Results tagged “alzheimersdisease”

We spend more time talking with our families about the health threats that won’t affect us than acting on the ones that do. It is easier to hypothesize over swine flu than it is to discuss hereditary diseases—isn't it? Most of us don't want to talk about our loved ones getting sick because we fear losing them, we fear taking care of them, and we fear our own mortality. HBO's The Alzheimer's Project, a four-part documentary airing this week, challenges this thought pattern.

Lehigh University issued a press release today outlining their research into the synaptic creation of some hormones, specifically estrogen. Until very recently, hormone production was thought to occur only in the testicles and the ovaries (tee hee hee...). Research like that being performed by LU's Colin Saldanha and his team of students and doctoral candidates is revealing some intriguing information on memory and the way synaptic estrogen regulates brain function. Of course, the physiology of songbirds and the physiology of human beings do not exactly run parallel, but understanding the underlying chemical processes could lead to improvements in the way degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are studied and treated. And there's nothing tee-hee-hee about that!