The trial’s results are now the first solid confirmation that lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of both mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a degree of brain decline that’s considered the gateway to dementia, and probable dementia. […]
While there are many ways people can change their behavior to lower their risk of heart disease and cancer–such as eating a healthy diet, exercising and avoiding or stopping smoking–there are few similar steps that have been scientifically proved to reduce the risk of degenerative brain disorders like Alzheimer’s. Genes play a prominent role in determining who will develop the disease, and age is also a major factor–neither of which are under human control.
The [SPRINT MIND study] provides the strongest evidence yet that there may be something in people’s control that lowers their risk of cognitive decline.
“Controlling blood pressure is not only good for the heart but good for the brain,” says [Dr. Jeff Williamson, chief of geriatric medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine and the leader of the study]. “This is the first intervention of any kind that has proven in a randomized trial to reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment.”
Despite the fact that Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia in older people, there is not a single drug available to treat the condition. (Getty Images/Cultura RF)
Alzheimer’s researchers, patients, and investors were eagerly anticipating the results of a phase 2 study on a potentially promising new medication, called BAN2401, from the drugmakers Biogen and Eisai.
On July 5, the companies released a summary of the findings from a trial of the drug involving 856 patients with early Alzheimer’s, showing the medication could slow the progression of the brain-ravaging illness. On Wednesday afternoon, they presented more details about their findings at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Chicago.
The results have sparked cautious optimism. “Millions of people have Alzheimer’s, and right now it’s a death sentence. So any time we see positive results from a trial that appears to show disease modification, that gives us hope,” said Keith Fargo, director of scientific programs at the Alzheimer’s Association. “But it’s a cautious hope.” […]
If the results are indeed solid, and the drug is approved for market, it could mean people with early-stage Alzheimer’s might be able to keep the disease at bay. It could also mean that we finally have an actual treatment for the disease, and not just its symptoms, available for patients. […]
The results are still preliminary and not yet peer-reviewed or published. […] The drug still needs to pass a phase 3 clinical study and FDA scrutiny. […]
“Among a group of Swedish women, those with high cardiovascular fitness at middle age were 88% less likely to develop dementia decades later, compared with women with moderate cardiovascular fitness, researchers reported online in Neurology.”
This means that if cardiovascular fitness is improved or maintained during middle age that has the potential to delay or prevent dementia from developing in a person’s later years. However, this was a limited study and it does not prove causation, just association, which means that more research needs to be done to determine if there is a true link between cardiovascular fitness and the prevention of dementia and if so when exactly in a person’s lifetime a high fitness level most important (be it midlife or otherwise).
Does Higher Late-Life Cholesterol Lower the Risk of Cognitive Decline? (Source: Hartford Courant)
High cholesterol versus low cholesterol. Good cholesterol versus bad cholesterol. Mid-life high cholesterol versus late-life high cholesterol… Sometimes understanding the cholesterol big picture is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”!
Now you can add another curious twist: there may be an important correlation between higher late-life cholesterol levels and lower risks of of dementia and general cognitive decline.
A new study published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia links high cholesterol with a lower risk of cognitive decline for people over 85 years old. But that might not necessarily mean that having high cholesterol prevents dementia…
They were surprised to find that for people aged 85 to 94 years old, having higher late-life than midlife cholesterol was correlated with a 32 percent lower risk of cognitive decline. In other words, higher cholesterol among the very old was associated with a reduced chance for dementia. (Source: Hartford Courant)
It may be a little premature (and several degrees short of definitive) but it’s heartening to consider the possibility that higher late-life cholesterol could lower the risk of cognitive decline. Watch this space…
The trial’s results are now the first solid confirmation that lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of both mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a degree of brain decline that’s considered the gateway to dementia, and probable dementia. […]
