Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Inexpensive Visual Training Cuts Likelihood Of Dementia Nearly In Half, Study Finds
Los Angeles Times: Brain Training May Forestall Dementia Onset For Years, New Study Says
If you’re intent on keeping dementia at bay, new research suggests you’ll need more than crossword puzzles, aerobic exercise and an active social life. In a study released Sunday, researchers found that older adults who did exercises to shore up the speed at which they processed visual information could cut by nearly half their likelihood of cognitive decline or dementia over a 10-year period. (Healy, 7/24)
Stat: Play On! In A First, Brain Training Cuts Risk Of Dementia 10 Years Later
The training nearly halved the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and other devastating forms of cognitive and memory loss in older adults a decade after they completed it, scientists reported on Sunday. If the surprising finding holds up, the intervention would be the first of any kind — including drugs, diet, and exercise — to do that. (Begley, 7/24)
The New York Times: Personality Change May Be Early Sign Of Dementia, Experts Say
“Has the person become agitated, aggressive, irritable, or temperamental?” the questionnaire asks. “Does she/he have unrealistic beliefs about her/his power, wealth or skills?” Or maybe another kind of personality change has happened: “Does she/he no longer care about anything?” If the answer is yes to one of these questions — or others on a new checklist — and the personality or behavior change has lasted for months, it could indicate a very early stage of dementia, according to a group of neuropsychiatrists and Alzheimer’s experts. (Belluck, 7/24)
WBUR: New Alzheimer's Research Sheds Light On 'Garbage Collecting' Proteins
Researchers have linked three genetic risk factors associated with Alzheimer’s disease to an immune cell dysfunction in mice, shedding light on a biochemical mechanism behind the genes. Researchers at Genentech, a biotechnology company based out of San Francisco, published their work in a recent article in the journal Neuron. Amyloid beta is a protein that has long been known to be a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease — if you don’t have amyloid beta, you don’t have Alzheimer’s disease. (Michaels, 7/22)
