Baby boomers may have one more reason to get off the couch and exercise. In a new study conducted by researchers at the School of Medicine, high levels of sugar in the blood of aging people have been shown to be associated with memory loss and the shrinkage of a brain structure critical for recall.
	Keeping Memory on Track: Exercise and diet may help prevent reverse memory loss among aging baby boomers

If the findings are confirmed, exercise and diet, which help control blood sugar levels, may reverse some of the memory loss that accompanies aging. The study was published in February in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

None of the 30 participants, ages 53 to 89, was diabetic, but some had an impaired ability to use sugar (glucose) effectively. Those with impaired glucose tolerance, a prediabetic condition characterized by higher than normal blood sugar levels, had a smaller hippocampus (the part of the brain involved in learning and memory) and scored poorly on tests for recent memory.

“Our study suggests that this impairment may contribute to the memory deficits that occur as people age, and it raises the intriguing possibility that improving glucose tolerance could reverse some age-associated problems in cognition,” says Antonio Convit, M.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry, who led the study.

Dr. Convit says that, for every person with Alzheimer’s disease, there are eight with memory problems that adversely affect the quality of their lives, but who do not have a disease associated with dementia. His work is devoted to discerning what medical factors, other than dementia, influence memory loss in aging people.

One possibility may be blood sugar. It is known that diabetics, who have very high levels of blood glucose, are at high risk for memory and learning problems. This phenomenon may occur because their brains can’t metabolize glucose effectively, suggests Dr. Convit. His ongoing studies will help elucidate how glucose metabolism in the brain becomes impaired.

Researchers Identify a Potential Marker for Melanoma Recurrence

Melanoma is a deadly skin cancer that claims thousands of lives each year. While early detection and treatment often lead to recovery, melanoma can recur. One of the goals of cancer research is to identify molecules in cancer cells that may provide information about the future course of the disease. School of Medicine researchers Iman Osman, M.D., Assistant Professor of Dermatology and Urology, and David Polsky, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Dermatology and Associate Director of the Pigmented Lesion Section, have now identified such a molecule in clusters of melanoma cells.

The so-called molecular marker is a protein called HDM2, and it may help to identify the people who have a better prognosis after a melanoma is removed. The protein marker isn’t ready to be used for treatment, but the researchers are hopeful that additional studies will confirm their findings. Their study was published last year in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The researchers measured the amount of HDM2 in tissue samples of melanoma from patients who were treated and followed at NYU Medical Center from 1972 to 1982. The study involved 134 patients who had been enrolled in the Melanoma Cooperative Group by Alfred W. Kopf, M.D., Clinical Professor of Dermatology and Director of the Pigmented Lesion Clinic. The investigators found that higher levels of the molecule were associated with a better prognosis. Patients with high levels of HDM2 lived significantly longer after treatment than patients with low levels.

HDM2 levels were detected by using an antibody technique that tags the molecule with a colored stain. The molecule is involved in the path­way for the p53 gene, which, when mutated, is associated with many cancers, but not melanoma. It isn’t clear why HDM2 levels would be high in people with melanoma, but a new study directed by Dr. Osman is under way. It will track HDM2 and other molecules in tumors removed from patients.