NR Times explores the latest research developments impacting on neuro-rehab.
Stroke may increase risk of anxiety, depression and more in children
Stroke may increase the risk of developing anxiety, depression and related physical symptoms such as headaches and stomach aches in children, especially in 8 to 9-year-olds, according to a preliminary study.
The researchers noted that children who have a stroke may face mental health issues that can be just as challenging as the physical effects of their stroke, highlighting that the earlier the intervention the better the outcome.
New blood test may enable early detection of stroke
A blood test may rapidly distinguish brain bleeds from clot-caused strokes, even before people with stroke symptoms reach the emergency room, according to a new study.
For the study, researchers studied whether blood levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) could be useful for quickly diagnosing stroke types. GFAP is a protein specific to the brain released into the bloodstream when brain cells are damaged or destroyed. It is already used in assessing traumatic brain injuries.
The team evaluated whether levels of GFAP could differentiate between haemorrhagic stroke (caused by bleeding) and ischemic stroke (caused by a blood clot), as well as conditions that mimic a stroke, finding that GFAP levels were almost seven times higher in patients with bleeding stroke than those with clot-caused stroke and more than four times higher in patients with bleeding stroke than those with stroke mimics.
They were also able to predict which patients had a bleeding stroke with 90 to 95 per cent accuracy when age-based cut-off points were used.
If larger studies confirm the results, the researchers say early GFAP measurements could change how people with stroke symptoms are treated.
Biomarker tied to premature cell ageing may signal dementia
People with shorter protective caps at the end of their chromosomes (called telomeres) may be more likely to develop age-related brain diseases such as stroke, dementia and late-life depression, according to a new study.
After analysing whether shorter leukocyte telomeres were associated with stroke, dementia, and late-life depression individually and as a combined outcome, the analysis found that, compared to participants with longer leukocyte telomeres, people with the shortest leukocyte telomere length had an 8 per cent higher risk of stroke, a 19 per cent higher risk of dementia and a 14 per cent higher risk of late-life depression.
Compared to participants with longer leukocyte telomeres, people with the shortest leukocyte telomere length had an 11 per cent higher risk of developing at least one of the age-related brain diseases studied.
US$2.2m to help advance new strategies for identifying and targeting Alzheimer’s
US$2.2m in federal funding is leading efforts to better understand cognitive decline in ageing – potentially opening the door to new medications in the process.
A focus of the grant, given to a University of Oklahoma researcher, is understanding the mechanism of astrogliosis, an abnormal increase in the number of astrocytes – special cells in the brain that are critical for maintaining the health of neurons – during ageing.
A key research question is whether impairments in astrocyte mitochondrial function drive reactive astrogliosis associated with cognitive impairment, with the goal of identifying specific markers within the aged astrocytes that might be targeted with small molecule inhibitors or activators so that they can promote cognition.
Tau radiotracers outperform approved imaging agents Alzheimer’s disease detection
Two new PET radiotracers have outperformed the only currently FDA-approved radiotracer for detecting tau tangles in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
In a head-to-head comparison of the three imaging agents, the next-generation radiotracers exhibited higher binding to Alzheimer’s disease brain tissue and a greater selectivity for identifying the tangles. The research could play a key role in measuring outcomes of clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease treatments.
Changing cholesterol over time tied to risk of dementia
Older adults whose cholesterol changes over time may be more likely to develop dementia than people whose cholesterol is stable, regardless of the actual cholesterol level, according to a new study. The study also found a link between changing cholesterol levels and cognitive impairment or memory problems that did not meet the criteria for dementia.
The results suggest that the manual measurement of fluctuating cholesterol could be a new biomarker for identifying people at risk of dementia. However, the researchers note that study does not prove that changing cholesterol causes dementia; it only shows an association.
