Alzheimer’s Association International Conference

Between 14th and 18th July we attended a world congress on Alzheimer’s disease in Los Angeles, USA (Alzheimer’s Association International Conference). The main topic of the congress was Alzheimer’s dementia (AD), but also other dementias were discussed. The presenters addressed AD from different perspectives and different disease phases. Recent failures of anti-amyloid drugs once again questioned the main amyloid hypothesis of development of AD, which assumes amyloid deposition to be a key pathophysiological step. New, currently tested, drugs are therefore mainly targeting the other protein (tau) involved into pathophysiology of AD. Anti-amyloid drugs will nonetheless be tested further in the future in healthy participants, who are carriers of AD related mutations and are deemed to develop AD in the future. Lately, new targets for drugs, mainly inflammation (astrocytes and microglia), are being explored. There is still a lot of ongoing research about development of new and improvement of old biomarkers (new analytic methods, combining different modalities etc.) and especially vibrant is the field of blood-based biomarkers. Because there is still a lack of causative treatment nowadays, many lectures addressed preventive measures based on healthy lifestyle i.e., proper physical activity, social network, Mediterranean diet, cognitive training and sleep. These preventive measures can reduce the risk for development of dementia and ameliorate their progress. We actively participated in the congress. Maja Trošt presented a specific disease-related metabolic pattern of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (Rus et al. Metabolic Brain Pattern of Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease and Its Biological Significance. Abstract). Next year’s congress will be held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands between 26th and 30th July 2020.

Matej Perovnik and Maja Trošt

Medical physics research group paid registration fee for Maja Trošt.