health 62

A collaborative study between researchers from Bristol's School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, and the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company, studied the behaviour of synapses, connections that help transmit information between the brain's nerve cells, in a rodent model of human frontotemporal dementia over the course of the disease progression. Using cutting-edge microscopy techniques the team were able to image inside the brains of rodents and found that, even before the disease causes synapses and neurons start to die off, the synaptic connections already display unusual properties. In normal brains, a small percentage of the synapses are constantly added and lost as the brain learns new skills or makes new memories. However, in brains with dementia these percentages were quite different; the team found some synapses were very unstable while others were almost frozen. This imbalance in synapse stability was linked to changes in the way neurons we...

The team compiled data from four different global databases looking at studies on ADT patients and dementia and Alzheimer's. An analysis of more than 50,000 patients worldwide showed a consistent statistical link between men who underwent ADT for prostate cancer and men who developed dementia. Nead says the numbers show correlation, not causation at this point, but that there is evidence of a direct connection. "Research shows androgens play a key role in neuron maintenance and growth, so the longer you undergo this therapy to decrease androgens, the more it may impact the brain's normal functions," Nead said. The analysis was less conclusive on the question of Alzheimer's. While there was still a connection, it was not as clearly defined as the link to dementia . Nead says evidence for a link between ADT and neurocognitive dysfunction is growing and should be part of the conversation between doctors and patients. "There's enough evidence of the...