Advances in Understanding Alzheimer’s

Three teams of researchers reported advances last week in understanding how Alzheimer’s disease develops. Their articles, which eventually may contribute to improved diagnosis and treatment of the disease, appeared in the journal Nature Medicine. All three papers focus on a protein known as amyloid beta that becomes deformed in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

In one study, scientists at New York University Medical Center said they found a possible way to block the harmful effects of amyloid beta. They created a peptide, a smaller version of a protein, that seems to stop stringy tangles of brain cells caused by amyloid beta from forming.

In another study, this one from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, experiments on older rhesus monkeys suggested that amyloid is only toxic in aged brains. Living longer may make the brain more vulnerable. “This observation may explain why individuals with Down syndrome can develop amyloid deposits at an early age but do not exhibit cognitive decline until later in adult life,” the authors stated.

Finally, a report from Germany shows that a diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s may evolve by testing spinal fluid for the presence of amyloid beta. Currently, the disease can be diagnosed only through memory and cognitive tests.

Easy Access to Emergency Contraception Urged

The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine urged doctors last week to make emergency contraception--a small number of birth control pills given in two doses--available to any woman who might need it. The recommendation was based on an analysis from researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland who found that if the pills were widely available, they could prevent 1.7 million unintended pregnancies and 800,000 abortions each year in the United States.

The researchers based their projections on a study of two groups of women: One was given emergency contraceptives ahead of time, and the other group only was told that the pills were available from a doctor if needed. The group that had the pills in hand was much more likely to use them.

The authors also recommended that emergency contraceptives be made available without a prescription. The recommendations were endorsed in an editorial accompanying the report. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the pills last year to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Transfusions Help Kids With Sickle Cell Anemia

Regular blood transfusions can dramatically reduce the risk of stroke in some children with sickle cell anemia. But it’s unclear whether this treatment should be widely practiced because of the high costs, side effects and complications involved, according to the authors of a report in the July 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Stroke is a major threat to people with sickle cell anemia. In a study, when repeated transfusions were given to reduce an abnormal form of hemoglobin (known as hemoglobin S), the number of strokes in children was cut. However, the transfusions can cause such side effects as increased iron in the blood. It also is unclear how long the treatments would be effective. As children with sickle cell anemia grow, their risk of stroke declines.

Interview Technique Can Encourage Children to Lie

Accusations of ritual abuse of children at the McMartin Preschool in the 1980s led to a highly publicized trial in which no one was convicted. Criticisms followed that the children in the case were led to make false accusations.

A study in the June issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology endorses the view that the interviewing techniques used on the children in the Manhattan Beach case were more likely to elicit false statements.

Researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso interviewed children to see if they would make false accusations against a classroom visitor. The children who were interviewed with the technique used in the McMartin trial, called social influence and reinforcement, made 58% of the false accusations compared to 17% of the false accusations made by children who were interviewed using simple suggestive questions.

The researchers explained that the technique used in the McMartin case combines suggestive questions with influence, reinforcement and the urging of speculation about what happened. The authors suggest that children’s reports are influenced by much more than just the child’s cognitive ability.

--Compiled by SHARI ROAN