Anticholinergic drugs linked to mental impairment in elderly people
...chers. They interviewed 372 elderly people without dementia about current and past illnesses and drug use. Cognitive performance was assessed and participants were monitored for up to eight years. About 10% of the people in the sample took anticholinergic drugs over an extended period. Drug users showed poore...Receptor critical in neurodegeneration reduces Alzheimer's plaque
...epair at Yale. It is well known that the clinical dementia of Alzheimer's disease is associated with specific pathological changes in the brain. One such change is deposits of the peptide beta-amyloid in brain plaques, a hallmark of the disease. Nerve fibers also play a crucial role in the neurodegenerative ...Memory problems at menopause: Nothing to forget about
...erceived problems with memory do not suggest early dementia might alleviate their concerns and actually improve their functioning it's one less thing to worry about."...History of depression linked to more brain plaques and tangles, rapid decline in Alzheimer's disease
...ression also experienced a more rapid decline into dementia than those who did not have depression. "These results have great clinical significance in that the identification of potential mechanisms that link geriatric MDD as a treatable risk factor to neuropathological changes in AD may lead to the developme...Brain scans may predict cognitive decline in normal people
...d signs of cognitive decline but who later develop dementia or mental impairment, according to the results of ... SALSA, the first and only representative study of dementia and cognitive functioning in a Latino population. SALSA, funded by the National Institute on Aging, ...New study says heart health and lifestyle are associated with maintaining brain health as we age
...activity may reduce risk for cognitive decline and dementia in older adults." The committee also found that: Protective factors most consistently reported for cognitive health include higher education level, higher socio-economic status, emotional support, better initial performance on cognitive tests, bett...Ginkgo biloba extract: More than just for memory?
... Ginkgo biloba is an ancient Chinese treatment for dementia that is still widely used -- and which is now being tested in the U.S. to treat Alzheimer's disease patients -- Papadopoulos decided to look at the effect of Ginkgo biloba on PBR production. He selected breast cancer cells that over-expressed PBR, im...Depressed older adults more likely to become cognitively impaired
...nt of patients diagnosed with MCI go on to develop dementia within three years, according to the study authors...r, the subjects were assessed for MCI by a team of dementia experts. Ten percent of subjects with no depressive symptoms went on to develop MCI, and 13.3 percen...Major biomarker candidates for Alzheimer's disease explored
...current role of clinical laboratory evaluation for dementia is exclusionary. The development of such biomarkers is critical to translating efficiently the new therapeutic approaches for AD under development by many research groups into treatments for the millions who suffer from AD. The March issue of the J...Tool to reduce elderly driving deaths nationwide
...e alone is not a reliable indicator. The onset of dementia and other illnesses can subtly but seriously impac... impairment. "Undiagnosed cognitive impairment and dementia are surprisingly prevalent among older apparently healthy individuals," Freund said. "This may allow...Medications that lower blood pressure linked to reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease
...terview and assessment that included screening for dementia and a detailed inventory of all prescription and over-the-counter medications. Residents who had AD at the first interview were not included in the study. Follow-up assessments were done three years later, beginning in 1998. Of the participants, 1,...Cognitive impairment appears to be common in ALS patients
...gnificant differences between ALS patients who had dementia and those who did not in terms of age, sex, educat...3.4 years after testing. Cognitive impairment and dementia did not appear to be associated with survival. "In conclusion, using a conventional test battery, 30...Drug helps cognitive function in brain tumor patients after radiation
...y resembles Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia not only in the clinical symptoms but also in what is seen with brain imaging, particularly with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). The team hypothesized that radiation therapy for brain tumors resulted in inj...Drug effective for severe Alzheimer's disease
...lzheimer's disease but its effectiveness in severe dementia has not been assessed until now. In their trial Bengt Winblad (Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden) and colleagues recruited Alzheimer's patients over 50 years of age from 50 nursing homes in Sweden. They assigned 95 patients to donepezil and 99 ...NJIT environmental psychologist offers tips on how elderly can stay home
...T), would like to see older people and people with dementia live better, safer and more comfortable lives staying in their homes. "Unfortunately, the home environment is not well suited for many people to remain in as they age," said Olsen. "Safety problems abound, especially when it comes to exterior maint...Do older people quit smoking for the wrong reasons?
...ck of transportation, poor financial situation and dementia might contribute to smoking cessation in older smokers. Regardless of reason, the cessation of smoking may lower the risk of death, even when it occurs at an advanced age. The seven-year death rate among non-quitters in the study was 51.6% compared ...Reduced insulin in the brain triggers Alzheimer's degeneration
... signaling, acetylcholine deficiency, is linked to dementia and has long recognized as an early abnormality in Alzheimer's. The enzyme that makes acetylcholine, choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), was previously found to be regulated by insulin and IGF-1. In brains with Alzheimer's, impairment of insulin and IG...Mild cognitive impairment prevalent in elderly population
...set out to find how many of those who did not have dementia might have mild cognitive impairment. To date, 1,116 people without dementia in the study have been evaluated. The findings suggest that 12 percent of 70- to 89-year-olds in Ol...Hopkins study suggests commercially available antibiotic may help fight dementia in HIV patients
...ariety of serious infections may also help prevent dementia in HIV patients, according to a test-tube study of...g to Rumbaugh, Tat and gp120 are believed to cause dementia by reducing the expression of a brain chemical called EAAT-2 (excitatory amino acid transporter-2). ......f a woman's ovaries, raises her risk of developing dementia or cognitive impairment. Risk is especially increa...lowed them over time to see whether they developed dementia or cognitive impairment. Dementia or cognitive impairment was determined by interviewing a family m...