Lifeboat Foundation

No one knows why some people age worse than others and develop diseases-such as Alzheimer’s, fibrosis, type 2 diabetes or some types of cancer-associated with this aging process. One explanation for this could be the degree of efficiency of each organism’s response to the damage sustained by its cells during its life, which eventually causes them to age. In relation to this, researchers at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and the University of Leicester (United Kingdom) have developed a new method to remove old cells from tissues, thus slowing down the aging process.

Specifically, they have designed an antibody that acts as a smart bomb able to recognize specific proteins on the surface of these aged or senescent cells. It then attaches itself to them and releases a drug that removes them without affecting the rest, thus minimizing any potential side effects.

The results of this work, which have been published in Scientific Reports, open the door to the development of effective treatments to delay the progress of age-related diseases and even the aging process itself in the longer term, with the aim of increasing the longevity and, above all, the quality of life of people at this stage of their lives.

Roche’s gantenerumab is an anti-amyloid beta antibody developed for subcutaneous administration in Alzheimer’s disease patients.

Roche’s gantenerumab, an anti-amyloid beta antibody developed for subcutaneous administration, has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of people living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

BCIs stands out as one of the most promising assistive technologies.

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Continue reading “Brain-Computer Interfaces Evolve to Help People With Paralysis” »

Only a matter of time til we can have nanobots clearing this out.

In a major breakthrough, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have discovered how amyloid beta — the neurotoxin believed to be at the root of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) — forms in axons and related structures that connect neurons in the brain, where it causes the most damage. Their findings, published in Cell Reports, could serve as a guidepost for developing new therapies to prevent the onset of this devastating neurological disease.

Among his many contributions to research on AD, Rudolph Tanzi, PhD, vice chair of Neurology and co-director of the McCance Center for Brain Health at MGH, led a team in 1986 that discovered the first Alzheimer’s disease gene, known as APP, which provides instructions for making amyloid protein precursor (APP). When this protein is cut (or cleaved) by enzymes — first, beta secretase, followed by gamma secretase — the byproduct is amyloid beta (sometimes shortened to Abeta). Large deposits of amyloid beta are believed to cause neurological destruction that results in AD. Amyloid beta formed in the brain’s axons and nerve endings causes the worst damage in AD by impairing communication between nerve cells (or neurons) in the brain. Researchers around the world have worked intensely to find ways to block the formation of amyloid beta by preventing cleavage by beta secretase and gamma secretase. However, these approaches have been hampered by safety issues.

Continue reading “Alzheimer’s Mystery Solved: How Amyloid Beta Forms in Brain Nerve Cells” »

Classification Description: Animal physiology; Neuroscience; Microbiology; Biotechnology.

Integrated And Cross-Disciplinary Research Focused on Diagnosing, Treating And Curing Cancers — Dr. Antonio Giordano MD, PhD, President & Founder, Sbarro Health Research Organization.

Dr. Antonio Giordano, MD, Ph.D., (https://www.drantoniogiordano.com/) is President and Founder of the Sbarro Health Research Organization (https://www.shro.org/), which conducts research to diagnose, treat and cure cancer, but also has diversified into research beyond oncology, into the areas of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other chronic illnesses.

Continue reading “Dr. Antonio Giordano, MD, Ph.D. — President and Founder, Sbarro Health Research Organization” »

For most of the time since the first description of multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1,868 the causes of this disabling disease have remained uncertain. Genes have been identified as important, which is why having other family members with MS is associated with a greater risk of developing the disease.

A recent study my colleagues and I conducted found that several types of infection during the teenage years are associated with MS after age 20. Our study didn’t investigate whether people who are more likely to have genetic risks for MS were also more likely to have worse infections.

This might explain why people with MS also have more infections that need hospital treatment.

Continue reading “A Common Infection Could Be a Trigger For Multiple Sclerosis, Large Study Finds” »

Photosynthesizing algae injected into the blood vessels of tadpoles supply oxygen to their brains.

Leading a double life in water and on land, frogs have many breathing techniques – through the gills, lungs, and skin – over the course of their lifetime. Now German scientists have developed another method that allows tadpoles to “breathe” by introducing algae into their bloodstream to supply oxygen. The method developed, presented October 13 in the journal iScience, provided enough oxygen to effectively rescue neurons in the brains of oxygen-deprived tadpoles.

“The algae actually produced so much oxygen that they could bring the nerve cells back to life, if you will,” says senior author Hans Straka of Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. “For many people, it sounds like science fiction, but after all, it’s just the right combination of biological schemes and biological principles.”

Continue reading “Not Science Fiction: German Scientists Harness the Power of Photosynthesis for New Way To ‘Breathe’” »

AI can detect signals that are informative about mental health from questionnaires and brain scans.

A study published today by an interdisciplinary collaboration, directed by Denis Engemann from Inria, demonstrates that machine learning from large population cohorts can yield “proxy measures” for brain-related health issues without the need for a specialist’s assessment. The researchers took advantage of the UK Biobank, one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive biomedical databases, that contains detailed and secure health-related data on the UK population. This work is published in the open access journal GigaScience.

Mental health issues have been increasing worldwide, with the WHO determining that there has been a 13% increase in mental health conditions and substance abuse disorders between 2007 and 2017. The burden these diseases place on society is extensive, negatively impacting nearly every area of life: school, work, family, friends, and community engagement. Among the many issues impeding the ability of society to address these disorders is that diagnoses of such health issues requires specialists; the availability of which ranges drastically across the globe. The development of machine learning methodology for the purposes of facilitating mental-health assessments could provide a much needed additional means to help detect, prevent and treat such health issues.