Posted on Sun, Apr 01, 2012
As published in
Neurology, CSF chitinase activity is superior to beta-amyloid and tau levels in discriminating patients with from patients without dementia. Specifically, the accuracies of chitinase, beta-amyloid, and tau were 85.8%, 78.4%, and 77.6%, respectively. Chitinase was also superior to other biomarkers of DNA damage and telomere dysfunction, including N-acetyl-glucosaminidase, stathmin, and EF-1alpha.
Posted on Mon, Mar 05, 2012
Diabetics have a 2-fold increased risk of ischemic stroke. Hyperglycemia occurs in up to 40% of patients with T2DM at the time of admission with an ischemic stroke, and is associated with a poor functional outcome. It remains uncertain if normalizing blood glucose levels improves outcome.
Posted on Sun, Feb 12, 2012
In a prospective cohort
study involving 840 participants in the Framingham Heart Study (median age, 76 years) who were followed for 13 years, researchers at Tufts and Boston Universities reported that 159 participants developed dementia. Amongst biomarkers for insulin resistance and inflammation, only elevated adiponectin levels in women was associated with all-cause dementia (HR=1.63).
Posted on Mon, Feb 06, 2012
In a
study involving 2148 patients on bisphosphonate therapy and 6444 matched patients with osteoporotic fractures who were followed for 2 years, the risk of stroke was significantly reduced in the former group (8.6% vs. 10.8% [HR=.79]). Bisphosphonate users had a 0.53- and 0.81-fold risk of subarachnoid and ischemic strokes, respectively, compared to non-users.