Alzheimer's in the News - July 2024

The Alzheimer’s Hub of Hope has four sections: Heroes, Highlights, Headlines and Helpers/Caregivers. This post is aligned to the headlines section.

I’ve selected 25 AD news articles for the month of July and summarized the top five for your convenience.

Photo by Thomas Charters on Unsplash

This 1 Dementia Symptom May Appear Years Before Memory Loss

I’ve copied and pasted the main points from this research article. There is more detail on the mechanics of the research and the use of virtual reality that was used to draw their conclusions in the article.

People at risk of Alzheimer’s disease have impaired spatial navigation prior to problems with other cognitive functions, including memory. This was seen among 100 patients who were “25 years younger than their estimated age of dementia onset.”

No matter the scale of their predisposition to dementia, those who were at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s tended to do worse at the navigating task ― regardless of how good their other cognitive scores were.

The study’s first author, neuroscientist Dr. Coco Newton, said, “Our results indicated that this type of navigation behaviour change might represent the very earliest diagnostic signal in the Alzheimer’s disease continuum – when people move from being unimpaired to showing manifestation of the disease.”

How a common mental health issue can raise risk of Alzheimer's by SEVEN-FOLD, first-of-its-kind study shows

A new study has found that living with anxiety may also radically raise a person's risk of developing dementia. Adults over 60 diagnosed with anxiety in the last 10 years were about three times more likely to develop dementia than those without the condition.

And those who were diagnosed with anxiety before age 70 had even worse odds, as they were up to seven times more likely to develop dementia.

Some evidence also suggests that anxiety causes excess levels of stress hormones, leading to inflammation in the brain that releases toxins and slows cognitive function, resulting in dementia. The study adds to a growing body of research suggesting that mental health could be tied to cognitive impairment.

Most of the Australians included in the study had completed at least a trade school education and had a history of tobacco smoking. (I’d be interested in knowing the study results for non-smokers).

'These findings support anxiety as a potential modifiable risk factor for dementia and point to the possible role of managing anxiety in middle aged and “young” older adults to reduce the risk of dementia in later life.'

Two new dementia risks identified by major report

Treating failing eyesight and high cholesterol are two new ways to lower the risk of dementia developing, a major report suggests. Scientists have now identified 14 health issues which, if reduced or eliminated, could theoretically prevent nearly half of dementias in the world.

So how could vision loss be linked to dementia? Scientists do not know exactly, but they say that in later life it could be down to the brain shrinking because it no longer needs to process certain aspects of vision. Vision loss can also "restrict people's lives, making them go out less, [be] more isolated and have fewer new experiences", says Prof Livingston.

The article is silent regarding how high cholesterol increases risk.

The 14 risks are categorized by early-life, mid-life and late-life below.

Early-Life Risks

• Less Education

Mid-Life Risks

• Hearing Loss

• High Cholesterol

• Depression

• Brain Injury

• Physical Inactivity

• Diabetes

• Smoking

• Hypertension

• Obesity

• Excessive Alcohol

Late-life Risks

• Social Isolation

• Air Pollution

• Visual Loss

New Scripps Research study examines link between sleep and dementia in women

Alzheimer’s disease — the most common form of dementia — affects twice as many women as men. Now, there's a new study to try to figure out whether how much sleep women get could be partly to blame.

Scripps Research is launching the REFRESH-Neurocognitive Outcomes in Women study for women 55 and older. Participants will be asked to wear a Fitbit device so researchers can monitor their sleeping patterns.

The head of the study, Dr. Stuti Jaiswal, says having disruptive sleep was always believed to be an effect of dementia but that now there's good evidence it could be connected to actually developing the disease. This is the classic “what came first the chicken or the egg” question.

If sleep is causal in developing AD it would be a modifiable risk factor which could be addressed to reduce a person’s risk.

If you are a biological female 55 years or older and want to participate in the study you can get the details here.

This Dementia Symptoms Checklist Can Make Seeing A GP About It Easier

This is a useful checklist to take to a general practitioner to assist in the assessment of AD. Be sure to be able to discuss these items when meeting with your doctor.

Memory and mental ability problems

• Memory loss – difficulty learning new information or forgetting recent events or people’s names

• Struggling to find the right word

• Difficulty judging distances or mistaking reflections or patterns for other objects

• Struggling to make decisions, or making careless or risky decisions

• Losing track of time and dates

• Asking the same question over again, or repeating phrases

• Putting objects in unusual places

Problems with daily living activities

• Struggling with tasks like paying bills, planning ahead, shopping

• Difficulty getting enough sleep

• Getting lost in familiar places

Mood and behaviour problems

• Becoming easily upset, irritable, or aggressive

• Symptoms of depression, like feeling sad or hopeless

• Symptoms of anxiety, like feeling very worried or uneasy

• Withdrawal or losing interest in things I previously enjoyed

• Acting inappropriately or out of character

• Feeling restless and walking about

Notes on other symptoms or concerns

Hearing problems?

Sight problems?

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Does Medicare pay for dementia care? Here’s what coverage you can expect for treatments and therapies

13% of patients with dementia may instead have cognitive decline from cirrhosis

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s risk is higher for people with body fat in two specific areas

Breakthrough nasal spray could clear away Alzheimer's-causing proteins in the brain

10 Signs It’s Time for a Cognitive Assessment

This Is What Lucid Episodes Look Like For Dementia Sufferers

CARING FOR THE DEEPLY FORGETFUL: AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. STEPHEN POST (1 hour 15 audio) (note - for the 17% of subscribers located in the Cleveland, Ohio area you may find Dr. Post’s references to northeast Ohio and Case Medical School of interest).

Study finds factors that help some people resist cognitive decline in Alzheimer's

Scientists create AI tool that helps predict Alzheimer's with up to 82% accuracy

‘It comes for your very soul’: how Alzheimer’s undid my dazzling, creative wife in her 40s

All the Alzheimer’s Research We Didn’t Do ($1 paywall)

Palm Beach Gardens woman one of the first to receive infusion of new Alzheimer's treatment (2 minute video)

Mayo Clinic finds new type of memory loss that’s often mistaken for Alzheimer’s

Predicting Alzheimer's decline: New model offers personalized insights for patients

Study finds possible new target for early treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Gene variant slows form of inherited Alzheimer’s disease

A protein called Reelin keeps popping up in brains that resist aging and Alzheimer’s

Millions of Americans Are Estimated To Have Alzheimer's Disease (good videos at the bottom of the page)

European drug regulator rejects Alzheimer’s treatment Leqembi from Biogen, Eisai

Check Up: Europe delivers blow to Alzheimer’s research