Two new studies hint at a role of viral and bacterial infections in Alzheimer’s disease — What do bugs have to do with it? Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia is the most prevalent form of dementia and tens of millions of people suffer from it. By now, we know that, even though the plaques and tangles in the brain receive the most attention, AD involves a lot more things going wrong: the blood-brain barrier malfunctions…

DNA in the mitochondria accumulates mutations over time, which might contribute to aging — The one genome to rule them all? Most of the DNA in our cells is contained in the cell’s nucleus. There, the As, Cs, Gs, and Ts code for the proteins that keep our bodies running are subjected to stringent proofreading mechanisms. But not all DNA resides in the nucleus. In the rest of the cell, we…

The protection against Alzheimer’s disease by the APOE2 gene variant has its limits — APOE The APOE gene is known for its different variants that affect Alzheimer’s disease risk. APOE3 is neutral, APOE4 increases the risk, and APOE2 reduces the risk. Each of these gene variants also has subvariants. For example, a recently identified APOE3 mutation appears to be protective against Alzheimer’s too.

Into the arena of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) versus moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) — HIIT, capital H Let us ‘unmagic’ HIIT a little bit. In a few previous posts, I alluded that although HIIT has its place, it’s somewhat misrepresented/misunderstood by some popular media outlets. The main point I want to address here is that the size of the H is usually underestimated. High intensity in HIIT…

Just like in baby formula, it’s the composition of breast milk that matters for your child(ren) — Breast is best? In the last decade or so, we’ve seen a move away from infant formula and toward breastfeeding. There are valid reasons for this, but this article is not about picking a side in the breast milk vs formula debate. Instead, the study we’ll look at will suggest that the answer…

Research places the giant shark in a food chain that was probably longer than any in today’s ecosystems — Apex predators Even though I mostly write about human health and disease, my biologist self can’t resist writing about (other) animals sometimes — even if the Medium algorithms don’t necessarily like those posts. Actually, one of my earliest posts on this here platform was about the giant prehistoric shark known as Megalodon.

Recent work on data from the UK Biobank reveals and confirms important dementia risk factors — Dementia risk The term dementia includes several conditions characterized by a progressive deterioration of cognitive capacities, such as memory and speech. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form and tens of millions of people suffer from it. That terrible number represents a massive burden for caregivers, families, healthcare systems, and society overall…

The protein sST2 might be a new therapeutic target in women carrying the APOE4 risk gene version for Alzheimer’s Disease — The Alzheimer problem More than a century ago, in 1901, German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer had a patient — a fifty-one-year-old woman — who suffered from memory problems, disorientation, and occasional paranoid delusions. She died in 1906. Alzheimer’s case report was the first official description of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Since then, we’ve learned more…

Good news: it’s almost instantaneous — Good for the heart, brain, and everything else I’ve written about exercise before, especially about its many benefits. For example, exercise might help your blood stay young, releases brain protection proteins, keeps your brain connections strong, beneficially reshuffles epigenetic tags involved in aging, and keeps your mitochondria in great shape. You don’t have to lift cars or run…