A part of the brain first affected by Alzheimer's disease is thinner in youth with a risk gene for the disorder, a brain imaging study by researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has found. A thinner entorhinal cortex, a structure in the lower middle part of the brain's outer mantle, may render these youth more susceptible to degenerative changes and mental decline later in life, propose Drs. Philip Shaw, Judith Rapoport, Jay Giedd, and NIMH and McGill University colleagues. They report on how variation in the gene for apoliproprotein (ApoE), which plays a critical role in repair of brain cells, affects development of this learning and memory hub in the June, 2007 Lancet Neurology.

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The anti-anginal medication ranolazine was shown to be safe in regard to certain outcomes but did not reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events such as death, heart attack or recurrent ischemia following acute coronary syndromes, according to a study in the April 25 issue of JAMA.

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Alaska Native children are experiencing increased rates of serious infections caused by strains of pneumococcal bacteria that are not covered by the current childhood pneumococcal vaccine, indicating the importance of ongoing surveillance of vaccine effectiveness, according to a study in the April 25 issue of JAMA.

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Variations of two common genes are associated with progression to more advanced forms of age-related macular degeneration, and factors such as smoking and being overweight greatly increase this risk, according to a study in the April 25 issue of JAMA.

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