Blog Category: Alzheimer’s

New Study of Antipsychotic Use in Dementia

Call for guidelines for the use of antipsychotic drugs by people with dementia in nursing homes. New study suggests regular scrutiny of prescriptions and targeted education for physicians and nurses. [more…]…

Institute of Medicine Report on Cognitive Aging

The Institute of Medicine has recently released a report entitled Cognitive Aging: Progress in Understanding and Opportunities for Action. This special report addresses “the emerging concept of cognitive aging, the importance of this issue for the nation’s public health, and …

New Study Cites Tau As The Driver In Alzheimer’s Disease

A study by the Mayo Clinic of over 3,600 postmortem brains showed that progression of dysfunctional tau protein drives the cognitive decline and memory loss seen in Alzheimer’s disease. Amyloid  builds up as dementia progresses, but is not the primary …

Sense of Smell May Predict Risk for Cognitive Decline

Two studies presented at the 2014 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AICC) in Copenhagen this month demonstrated that a decrease in the ability to identify odors was significantly associated with loss of brain cell function and progression to Alzheimer’s disease. There …

Artistic Talent Remains Intact Despite Vascular Dementia

According to a study by physicians at St. Michael’s Hospital in Canada, artistic skills may be well preserved in the brains of artists even after many years battling the deleterious effects of vascular dementia.

A paper published in the Canadian

Family history of Alzheimer’s doubles risk

Relatives of people with Alzheimer’s disease are more than twice as likely to develop abnormal brain pathology associated with the condition compared with individuals who don’t have a family history of the disease, a recent study in PLOS ONE said. …

L-Dopa Improves Decision-Making In Older Adults

A study published online  in Nature Neuroscience has demonstrated that a drug widely used to treat Parkinson’s Disease can help to reverse age-related impairments in decision making in some older people.  Researchers from Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging describe the …

Dementia is the Second Largest Contributor to Death

According to a report released this week by the Alzheimer’s Association, one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another dementia in the United States. The new Alzheimer’s Association 2013 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report shows that while deaths …

Alzheimer’s Disease Numbers Projected To Triple by 2050

According to a study published in Neurology journal this week, the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease in the U.S. is expected to triple in the next 40 years.

Researchers analyzed information from 10,802 African-American and Caucasian people living in …