Research

New database helps clinicians, researchers find instruments to detect cognitive impairment in older adults

Evaluating the cognitive status of older patients in the primary care setting is one of the first steps in determining the cause of problems with memory, attention, and other aspects of thinking that can affect their health and well-being. With dozens of instruments available, finding the right ones to use can be a challenge. Now, clinicians and researchers have a new and simple way to find appropriate instruments—through a searchable database from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Health.

Falls may be sign of future Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive decline

Cognitively normal older adults with evidence of early brain changes typical of Alzheimer’s disease fell more often than did their peers without these brain changes, a new study reported online in Neurology. The results suggest that declines in mobility may precede the symptoms of cognitive decline found in Alzheimer’s disease.

Estrogen therapy has no long-term effect on cognition in younger postmenopausal women

A randomized clinical trial of estrogen therapy in younger postmenopausal women, aged 50–55, has found no long-term risk or benefit to cognitive function. The National Institutes of Health-supported study, reported in JAMA Internal Medicine on June 24, 2013, looked at women taking conjugated equine estrogens, the most common type of postmenopausal hormone therapy in the United States.

The earlier Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS) linked the same type of hormone therapy to cognitive decline and dementia in older postmenopausal women.

Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias take spotlight at NIH workshop

While most people with dementia have Alzheimer’s disease, about a third of all cases are caused by other, lesser known brain diseases. In fact, most people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s may actually have “mixed dementia.” Whatever the causes, as many as 36 million people worldwide are living with dementia, and its burden is enormous.

Biomarkers can predict risk for Alzheimer’s several years before symptoms appear

Brain imaging and spinal-fluid testing can help predict which cognitively normal older people will develop Alzheimer’s disease as many as 7.5 years before symptoms appear, according to a new study supported in part by the NIA. The findings confirm the power of biomarkers as predictors of disease risk in the earliest, symptom-free stages of Alzheimer’s disease. These biomarkers may prove to be valuable tools in testing promising treatments in future studies.

Novel NIH initiative enables testing of existing compound as Alzheimer's treatment

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $12.7 million to match nine academic research groups with a selection of pharmaceutical industry compounds to explore new treatments for patients. The treatments, in eight disease areas, include Alzheimer's disease.

HHS releases 2013 Alzheimer’s disease plan update

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today released the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease: 2013 Update, a follow-up to the initial plan released in May 2012. The update reflects our national progress towards accomplishing the goals set a year ago, as well as new and revised action steps.

Gene variant linked to higher risk of Alzheimer’s in African Americans

A variant of a gene involved in cholesterol and lipid production is associated with significantly higher risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease in African Americans than in non-Hispanic whites of European ancestry, a recent study found. Although preliminary, the findings suggest that the two racial groups may have different genetic risk profiles for the most common form of Alzheimer’s dementia. The research is published in the April 10, 2013, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Memorial Butler lecture features studies in early Alzheimer’s diagnosis

Family, friends, colleagues, and the NIH scientific community celebrated the life of the NIA’s founding director May 8 at the Dr. Robert N. Butler Memorial Lecture. The lecture, part of the prestigious NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series, featured Dr. Ronald C. Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging and the Mayo Alzheimer’s Research Center, as well as remarks about Dr. Butler by current NIA Director Dr. Richard Hodes. Lecture host NIH Director Dr.

Subscribe to RSS - Research