Latest Prevention of dementia Stories

Scientists have developed a new risk index that will increase their ability to predict the likelihood of dementia in patients over the age of 65.Reporting in the journal Neurology, researchers describe the 15-point checklist as a series of tests based on different characteristics that can predict a patient's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The checklist successfully predicted about half of the cases of dementia in a group of elderly people over a six-year period, scientists...

ST. PAUL, Minn. "“ A new tool can help predict whether people age 65 and older have a high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Research on the tool is published in the May 13, 2009, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "This new risk index could be very important both for research and for people at risk of developing dementia and their families," said study author Deborah E. Barnes, PhD, MPH, of the University of California,...

People who have lost brain cells in the hippocampus area of the brain are more likely to develop dementia, according to a study published in the March 17, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.The study involved 64 people with Alzheimer's disease, 44 people with mild cognitive impairment, which is the stage of memory problems that precedes Alzheimer's disease, and 34 people with no memory or thinking problems.MRI scans were performed on...

People who have parents diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or dementia may be more likely to have memory loss themselves in middle age, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 to May 2, 2009.For the study, researchers used the Framingham Heart Study to follow three generations of participants to study risk factors of Alzheimer's and other diseases. A total of 715 people belonging to the second...

Britons perceive greater societal stigma from diagnosis than do AmericansA new study has found that in spite of their universal health care system which facilitates access to free dementia care, older adults in the United Kingdom are less willing to undergo dementia screening than their counterparts in the U.S. because the Britons perceive greater societal stigma from diagnosis of the disease than do Americans.Researchers surveyed 125 older adults in Indianapolis and 120 older adults in Kent,...

People with Alzheimer's disease who also have diabetes or high blood pressure may die sooner than those who don't, U.S. researchers said. A study involved 323 people who had no memory problems when first tested but later developed dementia. Memory tests and physical exams were then given every 18 months. The study, published in the journal Neurology, found that after an Alzheimer's diagnosis was made, people with diabetes were twice as likely to die sooner than those without diabetes who...

By Marilynn Marchione CHICAGO - A milder type of mental decline that often precedes Alzheimer's disease is alarmingly more common than has been believed, and in men more than women, doctors reported Monday. Nearly a million older Americans slide from normal memory into mild impairment each year, researchers estimate, based on a Mayo Clinic study of Minnesota residents. That's on top of the half million Americans who develop full- blown Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia - a problem...

By John von Radowitz Commonly used blood pressure drugs could prove to be powerful new weapons against Alzheimer's, new research has suggested. Scientists found that the drugs, known as angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), both prevented the disease occurring and slowed its progression. The effect was "striking", according to the US researchers who reported their findings at an Alzheimer's conference in Chicago. A database at the US Department of Health Systems Veterans Affairs was...

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LONDON - Some doctors have long suspected that if the plaque that builds up in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease could be removed, they could be saved. But a new vaccine that did just that suggests the theory is wrong. British researchers gave 64 patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease an experimental vaccine designed to eliminate plaque from their brains. Some patients were followed for up to six years. Autopsies on seven patients who died of...

Exercise helps prevent many health problems but Canadian review of studies found there isn't enough evidence to show it helps treat dementia. Review lead author Dorothy Forbes of the University of Western Ontario said researchers have shown that exercise can improve cognition and mental health in older adults and some studies suggest that it could delay dementia from three to six years or reduce the risk that patients will develop cognitive problems. It is less clear if physical activity...