The largest international study ever conducted on Alzheimer's disease (I-GAP) has identified 11 new genetic regions that increase the risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s, plus 13 other genes yet to be validated. Genetic data came from 74,076 patients and controls from 15 countries.
Eleven genes for Alzheimer's disease have previously been identified.
A new review from The Cochrane Library, based on six trials involving 289 people, has concluded that exercise can improve cognition and the ability of older people with dementia to carry out daily activities, such as walking short distances or getting up from a chair. However, there was no clear effect of exercise on depression in older people with dementia, and the reviewers say that more evidence is needed to understand how exercise could reduce the burden on family caregivers and health systems.
A ten-year study involving 2,092 older adults (average age 76) has found that people tended to lose awareness of memory problems two to three years before the onset of dementia.
Being unaware of your own memory problems is common in dementia, but previous research has focused on those already diagnosed with dementia. In this study, participants had no cognitive impairment at the beginning of the study.
As we all know, people are living longer and obesity is at appalling levels. For both these (completely separate!) reasons, we expect to see growing rates of dementia. A new analysis using data from the long-running Framingham Heart Study offers some hope to individuals, however.
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.
Orthostatic hypotension is the name for the experience of dizziness or light-headedness on standing up. Previous research has suggested an association between orthostatic hypotension and cognitive decline in older adults.
Key points that are new in the 5th International Consensus statement on concussion in sport:
Increases in brain activity are matched by increases in blood flow. Neurons require a huge amount of energy, but can’t store it themselves, so must rely on blood to deliver the nutrients they need.
Two new studies help explain how blood flow is controlled.
The first study found blood appears to be stored in the blood vessels in the space between the brain and skull.
Data from more than 14,265 people older adults (51+) multiple times over a decade or more through the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study has found that people with higher “multimorbidity scores” showed much faster cognitive decline than those with lower scores, even though most of the chronic conditions included in the index had no direct relationship with brain health. The higher the score, the faster the decline.
Data from 915 older adults (mean age 81.4) participating in the very long-running Rush Memory and Aging Project, has found that those who reported eating seafood less than once a week showed greater cognitive decline compared to those who ate at least one seafood meal per week.
A review of 19 studies involving over 162,000 people has found that adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a 21% reduced risk of diabetes, with a greater effect (27%) for those at high risk for cardiovascular disease. The association was found in both European and non-European groups.
The research was presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-03/acoc-mdm032614.php