alpha-synuclein<\/a> may drive faster dementia progression in women, Mayo Clinic researchers reported in JAMA Network \u200bOpen.<\/p>\n“When we see disease-related changes unfolding at dramatically different rates, we cannot keep approaching Alzheimer’s as though it behaves exactly the same way in everyone,” study \u200bsenior author Dr. Kejal Kantarci said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The researchers studied 415 volunteers with Alzheimer’s disease who agreed to have their brain changes tracked over time with cerebrospinal fluid testing to detect abnormal alpha-synuclein and imaging to measure changes in tau accumulation.<\/p>\n
About 17% of participants showed evidence of \u200babnormal alpha-synuclein.<\/p>\n
“Recognizing these sex-specific differences could help us design more targeted clinical trials and ultimately more personalized \u2060treatment strategies,” \u200cKantarci said.<\/p>\n
“This opens an entirely new direction for understanding why women bear a disproportionate burden of dementia,” study \u200bleader Dr. Elijah Mak \u200bsaid in a statement.<\/p>\n
“If we can unravel the mechanisms behind this vulnerability, we may uncover targets we \u2060haven’t considered before.”<\/p>\n
DISEASE-MODIFYING TREATMENT FOR RARE CHILDHOOD SEIZURE DISORDER SHOWS PROMISE<\/p>\n
An experimental disease-modifying drug being \u200bdeveloped by Stoke Therapeutics and Biogen helped reduce seizures and improve quality of life for children \u200band teenagers with Dravet syndrome, a rare but devastating genetic form of epilepsy, in early and mid-stage trials.<\/p>\n
Children who regularly took zorevunersen for up to three years experienced up to 91% fewer seizures, with monthly episode counts falling from 17 to between 1.5 and 7, depending on the drug regimen tested, researchers reported in The New England Journal of Medicine.<\/p>\n
Eighty-one patients ages 2 to 18 received between 10 milligrams and 70 mg of zorevunersen injected directly into the cerebrospinal fluid, either as a single dose or with additional doses two or three months later, over \u200cthe course of six months.<\/p>\n
Seventy-five of the 81 took part in second-stage trials and continued to receive the drug every four months.<\/p>\n
Zorevunersen was generally well tolerated, and most side effects were mild to moderate, researchers found.<\/p>\n
Dravet \u200bsyndrome is notoriously hard \u200bto treat and affects about 1 in \u206015,000 children.<\/p>\n
With Dravet, one copy of the patient’s two SCN1A genes fails to produce enough protein for nerve cells to function properly, resulting in developmental delays, coordination and eating problems, severe seizures, and early death.<\/p>\n
Zorevunersen works by increasing the protein production of the patient’s healthy copy \u200bof the gene.<\/p>\n
Larger trials of the drug are underway.<\/p>\n
“I regularly see patients with hard-to-treat genetic epilepsies with impacts that go beyond seizures and it’s heartbreaking when treatment options are limited,” study leader Helen Cross from University College London said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The mother of an 8-year-old named Freddie who participated in the trial said in a statement that it “has completely changed our lives.”<\/p>\n
“We now have a life we didn’t ever think was possible and most importantly it’s a life that Freddie can enjoy.” <\/p>\n
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; additional reporting by Shawana Alleyne-Morris; Editing by Bill Berkrot)\n <\/p>\n
\n- Published On Mar 8, 2026 at 09:41 AM IST<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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London: New findings could help explain why Alzheimer’s dementia often progresses faster in women and \u200bmay lead to fresh avenues of research and future treatments, researchers said.<\/p>\n