Dementia News and Research

Latest Dementia News and Research

Huperzine A for Alzheimer's disease

Existing evidence suggests that patients with Alzheimer’s disease who have taken Huperzine A have improved general cognitive function, global clinical status, functional performance and reduced behavioural disturbance compared to patients taking placebos.

17 Apr 2008

Anti-cholinergic drugs may increase cognitive decline in older people

Anticholinergic drugs, such as medicines for stomach cramps, ulcers, motion sickness, and urinary incontinence, may cause older people to experience greater decline in their thinking skills than people not taking the drugs, according to research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12–19, 2008.

17 Apr 2008

New insights on early Parkinson's provided by advanced MRI

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the brain affecting movement, speech, mood, behavior, thinking and sensation for which there is no known cause or cure.

17 Apr 2008

Yeast cells used to screen for potential Lou Gehrig's disease drugs

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are developing a novel approach to screen for drugs to combat neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, using yeast cells.

17 Apr 2008

2nd Alzheimer's vaccine by AFFiRiS

The Viennese biotech company Affiris is today taking stock of the progress achieved to date in its clinical Alzheimer's vaccination programme. All the Alzheimer's patients treated so far as part of the toxicological trials have tolerated the treatment extremely well. As a result, Affiris is among the leading international centres in the race to develop the first causal immunotherapy for Alzheimer's disease.

17 Apr 2008

Antipsychotic drugs increase risk of developing pneumonia in elderly

Elderly patients who use antipsychotic drugs have a 60 percent increased risk of developing pneumonia compared to non-users.

16 Apr 2008

Depression in seniors

Even after the age of 70, people prone to feelings of anxiety, worry, distress and insecurity face a risk for a first lifetime episode of clinically significant depression, according to a unique study led by a University of Rochester Medical Center researcher.

13 Apr 2008

West Australians above the age of 69 at risk of sun-related skin cancer death

A new Western Australian study has revealed the mortality from non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), commonly considered less dangerous than melanoma, is affecting older Australians at a worrying rate.

13 Apr 2008

Constituents in wine may protect against dementia

This is shown in research from the Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

11 Apr 2008

Your neighbourhood has an important effect on your health in later life

Research carried out at the Peninsula Medical School, South West England, has found strong links between neighbourhood deprivation and the physical and intellectual health of older people.

10 Apr 2008

Housework boosts mental health

Just 20 minutes of any physical activity, including housework, in a week is enough to boost mental health, reveals a large study published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

10 Apr 2008

Men who develop diabetes in mid-life have increased risk of Alzheimer's

Men who develop diabetes in mid-life appear to significantly increase their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a long-term study published in the April 9, 2008, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

10 Apr 2008

Depressives at an increase risk for Alzheimer's

According to researchers in Holland people who are depressed are at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

9 Apr 2008

Symptoms of depression do not appear to increase in early stages of Alzheimer's disease

Although individuals with depression may be more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, symptoms of depression do not appear to increase in the years before a diagnosis is made, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

8 Apr 2008

Depression and Alzheimer's

People who have had depression are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than people who have never had depression, according to a study published in the April 8, 2008, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

8 Apr 2008

Significant dementia risk attributable to small blood vessel damage

Autopsy data of 221 men and women found that the brains of one-third of individuals who had dementia before death showed evidence of small, cumulative blood vessel damage that can arise from hypertension or diabetes.

7 Apr 2008

New blood test gives early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases

A new blood test that can give an early diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease and distinguish between Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease could be launched this summer, reports Marina Murphy in SCI's Chemistry & Industry magazine.

7 Apr 2008

1/3 of risk for dementia attributable to small vessel disease, autopsy study shows

Alzheimer's disease may be what most people fear as they grow older, but autopsy data from a long-range study of 3,400 men and women in the Seattle region found that the brains of a third of those who had become demented before death showed evidence of small vessel damage: the type of small, cumulative injury that can come from hypertension or diabetes.

7 Apr 2008

Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography to help determine whether cognitive impairment will lead to Alzheimer's

With nearly 10 million baby boomers at risk for developing Alzheimer's disease, researchers are taking a closer look at a condition known as mild cognitive impairment.

3 Apr 2008

A randomised, blinded, placebo-controlled trial in dementia patients continuing or stopping neuroleptics

Results of a randomised trial published in PLoS Medicine show no benefit in cognitive or neuropsychiatric outcomes from continuing neuroleptic drugs in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

1 Apr 2008