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Alzheimer's & Dementia

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Review ranks safety, effectiveness of Alzheimer's drugs
  • A review of the safety and effectiveness of the four drugs approved for Alzheimer's treatment found that donepezil was the most effective, but also the most likely to produce side effects.
  • A small study found that combining a specific care management program with memantine multiplied the drug’s ability to improve daily function by about 7.5 times.

I rarely report on drugs, but because I do have a number of early reports on the four drugs approved for use with Alzheimer’s, I wanted to provide this update.

Weak handgrip may warn of cognitive impairment
  • A large study finds weaker handgrip strength is associated with a progressively greater risk of developing severe cognitive impairment.
  • Another large long-running study similarly finds slow walking speeds and weak grip strength is associated with a greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
  • Weaker grip strength, in those older than 65, was also linked to a higher risk of stroke.

A large study, involving nearly 14,000 older adults (50+) participating in the 2006 Health and Retirement Study, found that weaker handgrip strength was associated with a greater risk of developing cognitive impairment, especially severe impairment, over the eight-year study period.

These 5 healthy habits reduce dementia risk

There are five healthy behaviors that appear to significantly reduce the risk of dementia,

Tau tangles why TBI increases risk of Alzheimer's
  • Mouse study shows tau tangles may be behind increased Alzheimer's risk for those who have suffered a traumatic brain injury.

We know that traumatic brain injury increases the risk of later developing neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, but we haven't known why. New mouse studies suggest a reason.

Rapid blood pressure drops in middle age linked to dementia in old age
  • A large study indicates that an inclination to dizziness on standing up is associated with a greater risk of developing cognitive impairment and dementia decades later.

Data from over 11,500 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort has found evidence that orthostatic hypotension in middle age may increase the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia 20 years later.

Genes linked to Alzheimer's
  • Very large study finds 5 new genes linked to increased Alzheimer's risk.
  • A rare gene variant that protects APOE4 gene carriers from getting Alzheimer's has been identified.
  • Two large surveys found that verbal recall score was significantly affected by TOMM40 genotype. TOMM40 is adjacent to APOE on their chromosome.
  • A study found that TOMM40's effect on Alzheimer's depends on parental history.
  • Data from three very large studies has produced a tool for assessing an individual's genetic risk for developing Alzheimer's, based on 31 genetic markers.
  • A small study found that, of the top 9 genes that affect Alzheimer's risk, excluding the APOE gene, only 2 affect brain atrophy.
  • A new gene variant that is associated with greater amyloid plaque than APOE4 has been identified.

Five new risk genes for Alzheimer's disease

Genetic data from more than 94,000 individuals has revealed five new risk genes for Alzheimer's disease, and confirmed 20 known others. The new genes are: IQCK, ACE, ADAM10, ADAMTS1 and WWOX.

Why gum disease increases dementia risk
  • A very large Korean study found older adults with chronic periodontitis had a 6% higher risk for dementia.
  • Two animal studies found that the bacteria involved in gum disease increases amyloid-beta, brain inflammation, and neuron death.

Periodontitis raises dementia risk

Healthy lifestyle associated with lower dementia risk regardless of genes
  • A very large study found that an unhealthy lifestyle and high genetic risk were independently associated with higher dementia risk, and a healthy lifestyle reduced the risk for those at high genetic risk.

Data from 196,383 older adults (60+; mean age 64) in the UK Biobank found that a healthy lifestyle was associated with lower dementia risk regardless of genes.

Both an unhealthy lifestyle and high genetic risk were associated with higher dementia risk.

Healthy midlife diet may prevent dementia later

Data from the population-based Finnish Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Incidence of Dementia (CAIDE) study has revealed that healthy dietary choices in midlife may prevent dementia in later years. Out of 2,000 participants, 1,449 took part in the follow-up.

Inflamed iron-containing cells found in Alzheimer's brains

A post-mortem study of five Alzheimer's and five control brains has revealed the presence of iron-containing microglia in the subiculum of the Alzheimer's brains only. The subiculum lies within the hippocampus, a vital memory region affected early in Alzheimer's.

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