Ambien and Alzheimer's Linked

  Cumulative doses of Zolpidem (Ambien), a common sleep drug, are associated with a greater risk for developing Alzheimer's in elderly patients (65 and older) according to a retrospective study.
J Am Geriatr Soc, doi:10.111/jgs.15018

Think POSITIVE, CHILL OUT: Decrease Dementia Risk !

  Older people who hold positive beliefs about old age from their culture are less likely to develop dementia. Further, people with APOE4 (associated with a genetic increased risk of Alzheimer's) with positive age beliefs are 49.8% less likely to develop dementia than those with negative cultural beliefs. 
  Therefore, positive age beliefs (a modifiable thing) reduces stress and can be neuro-protective.
PLoS One. 2018 Feb 7;13(2):e0191004

Action Video Games to Boost Brain Power : NOPE

  Researchers in Montreal found that habitual players of action video games have less gray matter in their hippocampus (a part of the brain that regulates emotions and is associated with long-term memory and spatial navigation).
  The greater the hippocampal atrophy the greater the risk of Alzheimer's disease as well as depression, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder.
 Interestingly, researchers found that 90 hours of playing action video games (Call of Duty, Killzone, and Borderlands 2) led to hippocampal atrophy (shrinkage) while 90 hours of playing 3D-platform video games led to an INCREASE in gray matter within the hippocampus.
Mol Psychiatry. 2017 Aug 8

Tumeric to Improve Memory

  From researchers at UCLA, daily oral curcumin (tumeric) may improve memory, mood and attention in cognitively normal middle-age and older adults. 
  Previous studies suggested that curcumin's anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-amyloid and possible anti-tau properties may offer neuro-protective benefits. Prior human trials regarding the effects of circumin have been heretofore inconclusive.
  Doses tested of curcumin were 90 mg twice daily.
  GI side effects are possible such as abdominal pain and gastritis.
2017 Alzheimer's association International Conference

Alzheimer's Prevention: The Latest Recommendations

  From the recent report of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine come general recommendations.
  Cognitive Training: there is currently no evidence to support a conclusion that cognitive training can prevent or delay mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's.
  Hypertension: manage blood pressure in those with hypertension (particularly in mid-life i.e.. 35-65) to prevent, delay or slow the progression of Alzheimer's.
  Physical activity: studies fail to demonstrate increasing physical activity prevents, delays or slows mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's. However, the report noted the other health benefits of increased physical activity such as lowering the risk of hypertension, stroke and obesity as well as symptoms of depression.
  Contrastly,to improve your life overall: consider the FINGER study out of Finland which found that targeting diet, exercise, vascular risk factors and brain training slowed cognitive decline in older adults.
Downloadable report: nationalacademies.org/Dementia

Vascular Risk Factors : Narrowing Arteries in the Head = Alzheimer's Risk Increase

  Researchers from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Neurocognitive study demonstrated that hardening of the arteries in the head is associated with mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
  In MCI and dementia patients with posterior (back of the brain) cerebral watery plaque had 44% higher prevalence of MCI than without it. Dementia risk was increased threefold in those with anterior cerebral (front of the brain) artery plaque and twofold in those with narrowing > 70% or involvement of > vascular territories.
  Again, as per my last review, decreasing vascular risk factors (obesity, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol) decreases hardening if arteries inside the head and decreases cognitive impairment.
Neurology 2017 Apr 18;88:1156

Take Care in Mid-Life to Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer's

  Vascular risk factors are known to be associated with Alzheimer's i.e., obesity (BMI > 30), smoking, hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol. In this study, researchers found that those with vascular risk factors in middle age (especially those that are APOE4 allele positive) had a greater amyloid (the protein found in excess in Alzheimer's brains) burden in their brains later in life. 
  However, late-life vascular risk factors were NOT associated with an increased risk later in life.
  Therefore, treatment of vascular risk factors in MIDLIFE while likely to be asymptomatic, may be critical in reducing the development of an underlying AD process.
JAMA 2017 April 11;317:1443

Get Fat Late in Life to Decrease Amyloid in your Brain IF YOU'RE NOT A APOE4 CARRIER

  From the Harvard aging brain study, greater amyloid deposits in brain were seen in individuals with LOW BMI (thin folks). However, those that were APOE4 carriers (increased risk with each APOE4 mutation you carry), NORMAL BMI (normal weight) was associated with greater amyloid burden in brains.
  Amyloid at high levels is toxic to our brains.
Journal of Alzheimer's Disease June 18 2016

Decrease Risk of Alzheimer's with Frequent Sauna Bathing

  2,000 men from Finland in a 20 year follow-up as a part of the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD) that took a sauna 4-7 times per week were found to have a 66% decreased risk of dementia than those that took a sauna once a week.
Age Aging. 2016 Dec 7

Walnuts to Reduce Risk of Alzheimer's

  Researchers studied the effects of dietary supplementation on mice given a human equivalent of 1 to 1.5 oz per day of walnuts and found significant improvement in learning skills, memory, and reduced anxiety. This study suggests possible human studies regarding the effect a walnut enriched diet may have on AD.
Journal of Alzheimer's disease Oct 21,2014

Cardio for Cognitive Health

  Researchers analyzed data from the REGARDS study to determine cardiovascular health status based on the American Heart AssociationLife's Simple 7 score and found the risk of developing cognitive impairment is significantly higher for individuals with poor cardiovascular health.
Journal of the American Heart Association June 11, 2014

A Preventative Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease ?

  In transgenic mice and humans citalopram reduced beta-amyloid production in cerebrospinal fluid.
  12-month-old aged mice given a dose equal to a 50 mg/day human dose demonstrated a dose-dependent reduction in brain interstitial Abeta concentrations of 24.5%.
  Citalopram given to 6-month-old mice markedly reduced the rate of plaque growth and the number of new plaques, but did not induce reduction in plaques already present.
  In a small double-blind study in 23 healthy volunteers (ages 18-50) were randomized to 60 mg of citalopram or placebo. Cerebrospinal fluid was sampled hourly for up to 37 hours. Citalopam was associated with an average reduction of 38% in Abeta concentration. The reduction was due to reduced Abeta production not clearance.
  Further studies are required in humans to determine if Abeta reduced production persists with long term SSRI administration.
   These studies suggest a potential preventative treatment strategy particularly in those at greatest risk.
Sci Transl Med 2014 May;6:236re4