Dementia Blog
Includes: Chronic Brain Syndrome, Lewy Body Dementia, DLB
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Moderate Drinking Might Guard Against Alzheimer's
Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com
MONDAY, July 13 – Older adults with no history of dementia could cut their odds of Alzheimer's and other cognitive decline by regular moderate drinking, new research suggests.
Defining "moderate" as having one to two drinks a day, the study authors observed that drinking in this range was associated with a nearly 40 percent drop in dementia risk, compared with non-drinkers.
However, those with a history of even moderate brain health issues did not appear to benefit from any amount of alcohol consumption, and appeared to face a significantly greater risk for dementia in the face of a heavy drinking habit. Read more...
Related support groups: Dementia
Gene May Help Predict Timing of Alzheimer's Onset
Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com
SUNDAY, July 12 – A gene that may offer a highly accurate prediction of the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and the age at which people will begin to show symptoms has been identified by U.S. researchers.
The TOMM40 gene may be the most highly predictive Alzheimer's gene discovered so far, said the Duke University Medical Center research team, who found that the gene could predict the age of Alzheimer's disease onset within a five- to seven-year window among people over 60.
The study was scheduled to be presented July 12 at the Alzheimer's Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease, held in Vienna, Austria. Read more...
Related support groups: Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia
More Evidence That Caffeine Can Jolt Memory
Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com
SUNDAY, July 5 – The growing evidence that caffeine consumption may help treat or prevent Alzheimer's disease has received an extra boost from two new studies.
Florida researchers report that a daily dose of 500 milligrams of caffeine – the equivalent found in five 8-ounce cups of coffee – reversed memory issues in mice bred to develop Alzheimer-like symptoms. After two months on the stimulant, the mice rebounded to score just as well on memory tests as normal mice of the same age that had never exhibited signs of dementia. Read more...
Related support groups: Alert, Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia
Painkillers May Not Protect Against Dementia
Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, April 22 – Research has suggested that older people who want to avoid Alzheimer's disease might want to take daily doses of painkillers such as ibuprofen and naproxen, but a new study suggests that might not be the best idea.
"If people are thinking, 'Should I take these to prevent dementia?', the answer based on our study would be no," said study author Dr. Eric B. Larson, executive director of the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle.
Still, he said, people who already take medications known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for pain shouldn't stop using them. Read more...
With Alzheimer's, Health-Care Costs Could Triple
Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, March 24 – In a new report, the Alzheimer's Association estimates that Alzheimer's disease and dementia triple the health-care costs for afflicted seniors.
In addition, people who live in nursing homes or assisted living facilities pay an average of $16,689 in out-of-pocket costs each year, researchers found. The association also estimates that nearly 10 million unpaid caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease spent 8.5 billion hours in 2008 watching over their loved ones, care valued at an estimated $94 billion.
"These health-care costs are crippling, not just to society at large but to families and individuals," said Angela Geiger, chief strategy officer with the Alzheimer's Association, which released the report Tuesday. Read more...
Related support groups: Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia
Obesity, Diabetes and Heart Disease May Speed Dementia
Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, March 10 – Obesity and its common companions – diabetes and heart disease – can work together to speed dementia and other brain ills, a series of new studies shows.
One expert thinks these papers, published in the March issue of Neurology, deliver a key message, namely that people can take steps to reduce their risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease. People think about lifestyle factors in preventing heart disease, he says, but not always when it comes to losing mental abilities. Read more...
Related support groups: Obesity, Diabetes, Type 2, Dementia
Secondhand Smoke Linked to Dementia
Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Feb. 12 – People exposed to secondhand smoke may face as much as a 44 percent increased risk of developing dementia, a new study suggests.
While previous research has established a connection between smoking and increased risk for dementia and Alzheimer's disease, this new study is the largest review to date showing a link between secondhand smoke and the threat of dementia, the authors said.
"There is an association between cognitive function, which is often but not necessarily a precursor of dementia, and exposure to passive smoking," said lead researcher Iain Lang, a research fellow in the Public Health and Epidemiology Group at Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, England. Read more...
Related support groups: Dementia
Tests Gauge Alzheimer's Patients' Ability to Drive
Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Feb. 9 – The loss of driving privileges can be a blow to a person's independence, including people in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
Now, new cognitive tests may help doctors determine whether people with the illness are fit to drive.
University of Iowa researchers studied 40 drivers with early Alzheimer's disease and 115 elderly drivers with no diagnosis of dementia. All the participants completed a series of lab tests that measured thinking, movement and visual skills, and they also took a 35-mile driving test in and outside the city. A driving expert reviewed videos of the road tests and noted any driving safety errors. Read more...
Related support groups: Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia
Cutting Calories May Boost Aging Brains
Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Jan. 26 – Eating less to remember more might become a new prescription for some elderly people, German researchers say.
They found that memory and thinking skills improved among healthy, overweight subjects who cut their calorie intake by 30 percent over a three-month period.
If further research supports this conclusion, "from a public health point of view, you could actually do something for the prevention of cognitive decline from aging," said lead researcher Dr. Agnes Floel, assistant professor of neurology at the University of Munster. Read more...
Related support groups: Obesity, Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia
Memory Loss Tied to Brain's White Matter
Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Jan. 15 – The "white matter" that connects the regions of the brain may have more of a role in memory and cognitive loss than previously believed, a new study says.
By comparing brain scans of groups of healthy young and old adults, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) neuroscientists discovered a relationship between loss of memory and cognitive performance in older people and the deterioration of the white matter in the parts of their brains related to those functions.
White matter is made up of the neuronal axons that connect neurons in the "gray matter" brain regions. White matter also helps the regions of the brain to communicate with one another. Read more...
Related support groups: Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia
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