Dementia & cognitive health
With the failure rate for dementia drugs currently standing at over 99 per cent - at a current cost of over US$40bn - UK start-up Prema Cognition believes it can help ease the burden for patients, their families and financiers. In partnership with the University of Cambridge’s Memory Lab London-based Prema has developed ground-breaking technology [...]
New models may improve Alzheimer's research in people with Down syndrome and help test whether emerging treatments are safe. The work aims to address a major gap in Alzheimer's studies, as people with Down syndrome are often excluded from clinical trials despite their greatly increased risk. Around 6m people globally live with Down syndrome, and [...]
An experimental molecule may partly restore the brain's defences against Alzheimer's by reprogramming immune cells, a new study suggests. The compound, called OLE, helped microglia enclose and contain beta-amyloid plaques, reducing their size and toxicity. In animal models, the treatment also improved cognitive performance in memory tests. Researchers led by José Vicente Sánchez Mut at [...]
An AI blood test may help identify four dementia-linked brain diseases with 92.3 per cent accuracy, researchers say. Many people living with dementia never receive an accurate diagnosis, partly because Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and related conditions can be hard to tell apart and often occur together. The tool is designed to distinguish Alzheimer's disease, [...]
New blood tests and brain scans could spot Alzheimer's years before symptoms appear, researchers say. The findings suggest signs of the disease could be picked up earlier, raising the prospect of earlier diagnosis and treatment for thousands of patients. Experts said the results were encouraging, but cautioned that more research is needed before the approaches [...]
A blood test could detect Alzheimer's decades before symptoms appear, a study suggests. Researchers said the findings show Alzheimer's may be present in midlife and already linked to cognitive differences. While more research is needed, experts said using blood tests to pinpoint changes in the brain earlier could be incredibly valuable. The researchers said: "These [...]
Common reflux drugs may raise dementia risk if taken for several years, new research suggests. Scientists found that long-term use of proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs, was linked to a 33 per cent increased risk of dementia. However, experts said the study does not prove the drugs directly cause the condition, only that a link [...]
Gene therapy may help protect the brain from damage and cognitive decline linked to Alzheimer's disease and ALS, an early study suggests. The approach targets TDP-43, a harmful protein that plays a major role in frontotemporal dementia, a form of dementia that can affect behaviour and language, and is also found in many people with [...]
Long hours spent caring may speed cognitive decline in middle-aged and older people, new research suggests. Researchers found that providing care for 50 hours or more a week was linked to faster decline in memory and thinking skills. However, lighter caring duties of five to nine hours a week appeared to support brain health, with [...]
An ultra-sensitive test could improve dementia diagnosis by detecting protein clumps linked to rarer forms of cognitive decline. The test targets abnormal clumps of TDP-43, a protein linked to a subtype of frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Frontotemporal lobar degeneration, or FTLD, is a group of brain disorders that can affect behaviour, emotions, language and planning. Investigators [...]
