This image displays the massive amount of as-yet-not-successful effort which has gone into seeking understanding or cures or ameliorations of Alzheimer’s disease:
From: History and progress of hypotheses and clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease
This link has been added to Alzheimers >
Here we continue Catch Up I: Dementia Signs, Microbiome & Brain, Processed Foods & More, setting out four brief posts concerning links which either bring up to date earlier posts on Strong Brain, or which are simply of interest in and of themselves.
Media articles:
How Weight Training Changes the Brain
Weight Training – Good for the Brain Too?
Research publication:
Resistance-exercise training ameliorates LPS-induced cognitive impairment concurrent with molecular signaling changes in the rat dentate gyrus
So sad, yet so sweet: A man descends into dementia, forgets he is married to his wife — who is his caregiver, and who he deeply loves — and pesters her to marry him. Which she does, again:
After Countless Proposals, She Finally Said Yes. Again.
The History of Alzheimer’s Disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cuts down on the amount of oxygen supplied by your lungs to all parts of your body, including your brain. It is linked to a higher risk for memory and cognitive problems with older adults with COPD having nearly twice the risk for memory problems:
How COPD Affects Your Brain
Each group of links has been added to the indicated categories.
Here we set out five brief posts concerning links which either bring up to date earlier posts on Strong Brain, or which are simply of interest in and of themselves.
Our recent post Distilled: Signs of the Onset of Dementia listed 18 possible signs of the onset of dementia. The excellent article Recognizing Alzheimer’s Disease adds to that by providing a discussion of early warning signs and a view of diagnosis.
Quite recently, it has become apparent that the microbiome (all the microbes resident in an organism) can affect the brain, including the amount of amyloid beta clumps and exhibition of autistic behaviors. Much of the work has been done with mice (surprise!), but some also on humans. This is a quite interesting article on these investigations:
Germs in Your Gut Are Talking to Your Brain. Scientists Want to Know What They’re Saying.
Recently we published a somewhat lengthy post Best To Avoid Over-Processed Foods. The article below adds to that post:
What’s so bad about processed foods? Scientists offer clues.
A very large U.S. study of prostate cancer patients in their 70’s demonstrates a notable increased risk of Alzheimer’s among patients who received Androgen Deprivation Therapy.
Dementia tied to hormone-blocking prostate cancer treatment
Hormone Therapy for Prostate Cancer Tied to Dementia
Original research:
Association Between Androgen Deprivation Therapy Use and Diagnosis of Dementia in Men With Prostate Cancer
The article Alzheimer’s Screenings Often Left Out Of Seniors’ Wellness Exams discusses the situation vis-a-vie dementia screening during annual wellness exams for seniors. The number of seniors experiencing them, and the number of physicians administering them, are relatively low, for a variety of reasons discussed in the article. Most likely, large-scale routine screening won’t be happening until a moderately inexpensive blood test is widely available.
Each group of links has been added to the indicated category.
The link between high blood pressure and dementia has been known for some time. Two recent research reports reinforce this existing knowledge.
One study set out to determine the effects of intensively lowering systolic blood pressure to less than 120 mm Hg on the heart, kidney, and brain in hypertensive older adults who did not have diabetes or stroke; the present report deals with a sub-study focused on brain health, and showed that aggressive treatment of hypertension to less than 120 mm Hg systolic blood pressure is not harmful to the brain, but beneficial.
The second study examined how blood pressure changes/patterns related to dementia risk over time. It was shown that the patterns consisting of midlife and late-life hypertension, and midlife hypertension and late-life hypotension, significantly increased risk of subsequent dementia as compared with people with normal blood pressure.
Here are three media articles about the reports:
Controlling blood pressure may help ward off dementia
Abnormal blood pressure in middle and late life influences dementia risk
Studies Tackle Blood Pressure, Cognition Relationship
Original research articles:
Association of Midlife to Late-Life Blood Pressure Patterns With Incident Dementia
Association of Intensive vs Standard Blood Pressure Control With Cerebral White Matter Lesions
Inspired by these reports, here is an article about lowering blood pressure:
Tips for lowering your blood pressure, which may reduce your risk of dementia
All links have been added to Alzheimer’s > Risk Factors.
For some time, excessive daytime drowsiness and napping has been regarded as one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s. It was argued that daytime naps were a consequence of poor night’s sleep (common for Alzheimer’s patients). However, new research shows that the tau tangles characteristic of Alzheimer’s directly attack the brain regions responsible for maintaining daytime alertness. Hence, excessive daytime napping can indeed be seen as an early warning sign of the onset of Alzheimer’s.
Here are three media articles and a university post:
Alzheimer’s disease destroys neurons that keep us awake
Alzheimer’s Appears to Attack The Neurons That Keep Us Awake
Alzheimer’s disease destroys neurons that keep us awake
Alzheimer’s Disease Destroys Neurons that Keep Us Awake
Here is the research publication [paywall]:
Profound degeneration of wake-promoting neurons in Alzheimer’s disease
All links have been added to Neuro-Psych.
Clumps of amyloid beta can begin building up in the brains of Alzheimer’s sufferers nearly 20 years before the individuals exhibit the memory loss and confusion characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. Currently, the most reliable method of detecting amyloid beta buildup before exhibition of behavioral symptoms is using a PET scan (Positron emission tomography) (Brain Scans Prevent Alzheimer’s Misdiagnosis and Lead to Better Treatment—But They’re Not Covered By Medicare), but these are expensive, not covered by insurance, and take time and a visit to a site with the right scanning machinery. Because of this, few people have the scans done on a routine annual basis, and it is very difficult for drug researchers to recruit participants who might develop Alzheimer’s in the future, but don’t current exhibit memory loss and confusion.
These are all reasons why a blood test which could detect buildup of amyloid beta as early as PET scans would be highly desirable. A recent research publication reports on work coming very close to such a test. A certain amount of amyloid beta is naturally present in both brain and blood. The test first chops up the amyloid obtained from a blood sample with enzymes. The amounts of two fragments, called a-beta 42 and a-beta 40, are obtained by mass spectrometry, and their ratio is computed. As amyloid beta starts building up in the brain, less of the fragment a-beta 42 is available for circulation in the blood, and so the computed ratio goes down. Utilizing this ratio, together with an individual’s age and genetic risk, the test was able to match PET scan performance on 94% of the study participants.
Although at present there are no reliable methods of treating Alzheimer’s, a positive result on a blood test such as this would enable one to take steps to defer the onset of the disease, using:
And, sensibly, one could ensure that one’s will and healthcare advance directive were up to date, and one could consider creating an Advance Directive for Dementia.
Here are three media articles on the blood test work:
Blood test can identify Alzheimer’s 2 decades before symptoms
Blood test is 94% accurate at identifying early Alzheimer’s disease
New Alzheimer’s Blood Test Proved 94% Accurate in Finding Brain Changes Related to the Disease
Here is the published research article:
High-precision plasma β-amyloid 42/40 predicts current and future brain amyloidosis
All links have been added to Alzheimers > Diagnosis & Tests
Acetylcholine (ACh) is a neurotransmitter (chemical messenger) occurring widely in the brains and bodies of humans and many animals. Anticholinergics are chemical substances (drugs) which block the action of acetylcholine at synapses in the central and the peripheral nervous system. For some years, many scientists have suspected that long-term use of various anticholinergics might tend to increase the risk of dementia. A succession of studies have shown a strong association between long-term use of various anticholinergics and the later development of dementia. We set out three of them here. In total, the three studies involved 637,843 participants.
The most recent study was published June 24, 2019. It showed that the strongest associations between anticholinergics and dementia was for these classes of drugs: antidepressants, bladder antimuscarinics (treating overactive bladder), antipsychotics and antiepileptic drugs.
Here are four media articles about the most recent work:
Anticholinergic Drugs Associated With Dementia Risk
Commonly prescribed drugs are tied to nearly 50% higher dementia risk in older adults, study says
Widely used class of drugs linked to dementia
Anticholinergic Drugs Could Account for 10% of Dementia Cases
Here is the original research article, together with a page of commentary by related experts:
Anticholinergic Drug Exposure and the Risk of Dementia, A Nested Case-Control Study
expert reaction to anticholinergic drug exposure and risk of dementia
Here are summaries concerning anticholinergic drugs:
Anticholinergic Drugs to Avoid in the Elderly
List of Anticholinergic Drugs and Why Some of Them are Dangerous for Seniors
Here is a table merging the information from the two pages above:
Table of Anticholinergic Drugs
The next study was published April 25, 2018 and showed that anticholinergics for depression, Parkinson’s and urinary incontinence carry a higher risk of dementia than others.
Here are three media articles about this research:
Some antidepressants linked to dementia risk
Certain common medications tied to 30% higher dementia risk, study finds
Some antidepressants and incontinence drugs linked to dementia
CAN ALLERGY MEDICATIONS HARM YOUR BRAIN?
Here is a summary concerning anticholinergic drugs:
Anticholinergics
Here is an NIH abstract of the research, together with the original research article:
Anticholinergic drugs and risk of dementia: case-control study. (NIH Abstract)
Anticholinergic drugs and risk of dementia: case-control study (Full Publication)
The research reports above both build on earlier work, in particular research reported on March 1, 2015. Here are two articles about that work:
Common anticholinergic drugs like Benadryl linked to increased dementia risk
Benadryl and Other Common Medications are Linked to Dementia in Men and Women
And here is the original research article:
Cumulative use of strong anticholinergics and incident dementia: A prospective cohort study
All links have been added to Alzheimers > Risk Factors.
Another new study, involving 196,383 UK adults age 60 and older, has re-confirmed the importance of following healthy lifestyles for lowering your dementia risk — even if you have a high genetic risk for dementia. The study results showed a statistically significant difference: 1.13% of those with a healthy lifestyle developed dementia later in life compared with 1.78% of those with a less healthy lifestyle. The definition of healthy lifestyle included the following:
Here are three media articles on the study:
Your lifestyle can lower your dementia risk, even if you have high genetic risk, study says
Healthy lifestyle may offset genetic risk of dementia
Is healthy lifestyle associated with lower risk of dementia regardless of genetic risk?
The study was simultaneously presented at the 2019 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference together with JAMA publication here:
Association of Lifestyle and Genetic Risk With Incidence of Dementia
Another study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association Conference looked at similar issues. It tracked 2,765 individuals over about 10 years, rating them 1 point for maintaining each of the following healthy behaviors:
Those who rated 4 or 5 (i.e., participated in 4 or 5 of the healthy behaviors) were were 60% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s compared with participants who rated only 0 or 1 (i.e. participated in none or one of the healthy behaviors). The results did not vary by race or gender.
Here are two media articles on the work (formal publication is not yet available):
It May Be Possible to Counter Some of the Genetic Risk of Alzheimer’s With These Lifestyle Changes
Doing these five things could decrease your risk of Alzheimer’s by 60 percent, new study says
All links have been added to Alzheimers > Amelioration/Prevention, Alzheimers > RiskFactors, Alzheimers > Mental Exercise, Health > Diet, and to Health > Physical Exercise.
Some time back, we posted Green for Health on studies, small and large, showing that the greener one’s environment, the greater the boost to one’s health. Now a new study shows that getting out of the city and into nature (forest, park, beach, whatever) will improve both your physical and mental health.
Here are two media articles on the study:
Spending time in nature boosts health, study finds
Two-hour ‘dose’ of nature significantly boosts health – study
Here is the original research report:
Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing
Combining this work with that we pointed to in
More On Air Pollution & Dementia
and
Air Pollution: Shorter Life, More Dementia Risk, Worse Thinking
strengthens the case for trying to maximize time spent outside of dense urban environments.
This is particularly strengthened by another air pollution study showing that very large numbers of pollution particles are found in the hearts of urban dwellers.
Media article:
Billions of air pollution particles found in hearts of city dwellers
Original research article:
Combustion- and friction-derived magnetic air pollution nanoparticles in human hearts
All links have been added to Alzheimers > Amelioration/Prevention and to Alzheimers > RiskFactors
We’ve collected a number of web pages offering lists of symptoms of the onset of demetia, and have distilled out 18 of the signs. Keep in mind that the occasional and not long lasting appearance of one of these is most likely a sign of aging. However, regular occurrence of one or more of these signs is an indication that a visit to a physician or clinincal psychologist specializing in cognition is warrented.
The web links contributing to this list are collected at the bottom of this post.
Here are the 18 distilled signs:
1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life fairly often — not the occasional forgetting of a name or date that comes back later.
2. Challenges in planning or solving problems, or following recipes or keeping track of monthly bills.
3. Difficulty with numbers and/or handling money in shops.
4. Difficulty making familiar trips (walking or driving).
5. A failing sense of direction and spatial orientation, including wandering and getting lost.
6. Confusion about time or place.
7. Repeating questions after a short interval.
8. Vision problems, including difficulty reading, judging distance and determining color or contrast — not due to cataracts or other eye problems.
9. Problems with words in conversations or writing, including repeating themselves or stopping mid-conversation unable to continue; also failure to find the right word.
10. Difficulty following storylines.
11. Misplacing things (often in very unusal places) and losing the ability to retrace steps to find them.
12. Decreased or poor judgment, including mishandling money, and decreased attention to grooming and keeping clean.
13. Notable weight changes.
14. Withdrawal from work or social activities.
15. Apathy, or loss of spontaneity and sense of initiative.
16. Changes in mood and personality, including becoming confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful or anxious, or aggressive.
17. Lessening of ability to focus and concentrate.
18. Failure to recognize people they know.
Here are links to the web pages contributing:
10 Early Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer’s
What are the early signs of dementia?
10 Early Symptoms of Dementia
Dementia – early signs
What Are the Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease?
Symptoms of dementia
Symptoms
Well, that was a weird moment’ and other signs of dementia family members should watch for [Possible paywall]
Dementia’s Signs May Come Early [Possible paywall]
All links have been added to Alzheimer’s > Diagnosis & Tests
