A new study investigating the link between cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) and dementia has found that the location and pattern of these brain lesions are critical to assessing risk. Analyzing data from over 1,500 participants in the ARIC-Neurocognitive Study, researchers classified individuals based on their CMB patterns—lobar, subcortical, or mixed—and tracked […]
A large natural experiment study in Ontario, Canada, found that receiving the live attenuated herpes zoster vaccine significantly reduced the risk of a new dementia diagnosis by approximately 18% in adults aged 70 and older, providing the strongest evidence to date for a potential causal protective effect. The research leveraged […]
Higher physical activity in midlife and late life—but not early adulthood—is associated with a significantly lower risk of both all-cause and Alzheimer disease dementia. In this prospective analysis from the US Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort, 1526 early-adult, 1943 midlife, and 885 late-life participants were followed for up to 37 […]
Higher physical activity may slow cognitive and functional decline in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by reducing tau accumulation rather than amyloid burden. In a study of cognitively unimpaired older adults with pedometer-measured step counts, greater physical activity was linked to slower decline among those with elevated […]
A combined observational and genetic study indicates that all levels of alcohol consumption may raise dementia risk, and reducing alcohol use disorder (AUD) could help lower dementia incidence at the population level. The study investigated the relationship between alcohol consumption and dementia using prospective cohort, case–control, and Mendelian randomization analyses […]
A US cohort study revealed genotype-dependent metabolic signatures of cognitive health and support precision nutrition approaches, such as Mediterranean diet for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) prevention. The study analyzed genetic, plasma metabolomic, and dietary data from 4,215 women and 1,490 men in prospective cohorts. The associations between 57 […]
A US clinical-pathologic cohort study found that more frequent morning naps were linked to a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia. Additionally, more naps in the early afternoon and more consistent nap patterns were linked to lower levels of Alzheimer’s pathology. The study analyzed data from 936 older adults (aged […]
A prospective population-based cohort study in the Netherlands suggests that sleep rhythm disturbances can precede amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition and may be a modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer disease (AD). From September 2018 to November 2021, 319 participants without dementia who underwent Aβ positron emission tomography (PET) were included with the […]
A UK cohort study suggested that irregular sleep may represent a novel dementia risk factor. A random selection of 88,094 individuals (mean age 62 years, 56% women, and median sleep regularity index [SRI] 60) from a UK cohort was done between February 2013 and December 2015. The SRI was calculated […]
A US cohort study suggests that high blood pressure variability (BPV) can indicate increased incident dementia risk in older age. The study focused on 820 participants (mean age, 77.0 years; 58.0% females) with data of brain autopsy and midlife to late-life BP. A mean of 28.4 yearly SBP measurements were […]