Blog Category: Biomarker

Sense of Smell May Predict Risk for Cognitive Decline

Two studies presented at the 2014 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AICC) in Copenhagen this month demonstrated that a decrease in the ability to identify odors was significantly associated with loss of brain cell function and progression to Alzheimer’s disease. There …

Targeting Inflammation in Treatment Resistant Depression

Research published in this month’s Archives of General Psychiatry evaluated the use of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) against tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha for treatment resistant depression.

Researchers at Emory University studied whether blocking inflammation would be a useful treatment …

Personalized Medicine in Psychiatry

How close are we to implementing the idea of personalized medicine in psychiatry? Next year the International Congress on Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) is holding a thematic meeting in April 2013 entitled “Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine in Psychiatry.” An ‘All …

Alzheimer’s Biomarker and Major Depression

Research published in the American Journal of Psychiatry demonstrates that elderly patients who are cognitively intact and diagnosed with major depression may have low levels of amyloid beta 42 (Aß-42) in cerebral spinal fluid (CSF).

Aß-42 has been implicated in …

Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels Change 5 to 10 Years Before the Onset of Alzheimer’s

According to a study in the Archives of General Psychiatry, approximately 90% of patients with MCI and pathologic CSF biomarker levels at baseline develop AD within 9 to 10 years. Levels of Aβ42 are already fully decreased at least …

Blood Test Diagnoses Parkinson’s Disease

A new research report appearing in the December issue of the FASEB Journal shows how scientists from the United Kingdom have developed a simple blood test to detect Parkinson’s disease even at the earliest stages. The test is possible because …