Dementia & cognitive health
So-called 'gamechanger' Alzheimer’s drugs made little noticeable difference for patients in trials, according to a review of anti-amyloid drugs. The analysis looked at trials involving people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia. It found the effects of anti-amyloid drugs on cognition and dementia severity over 18 months were “trivial”, while gains in functional ability [...]
Loneliness may harm memory at first, but a major European study tracking more than 10,000 people over seven years suggests it does not speed dementia decline over time. Study participants who reported high levels of loneliness performed worse on memory tests at the start of the research period. However, their ability to recall information declined at [...]
A Picasso raffle offering a €1m portrait with €100 tickets is set to raise money for Alzheimer’s research. Picasso painted the gouache-on-paper Tête de Femme (Head of a Woman) in 1941. The raffle organisers’ online sales platform says the number of tickets will be capped at 120,000, meaning the draw could net €12m if they [...]
A plant-rich diet may lower dementia risk, even when people start it in their late 50s or 60s, according to a new study. Older adults who cut many unhealthy foods from their diet over a decade had an 11 per cent lower risk of Alzheimer's and dementia than adults whose diets did not change, Lim [...]
An Alzheimer's pill was linked to slower brain shrinkage and improved cognition over nearly three years in early disease, a new analysis suggests. The benefits seen in people with early Alzheimer's disease after a year of treatment with blarcamesine were sustained over nearly three years, according to new analysis from Anavex Life Sciences. Patients treated [...]
Having higher levels of vitamin D in the blood in middle age is associated with lower levels of tau protein in the brain, which is a sign of dementia, years later, according to a recent study. The study does not prove that vitamin D levels lower the level of tau and the risk of dementia; [...]
A new dementia discharge tool has shown promise in helping people leave mental health hospitals more safely, according to researchers. The study found the SAFER-Dem intervention could support safer, more coordinated moves from hospital to community care for people with dementia. Researchers said the approach is patient-centred and aligns care with best practice guidance while [...]
A blood test could help spot early cognitive decline years before a standard dementia diagnosis is possible, research suggests. Scientists found that subtle changes in the blood, caused by chemicals produced by gut bacteria, may reveal the earliest signs of cognitive decline long before symptoms become obvious. The findings suggest the link between the gut [...]
Osteoporosis drugs may lower dementia risk, with a study suggesting one widely used treatment could help prevent Alzheimer’s and related dementias. The research found that nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates, drugs widely used to treat osteoporosis, may significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in older adults with osteoporosis or fragility fractures. Osteoporosis and dementia [...]
Processing-speed brain training with booster sessions was linked to a lower dementia diagnosis risk over 20 years, according to a long follow-up study. The findings come from extended tracking of a large randomised controlled trial, where participants were assigned by chance to different training programmes or no intervention. Researchers linked trial records to US Medicare [...]
