Links for Keyword: Alzheimers

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More Than Memory: Coping With The Other Ills Of Alzheimer's

Rebecca Hersher The first problem with the airplane bathroom was its location. It was March. Greg O'Brien and his wife, Mary Catherine, were flying back to Boston from Los Angeles, sitting in economy seats in the middle of the plane. "We're halfway, probably over Chicago," Greg remembers, "and Mary Catherine said, 'Go to the bathroom.' " "It just sounded like my mother," Greg says. So I said 'no.' " Mary Catherine persisted, urging her husband of 40 years to use the restroom. People started looking at them. "It was kind of funny," says Greg. Mary Catherine was more alarmed than amused. Greg has early-onset Alzheimer's, which makes it increasingly hard for him to keep track of thoughts and feelings over the course of minutes or even seconds. It's easy to get into a situation where you feel like you need to use the bathroom, but then forget. And they had already been on the plane for hours. Finally, Greg started toward the restroom at the back of the plane, only to find the aisle was blocked by an attendant serving drinks. Mary Catherine gestured to him. "Use the one in first class!" At that point, on top of the mild anxiety most people feel when they slip into first class to use the restroom, Greg was feeling overwhelmed by the geography of the plane. He pulled back the curtain dividing the seating sections. "This flight attendant looks at me like she has no use for me. I just said 'Look, I really have to go the bathroom,' and she says 'OK, just go.' " © 2017 npr

Related chapters from BP7e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior; Chapter 17: Learning and Memory
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development; Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 23772 - Posted: 06.26.2017

Preventing Dementia: New Report Says Not Much Is Proved to Work

By Sharon Begley, STAT To anyone who’s aware that efforts to develop Alzheimer’s drug treatments have met failure after failure, and to have therefore decided that prevention is the only hope, a U.S. panel of experts issued a sobering message on Thursday: Don’t count on it. From physical activity to avoiding high blood pressure to brain training, a 17-member committee assembled by the National Academies of Sciences concluded, no interventions are “supported by high-strength evidence.” Instead, some high-quality studies found that one or another intervention worked, but other equally rigorous studies found they didn’t. 1. Cognitive training The evidence for programs aimed at boosting reasoning, problem-solving, memory, and speed of processing does include randomized trials that reported benefits from brain training, but the report calls that evidence “low to moderate strength.” One problem: There seemed to be benefits for two years, but not after five or 10. Results in other randomized studies were even more equivocal. There are also data from studies that are less rigorous, leading the committee to conclude that brain training (computer-based or not) can delay or slow age-related cognitive decline—but not Alzheimer’s. 2. Controlling blood pressure Evidence that this helps is weaker still. © 2017 Scientific American

Related chapters from BP7e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 23763 - Posted: 06.23.2017

Smell Test May Sniff out Oncoming Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s

By David Noonan Sight and hearing get all the glory, but the often overlooked and underappreciated sense of smell—or problems with it—is a subject of rapidly growing interest among scientists and clinicians who battle Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Impaired smell is one of the earliest and most common symptoms of both, and researchers hope a better understanding will improve diagnosis and help unlock some of the secrets of these incurable conditions. The latest offering from the burgeoning field is a paper published this month in Lancet Neurology. It proposes neurotransmitter dysfunction as a possible cause of smell loss in a number of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. More than 90 percent of Parkinson’s patients report some level of olfactory dysfunction. And because problems with smell progress in Alzheimer’s, nearly all of those diagnosed with moderate to severe forms of the illness have odor identification issues. “It’s important, not just because it’s novel and interesting and simple but because the evidence is strong,” says Davangere Devanand, a professor of psychiatry and neurology at Columbia University. His most recent paper on the subject, a review, was published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry in December. Studies have shown impaired smell to be even stronger than memory problems as a predictor of cognitive decline in currently healthy adults. It is especially useful for forecasting the progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to full-blown Alzheimer’s. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, approximately 15 to 20 percent of people over 65 have MCI. About half of them go on to develop Alzheimer’s, Devanand says—and the sooner they are identified, the earlier doctors can begin interventions, including treatment with the few existing Alzheimer’s drugs. © 2017 Scientific American

Related chapters from BP7e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior; Chapter 9: Hearing, Vestibular Perception, Taste, and Smell
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development; Chapter 6: Hearing, Balance, Taste, and Smell
Link ID: 23729 - Posted: 06.12.2017

Holding On to My Pets, as Alzheimer’s Takes My Memories

By PHILIP S. GUTIS My husband, Tim, and a duo of Jack Russell terriers arrived in my life 13 years ago. They were a package deal that included Osceola Jack, a champion Frisbee player who once was the Mighty Dog actor in the famous commercials, and his pup, the equally mighty Samantha. Later our family grew with Beatrice, a sweet cattle dog mix from Florida who belonged to Tim’s brother but needed a new home. As an introvert, I have not always had the best people skills, but my ability to connect with animals has never flagged. Many of my best memories involve animals. But now things are changing. Last summer, at age 54, I learned I had early onset Alzheimer’s. Amid the many worries that accompany this diagnosis, I am afraid that I will lose my cherished ability to bond with — or even remember — my animal companions much longer. Since my 20s and 30s, I’ve had some weird memory gaps. I once forgot that a childhood best friend worked for me at the school newspaper at Penn State. I wrote off these memory holes to a busy life and career. I worked long days, spent hours on airplanes and trains, managed dozens of people and grappled with complicated issues. I told myself that all of that work, stress and the sheer volume of information that I was expected to retain had to take a toll on my ability to remember everything. But a few years ago, I started to notice that I just wasn’t performing as well as I used to. Keeping track of big projects became increasingly difficult. Skills that were sometimes challenging (simple math, remembering names, understanding maps and directions) became all but impossible. Some days my memory was so bad that I wanted to wear a shirt that said, “Sorry, I just cannot remember your name.” My sister found an online advertisement for people concerned about memory loss. I called the phone number and scheduled an in-person screening. Bring someone familiar with you, the woman on the phone said. I brought Tim, who stayed close as a neurologist poked and prodded me, and vials and vials of blood were drawn. And then came the memory tests. © 2017 The New York Times Company

Persistent Pain May Increase Dementia Risk

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR Chronic pain may be linked to an increasing risk for dementia. Researchers interviewed 10,065 people over 62 in 1998 and 2000, asking whether they suffered “persistent pain,” defined as being often troubled with moderate or severe pain. Then they tracked their health through 2012. After adjusting for many variables, they found that compared with those who reported no pain problems, people who reported persistent pain in both 1998 and 2000 had a 9 percent more rapid decline in memory performance. Moreover, the probability of dementia increased 7.7 percent faster in those with persistent pain compared with those without. The study, in JAMA Internal Medicine, does not prove cause and effect. But chronic pain may divert attention from other mental activity, leading to poor memory, and some studies have found that allaying pain with opioids can lead to cognitive improvements. Still, the lead author, Dr. Elizabeth L. Whitlock, an anesthesiologist at the University of California at San Francisco, acknowledged that treatment with opioids is problematic, and that safely controlling chronic pain is a problem that so far has no satisfactory solution. “I’d encourage clinicians to be aware of the cognitive implications of a simple report of pain,” she said. “It’s a simple question to ask, and the answer can be used to identify a population at high risk of functional and cognitive problems.” © 2017 The New York Times Company

Related chapters from BP7e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior; Chapter 8: General Principles of Sensory Processing, Touch, and Pain
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development; Chapter 5: The Sensorimotor System
Link ID: 23719 - Posted: 06.08.2017

Human tests suggest young blood cuts cancer and Alzheimer’s risk

By Sally Adee Older people who received transfusions of young blood plasma have shown improvements in biomarkers related to cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease, New Scientist has learned. “I don’t want to say the word panacea, but here’s something about teenagers,” Jesse Karmazin, founder of startup Ambrosia, told New Scientist. “Whatever is in young blood is causing changes that appear to make the ageing process reverse.” Since August 2016, Karmazin’s company has been transfusing people aged 35 and older with plasma – the liquid component of blood – taken from people aged between 16 and 25. So far, 70 people have been treated, all of whom paid Ambrosia to be included in the study. Karmazin spoke to New Scientist ahead of presenting some of the results from the study at the Recode conference in Los Angeles today. These results come from blood tests conducted before and a month after plasma treatment, and imply young blood transfusions may reduce the risk of several major diseases associated with ageing. Blood biomarkers None of the people in the study had cancer at the time of treatment, however Karmazin’s team looked at the levels of certain proteins called carcinoembryonic antigens. These chemicals are found in the blood of healthy people at low concentrations, but in larger amounts these antigens can be a sign of having cancer. © Copyright New Scientist Ltd.

A 1-Hour Walk, 3 Times a Week, Has Benefits for Dementia

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS Exercise may bolster the brain function and thinking skills of people with dementia, according to a new report. The study’s findings suggest that walking a few times per week might alter the trajectory of the disease and improve the physical well-being of people who develop a common form of age-related memory loss that otherwise has few treatments. The study looked at vascular cognitive impairment, the second most frequent form of dementia worldwide, after the better-known Alzheimer’s disease. The condition arises when someone’s blood vessels become damaged and blood no longer flows well to the brain. It is often associated with high blood pressure and heart disease. One of the particular hallmarks of vascular dementia in its early stages, researchers have found, is that it tends to make the brain function less efficiently. In past brain-scan studies, people with a diagnosis of vascular cognitive impairment generally showed more neural activity in parts of their brains that are involved with memory, decision-making and attention than did people without the disease, indicating that their brains had to work harder during normal thinking than healthier brains did. But while a great deal of research attention has been devoted to Alzheimer’s disease, less has been known about the progression of and potential curbs on vascular dementia. Some research has indicated that reducing blood pressure lessens the symptoms of the disease. Exercise can likewise improve blood pressure and cardiovascular health. And some research suggests that frequent, brisk walks may improve memory and physical abilities in those in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. But, rather surprisingly, few past studies had examined whether exercise might also improve brain function in people with vascular dementia. So for the new study, which was published in April in The British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada and other institutions decided to look into the effects of walking on this type of dementia. © 2017 The New York Times Company

Anti-delirium strategy reduces after-surgery confusion in elderly

A daily 30-minute regimen designed to help elderly surgery patients stay oriented can cut the rate of postoperative delirium in half and help them return home sooner, according to a test among 377 volunteers in Taipei. After they were moved out of an intensive care unit, 15.1 percent given conventional treatment experienced delirium. But when hospital workers got patients moving faster, helped them brush their teeth, gave them facial exercises and talked to them in ways to help them understand what was happening, the delirium rate was just 6.6 percent. And while the patients who didn’t get the intervention typically stayed in the hospital for 14 days, those who did were discharged an average two days sooner. The study “draws needed attention to delirium,” which can cause problems when confused patients, for example, try to extricate themselves from the tubes and equipment needed to recover, said Lillian Kao, acute care surgery chief for McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, who wasn’t involved with the study. Estimates of delirium’s prevalence vary widely, ranging from 13 percent to 50 percent among people who have non-heart surgery, according to an editorial accompanying the study, which appears in JAMA Surgery. © 1996-2017 The Washington Post

Related chapters from BP7e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior; Chapter 18: Attention and Higher Cognition
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development; Chapter 14: Attention and Consciousness
Link ID: 23674 - Posted: 05.29.2017

U.S. Alzheimer's Deaths Jump 54 Percent; More Dying at Home

By Julie Steenhuysen, U.S. deaths from Alzheimer's disease rose by more than 50 percent from 1999 to 2014, and rates are expected to continue to rise, reflecting the nation's aging population and increasing life expectancy, American researchers said on Thursday. In addition, a larger proportion of people with Alzheimer's are dying at home rather than a medical facility, according to the report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for 3.6 percent of all deaths in 2014, the report said. Researchers have long predicted increased cases of Alzheimer's as more of the nation's baby boom generation passes the age of 65, putting them at higher risk for the age-related disease. The number of U.S. residents aged 65 and older living with Alzheimer's is expected to nearly triple to 13.8 million by 2050. There is no cure for Alzheimer's, a fatal brain disease that slowly robs its victims of the ability to think and care for themselves. According to the report by researchers at the CDC and Georgia State University, 93,541 people died from Alzheimer’s in the United States in 2014, a 54.5 percent increase compared with 1999. © 2017 Scientific American

A New Approach to Alzheimer's Treatment

By James Hendrix Having witnessed the success of combination therapy in HIV, cancer and heart disease, the time has come for Alzheimer’s disease. At meetings convened by the Alzheimer’s Association and others, a consensus is emerging that the most effective Alzheimer’s treatments may be those that attack the disease on multiple fronts. Looking back for a moment… In the 1980s, the world faced a new, unknown virus. HIV/AIDS was spreading virtually unchecked, devastating millions of lives and spurring lively scientific debate. Today, an HIV diagnosis is no longer a death sentence. AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 45 percent since their peak in 2005 according to UNAIDS, a United Nations program for global action against the spread of the virus. As researchers learned more about HIV, they developed new classes of antiviral medications—each attacking the virus in a unique way. Physicians eventually began prescribing two or more of these drugs together and emerging scientific evidence started revealing the most effective combinations. Today, a powerful three-drug antiviral “cocktail” is allowing people with HIV to live long lives. Advances in understanding the progression of Alzheimer’s point to a number of underlying biological processes involved in the development of the disease. By leveraging this knowledge, we now have a singular opportunity to pioneer new approaches against Alzheimer’s, including combination therapies. © 2017 Scientific American,

Could Magnetic Brain Stimulation Help People with Alzheimer’s?

By Esther Landhuis On the heels of one failed drug trial after another, a recent study suggests people with early Alzheimer’s disease could reap modest benefits from a device that uses magnetic fields to produce small electric currents in the brain. Alzheimer’s is a degenerative brain disorder that afflicts more than 46 million people worldwide. At present there are no treatments that stop or slow its progression, although several approved drugs offer temporary relief from memory loss and other cognitive symptoms by preventing the breakdown of chemical messengers among nerve cells. The new study tested a regimen that combines computerized cognitive training with a procedure known as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared rTMS devices for some migraine sufferers as well as for people with depression who have not responded to antidepressant medications. Last month at the 13th International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases in Vienna, Israel-based Neuronix reported results of a phase III clinical trial of its therapy system, known as neuroAD, in Alzheimer’s patients. More than 99 percent of Alzheimer’s drug trials have failed. The last time a phase III trial for a wholly new treatment succeeded (not just a combination of two already approved drugs) was about 15 years ago. The recent study did not test a drug but rather a device, which usually has an easier time gaining FDA clearance. NeuroAD has been approved for use in Europe and the U.K., where six weeks of therapy costs about $6,700. The system is not commercially available in the U.S., but based on the latest results the company submitted an application for FDA clearance last fall. © 2017 Scientific American

Test combo could distinguish Alzheimer’s earlier than ever

By Andy Coghlan Combining multiple tests could help doctors distinguish between two leading causes of cognitive decline at an earlier stage. Being able to separate the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s from another degenerative brain condition called dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) could be crucial to finding treatments for both kinds of dementia. When someone starts to exhibit mild cognitive impairments, it is often difficult to tell whether these might be the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s or DLB, or just normal age-related declines in cognition. Yet this distinction is vital: so far, despite billions of dollars spent on research, progress towards drugs that stabilise or cure dementia has stalled. Many blame the failure on treating people too late and argue that the same drugs might work better if given a decade or two before symptoms fully develop. Now, Dilman Sadiq at University College London and her colleagues have attempted to rectify this problem by analysing clinical histories, the results of cognitive tests and psychiatric interviews with 429 people originally diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, who were monitored for up to 14 years. Each person was diagnosed at one UK hospital between 1994 and 2015. Of this group, 107 progressed to Alzheimer’s, 21 to DLB and 164 remained stable with mild cognitive impairment. The rest developed a mixture of other conditions. Sadiq’s team used their findings to identify a variety of tests and symptom profiles that appear to predict which condition a person might get at the earliest stage of the disease. © Copyright New Scientist Ltd.

Diet Sodas Tied to Dementia and Stroke

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR A new study links diet soft drinks to an increased risk for stroke and dementia. Researchers studied more than 4,000 people over 45 who had filled out food-frequency questionnaires and had periodic health examinations between 1991 and 2001. The scientists tracked their health over the next 10 years and found 97 cases of stroke and 81 cases of dementia. The study, in the journal Stroke, found that compared with those who did not drink diet soda, people who drank one to six artificially sweetened drinks a week had twice the risk of stroke. There were similar, although weaker, associations for dementia risk. The reasons for the link remain unknown. The study adjusted for age, sex, education, physical activity, diabetes, smoking and many other characteristics that might affect the risks. But the senior author, Dr. Sudha Seshadri, a professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, said that there were additional variables the study could not address. For example, she said, people might have switched to diet soda because they already had cardiovascular problems. Still, she added, there are health benefits associated with some drinks, like tea or coffee, “but not with soda of any kind, either diet or not.” © 2017 The New York Times Company

Related chapters from BP7e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior; Chapter 13: Homeostasis: Active Regulation of the Internal Environment
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development; Chapter 9: Homeostasis: Active Regulation of the Internal Environment
Link ID: 23542 - Posted: 04.27.2017

Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

Doing moderate exercise several times a week is the best way to keep the mind sharp if you're over 50, research suggests. Thinking and memory skills were most improved when people exercised the heart and muscles on a regular basis, a review of 39 studies found. This remained true in those who already showed signs of cognitive decline. Taking up exercise at any age was worthwhile for the mind and body, the Australian researchers said. Exercises such as T'ai Chi were recommended for people over the age of 50 who couldn't manage other more challenging forms of exercise, the study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine said. Physical activity has long been known to reduce the risk of a number of diseases, including type-2 diabetes and some cancers, and it is thought to play a role in warding off the brain's natural decline as we enter middle age. The theory is that through exercise the brain receives a greater supply of blood, oxygen and nutrients that boost its health as well as a growth hormone that helps the formation of new neurons and connections. In this analysis of previous studies, researchers from the University of Canberra looked at the effects of at least four weeks of structured physical exercise on the brain function of adults. In a variety of brain tests, they found evidence of aerobic exercise improving cognitive abilities, such as thinking, reading, learning and reasoning, while muscle training - for example, using weights - had a significant effect on memory and the brain's ability to plan and organise, the so-called executive functions. Joe Northey, study author and researcher from the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise at Canberra, said the findings were convincing enough to enable both types of exercise to be prescribed to improve brain health in the over-50s. © 2017 BBC.

Experts excited by brain 'wonder-drug'

By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, Scientists hope they have found a drug to stop all neurodegenerative brain diseases, including dementia. In 2013, a UK Medical Research Council team stopped brain cells dying in an animal for the first time, creating headline news around the world. But the compound used was unsuitable for people, as it caused organ damage. Now two drugs have been found that should have the same protective effect on the brain and are already safely used in people. "It's really exciting," said Prof Giovanna Mallucci, from the MRC Toxicology Unit in Leicester. She wants to start human clinical trials on dementia patients soon and expects to know whether the drugs work within two to three years. Why might they work? The novel approach is focused on the natural defence mechanisms built into brain cells. When a virus hijacks a brain cell it leads to a build-up of viral proteins. Cells respond by shutting down nearly all protein production in order to halt the virus's spread. Many neurodegenerative diseases involve the production of faulty proteins that activate the same defences, but with more severe consequences. The brain cells shut down production for so long that they eventually starve themselves to death. This process, repeated in neurons throughout the brain, can destroy movement, memory or even kill, depending on the disease. It is thought to take place in many forms of neurodegeneration, so safely disrupting it could treat a wide range of diseases. In the initial study, the researchers used a compound that prevented the defence mechanism kicking in. © 2017 BBC.

North Dakota Is a Laboratory for the Future of Alzheimer’s in America

By Grace Rubenstein, North Dakota’s sparse geography has long made it a natural frontier: Pioneers here pushed the boundaries of westward expansion, then agriculture, and recently domestic oil drilling. Now the state finds itself on the leading edge of a new boom that it never would have chosen: Alzheimer’s disease. Cases are rocketing up across the United States, and especially in North Dakota, which has the country’s second highest death rate from the disease. While Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death nationally, it already ranks third here. “Everybody knows somebody” affected by the disease, said Kendra Binger, a program manager with the Alzheimer’s Association of Minnesota and North Dakota. As public awareness rises along with the numbers of cases, “it’s hard to ignore anymore.” This makes the state an ideal laboratory to glimpse at the future of Alzheimer’s in America, and to identify strategies that could help the rest of the country cope. The devastating disease has strained families and the state budget. So North Dakota — a place that prides itself on personal independence and financial parsimony — has found new ways to support its residents and a new consensus to spend money on prevention. The state’s primary strategy is to assist family caregivers — the estimated 30,000 North Dakota spouses, siblings, sons, and daughters looking after loved ones with dementia. A half-dozen consultants roam the state to evaluate families’ needs, train caregivers, connect them to services, and offer advice. Studies show the program has helped families keep their loved ones out of nursing homes and save the state money. © 2017 Scientific American,

Can Alzheimer’s disease steal one’s consciousness?

by Emilie Reas Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been characterized as a “complete loss of self.” Early on when memory begins to fade, the victim has difficulty recalling names, their grocery list or where they put their keys. As the disease progresses, they have trouble staying focused, planning and performing basic daily activities. From the exterior, dementia appears to ravage one’s intellect and personality; yet as mere observers, it’s impossible to ascertain how consciousness of the self and environment is transformed by dementia. The celebrated late neurologist Oliver Sacks once suggested that, “Style, neurologically, is the deepest part of one’s being and may be preserved, almost to the last, in dementia.” Is this remaining neurological “style” sufficient to preserve consciousness? Is the AD patient aware of their deteriorating cognition, retaining a sense of identity or morality, or can they still connect with friends and loved ones? Emerging advances in neuroscience have enabled researchers to more precisely probe the AD brain, suggesting that although some aspects of consciousness are compromised by dementia, others are remarkably spared. Scientists are beginning to piece together how the selective loss of some functions, but the preservation of others, alters consciousness in AD. A recent study found that the severity of cognitive impairment strongly relates to “meta-cognition” (reflecting on one’s own condition), moral judgments and thinking about the future, whereas basic personal identity and body awareness remain. Perhaps the most widely observed deficit in consciousness is “anosognosia,” impaired awareness of one’s own illness; whereas individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI; considered a precursor to full AD) are aware of their declining memory, AD patients may be unaware of their impairments. These behavioral signs suggest that only some aspects of consciousness and self-awareness are truly lost in AD.

Vitamin E supplements do not seem to help stave off dementia

By Linda Searing The precise cause, or causes, of dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease remain unclear, but one theory points to molecules called free radicals that can damage nerve cells. This damage, called oxidative stress, may lead to changes in the brain over time that result in dementia. Might antioxidant supplements prevent this? The study involved 7,540 men 60 and older (average age, 67) with no indications of dementia and no history of serious head injury, substance abuse or neurological conditions that affect cognition. They were randomly assigned to take vitamin E (an antioxidant, 400 International Units daily), selenium (also an antioxidant, 200 micrograms daily), both vitamin E and selenium or a placebo. The men also had their memory assessed periodically. In just over five years, 325 of the men (about 4 percent) developed dementia, with essentially no difference in the rate of occurrence between those who took one or both supplements and those who took the placebo. The researchers concluded that the antioxidant supplements “did not forestall dementia and are not recommended as preventive agents.” Who may be affected? Older men. The risk for dementia increases with advanced age and is most common among the very elderly. Memory loss is the most well-known symptom, but people with dementia may also have problems thinking, speaking, controlling emotions and doing daily activities such as getting dressed and eating. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, affecting more than 5.5 million Americans, including more than 10 percent of those 65 and older and more women than men. Caveats Participants took the supplements for a relatively short time. Whether the findings would apply to women was not tested. The study did not prove that the dementia developed by the study participants was caused by oxidative stress. © 1996-2017 The Washington Post

New Alzheimer's test can predict age when disease will appear

Hannah Devlin Scientists have developed a new genetic test for Alzheimer’s risk that can be used to predict the age at which a person will develop the disease. A high score on the test, which is based on 31 genetic markers, can translate to being diagnosed many years earlier than those with a low-risk genetic profile, the study found. Those ranked in the top 10% in terms of risk were more than three times as likely to develop Alzheimer’s during the course of the study, and did so more than a decade before those who ranked in the lowest 10%. Strobe lighting provides a flicker of hope in the fight against Alzheimer’s Read more Rahul Desikan, of the University of California – who led the international effort, said the test could be used to calculate any individual’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s that year. “That is, if you don’t already have dementia, what is your yearly risk for AD onset, based on your age and genetic information,” he said. The so-called polygenic hazard score test was developed using genetic data from more than 70,000 individuals, including patients with Alzheimer’s disease and healthy elderly people. It is already known that genetics plays a powerful role in Alzheimer’s. Around a quarter of patients have a strong family history of the disease, and scientists have shown this is partly explained by a gene called ApoE, which comes in three versions, and is known to have a powerful influence on the risk of getting the most common late-onset type of Alzheimer’s. One version of ApoE appears to reduce risk by up to 40%, while those with two copies (one from each parent) of the high-risk version can increase risk by 12 times.

Her Memory Fading, Paula Wolfert Fights Back With Food

By KIM SEVERSON SONOMA, Calif. — The first thing Paula Wolfert wants to make a guest is coffee blended with butter from grass-fed cows and something called brain octane oil. She waves a greasy plastic bottle of the oil around her jumble of a kitchen like a preacher who has taken up a serpent. Never mind that this is the woman who introduced tagines, Aleppo pepper and cassoulet to American kitchens, wrote nine cookbooks and once possessed a palate the food writer Ruth Reichl declared the best she’d ever encountered. Ms. Wolfert, 78, has dementia. She can’t cook much, even if she wanted to. Which, by the way, she doesn’t. She learned she probably had Alzheimer’s disease in 2013, but she suspected something wasn’t right long before. Words on a page sometimes made no sense. Complex questions started to baffle her. Since she has always been an audacious and kinetic conversationalist with a touch of hypochondria, friends didn’t notice anything was wrong. Doctors spoke of “senior moments.” But she knew. One day, Ms. Wolfert went to make an omelet for her husband, the crime novelist William Bayer. She had to ask him how. The woman who once marched up to the French chef Jean-Louis Palladin and told him a dish didn’t have enough salt can no longer taste the difference between a walnut and a pecan, or smell whether the mushrooms are burning. The list of eight languages she once understood has been reduced to English. Maybe 40 percent of the words she knew have evaporated. “What am I going to do, cry about it?” Ms. Wolfert said in an interview at her home this month, the slap of her Brooklyn accent still sharp. After all, she points out, her first husband left her in Morocco with two small children and $2,000: “I cried for 20 minutes and I thought, ‘This isn’t going to do any good.’” © 2017 The New York Times Company

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