Welcome to DementiaToday
What is DementiaToday? DementiaToday provides current news, information, and personal views on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. My goal is to advance awareness of these diseases through the dissemination of research conducted in the scientific communities. Information on this site has been collected from other online information sites, medical institutes, educational institutes, hospitals, clinical research centers, [...]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The Children Walk on Trees: Alzheimer’s Stalks a Colombian Family
May 18, 2012
YARUMAL, Colombia — Tucked away on a steep street in this rough-hewn mountain town, an old woman found herself diapering her middle-age children. At frighteningly young ages, in their 40s, four of Laura Cuartas’s children began forgetting and falling apart, assaulted by what people here have long called La Bobera, the foolishness. It is a condition attributed, in hushed rumors, to … [Read More...]
What the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease Means to You
May 18, 2012
On May 15, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unveiled the first-ever “National Plan To Address Alzheimer’s Disease,” as mandated by the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA). The comprehensive plan calls for the prevention and effective treatment of Alzheimer’s disease by 2025 and lays out strategies related to awareness and education, clinical care standards, … [Read More...]
Yoga Offers Striking Benefits for Alzheimer’s Caregivers
May 13, 2012
When caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s use yoga to engage in very brief, easy daily meditations, they lower levels of depression, improve cognitive functioning and reduce stress-induced cellular aging, says a new UCLA study. Currently, at least five million Americans care for someone with dementia. Over the next two decades, the frequency of dementia and the number of family caregivers … [Read More...]
CURRENT NEWS
Total Activity, Not Just Exercise, Keeps Mind Sharp
May 19, 2012
Although a growing number of studies suggest that exercise can keep an aging brain honed and perhaps ward off dementia, only a couple of those studies have included objective measures of activity (see ARF related news story on Middleton et al., 2011; Barnes et al., 2008; see also AlzRisk report on physical activity). To better quantify the effect of exercise, researchers led by Aron Buchman … [Read More...]
NIH Director Announces $100M Prevention Trial of Genentech Antibody (Crenezumab)
May 19, 2012
On 15 May at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Summit 2012, a conference hosted by the National Institute on Aging, Francis Collins announced that $16 million of federal funds would go toward the first-ever therapeutic prevention trial in cognitively healthy people. The decision is part of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, said Collins, who directs the National Institutes of … [Read More...]
With Fat: What’s Good or Bad for the Heart, May Be the Same for the Brain
May 19, 2012
It has been known for years that eating too many foods containing "bad" fats, such as saturated fats or trans fats, isn't healthy for your heart. However, according to new research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), one "bad" fat -- saturated fat -- was found to be associated with worse overall cognitive function and memory in women over time. By contrast, a "good" fat -- mono-unsaturated … [Read More...]
5 Nutrients May Promote Brain Health
May 19, 2012
Can what you eat help to protect the brain, and possibly help ward off Alzheimer’s disease? A growing body of evidence suggests nutritional factors can influence brain health, including a new report linking certain nutrients to good cognitive health. Researchers measured blood levels of 30 key vitamins and nutrients in a sample of elderly men and women, all of whom also underwent memory … [Read More...]
Crenezumab:New Drug Trial Aims To Prevent Alzheimer’s Before It Starts
May 18, 2012
Researchers will test an experimental drug that could prevent Alzheimer’s disease in people who are genetically slated to develop Alzheimer's disease but have yet to exhibit symptoms. On Tuesday, the federal government unveiled its National Alzheimer’s Plan to find effective ways to prevent and treat dementia and Alzheimer’s by 2025. On Wednesday, the plan’s scope became clearer as … [Read More...]
Obama Administration Presents National Plan to Fight Alzheimer’s Disease
May 18, 2012
HHS Secretary Sebelius outlines research funding, tools for health care providers, awareness campaign and new website Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released an ambitious national plan to fight Alzheimer’s disease. The plan was called for in the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA), which President Obama signed into law in January 2011. The National Plan to … [Read More...]
Alzheimer’s Gene Causes Brain’s Blood Vessels to Leak Toxins and Die
May 18, 2012
A well-known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease triggers a cascade of signaling that ultimately results in leaky blood vessels in the brain, allowing toxic substances to pour into brain tissue in large amounts, scientists report May 16 in the journal Nature. The left photo shows destructive proteins (green) lining blood vessels in living brain tissue of mice with the human ApoE4 … [Read More...]
Mediterranean Diet Plus Exercise Cuts Alzheimer’s Risk
May 13, 2012
Mediterranean Diet Slows Mental Decline; Exercise Adds to Benefit People who mostly follow the Mediterranean diet lower their risk of mental decline -- and they lower this risk even more if they exercise, new studies suggest. In a 2006 study, Columbia University Medical Center researcher Nikolaos Scarmeas, MD, and colleagues showed that elderly New Yorkers whose eating habits most … [Read More...]
SCIENCE
Higher Vitamin D Dietary Intake is Associated with Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease: A 7-Year Follow-up.
May 18, 2012
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2012 Apr 13. [Epub ahead of print] Higher Vitamin D Dietary Intake Is Associated With Lower Risk of Alzheimer's Disease: A 7-Year Follow-up. Annweiler C, Rolland Y, Schott AM, Blain H, Vellas B, Herrmann FR, Beauchet O. Source Department of Neuroscience, … [Read More...]
VIEWS
Feeling Like Your Life Has Purpose May Protect Against Alzheimer’s
May 7, 2012
Men and women who have a great sense of purpose in their lives appear to be less likely to develop Alzheimer's in old age. A goal-driven life also appears to protect against mild cognitive impairment, a serious form of memory loss that sometimes precedes Alzheimer's. The findings, published in the … [Read More...]
