Successful Alzheimer's Disease Vaccine

Alzheimer's Vaccine Trial a Success link
By Neuroscience News
June 7, 2012

CAD106, a new vaccine for Alzheimer's disease has successfully finished the first trial and is ready for go to the final trial with a larger amount of subjects. In this trial, the vaccine was modified to only affect the harmful beta-amyloid (what is believed to be the root to Alzheimer's disease). In the trial is was found that 80% of the patients were able to develop their own protective antibodies against beta-amyloid without side-effects. The researchers believe CAD106 is an appropriate treatment for patients who have mild to moderate Alzheimer's. Next step is to conduct larger trials to be positive of these results.

Parkinson's Vaccine

World's First Parkinson's Vaccine Is Trialed link
By New Scientist
June 7, 2012

Last week a new vaccine for Parkinson's was trialed on 32 people. The vaccine aims to destroy alphasynuclein, a protein believed to trigger the disease by messing up dopamine levels, "When it forms clumps in cells, alpha-synuclein disrupts normal levels of dopamine by locking it inside cells that produce it. It is also toxic, killing neurons and their connections," says Mandler Markus, a scientist who's part of the trial. This is an entirely new approach because most treatments just aim to boost dopamine levels instead of actually fixing the problem.

MRIs

Here is a fantastic website that talks all about MRI and how it works by Joseph P. Hornak PhD

http://www.cis.rit.edu/htbooks/mri/

Also, on a personal note I do want to apologize for updating so sporadically. School is taking up most of my time. But to prove it is worth it, I just found out I made the Dean's List! So at least all my time and devotion to school is paying off!