New Alzheimer’s Treatment Targets; COVID’s Brain Blitz; Why Parkinson’s Strikes Men

A genomic atlas of protein levels in brain, cerebrospinal fluid, and plasma identified potential new treatment targets for Alzheimer’s disease and 15 existing drugs with therapeutic potential against these targets. (Nature Neuroscience)

Acting FDA chief Janet Woodcock, MD, called for a federal investigation of the process that led to the approval of controversial new Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab (Aduhelm). (New York Times)

CMS is opening a National Coverage Determination analysis to determine whether Medicare will establish a national coverage policy for aducanumab and future monoclonal antibodies for Alzheimer’s disease that target amyloid.

Emerging evidence suggests COVID-19’s assault on the brain could be multipronged: it may attack certain cells directly, block blood flow to the brain, or trigger immune malfunction, a Nature news article reported.

Ethnic and racial groups differed in how they were recruited, the reasons they failed screening, and the overall probability of being eligible to participate in a trial of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. (JAMA Network Open)

Tooth loss was tied to cognitive impairment and dementia, with risk increasing when more teeth were lost. (JAMDA: Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine)

Diabetes was linked to lower cognition through neurodegeneration, independently of small vessel disease and Alzheimer’s biomarkers, an analysis of the French MEMENTO cohort showed. (Neurology)

Children who had mindfulness training twice a week slept an average of 74 extra minutes a night, including 24 additional minutes of rapid eye movement sleep, over a 2-year study period. (Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine)

Extremely preterm babies who had prolonged exposure to opioids and benzodiazepines during their neonatal intensive care unit stay had worse neurodevelopment outcomes than unexposed children. (JAMA Network Open)

Why does Parkinson’s disease affect more men than women? “We in the research community have been working for decades to sort this out, but the answers are still elusive,” one expert said. (Washington Post)