MedNews — Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's Disease Risk Different for Men and Women
Recent research suggests that the chances of developing Alzheimer's Disease are different for men and women, with stroke in men and depression in women being key elements.
The research was conducted in France, among 7,000 people aged 65 and over, drawn from the general population. While none of the participants had dementia, some 40% had mild cognitive impairment. Four years later 6.5% of those displaying mild cognitive impairment had developed dementia, while no change was noted in just over half. About one third returned to normal cognitive ability. More »
Alzheimer's Disease Connection to Stroke Explained
The risk of Alzheimer's disease is nearly doubled among people who have had a stroke, and researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have found a process in the brain that explains the connection. More »
Cognitive Impairment Among Older Americans Decreasing
A recent study shows a downward trend in the rate of cognitive impairment among people aged 70 and older. The study was led by two University of Michigan Medical School physicians and their colleagues, and is based on data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a national survey of older Americans funded by the National Institute on Aging and based at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR). More »
Study Suggests Folate Deficiency Increases Dementia Risk Three-Fold
Recent research suggests that the risk of dementia in elderly people is increased three times by a lack of folate. More »
Elevated Blood Pressure May Result in Mild Cognitive Impairment
A report in the December, 2007 issue of Archives of Neurology claims that high blood pressure can increase the risk of mild cognitive impairment, affecting the ability to thinking and learning. More »
One in Seven Americans Over 70 Has Dementia
A new analysis suggests that about 3.4 million Americans over 70 years of age—one in seven people in that age group—has dementia, and 2.4 million of them have Alzheimer's disease (AD).
The study was published online this week in Neuroepidemiology, and is the first to estimate rates of dementia and AD using a nationally representative sample of older adults across the United States. More »
Some Hypertension Drugs May Also Treat Alzheimer's
Recent research points to the possibility that patients being treated with hypertension drugs may also benefit from the drug's ability to treat or even prevent Alzheimer's disease.
"If we can deliver certain anti-hypertensive drugs to patients at high risk to develop Alzheimer's disease, at doses that do not affect blood pressure, these drugs could be made available for all members of the geriatric population identified as being at high
risk for developing Alzheimer's disease", says Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti of Mount Sinai School of Medicine. More »
Rate of Memory Loss Greater in Dementia Patients With More Education
According to a recent study in the journal Neurology, while higher education levels initially delay the onset of dementia, once dementia starts, the rate of memory loss is more rapid than in less educated individuals.
According to study author Charles B. Hall, PhD of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, "our study showed that a person with 16 years of formal education would experience a rate of memory decline that is 50% faster than someone with just four years of education." More »
Conscientiousness May Help Protect Against Alzheimer's Disease
Results of a recent study about the link between conscientiousness and Alzheimer's disease may provide yet another strategy for delaying the symptoms of Alzheimer's, according to a study published in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. More »
Alzheimer's and Aluminum
Aluminum is unusually abundant in the neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer’s disease. For years, rumors have circulated that aluminum cookware contributed to the disease. And for just as long, most scientists have scoffed at this notion because aluminum is one of the most abundant elements on earth and everyone is exposed to a great deal of it. More »
