Category: Senior Health News

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, April 19, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Alzheimer’s and dementia are not an inevitable part of normal aging, and a little exercise might help keep them at bay, a new study suggests.

The researchers found that every hour of light exercise on top of recommended weekly levels of more intense activity reduced brain aging by about a year.

“This study emphasizes the relationship we are seeing between people doing more light-intensity physical activity and also having maintained brain structures,” said lead researcher Nicole Spartano.

(HealthDay News) — Memory loss is common, but should not be taken lightly, says Mayo Clinic. If you have difficulty remembering things, Mayo Clinic offers a few simple ways to sharpen your memory:

• Stay physically and mentally active.
• Socialize often.
• Stay organized.
• Sleep well.
• Eat healthy.
• Manage chronic conditions.

If memory loss affects your ability to complete your daily activities, or if you notice it getting worse, talk with your doctor.

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By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 15, 2019 (HealthDay News) — When older adults fall prey to scam artists, it might in some cases be an early warning of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study suggests.

The study of 935 older adults found that those who appeared susceptible to scams were at higher risk of mental decline over the next six years. Compared with their more skeptical peers, they were 47% more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment — problems with memory and thinking that can progress to dementia.

And they were typically twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, April 10, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Amyloid beta has long been a prime suspect in Alzheimer’s disease, since abnormal levels of the protein form disruptive plaques between patients’ brain cells.

But drug trials aimed at lowering amyloid levels have repeatedly failed to save people’s brains, and some researchers now believe the focus needs to shift to other potential culprits.

Researchers pulled the plug early on the latest failed clinical trial, after patients’ brain power continued to decline even though the amyloid beta blocker verubecestat successfully lowered amyloid levels in their brains and spinal fluid.

TUESDAY, April 2, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Brain scans can improve diagnosis and management of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study claims.

Researchers assessed the use of PET scans to identify Alzheimer’s-related amyloid plaques in the brain. The study included more than 11,000 Medicare beneficiaries with mild thinking impairment or dementia of uncertain cause.

This scanning technique changed the diagnosis of the cause of mental impairment in more than one-third of the participants in the study.

WEDNESDAY, March 27, 2019 (HealthDay News) — A dementia study has led researchers to a brain region that processes spoken, not written, words.

Northwestern University researchers worked with four patients who had a rare type of dementia called primary progressive aphasia (PPA), which destroys language.

Although able to hear and speak, they could not understand what was said out loud. However, they could still process written words. For example, if they read the word “hippopotamus,” they could identify a picture of a hippo. But if someone said the word “hippopotamus,” they couldn’t point to its picture.

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, March 13, 2019 (HealthDay News) — A grandparent’s mental decline or a great uncle’s waning memory may indicate you, too, have greater risk for Alzheimer’s disease — especially if closer relatives have the condition, a new study says.

Alzheimer’s in both a first-degree relative (parents, siblings) and a second-degree relative (grandparent, aunt, uncle, nieces or nephews) doubles your risk of the brain-destroying disorder, researchers found. But if you have one first-degree relative and two second-degree relatives with the disease, your risk increases by 21 times.