Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by progressive memory loss, spatial disorientation and many other cognitive and behavioural disorders that ultimately lead to a state of total dependence.
(Shutterstock)
The FDA approved Alzheimer’s disease drug aducanumab despite minimal evidence of its efficacy. Whether this decision ultimately hurts or helps patients depends on data researchers don’t yet have.
Isolation and segregation create and reinforce another kind of barrier to those with dementia: stigma.
(Shutterstock)
‘Dementia friendly’ communities seek to support people with memory loss, recognize them as equals, celebrate their contributions and enable them to live with purpose in welcoming communities.
The colors in this microscope photo of a fruit fly brain show different types of neurons and the cells that surround them in the brain.
Sarah DeGenova Ackerman
Adaptable neurons are tied to learning and memory but also to neurological disorders. By studying fruit flies, researchers found a mechanism that controls neuroplasticity.
Olivia Coleman and Anthony Hopkins in The Father (2020)
IMDB
Nanodiamonds aren’t just cellular bling: they could be used to better understand the development of cancer in our cells.
Currently, the only approved drugs for Alzheimer’s merely alleviate some of the symptoms — partially and temporarily — but do not stop the disease from progressing.
(Shutterstock)
It was first officially described 115 years ago, but we still do not have a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. The human brain is extremely complex, and Alzheimer’s is its most complex disease.
Because dementia patients are more likely to acquire COVID-19, and because so many live in close-quarter facilities – like nursing homes – it’s critical to vaccinate them as quickly as possible.
Amyloid plaques are one cause of Alzheimer’s disease.
Design_Cells/ Shutterstock
Knowing what cells are more vulnerable could some day help researchers know why these cells are more vulnerable than others.
Air pollution exposure during mid to early life may be more important to developing Alzheimer’s disease than doctors realized.
Cecilie Arcurs via Getty Images
The tiny air pollutants known as PM2.5, emitted by vehicles, factories and power plants, aren’t just a hazard for lungs. A study finds more brain shrinkage in older women exposed to pollution.
Our stomach and brain are connected through the ‘gut-brain axis’.
Anatomy Image/ Shutterstock
Architects need to learn to see dementia not as a disease but as a disability, and shift the design focus to spaces that can help maintain the everyday functions of people with the condition.
More than half of patients with dementia also suffer from depression. If the depression remains untreated, the associated memory and cognitive problems worsen. Conversely, a significant history of depression seems to be a risk factor for dementia.
(Pixabay)
Dementia and depression are two diagnoses that rob older adults of health and happiness. Despite their obvious differences, it is becoming ever more apparent that the two conditions are connected.
Even drinking fewer than 14 units of alcohol a week was damaging.
ELEVATE/ Pexels