What's the latest news on dementia?
August 4th 2009 21:23
Signature Tune
from the guardian.co.uk
Did you know that Middle-aged people who smoke, are diabetic or have high blood pressure are far more likely to suffer from dementia?
from MedPage Today
I know that you know that "Older people who participate in activities that keep their brains sharp may delay the rapid memory decline of preclinical dementia"
After all, I've been telling you often enough.
This scholarly article went on to say
Older people who participate in activities that keep their brains sharp may delay the rapid memory decline of preclinical dementia, researchers found.
For each additional activity day spent reading, writing, doing crossword puzzles, playing board or card games, having group discussions, or playing music, older individuals who eventually developed dementia delayed the onset of accelerated memory decline by more than two months (P=0.016), according to Charles Hall, PhD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues.
However, those who had high levels of participation in cognitive activities had faster rates of memory decline after they developed dementia, the researchers reported in the Aug. 4 issue of Neurology.
Gary Small, MD, director of the UCLA Center on Aging, commented that the findings were “consistent with many previous studies supporting the possible brain-protective effects of cognitively stimulating activities.”
The study follows another by Hall’s group that found increased education was also associated with a delay of the onset of memory decline.
Although the results have been consistent, Samuel Gandy, MD, PhD, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, said that the real test will be a a clinical trial involving various cognitive exercises.
Only then, he said, will researchers be able to determine whether the early and later cognitive activities actually protect cognitive function or whether they just act as reporters of intact cognitive function.
Hall and colleagues theorize that stimulating activities and increased education are related to cognitive reserve, which allows the brain to compensate for neuropathologic damage up to a threshold, according to the researchers.
Building up this reserve could delay the rapid memory declines seen in the preclinical stages of dementia, they said.
To explore the issue, Hall and his colleagues turned to the Bronx Aging Study.
The current analysis looked at 488 older individuals (mean age 79.5) who did not have dementia at baseline.
At baseline, subjects were interviewed about participation in six leisure time cognitive activities (reading, writing, crossword puzzles, board or card games, group discussions, or playing music). They coded self-reported frequency of participation to generate a scale on which 1 point corresponded to participation in one activity for one day per week.
During follow-up, 101 developed dementia, with a mean time to diagnosis of five years. The most common diagnosis — in 47 — was possible or probable Alzheimer’s disease.
On average, these individuals participated in at least one of the six activities at least one day a week.
For each additional activity day, the onset of accelerated memory loss — as measured with the Buschke Selective Reminding Test — was delayed by about 66 days (P=0.016).
Individuals who participated in 11 activity days per week had a delay of 1.29 years compared with those who participated in four.
Once the memory decline started, however, the rate accelerated as the number of activity days increased (P=0.004).
The inclusion of education did not have a significant effect on the analysis.
“One possible explanation is that the effect of early-life education is mediated through late-life participation in cognitively stimulating activities,” the researchers said.
“A second possibility,” they continued, “is that reserve could be primarily the function of late-life cognitive activity, with education simply a marker that is both easier to measure and a predictor of late-life activity.”
Or perhaps, they said, the study was underpowered to assess the joint effects of cognitive exercise and education.
“Nevertheless,” they concluded, “the effect of participation in cognitive activities seems to be at least somewhat independent of education, suggesting that engagement in cognitive activities in late life might maintain cognitive vitality regardless of baseline educational attainment.”
I would not have done this any justice by simply summarizing its contents.
But University teaching supports the benefits of education for delaying the onset of dementia and it looks like they may be wrong on this one, promoting their own products perhaps? As if they need any promoting now every man and his dog don't think they can do anything unless they have done some course or other, often of questionable value and very often from inferior institutions, thereby then classifying themselves as experts in this area rather than acknowledging that this is the beginning not the end, and many achieve nothing much from the substandard education they receive having shelved whatever ounce of creativity and initiative they possess.
Don't lets forget that Bill Gates was a University drop out, he had better things to do and obviously did them very well.
But I digress in the interests of including just some of my own thoughts on the matter.
From: US News Tips to Help Loved One with Alzheimer’s
An understanding of the changes that can affect the person with dementia is helpful to provide a firm foundation. According to the Alzheimer's Association five key changes that will occur throughout the disease process:
Judgment: forgetting how to use household appliances, etc.
Sense of time and place: getting lost on one’s own street; being unable to recognize or find areas in the home.
Behavior: the care recipient will become easily confused, suspicious or fearful.
Physical ability: the person with dementia may have trouble with balance, depending upon a walker or wheelchair to get around.
Senses: changes in vision, hearing, sensitivity to temperatures or depth perception.
Clearly, these changes underscore the importance of flexibility. Some persons with dementia may experience all of these changes at once, others may never have a change in behavior, but may have a drastic drop in physical ability. Some may only experience moderate changes in these areas but these changes may occur over a longer period of time.
This is all very interesting information and sufficient for one post, I think.
Not worried about any of this, now or in the future?
Ah, well, better forget it.
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