A diabetes education multimedia program in the waiting room setting.

Introduction: This study evaluated the impact of a waiting room-administered, low-literacy, computer multimedia diabetes education program on patient self-management and provider intensification of therapy.

Methods: In this randomized, controlled trial, 129 participants either viewed a computer multimedia education program (intervention group) or read an educational brochure (control group) while in the waiting room. Participants were uninsured, primarily ethnic minority adults with type 2 diabetes receiving care from a county clinic in Chicago, Illinois.

Locus coeruleus neurofibrillary degeneration in aging, mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer's disease.

Neurofibrillary degeneration in the nucleus basalis and a loss of its cortical cholinergic projections are prominent components of the neuropathology in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The AD brain is also associated with a degeneration of the noradrenergic projections arising from the nucleus locus coeruleus (LC), but the time course of this lesion is poorly understood. To determine whether the LC displays neurofibrillary abnormalities early in the course of events leading to AD, we examined tissue specimens from seven cognitively normal controls and five subjects at the stages of mild cognitively impairment (MCI) or early AD.

Statins cause intracellular accumulation of amyloid precursor protein, beta-secretase-cleaved fragments, and amyloid beta-peptide via an isoprenoid-dependent mechanism.

The use of statins, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors that block the synthesis of mevalonate (and downstream products such as cholesterol and nonsterol isoprenoids), as a therapy for Alzheimer disease is currently the subject of intense debate. It has been reported that statins reduce the risk of developing the disorder, and a link between cholesterol and Alzheimer disease pathophysiology has been proposed. Moreover, experimental studies focusing on the cholesterol-dependent effects of statins have demonstrated a close association between cellular cholesterol levels and amyloid production.