Last month, researchers Francisco Lopera and colleagues reported in the journal Lancet Neurology that they were able to capture a clear decline in cognition starting in people’s early 30s in the largest-known population with autosomal-dominant (inherited) Alzheimer’s disease. They define an earlier disease stage prior to what is called pre-MCI, in effect pushing the line of detectability back toward younger ages by some four years. Two other papers go in the same direction. Last year [...]
Readers, Two recent papers* have shed light on the role of the liver in modulating beta-amyloid levels in the brain, and potentially the course of Alzheimer’s disease. First, researchers at the University of California, Irvine discovered that markedly depleted amounts of an omega-3 fatty acid in brain tissue samples from Alzheimer’s patients may be due to the liver’s inability to produce the complex fat. Low levels of docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, have been associated with [...]
I recently attended an event hosted by the American Heart Association and Go Red Chicago, where a panel of physicians and healthcare providers discussed the effect of diet, hormones and cardiovascular risk factors on the heart and brain. The physicians also touched on emerging data that suggest there may be racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence and effects of cardiovascular risk factors to the development of heart disease and brain functioning in these diverse populations. Thus, [...]
Dear Readers, As I discussed in an earlier blog post this month, the association between behavior and/or personality traits to developing dementia is a growing topic of interest that I am asked to discuss frequently. Depression, in particular, arouses a lot of interest, as many studies have shown an association between depression and poor physical, social and cognitive functioning. The latest study from the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS) examined whether depressive symptoms in post [...]
