Latest news with #Alzheimer
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Getting help: neurodiversity, aging, addiction and mental illness
The National Institute of Mental Health counts mental illnesses among common maladies not just in the U.S., but around the world, estimating that as much as 23% of the adult U.S. population faces mental challenges. Approximately 53 million Americans are family caregivers, providing varying degrees of support to relatives and loved ones because of disease, disability or simple frailty. Last October, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical did a study that concluded that if family caregiving was a business, 'it would be the largest revenue-generating company in the world,' providing $873.5 billion worth of labor each year. Close to 40% of that is due to Alzheimer's disease or dementia care, though only a quarter of those caregivers face that particular challenge. Neurodiversity, addiction, aging and mental health are all issues with some challenges where families may find they need some help or suggestions or simply access to a support group. A few weeks ago, a team of Deseret News reporters set out to explore some of the issues impacting families across that spectrum of issues. Today, we offer those stories with links in case you missed them earlier. The importance of sensory awareness with autism Learning disorders and decades of progress Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and new approaches Why caregivers can't do it all alone Aging well: preserving your brain with food, exercise and sleep What we're learning about Alzheimer's disease Anxiety and depression are very, very old problems How states are tackling social media and smartphone use in schools What do you do with debilitating fear? Healing addiction through power of community, compassion and hope. How addiction impacts the brain
Boston Globe
15 hours ago
- Health
- Boston Globe
An expensive Alzheimer's lifestyle plan offers false hope, experts say
Kerry Briggs was taking them all because a doctor had told her that with enough supplements and lifestyle modifications, her Alzheimer's symptoms could not only be slowed, but reversed. It is an idea that has become the focus of television specials, popular podcasts, and conferences; the sell behind mushroom supplements and self-help books. Advertisement But the suggestion that Alzheimer's can be reversed through lifestyle adjustments has outraged doctors and scientists in the medical establishment, who have repeatedly said that there is little to no proof for such a claim and expressed concern that the idea could harm a large group of vulnerable Americans. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up John Briggs had come across the idea after learning about Dale Bredesen, who had been performing a series of small and unconventional studies through which he claimed to have designed a set of guidelines to reverse Alzheimer's symptoms. 'Very, very few people should ever get this,' Bredesen told an audience in July, referring to cognitive decline. His company has made bracelets with the phrase 'Alzheimer's Is Now Optional' on them. His pitch has gained a following. Bredesen's 2017 book, 'The End of Alzheimer's,' has sold around 300,000 copies in the United States and became a New York Times bestseller. Advertisement A day's worth of supplements for Kerry Briggs, diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. JAMIE KELTER DAVIS/NYT Many doctors encourage Alzheimer's patients to modify their diets and exercise regimens in hopes of slowing the disease's progress, said Dr. Bruce Miller, director of the Memory and Aging Center at the University of California San Francisco. 'The question, though, of reversal is very different.' 'It's one thing to say that you're reversing an illness because someone says they feel better and another to prove it,' Miller said. 'We don't have the proof.' Bredesen, 72, was once also a top neurologist at the University of California San Francisco, but he has not had an active medical license for much of the past three decades and doesn't see patients anymore. He became skeptical of the medical and pharmaceutical industries' approach to treating Alzheimer's and dedicated himself to an alternative method focused on food, supplements, lifestyle tweaks, and detoxification treatments. The central idea was that there was no 'silver bullet' -- no one pill or intervention -- that could cure Alzheimer's. Instead, Bredesen believed in firing a 'silver buckshot' (a reference to the sprayed pellets that come out of shotgun shells) by modifying 36 factors simultaneously. His strict protocol could be personalized after extensive lab testing but generally involved a low-carbohydrate diet, intermittent fasting, supplements and, at times, interventions such as hormone treatments and home mold remediation. For the Briggses, who live in North Barrington, Ill., the adjustments did not come cheap: $1,000 a month for supplements, $450 per hour for a specialty doctor and other costs, which altogether added up to $25,000 over eight months. Advertisement But Kerry Briggs wanted to do something to help find a treatment for the disease, and John Briggs wanted to help his wife. More than 7 million people in the United States -- roughly 11 percent of those 65 and older -- have Alzheimer's, the world's leading cause of dementia. Despite decades of research and the development of a few medications with modest benefits, a cure for the disease has remained elusive. The Alzheimer's Association, which helped fund Bredesen's earlier and more conventional research, sees his recent approach as insufficiently rigorous. His trials have suggested his protocol can improve cognition, but Maria Carrillo, the organization's chief science officer, said they 'fall short of what the research community' would consider convincing enough to suggest to patients, since they lack control groups and are small, with the number of participants ranging from 10 to 25. Others have expressed similar unease. In 2020, Dr. Joanna Hellmuth, then a neurologist at the University of California San Francisco, published an article in The Lancet Neurology pointing to a number of 'red flags' within Bredesen's studies, including 'the substantial potential for a placebo effect.' Dr. Jason Karlawish, co-director of Penn Memory Center at the University of Pennsylvania, said Bredesen's research and recommendations don't adhere to the standards of medicine. The Alzheimer Society of Canada has gone so far as to say Bredesen is offering 'false hope.' Bredesen maintains that the results of his program can be remarkable, though he acknowledges it's less successful for people with more noticeable symptoms: 'It amazes me how people fight back against something that's actually helping,' Bredesen said. Advertisement He connected The New York Times with patients who said they had benefited from his recommendations. Sally Weinrich, 77, in South Carolina, said she used to forget her pocketbook or miss the school pickup window for her grandchildren, but now thinks more clearly. Darrin Kasteler, 55, in Utah, who had struggled to tie a necktie and to drive, said both had become easier. To Bredesen's supporters, the testimonials are evidence of promise. But what divides Bredesen from the medical establishment isn't his emphasis on lifestyle adjustments; it is the boldness of his claims, his unconventional and strict treatment plan, and the business he is building around both. It was one of Kerry Briggs' sisters, Jennifer Scheurer, who first noticed that something was off. In 2021, while visiting Scheurer in Oregon, Briggs repeated the same story a few times in one day, and had trouble finding words and playing board games. Scheurer also found Briggs standing in her kitchen, seemingly lost. This was particularly odd; Briggs was an architect, and she had designed the kitchen herself. Briggs underwent a series of tests, ending in a spinal tap, which showed evidence of Alzheimer's. She was 61. The news was devastating, but Briggs told her husband that she wanted to enroll in a clinical trial to help others. But none of the trials admitted her. She weighed too little, and her disease was already too advanced. Then a friend recommended 'The End of Alzheimer's.' John Briggs read that book and a follow-up, 'The First Survivors of Alzheimer's.' Excited, he reached out to Bredesen's company, Apollo Health, to see what could be done for his wife. Bredesen had developed a paid plan called 'Recode,' a portmanteau of the phrase 'reversal of cognitive decline,' and a training program for health practitioners like medical doctors, chiropractors and naturopaths to learn to implement it. On the Apollo Health website, Bredesen's program is advertised as the 'only clinically proven program to reverse cognitive decline in early stage Alzheimer's disease.' Advertisement In January 2024, John Briggs paid an $810 fee to join Apollo Health, which gave Kerry Briggs access to a personalized plan and matched her with Dr. Daniel LaPerriere, a doctor in Louisville, Colo. On LaPerriere's recommendation, the Briggses began to eat a modified keto diet that was low in sugar and rich in plants, lean protein, and healthy fats. The Briggses were not allowed most fruit -- no apples, bananas, peaches or grapes ('all these things that we love,' John Briggs said), though the couple made an exception for blueberries. To see if Kerry Briggs was in a metabolic state of ketosis, where fat is used for energy instead of carbohydrates, John Briggs experimented with pricking her finger twice each day to test her blood. In keeping with Bredesen's general guidelines, Kerry Briggs began working with a therapist to manage stress and tried the brain-training games the protocol recommended, though she struggled to play them. LaPerriere gave John Briggs the unconventional instruction to collect dust samples at home in order to determine whether 'toxic mold' was present (only trace amounts were) and ordered lab tests to see if Kerry Briggs was suffering from an inability to flush it from her organs (she wasn't). He also prescribed Briggs hormone-replacement therapy, in the hope of improving her cognition. Advertisement Briggs' primary-care physician raised concerns about the risks, John Briggs said, but she took the hormones anyway. Briggs understood that the protocol would be unlikely to restore Kerry Briggs to her former self. But he was determined to see it through for at least six months. By last September, though, John Briggs was struggling to notice many benefits. Kerry Briggs could no longer keep track of conversations with her therapist, who suggested they stop the sessions. The next month, John Briggs began touring memory-care facilities for his wife. In February, after about eight months, they quit the protocol altogether. Bredesen said that he rarely tells people not to try his program, even if the chance of helping is small, because of the possibility of improvement. But he considered Kerry Briggs' experience 'not representative' of the results he has achieved in trials and said in retrospect that 'you could kind of tell ahead of time' that she would not fare well. Bredesen has urged prospective patients to start his program preventively or early in the disease's progression. Helping patients already experiencing significant decline, like Briggs, is difficult, he and LaPerriere said. 'People are more incentivized to come in when they're farther along,' Bredesen said. 'And that's a real dilemma, which is why we're telling people, 'Please do not wait because we can do so much more.'' This article originally appeared in
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
French scientist Etienne-Emile Baulieu, inventor of the abortion pill, dies at 98
ROME (AP) — French scientist Etienne-Emile Baulieu, best known as the inventor of the abortion pill, died on Friday aged 98 at his home in Paris, his institute said in a statement. Both a doctor and a researcher, Baulieu was known around the world for the scientific, medical and social significance of his work on steroid hormones. 'His research was guided by his attachment to the progress made possible by science, his commitment to women's freedom, and his desire to enable everyone to live better, longer lives,' the Institut Baulieu said in the statement posted on its website. Born Etienne Blum in Strasbourg on Dec. 12, 1926, he took the name 'Émile Baulieu' when he joined the French Resistance against the Nazi occupation at the age of 15. An endocrinologist with a doctorate in medicine completed in 1955 and one in science eight years later, in 1963 Baulieu founded a pioneering research unit working on hormones at INSERM, the French institute for health and medical research. He remained as head of the unit until 1997. He is best known for his development, in 1982, of RU 486, the so-called 'abortion pill' that changed the lives of millions of women throughout the world, offering them the possibility of voluntary medical termination of pregnancy, in physical and psychological safety. The Institut Baulieu said it was 'a non-invasive method, less aggressive and less delayed than surgery,' noting that following his discovery the researcher faced fierce criticism and even threats from opponents of women's abortion rights. 'Even today, access to this method is opposed, banned in some countries, and is currently being challenged in the United States, where it is the most widely used abortion method,' the institute added. Baulieu's research into DHEA, a hormone whose secretion and anti-aging activity he had discovered, led him to work on neurosteroids -- or steroids of the nervous system. He also developed an original treatment to combat depression, for which a clinical trial is currently underway in several university hospitals. In 2008, he founded the Institut Baulieu to understand, prevent and treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Honored with the grand crosses of the Légion d'honneur (legion of honor) and the Ordre national du Mérite (national order of merit), he was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1982, which he chaired in 2003 and 2004. He was a member of the national advisory committee on life sciences and health (1996-2002) and received numerous awards, both in France and abroad. French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Baulieu in a post on X, calling him 'a beacon of courage' and 'a progressive mind who enabled women to win their freedom.' 'Few French people have changed the world to such an extent,' he added. After the death of his first wife, Yolande Compagnon, he remarried, to Simone Harari Baulieu. He is survived by three children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, his institute said.
Business Insider
17 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Oppenheimer Predicts Up to ~550% Jump for These 2 ‘Strong Buy' Stocks
After a rocky start to the spring, Wall Street came roaring back in May. President Trump's softened tariff stance reignited demand for risk assets, triggering the market's biggest monthly rally since November 2023. The S&P 500 rose ~6%, nudging back into positive territory for the year. Confident Investing Starts Here: Encouraged by this rebound, John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer, has taken the measure of the markets and holds a positive outlook for the near- to mid-term. 'The effects of the stock market rally from the lows seen on April 8 appear to us to augur positively for investors practicing diversification and patience notwithstanding near-term uncertainties… We remain overweight US equities and do not ascribe to the view that US exceptionalism is fading,' Stoltzfus noted. Against this backdrop, Oppenheimer analyst Jay Olson has picked out his winners for the months ahead, zeroing in on two stocks in particular – including one with the potential to jump ~550% by this time next year. We checked in with the TipRanks database to see how the rest of Wall Street views these names. The verdict? Both picks carry Strong Buy consensus ratings across the board, with substantial upside potential. Let's take a closer look at the details. Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR) One company Oppenheimer is especially bullish on is Voyager Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech developing treatments for serious neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and Friedreich's ataxia – both of which have limited therapeutic options. Voyager's lead clinical candidate is VY7523, a monoclonal antibody designed to target pathological tau (pTAU), a protein closely associated with the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Intended for early-stage intervention, the therapy has shown encouraging preclinical results. In mouse models, its murine surrogate demonstrated high selectivity for abnormal tau while sparing healthy tau and delivered strong efficacy in the P301S seeding model, a benchmark in Alzheimer's research. Voyager recently completed a Phase 1 single ascending dose (SAD) trial in healthy volunteers and has since launched a multiple ascending dose (MAD) trial in patients with early-stage AD. Topline SAD results were positive, showing that VY7523 was well tolerated across dose levels and achieved expected central nervous system exposure. Alongside its antibody-based approach, Voyager is also advancing a gene therapy pipeline powered by its proprietary TRACER capsid technology. These engineered capsids are designed to deliver therapeutic payloads directly to brain cells while minimizing off-target exposure in tissues such as the liver. Among these programs is VY1706, a tau-silencing gene therapy intended to suppress pTAU production in neurons for the treatment of Alzheimer's. At the 2025 AD/PD conference, Voyager presented encouraging non-human primate data showing that a single intravenous dose of VY1706 achieved dose-dependent, robust reductions in MAPT mRNA and tau protein across critical brain regions. An Investigational New Drug (IND) filing remains on track for 2026. The promise of Voyager's TRACER platform has attracted major pharmaceutical partners. Through deals with Neurocrine Biosciences, Novartis, and Alexion (a subsidiary of AstraZeneca), the company could earn up to $7.4 billion in milestone payments. The Neurocrine collaboration is already advancing gene therapy programs for Friedreich's ataxia and GBA1-related disorders, with IND filings expected in 2025 and clinical trials slated to begin in 2026. Voyager could receive up to $35 million in milestone payments tied to these near-term milestones. Currently trading at $2.74 per share, VYGR may be flying under the radar – but Oppenheimer's Jay Olson sees it as a compelling entry point. 'We remain enthusiastic about VYGR's unique platform and optionality, and believe VYGR is well-positioned to pursue tau-targeting with different approaches. VYGR's strong balance sheet with a cash runway into mid-2027 should offer stability… Additionally, we are encouraged by the positive preclinical data, external validation of the platform technology through multiple collaborations with industry leaders, a strong management team, and our optimistic long-term view on the gene therapy and CNS therapeutic area,' Olson said. To this end, Olson rates VYGR an Outperform (i.e., Buy), and his $18 price target implies room for a stunning 556% upside potential in the next 12 months. (To watch Olson's track record, click here) Tvardi Therapeutics (TVRD) The second name catching Oppenheimer's attention is Tvardi Therapeutics, another biopharmaceutical firm – but a newcomer to the public markets. The TVRD ticker began trading on the NASDAQ on April 16 of this year, following the completion of a merger between Tvardi Therapeutics and Cara Therapeutics. Following its public debut, Tvardi is now focused on developing breakthrough therapies for fibrosis-driven diseases. Its approach centers on targeting STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3), a key protein in the STAT family, known for its pivotal role in numerous cellular processes. At the center of Tvardi's clinical efforts is TTI-101, an oral small-molecule STAT3 inhibitor that selectively targets pY-STAT3 within the SH2 domain. Tvardi is advancing TTI-101 as a treatment for both hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), two diseases marked by high unmet need and limited effective therapies. Early clinical results have been encouraging. In a first-in-human Phase 1 trial involving patients with advanced solid tumors, including HCC, TTI-101 was well tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicities. Pharmacodynamic data confirmed target engagement, with biopsies showing reduced levels of activated STAT3. Tvardi expects topline data from its ongoing Phase 1b/2 REVERT Liver Cancer clinical trial in HCC to be available in the first half of 2026. Meanwhile, building on insights from the same trial, Tvardi is also advancing the REVERT IPF Phase 2 study – a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating TTI-101, both as a monotherapy and in combination with nintedanib, in patients diagnosed with IPF within the past seven years. On May 27, 2025, the company announced that enrollment was complete, with topline results expected in the fourth quarter of this year. The potential of TTI-101, based on its earlier clinical trial results and optimistic forecasts for the current trials, has not gone unnoticed by Oppenheimer's Olson. The analyst is encouraged by the possible long-term returns, assuming success in both the trial and regulatory process. 'We see an underappreciated opportunity for lead asset TTI-101 as we forecast ~$1.2B peak risk-adjusted sales in 2040. Blinded Ph2a interim data suggest that TTI-101 could reverse IPF progression, thus supporting favorable differentiation from key competitors, with detailed Ph2a results expected in 2H25 serving as a potential valuable inflection point. In HCC, we believe TTI-101 offers a novel, mechanistically distinct approach, with interim Ph1b/2 data suggesting synergy in combination with SoC ahead of topline results in 1H26. We leverage our expertise in IPF and HCC to inform our analysis, and view TVRD as well-capitalized through key catalysts… Based on our DCF valuation of TVRD, we believe that its shares remain underappreciated,' Olson stated. With that backdrop, Olson rates TVRD an Outperform (i.e., Buy), alongside a $65 price target, suggesting a potential upside of 129% from current levels. Overall, this new stock has picked up 4 analyst reviews since it went public, and all are positive – making the Strong Buy consensus rating unanimous. TVRD is currently trading for $28.34, and its $50.75 average price target suggests that the shares have a 79% upside lying in wait for the year ahead. (See TVRD stock forecast) To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks' Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks' equity insights.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
What happened to Dani Dyer's ex and convicted conman Sammy Kimmence?
Dani Dyer is just days away from marrying England international Jared Bowen, but before the West Ham star, the reality star dated convicted conman Sammy Kimmence, who is the father of her first child Dani Dyer had a turbulent relationship with her convicted con artist boyfriend, Sammy Kimmence, after leaving the Love Island villa. Despite appearing as though they were loves young dream, cracks in their relationship started to appear. Dani and Sammy rekindled their romance after the breakdown of her relationship with Jack Fincham, with whom she won the ITV2 reality show. But the former couple went on to reach a major milestone when the reality star announced she was pregnant. The couple went on to welcome their son, Santiago, just months before Sammy found himself in trouble with the law. But as Dani officially moves on with her wedding to West Ham and England star Jarrod Bowen just around the corner, who did Dani leave behind? Dani and Sammy The Love Island winner and Sammy had an on-off relationship that predated her appearance on the ITV reality show back in 2019. Once Dani entered the show, it seemed she would be destined for a life with Jack Fincham as they charmed the nation into winning the show with their relatable and seemingly perfect relationship. But outside of the Spanish sun, their relationship wasn't the same, with the couple calling it quits in April 2019, shortly after the show came to an end. Not too long after Dani and Sammy rekindled their old flame being captured having a cheeky kiss in Chelsea. From there, it looked as though Dani would reignite the spark with the amateur footballer and former stockbroker - something her legendary actor dad wasn't too happy about, reportedly not approving of their relationship at first. But despite any criticism the pair seemed happier than ever, often sharing snaps from holidays abroad and lavish nights out. But their relationship would take another leap forward in July 2020, when the couple announced Dani was pregnant. But with their son Santiago due to be born the following January, the couple had little idea of the looming trouble that was coming. A run-in with the law Just months after Santiago was born, Sammy found himself in serious trouble when he posed as a financial advisor and swindled two elderly men out of their savings. The victims, a 91-year-old and an 81-year-old who suffers from Alzheimer's, had been clients at one of Kimmence's former workplaces. The company would place bets on behalf of their customers, but once the business had gone into liquidation, Kimmence took the money from the clients, claiming he would invest it by placing horse-racing bets, but instead took more than £34,000 from them to splash out on his luxury lifestyle. At the trial at Portsmouth Crown Court, the jury heard how Kimmence splashed out on designer clothes, paid for restaurant bills, paid off his overdraft, and went on an Ibiza holiday, all while one of his victims was left struggling 'on the breadline'. Prosecutor Mike Mason said: "This was a very unpleasant fraud against two men who Mr Kimmence deliberately targeted. He targeted them because they were old, they were vulnerable and somewhat isolated. This wasn't something he migrated into from a friendship. This was something he planned." He was found guilty and handed a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence, leaving Dani to raise Santiago on her own. He was also ordered to pay back almost £55,000, with some of his pricey designer outfits used to settle the bill. The aftermath Sammy is thought to have misled Dani about his crimes, claiming they were "not that serious" and telling her he was only facing a more minor suspended sentence. However, after learning the truth about his dodgy dealings, she ended their relationship, making the brave decision to focus on life as a single parent. At the time, a source told The Sun: 'Sammy led Dani to believe he hadn't done anything too serious and that he would get a suspended sentence. "Now she knows the full horror of what he did. She is broken, she feels desperately sorry for the two men he scammed and whose lives he ruined. Dani feels utterly stupid for ever believing Sammy and is totally overwhelmed.' 'Dani knows she has to make some massive changes in her life but is so distraught that she needs time to think things through," she added: "Her baby boy Santi is the only thing that matters now." After serving more than a year behind bars Sammy was released and was reunited with their son who was captured beaming and clapping his hands alongside his father, who is also smiling from ear-to-ear. Dani's new life Since her breakup with the convicted con man, Dani focused on herself before a chance run-in with her future husband, Jarrod Bowen, in 2021. The two fell upon each other when they were neighbours, with the West Ham star often taking in parcels for her. Not being much of a football fan, she had no idea who he was, but she knew she fancied him. Remembering those early days, she said: "He knocked on my door a couple of times because my parcels went there. I remember the first time I opened the door, and I didn't know this was Jarrod Bowen, right? And he was hot! Blue eyes, blonde hair, very like a bit of me. And I was like 'Oh, thanks'." Since then the pair have been serving up serious couple goals with Dani surprising fans at the start of 2023 when she and Jarrod revealed they were expecting twins and just a few months later on May 25, the new mum announced they'd been born with some cute baby photos. Today, the pair will take the next step, officially tying the knot at the Bridgerton-themed wedding in the English countryside.
