Publications - Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia

A lifetime of racism makes Alzheimer’s more common in Black Americans, by Kat Stafford, Associated Press, May 23 2023.

“Black people are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than white people in the United States. They are less likely to be correctly diagnosed, and their families often struggle to get treatment from a medical system filled with bias against them. About 14% of Black people in America over the age of 65 have Alzheimer’s, compared with 10% of white people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disparity is likely even more, because many Black people aren’t correctly diagnosed. And by 2060, cases are expected to increase fourfold among Black Americans. While some risk factors may differ by race, the large disparities among racial groups can’t be explained just by genetics. The problems start much earlier in life. Health conditions like heart disease and diabetes are known risk factors. Both are more common among Black populations, because of where they live in relation to polluting industries, lack of healthy food choices, and other factors. Depression, high blood pressure, obesity and chronic stress can also raise the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s. So can poverty. Across the board, Black people don’t receive the same quality of health care throughout life as white people. So they don’t get high quality treatment — or any treatment — for all those conditions that are risk factors. Then, at the end, they’re less likely to get medication to ease the symptoms of Alzheimer’s and dementia-related disorders. And there’s the insidious impact of a life experiencing racism. Racism is trauma that can lead to increased stress, which can in turn cause health problems like inflammation, which is a risk factor for cognitive decline, said Dr. Carl V. Hill, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer of the Alzheimer’s Association. ”

Social isolation linked to an increased risk of dementia, new study finds, by Kaitlyn Radde, NPR, Jan 17 2023.

“Socially isolated older adults have a 27% higher chance of developing dementia than older adults who aren't, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers found.  "Social connections matter for our cognitive health, and it is potentially easily modifiable for older adults without the use of medication," Dr. Thomas Cudjoe, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins and a senior author of the study, said in a news release. ”

Nature may protect against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's, study finds, by Martha Bebinger, WBUR, Dec 20 2022.

“A sweeping review of Medicare records expands on research that shows spending time in nature may reduce the risk of a hospitalization for  Alzheimer’s, dementia and Parkinson's.  The findings suggest a more extensive link for Parkinson's than for Alzheimer’s but show potential prevention benefits for both. ”

Alzheimer’s drug shows promise but needs more study for safety, researchers say, by Daniel Gilbert, The Washington Post, Nov 30 2022.

“An experimental Alzheimer’s drug moderately slowed the effects of the disease but was linked to patient safety risks that warrant longer clinical trials, according to a study published late Tuesday.  The study, in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that a drug developed by Tokyo-based Eisai and Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen reduced a key marker of Alzheimer’s disease, the amyloid beta protein, and that patients who received the drug performed better on cognitive and physical measures than a placebo group. The companies funded the study.  The new details have been the subject of intense anticipation by doctors and Wall Street since Eisai and Biogen announced in September that lecanemab had slowed cognitive decline by 27 percent compared with a placebo. ”

On #dementia TikTok, family caregivers find support and bring the disease to light, by Kate Wells, NPR, Oct 11 2022.

“Caregivers for people with dementia have flocked to social media, but TikTok has been an especially helpful platform. Content with the hashtag "dementia" has already racked up more than 4 billion views on TikTok, as younger generations, already accustomed to sharing their lives online, now find themselves caring for aging loved ones — often with little preparation and no idea how to actually do that.    The task of caring for people with dementia usually falls on family members. Every year, an estimated 16 million Americans provide more than 17 billion hours of unpaid care for family or friends suffering from Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, according to the CDC. About two-thirds of these caregivers are women.  "Here in the United States, unfortunately, there is not a very strong system of paid support for people with dementia," says Elena Portacolone, an associate professor who studies aging and cognitive impairment at UCSF's Institute for Health & Aging. "And so the most common way of supporting persons with dementia is the daughter." ”

Find your sleep 'sweet spot' to protect your brain as you age, study suggests, by Kristen Rogers, CNN, Sep 26 2021.

“How long older adults sleep could affect their brain health, according to a study published Monday in the journal JAMA Neurology.  Disrupted sleep is common in late life, the study authors wrote, and associated with changes in cognitive function -- the mental capacity for learning, thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, decision-making, remembering and paying attention.  Age-related changes in sleep have also been linked with early signs of Alzheimer's disease, depression and cardiovascular disease, so the authors investigated possible associations between self-reported sleep duration, demographic and lifestyle factors, subjective and objective cognitive function, and participants' levels of beta amyloid.  Those in the study who reported short sleep duration -- defined in the study as six hours or less -- had elevated levels of beta amyloid, which "greatly increases" risk for dementia, said the study's lead author Joe Winer, a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University in California, via email. ”

Just one night of sleep loss harms your well-being, new study finds, by Sarah Molano, CNN, Jul 9 2021.

“One night of sleep loss is enough to disrupt your day-to-day mental and physical well-being, according to a new study, and consecutive days of sleep loss can increase these negative impacts.  “Consecutive sleep loss was associated with decreases in positive emotions, increases in negative emotions, and greater frequency of severity of physical symptoms,” said Soomi Lee, lead author of the study, which published Monday in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.  Adults should get at least seven hours of sleep per night, but 1 in 3 of them don’t, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The negative effects of poor sleep have been well documented, with its occurrence linked to higher risk of a variety of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and, in another recent study, dementia. ”

How ‘brain hacking’ could help fight Alzheimer’s, depression and more, by Susannah Cahalan, New York Post, Jan 25 2020.

“Microglia are long-dismissed free-floating brain cells located all over the brain, making up 10 percent of the cells that populate the inside of our skulls. According to emerging research, these cells appear to play a significant role in a host of conditions including Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury, anxiety disorders and more.   Promising research suggests microglia -- tiny brain cells that act as "humble trashmen" -- may be manipulated to cure a host of health conditions. ”

New Therapies Help Patients With Dementia Cope With Depression, by Andrea Petersen, New York Times, Dec 8 2019.

“Many patients with cognitive impairment have anxiety or depression, but standard treatments are difficult for people with memory issues ”

Hearing aids may help delay dementia, depression in elders, by Vishwadha Chander , Reuters, Oct 11 2019.

“For older adults, hearing aids may delay some forms of mental and physical decline associated with hearing loss and aging, a U.S. study suggests. Among people who’d been diagnosed with hearing loss, those who used hearing aids were up to 18% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia, depression or fall-related injuries over the next three years, compared to people not using the devices, researchers report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. ”

Dementia caregiving takes toll on sleep, by Linda Carroll, Reuters, Aug 23 2019.

“Family caregivers for dementia patients don’t sleep as long or as well as other adults of the same age, a new study suggests.  In an analysis of the combined data from 35 earlier studies, researchers found that dementia caregivers slept about 3 hours less per week than age-matched adults, according to the report published in JAMA Network Open.  “Sleep debt is known to have cumulative associations with physical, mental and cognitive health,” the researchers, led by Chenlu Gao wrote. “Therefore, poor sleep quality in dementia caregivers should be recognized and addressed.” ”

Caregiver depression tied to more ER visits for dementia patients, by Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, Jul 9 2019.

“Dementia patients may go to the emergency room more often when their caregivers are depressed, a recent study suggests. ”

Scientists Test Whether Brain Stimulation Could Help Sharpen Aging Memory, by Jonathan Lambert, Npr, Apr 8 2019.

“A study published in Nature Neuroscience demonstrates a link between mismatched brain rhythms and declines in working memory in older adults and shows that a precise form of electrical stimulation applied to the scalp can coax these brain areas back into sync. ”

Alzheimer's Screenings Often Left Out Of Seniors' Wellness Exams, by Jon Hamilton, NPR, Mar 5 2019.

“A brief cognitive test can detect signs of Alzheimer's in older patients.  Fewer than half of primary care doctors surveyed say they routinely test patients 65 and older for problems with memory and thinking, despite coverage by Medicare as part of annual wellness visits. ”

Doctors struggle to help older gun owners, by Carolyn Crist, Reuters, Dec 14 2018.

“Doctors who work with seniors are grappling with ways to prevent gun-related suicides and accidents, often among gun-owning older patients with dementia or depression, according to a recent review article. People older than 65 have the highest rates of gun ownership, depression and suicide in the U.S., and while they’re less likely to be victims of violent crimes, they are more likely to become victims of their own guns, the authors write in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. ”