Which researcher/MD/PhD most excites you?

[Maxlugavere]

Hi all—

Since you all are hyper tuned into the latest research re: Alz prevention and treatment, just curious who out there is doing the most exciting work, in your eyes, and why? Could be researchers, functional medicine docs, studies underway now, etc. I'm very interested in your answers!

Thanks so much!

Max

[Hepoberman]

Hi all—

Since you all are hyper tuned into the latest research re: Alz prevention and treatment, just curious who out there is doing the most exciting work, in your eyes, and why? Could be researchers, functional medicine docs, studies underway now, etc. I'm very interested in your answers!

Thanks so much!

Max

Great question! I recommend Dr. Mark Hyman to help people with improving their overall health. Have you seen the Clintons lately? Everyone should read his book, "The blood sugar solution"

and

I really like HUANG LAB for research. - http://labs.gladstone.ucsf.edu/huang/home

Some Questions Addressed in Ongoing Studies:

Why is apoE4 more susceptible than apoE3 to proteolysis?
Which enzyme or enzymes are responsible for apoE cleavage?
How do apoE4 fragments cause cytoskeletal disruption and mitochondrial dysfunction?
Can we protect mice or humans from apoE4-related neurodegeneration by blocking its proteolysis?
How is apoE expression regulated in neurons?

[Gilgamesh]

Strong ditto to Hep.

Mahley, a colleague of Huang, is also doing great work:

http://labs.gladstone.ucsf.edu/mahley-gind/

Note, Hep and I are answering a broader question, not one about "AD prevention and treatment", but more generally about what I call ApoE4-associated pathology, which includes most (probably all, ultimately) forms of dementia, vascular pathologies, and much more.

Huang and Mahley want to correct the very ApoE4 molecule itself, using small molecules that make ApoE4 take the shape of ApoE3. (PubMed them -- cool stuff.)

Another approach to dealing with the root of the problem, one more radical (in the etymological sense of getting to the radix, the root): gene therapy. Several teams are working on this. Alteration of ApoE4 has actually been achieved in rodents, I believe.

GB

[Maxlugavere]

Hep and Gilgamesh, exactly the kind of info I want... those two guys seem to be doing great work. Thanks for the tip!

[rep]

Does anyone think any of the research will bear (affordable) fruit for someone with apo E4 in their late fifties?

[Julie G]

(((Rep))) the more I learn, the more convinced I am that we need to begin working on prevention as early as possible so that we'll still be cognitively intact when genetic engineering DOES become available. Like most here, I'm actively incorporating evidence-based strategies every single day rather than waiting for a "cure." I know you are too.

This is such a great question, Max. Apologies; I've been too busy to reply till now. I hope others find time to chime in with researchers they're following. Of course, I'm in agreement with Hep and G re. Dr. Huang at Gladstone. Many of us have been closely following his work and cheering him on; HURRY, please!

Dr. Howard Federoff and his team at Georgetown are definitely another group to keep an eye on. Their seminal paper this past spring identifying biomarkers in in peripheral bloods that predict a conversion to Alzheimer's MAY ultimately point towards a pathway for prevention: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24608097

Drs. Mary Jo Ladu & Leon Tai at the University of Illinois in Chicago are doing some interesting work with ApoE4 and are fans of the site Some of their work includes attempting to bolster up the inherently unstable ApoE4 protein with pharmacologically induced up-regulated APOE. http://ladulab.anat.uic.edu

I would be remiss not to mention Dr. Bredesen and all of the folks at the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research at UCLA and at The Buck Institute. Dr. Bredesen, in my opinion, is on the leading edge of applying clinical prevention/treatment strategies. His evidence-based multifactorial approach (for a multifactorial disease) is very similar to what many on our site have been attempting to do. We're very excited to be working with him to extend his research: http://www.impactaging.com/papers/v6/n9 ... 00690.html

[Welcomeaboard]

I don't know if any of ya'll caught the major side effect of Dr. Bredesen's program. It is improved health and optimal bmi.
Sure beats the major side effects of most drugs or other medical interventions.

Ps. You did not see me post this.