(Reuters) – Loss of memory and other brain function can start as early as age 45, posing a big challenge to scientists looking for new ways to stave off dementia, researchers said Thursday.
The finding from a 10-year study of more than 7,000 British government workers contradicts previous notions that cognitive decline does not begin before 60 years of age, and it could have far-reaching implications for dementia research.
Pinpointing the age at which memory, reasoning and comprehension skills start to deteriorate is important because drugs are most likely to work if given when people first start to experience mental impairment.
A handful of novel medicines for Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, are currently in clinical trials, but expectations are low and some experts fear the new drugs are being tested in patients who may be too old to show a benefit.
Companies with products in development include Eli Lilly, working on a drug called solanezumab, and Elan and Johnson & Johnson, developing bapineuzumab.
The research team led by Archana Singh-Manoux from the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in France and University College London found a modest decline in mental reasoning in men and women aged 45-49 years.
“We were expecting to see no decline, based on past research,” Singh-Manoux said in a telephone interview.
Among older subjects in the study, the average decline in cognitive function was greater, but there was a wide variation at all ages, with a third of individuals aged 45-70 showing no deterioration over the period.
“It doesn’t suddenly happen when you get old. That variability exists much earlier on,” Singh-Manoux said. “The next step is going to be to tease that apart and look for links to risk factors.”
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With age, red wines tend to lose color and will eventually end up a sort of brick red. On the other hand, white wines gain color, becoming golden and eventually brown-yellow. – Provided by RandomHistory.com
“Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you in trouble.” – Frank Tyger
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Philly
A northeastern Pennsylvania woman is suing a South Jersey-based maker of frozen treats and other snack foods, claiming that she was wrongfully fired because she wore a prosthetic penis to work.
Pauline Davis, 45, wore the device to the J&J Snack Foods plant in Moosic, Lackawanna County, while she contemplated a gender change, according to a federal civil-rights complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Scranton. She confided in several co-workers about the device, and someone told management, according to the complaint.
She subsequently was fired from her job as a packer/line inspector. Her termination, she claims, was discriminatory because a male co-worker who wore female clothing and prostheses and took hormone treatments was not fired nor disciplined.
Further, argued her Bucks County-based attorney, Lalena J. Turchi, her fake penis was concealed and “in no way interfered with her ability to do her job.”
Davis filed a complaint in March 2010 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission office in Philadelphia, claiming gender and gender-identity discrimination.
She is seeking back pay, damages for suffering and humiliation, and punitive damages, according to this week’s lawsuit.
The Daily News tried unsuccessfully to reach Davis, of Clifford, a Susquehanna County township north of Scranton, for comment. Her attorneys did not return telephone calls or emails yesterday for comment.
J&J Snack Foods Corp., based in Pennsauken, manufactures, markets and distributes treats including soft pretzels, slushies, frozen pops, cookies and churros. A J&J spokeswoman referred comment to a human-resources supervisor, who did not return our telephone call.
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Martin Luther King Jr. and his words were etched into stone on a monument in Washington last summer, but historians say a quote inscribed on the monument does not accurately reflect his words and even make King sound like “an arrogant twit”. The U.S. Department of the Interior is planning on changing the quote.
A quote carved in stone on the new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington will be changed after the inscription was criticized for not accurately reflecting the civil rights leader’s words.
The inscription currently reads: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.” The phrase is chiseled into one side of a massive block of granite that includes King’s likeness emerging from the stone. It became a point of controversy after the memorial opened in August.
A spokesman for the U.S Department of the Interior said Friday that Secretary Ken Salazar decided to have the quote changed. The Washington Post first reported on Friday the decision to change the inscription.
IN PICTURES: Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
The phrase is modified from a sermon known as the “Drum Major Instinct,” in which the 39-year-old Kingexplained to his Atlanta congregation how he would like to be remembered at his funeral. He made the February 1968 speech just two months before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn.
In the speech, King’s words seem more modest than the paraphrased inscription: “Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”
Poet Maya Angelou previously said the truncated version made King sound like “an arrogant twit” because it was out of context.
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Originally posted 2012-01-14 11:03:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter