Aging is an inevitable journey for everyone, and includes many obstacles and different paths to take.  How we live our lives can have enormous impact on whether we grow old gracefully, or succumb along the way. Good physical health, through diet and exercise, will allow people to remain active well into their twilight years, but as lifespan increases it is also important to take care of and maintain brain health as well.  Fortunately, it appears that what is good for

Researchers with the Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND) have discovered how a novel compound can reduce the accumulation of brain plaques seen in Alzheimer’s without the side effects produced by current drugs used for the chronic neurodegenerative disease. In a study published online in the Annals of Neurology, neurobiologists Kim Green and Frank LaFerla found that the ST101 compound triggers a process that carves up amyloid precursor proteins into benign molecules. These precursor proteins, when intact, ultimately can

Bruce Cook, The Crowd: The mind is tops at wine event

One American develops Alzheimer’s disease every 70 seconds, statistics report. According to Linda Scheck, who is with UC Irvine’s Mind Institute, the Baby Boomer generation is entering the high-risk age group for being diagnosed with the disease with as many as 10,000 turning 65 every day.

Medical science is concerned that the possible onslaught of Alzheimer’s victims could become a national crisis in decades to come. In Orange County recently, the

UCI MIND graduate student Kara Neely, and Professors Green and LaFerla have discovered a key role for presenilin, a protein involved in the production of amyloid-beta, which forms the plaques in Alzheimer’s disease.  In a study published in the February 23rd edition of the Journal of Neuroscience, the research team show that presenilin plays an integral role in the way that cells, including neurons, dispose of misfunctioning and broken proteins.