Montréal is home to one of the world’s largest brain banks, the Douglas-Bell Canada Brain Bank, where discoveries about different neurological and psychiatric diseases are made.
Lifestyle-related dementia risks are complex, with factors like sleep, exercise, diet and social contact interacting with things like cognitive reserve, neuroplasticity and inflammation in the body.
Does being bilingual protect against Alzheimer’s? Can it help slow cognitive decline? There is clear evidence that it causes beneficial and long-lasting changes in the brain.
Dementia does not manifest solely as a memory problem. People with dementia can also experience issues with learning, comprehension and judgement, but they may also experience changes in behaviour.
It’s long been known that exercise helps maintain strength and agility as we age. New research points to the importance of exercise type in supporting cognitive health in the latest decades of life.
Fish oil has been promised to provide all sorts of health benefits – from boosting our heart health, protecting our brain and easing arthritis. Here’s how the claims stack up for fish and supplements.
Despite decades of starts and stops, new treatments and key genetic discoveries are giving researchers great hope for slowing or eventually preventing Alzheimer’s disease.
Disorders such as Alzheimer’s and epilepsy are difficult to diagnose with only occasional doctor visits. A new approach would allow fathering of extensive real-world data directly from patients.
Humans have attempted to understand and treat mental illness for centuries – from ancient Greek medicine, Middle Ages exorcisms and the rise of asylums, to modern medical breakthroughs.
While there is no guarantee of warding off cognitive decline, encouraging people to be physically, mentally and socially active could potentially keep a significant number of dementia cases at bay.
In the short-term, inflammation is a sign your body is healing. But persistent levels of inflammation in blood and tissue, called ‘inflammaging’, is linked to disease. Diet might help.
The drug has been hailed as a ‘turning point’ in Alzheimer’s treatment. But keep in mind the trial only included participants with early or mild disease. And while it slowed decline, it’s not a cure.