evaluate younger patients. Following her diagnosis, Luna's family, including her daughter and mother, is in denial. She said: 'About two months ago, I sent her [my mother] the [doctor's] clinical notes where he's put Alzheimer's on it. And she lost it then because I think she wasn't believing it until she saw it on a piece of paper. 'It's so weird. I make fun of it all the time because that's just generally who I am. I like to keep things kind of light and funny. It's important for me to make fun of myself, to keep the morale high for the people around me, but I also need it because it is so serious. 'I could totally take this and just go on an isolation/depression bender, and I do not want to do that.' Luna began a TikTok account where she updates her 29,000 followers about her symptoms, her daily life, and her tips for self-care. She has found a community on the site and many helpful tips from people in the comments section enduring similar diagnoses or helping a loved one cope. Some of the best she has heard and implemented is minimizing clutter in her home, making playlists of songs that bring her back to herself, and journaling during the day, 'because what's one of my new things is I shower and then two hours later I feel like I need to have a shower.' She added: 'If you are a loved one [of someone with Alzheimer's], my suggestion is to meet them where they're at. 'What I've found really helpful with my partner is not to be questioned but reminded, and to just believe them. And give them a hug. Tell them you love them. Because really, if I'm being completely honest, what I need is a hug from my family.'
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Applied Cognition Publishes First-in-Human Study of Glymphatic Function in Nature Biomedical Engineering
Breakthrough enables continuous, non-invasive monitoring of the brain's waste clearance system, unlocking new drug targets for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases SAN FRANCISCO, May 27, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Applied Cognition, a clinical-stage platform therapeutic company, today announced the publication of a groundbreaking study in Nature Biomedical Engineering demonstrating the first continuous, non-invasive measurement of human glymphatic function—the brain's system for clearing waste, including Alzheimer's-associated proteins like amyloid and tau. Working with researchers at the University of Florida and the University of Washington School of Medicine, the company validated its novel multimodal electrical impedance spectroscopy device using contrast-enhanced MRI. The platform also revealed, for the first time in humans, how EEG and cardiovascular physiology contribute to sleep-active glymphatic activity. "This work is pivotal in defining the role glymphatic dysfunction plays in Alzheimer's and discovering therapies to rescue it," said Dr. Paul Dagum, CEO and co-founder of Applied Cognition. "Our platform has already identified a promising drug candidate that improves glymphatic clearance in early clinical trials." Originally characterized in rodents, the glymphatic system plays a vital role in the removal of toxic proteins. Until now, studying its function in humans has been limited to slow, high-cost MRI scans. Applied Cognition's technology offers a scalable solution that allows real-time, remote, and high-resolution tracking, enabling new avenues for drug discovery. Co-author on this study was Dr. Jeffrey Iliff, PhD, Psychiatry, University of Washington School of Medicine, who along with Dr. Maiken Nedergaard at the University of Rochester Medical Center characterized the glymphatic system in rodents. "This unlocks our ability to study glymphatic function in the real world and with high-temporal resolution, not just the MRI suite, giving us new mechanistic insights of its role in neurological and psychiatric conditions," said Dr. Iliff. Piyush Jain, Head of New Products at Genentech, added: "Applied Cognition is bridging the gap between lab science and patient care. Their platform is accelerating the discovery of drugs that target the clearance of misfolded proteins at the root of devastating neurological diseases." Applied Cognition is advancing its lead drug program for early-stage Alzheimer's and expanding its pipeline across neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. The paper's authors include Paul Dagum, Laurent Giovangrandi, Swati Rane Levendovszky, Jake J. Winebaum, Tarandeep Singh, Yeilim Cho, Robert M. Kaplan, Michael S. Jaffee, Miranda M. Lim, Carla Vandeweerd, and Jeffrey J. Iliff. For the full report, click here. To learn more, visit: About Applied Cognition Applied Cognition is clinical-stage platform therapeutics company advancing the brain's glymphatic system to drug development. Enhancing glymphatic function is a promising new therapeutic strategy for treating neurodegenerative diseases. Using its first-in-class platform, which enables continuous monitoring of glymphatic activity in humans, the company has successfully identified the first therapeutic target and lead drug candidate to enhance glymphatic clearance of amyloid and tau. Applied Cognition is currently advancing this lead program for early-stage Alzheimer's and expanding its pipeline to explore treatments for other conditions using its platform. View source version on Contacts kaylaa@ Sign in to access your portfolio
