Dementia — Lucia Zamorano, MD, PLC

Sleep is an important part of your health: an association between poor sleep quality and Brain White Matter changes severity

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Evidence of a relationship between non-breathing-related sleep symptoms and silent markers of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is scarce. The present study aimed to evaluate this association in older people living in rural Ecuador, where the burden of stroke is on the rise.

METHODS: A group of Atahualpa residents, aged ≥60 years, were interviewed with a validated Spanish version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for identification of silent markers of SVD. Using multinomial logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for demographics and cardiovascular health status, it was evaluated whether sleep quality is associated with the severity of white matter hyperintensity (WMH), lacunar infarcts, and deep microbleeds.… [Continue Reading]

Underweight increase risk of Dementia

Being underweight in middle-age may raise the risk for dementia later on, while being overweight or obese may protect against dementia, hints the largest study yet to look at the association between body mass index (BMI) and dementia risk.

“Our findings contradict many but not all previous studies and is currently controversial” Nawab Qizilbash, MBChB, MRCP (UK), head of OXON Epidemiology Ltd, and honorary senior lecturer in epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom, told Medscape Medical News.

… [Continue Reading]

Delaying Retirement May Reduce Risk for Dementia

An older age at retirement may be associated with a significantly decreased risk of dementia, according to research presented at the 2013 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. In a study of 429,803 retired French workers, Carole Dufouil, PhD, and colleagues found that the hazard ratio of dementia was 0.968 for each extra year of age at retirement.

“Our results highlight the importance of maintaining high levels of cognitive and social stimulation throughout work and retiree life and emphasize the need for interventions and policies to help older individuals achieve such cognitive and social engagement,” stated Dr. Dufouil, Director of Research in Neuroepidemiology at INSERM in Paris.

… [Continue Reading]

MRI May Tell Alzheimer’s from Other Dementias

Three-fourths of patients with Alzheimer’s disease or frontal-lobe degeneration had MRI-detected biomarker levels that correlated with the diagnoses, suggesting MRI has potential as a screening tool for the conditions, investigators reported.

MRI-predicted values for total tau and β-amyloid ratio (tt/Aβ) in gray matter correctly pinpointed the diagnosis in 75% of patients with genetically or neuropathologically confirmed diagnoses, according to Corey McMillan, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues. Predicted values also had good correlation with actual tt/Aβ measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), they said.

The findings are consistent with previous in vivo and autopsy studies of CSF tt/Aβ, the group reported in the Jan. 8 issue of Neurology.

… [Continue Reading]

Exercise Prevents Dementia in Some Seniors

Seniors Older people who are living independently but have signs of cerebral damage may lower their risk of having progressive cognitive impairment or dementia if they remain physically active, researchers found.

Even after adjustment for white matter changes seen on MRI and history of stroke, those who met criteria for physical activity had significantly lower risks of developing any cognitive impairment, any dementia, and vascular dementia over a 3-year period, according to Ana Verdelho, MD, of the University of Lisbon in Portugal, and colleagues.

The relationship between physical activity and vascular dementia remained significant after further adjustment for baseline cognitive function (HR 0.49, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.94), the researchers reported online in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.… [Continue Reading]

Do Sleep Patterns Affect the Risk of Cognitive Decline?

VANCOUVER—The quality and quantity of sleep may be associated with the risk for cognitive decline, according to four studies presented at the 2012 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. Treatments for insomnia or circadian rhythm delay might reduce or prevent cognitive decline, investigators reported.

Sleep Duration and Cognition
Compared with a sleep duration of seven hours per day, sleep durations of five or fewer hours per day and of nine or more hours per day were associated with worse average memory at older ages, according to Elizabeth Devore, ScD, Associate Epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Short and long sleep durations at midlife and in later life were both associated with worse memory in later life.… [Continue Reading]

Coffee May Ward Off Progression to Dementia

Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may be able to avoid developing dementia by drinking several cups of coffee a day, the results of a new study suggest.

The study showed that patients with MCI who have a plasma caffeine level of 1200 ng/mL avoided progression to dementia over the following 2 to 4 years.

These patients exhibited a plasma cytokine profile that was exactly the same as that of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) transgenic mice that were given caffeinated coffee and didn’t progress to dementia. It’s therefore very likely that it’s caffeine from coffee, and not from other sources, that affords the cognitive protection, said study senior author Gary W. Arendash, PhD, research scientist, Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Hospital, St. Petersburg, Florida.

The research also suggests that certain cytokine patterns could signal for impending conversion to dementia among those with MCI, said Dr. Arendash.… [Continue Reading]

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Sleep is an important part of your health: an association between poor sleep quality and Brain White Matter changes severity

Underweight increase risk of Dementia

Delaying Retirement May Reduce Risk for Dementia

MRI May Tell Alzheimer’s from Other Dementias

Exercise Prevents Dementia in Some Seniors

Do Sleep Patterns Affect the Risk of Cognitive Decline?

Coffee May Ward Off Progression to Dementia

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