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TUESDAY, Nov. 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Medical imaging for thinking and memory issues happens much later in Black patients than in their white and Hispanic counterparts, new research shows.

A study to be presented Thursday at a meeting of radiologists als...

Whole grains could be the key to Black people protecting their brains against aging and dementia, a new study reports.

Black folks who ate more foods with whole grains appeared to have a slower rate of memory decline than those who ate fewer whole grains, according to findings published Nov. 23 in the journal Neurology.

Among Black people, those who ate the most whole grain...

Middle-aged folks with lots of belly fat surrounding their internal organs appear to be at higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease later in life, a new study suggests.

This hidden abdominal fat -- known as visceral fat -- is related to changes in the brain up to 15 years before the earliest symptoms of Alzheimer’s manifest, according to findings to be presented at next week’s annual mee...

Shrinkage of one of the brain's key memory centers appears to herald thinking declines, a new study finds.

The region in question is the hippocampus, a two-sided structure located roughly above each ear and embedded deep within the brain's temporal lobe. It's long been known to play a crucial role in the storage and transference of short- and long-term memory.

The new research was ...

The ancient art of tai chi, plus a modern twist, may help older adults reverse mild declines in brain power, a new clinical trial reveals. 

Researchers found that tai chi classes helped older adults improve their subtle problems with cognition (memory and thinking skills). It also helped them with a fundamental multitasking skill: walking while your attention is elsewhere.

But ...

Millions of older Americans may be unaware they have memory and thinking impairments -- mostly because their doctors aren't diagnosing them, new research suggests.

After analyzing Medicare data covering 40 million older Americans, researchers found that only a small percentage of expected cases of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were actually diagnosed. The upshot was that more t...

Millions of people with diabetes take the drug metformin to control their blood sugar levels.

Meant to be taken for the long term, new research now suggests that stopping it early may up the risk of developing thinking and memory problems as patients age.

“We found that staying on metformin prevents or delays dementia onset, and this is very encouraging,” said researcher

High triglycerides, widely known as an enemy of the aging heart, may not be as threatening to older adults' brains, new research suggests.

The study, of over 80,000 older adults, found those with triglycerides in the "high-normal" or moderately high range were less likely to develop dementia, versus their peers with lower triglyceride levels.

Over six years, 3% of older folks with t...

A variety of risks can make it more likely that someone develops Alzheimer's disease or other dementias.

Now you can add neighborhood environment to that list. A new study finds low income levels and a lack of green spaces are among the factors that can harm brain health.

“Social determinants of health have a major impact on cognition, as well as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular...

Mid-life isn't too late to make a dietary change to preserve brain health.

Women who started following the diet known as DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) to lower their blood pressure were about 17% less likely to report memory loss and other signs of mental decline decades later, a new study re...

Scientists have long wondered whether depression leads to less sleep or whether a lack of sleep triggers depression.

A new study suggests it's the latter: Getting less than five hours of sleep a night may raise the risk of developing depressive symptoms.

“We have this chicken or egg scenario between suboptimal sleep duration and depression, they frequently co-occur, but which come...

Dementia can take a big bite out of an American's bank account, robbing 60% of a patient's net worth in the eight years after a diagnosis, a new study says.

The average dementia patient will also see a doubling of out-of-pocket health care expenses in those first eight years, said researchers who studied thousands of seniors with and without the brain disorder.

“We found a pr...

Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are nearly three times more likely to develop dementia than other adults, a new study suggests.

The results also indicate that treatment with ADHD medication may help reduce their dementia risk. No clear uptick in dementia risk was found among ADHD patients who received psychostimulant medication.

"More than 3% of the adult...

Researchers have developed an antibody that can reduce Alzheimer's-like brain damage in lab mice — inspired by the case of one woman with remarkable resistance to the disease.

The work, by researchers at Mass General Brigham, Harvard Medical School in Boston, and elsewhere, began a few years ago, with the case of a woman in Colombia who had shown "extreme protection" from Alzheimer's di...

While HDL cholesterol is considered the "good" kind for heart and brain health, too much or too little of it may up a person's risk of dementia, new research suggests.

“This study is especially informative because of the large number of participants and long follow-up,” noted study author Maria Glymour, of Bo...

Hot flashes and night sweats top the list of bothersome symptoms for women going through menopause.

Now, a new study suggests that hot flashes, especially during sleep, may be more than a nuisance: They may foreshadow Alzheimer's disease.

And the more hot flashes a woman experiences during sleep, the greater her risk for developing Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of ...

Perhaps succumbing to fraudsters or facing mounting bills, older Americans begin losing wealth in the years preceding a definitive dementia diagnosis, new research shows.

For example, the median household net worth of the seniors in the study dropped by more than half in the eight years before they were diagnosed with dementia, but dipped much less for folks who retained their mental capa...

Many Medicare patients can't get help close to home for brain and nervous system issues.

Nearly 1 in 5 Medicare recipients in the United States live at least 50 miles from their neurologist.

“Our study found a substantial travel burden exists for some people with neurologic conditions, including people living in areas with fewer neurologists and rural areas,” said study author <...

Bolstering the notion that a strong body equals a strong mind, new research indicates that the more inactive seniors are, the higher their risk for dementia.

The finding stems from a look at the onset of dementia among nearly 50,000 Brits.

All were at least 60 years old when information about typical daily activity routines was entered into the UK Biobank database at some point betw...

Therapies based on a hormone people make while exercising may be the next frontier in treating Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study.

Researchers have found that the exercise-induced hormone irisin may reduce both the plaque and the tau tangles characteristic of the disease.

Before this, this same team developed the first 3D human cell culture models of Alzheimer's disease, ...

Game show host Bob Barker died in late August from Alzheimer's disease.

The longtime host of “The Price Is Right” died at age 99 of the memory-robbing condition, his death certificate now shows, NBC News reported.

Barker died Aug. 26. He will be buried next to his wife, Dorothy Jo, at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles, said his publicist Roger Neal. Barker's wife di...

Older people who take adult education classes may lower their risk for dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, Japanese research suggests.

Middle-aged folks and older people in adult education classes had a 19% lower risk of developing dementia within five years, the researchers found.

"We also found that nonverbal reasoning performance was well preserved in the adults taking educa...

Certain adult vaccines, including shingles and pneumonia shots, may also help seniors fight off Alzheimer's disease, new research reveals.

Prior vaccination with the shingles vaccine, pneumococcus vaccine or the tetanus and diphtheria shot, with or without an added pertussis vaccine, are associated with a 25% to 30% reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers from t...

Two recently approved treatments offer newfound hope for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, but most people who could benefit will likely be deemed ineligible, a new study finds.

Alzheimer's affects about 6.7 million Americans age 65 and older. But only about 8% to 17% of older adults with early signs of the disease meet the eligibility criteria as determined by cl...

People who daily breathe in air pollution, particularly from wildfires or agricultural sources, might need to add a heightened risk of dementia to their list of health concerns.

New research looked at the potential effects of particle pollution on dementia, finding an association even ...

Older adults who use certain heartburn medications for years may have a heightened risk of developing dementia, a new study suggests.

The study, published Aug. 9 in the journal Neurology, is the latest to point to potential hazards from prolonged use of medications called proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs. They include such well-known brands as Nexium, Prevacid and Prilosec, and th...

Yoga is known for its benefits to both the mind and body. And a gentle form of yoga may be an ideal early intervention technique for older women at risk of Alzheimer's disease, new research suggests.

In a small study involving kundalini yoga, participants reported that its stress-relieving effects translated to more efficient memory.

“Women tend to practice yoga more readily...

Black Americans are less likely to be seen at a memory clinic than their white peers. So too are folks from neighborhoods that are poor and lack educational and job opportunities, according to a new study.

That could mean later diagnosis and treatment for dementias like Alzheimer's disease.

The research, published online Aug. 2 in Neurology, involved data from more than 4...

Scientists have struggled for decades to come up with something that can successfully treat Alzheimer's disease, with new drugs now showing their ability to clear the amyloid plaques that are a hallmark of the memory-robbing disease.

But what if a vaccine could do the same job, or better? A new Japanese study suggests it may be possible.

Working with mice, researchers report they ha...

Americans in ethnic and racial minority groups are underrepresented in Alzheimer's research, a new study finds.

Still, the review of U.S.-based Alzheimer's disease brain imaging studies found the gap is closing.

Compared with white patients, Hispanic Americans are nearly two times more likely to develop Alzheimer's as are Black Americans.

For the study, researchers analyzed ...

People who carry a gene that's associated with Alzheimer's disease may lose their sense of smell long before memory and thinking problems occur, a new study suggests.

This early sign of potential dementia is not seen in people who don't carry this gene, called APOE e4, researchers report July 26 in the journal Neurology.

"Testing a person's ability to detect odors may be a...

Emergency rooms can be a frightening place for people suffering from dementia, yet each year 1.4 million Americans with Alzheimer's or other dementias wind up in crowded, noisy ERs, a new study finds.

Dementia is responsible for nearly 7% of all ER visits for those older than 65, often because of accidents or mental health crises, researchers determined.

"While dementia is thought o...

Many people turn to probiotics for their digestive woes, but a preliminary study suggests that what's good for gut may also be good for the aging brain.

The study involved older adults with mild cognitive impairment, where memory and other thinking skills are starting to slide but people can still carry out their daily tasks. Researchers found that when those individuals took a particular...

Breakthrough new drugs that clear amyloid beta plaques from the brain are shaking up the field of Alzheimer's disease research.

The fact that patients' mental deterioration slows when they're on anti-amyloid drugs is solid proof that abnormal amyloid proteins are one of the culprits behind Alzheimer's, essentially ending decades of debate over the so-called “amyloid hypothesis.”

People looking to stay mentally sharp as they age might want to swap out margarine for olive oil, a preliminary study suggests.

The study, of more than 90,000 U.S. health professionals, found that olive oil lovers were less likely to die of dementia over the next three decades.

Compared with their counterparts who rarely used olive oil, those who consumed more than a half-tablespoon...

It's difficult to fully predict who will develop Alzheimer's disease in advance. Now, a new study suggests that certain markers in the blood may occur 10 to 20 years before the start of symptoms and could help doctors determine who is at high risk for dementia.

For the study, researchers analyzed 4,800-plus proteins in the blood of more than 10,000 middle-aged people (aged 45-65) ove...

Many retirees opt to volunteer as a way to help others, but new research suggests this act can also benefit volunteers' brain health.

Volunteering later in life may provide protection for the brain from both cognitive (mental) decline and dementia, according to researchers. Their findings were presented this week at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference, in Amsterdam, in th...

Most older adults think that screening for dementia is a good idea, according to a new poll on aging. But few actually take that step.

Only about 20% of those aged 65 to 80 had a screening test in the past year to see if their memory and thinking abilities have started to decline, according to the University of Michigan's National Poll on Healthy Aging.

“As many as half of Am...

Researchers around the world are working to tease out the mechanisms behind Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Now, a new study points to so-called systemic inflammation.

British researchers found that inflammation -- activation of the body's innate immune system -- is associated with a small but statistically significant later risk of dementia. They reported their findings...

Chronic constipation may not only be an indicator of gut health, but a potential warning sign of thinking declines, a preliminary study suggests.

Researchers found that among more than 110,000 middle-aged and older U.S. adults, those who were chronically constipated -- fewer than three bowel movements a week -- also showed signs of an "older" brain.

Compared with their counterparts ...

A definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease now requires a series of complicated and expensive imaging scans that look for abnormal protein plaques and tangles in the brain.

But in the near future, detecting signs of Alzheimer's could be as simple as taking a finger prick blood test.

Researchers detected key Alzheimer's-related biomarkers in dried blood samples drawn from a finger...

Older adults who begin using opioid painkillers after a dementia diagnosis have a significantly greater risk of death — about 11-fold within the first two weeks, according to new research.

The risk of death continued beyond two weeks, but at a lower rate, said researchers in Denmark. They found a doubled death risk within 90 days of opioid initiation, and said doctors must seriousl...

If you're hard of hearing and at higher risk for dementia, hearing aids could be a win-win.

New research, published July 18 in The Lancet, finds hearing aids might reduce thinking declines in older adults --but only in those at higher risk of dementia.

"Th...

A new study offers the first-ever county-level estimates of Alzheimer's disease in the United States.

It shows that the East and Southeast have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer's dementia, which researchers said may owe in part to the higher percentages of older people, and Black and Hispanic residents in those regions.