Each study has a usefulness score out of 100 (rubric version 4.0). Tap a score to see what makes it up.
Download bibliography of all 5,209 studies, highest score first: BibTeX (.bib) · RIS (.ris)
Highest usefulness score first. Studies without a score come last.
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Angiotensin receptor blockers are associated with a significant reduction in the incidence and progression of Alzheimer's disease and dementia compared with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors or other cardiovascular drugs in a predominantly male population.
Why it matters
In this predominantly male cohort with cardiovascular disease, angiotensin receptor blockers were associated with a lower risk of incident dementia compared with other cardiovascular drugs and with lisinopril. Among those with pre-existing Alzheimer's disease or dementia, angiotensin receptor blockers were also linked to a lower risk of nursing home admission and death.
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In white older adults, prevalent Alzheimer disease (AD) was longitudinally associated with a reduced risk of cancer, and a history of cancer was associated with a reduced risk of AD.
Why it matters
In this cohort, people with Alzheimer disease had a reduced risk of later cancer hospitalization, and prevalent cancer was associated with reduced risk of Alzheimer's among white subjects. These are observed associations and do not show that anything about cancer treats, cures or prevents Alzheimer's.
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65/100
Overall, 318 patients with AD completed BPST with an improvement of 5.6 points on the total Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI; mean [SD], 63.3 [16.0] to 57.7 [18.4], t = 4.8, df = 317, p 95% of patients.
Why it matters
In this open-label first stage, 318 patients with Alzheimer's disease and agitated behavior received brief psychosocial therapy and improved on the agitation scale, but the specific benefits of the therapy cannot be determined from an open trial. It is about managing agitation and does not show a treatment, cure, or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
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Atrophy is not uniform across regions, nor does it follow a linear trajectory.
Why it matters
In 472 people followed with MRI for one year, atrophy rates were greatest in medial temporal and related regions in early impairment and spread to more cortical areas as impairment increased. This observational study describes where and how fast brain shrinkage occurs but does not test any treatment or show that slowing atrophy changes the disease.
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Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids could have neuroprotective properties against dementia, which is becoming a major global public health issue.
Why it matters
Observational studies suggest long-chain omega-3 fatty acids may slow cognitive decline in older people without dementia, but not prevent or treat dementia including Alzheimer's disease. None of four small clinical trials provided convincing evidence for this approach in prevention or treatment.
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This approach, describing the 14 years preceding dementia, provides a clear illustration of the particularly long and progressive prodromal phase of AD, and shows the successive emergence of cognitive deficits, depressive symptoms, and functional impairment during this phase.
Why it matters
In 350 people from the PAQUID cohort who developed Alzheimer's over 14 years, compared with 350 matched older adults who did not, the first measurable decline appeared "as early as 12 years before dementia" in semantic memory and conceptual formation. The study describes broader thinking problems emerging next, alongside more memory complaints and depressive symptoms, then slight dependence in daily activities about 2 years later, and a marked worsening in the final 3 years before diagnosis. This maps the order in which symptoms emerged on average in this group. It does not predict who will develop dementia, and it tested no treatment.
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In the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), we examined the temporal unfolding of declining performance on tests of episodic memory (Free Recall on the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test), executive function (Category Fluency, Letter Fluency, and Trails), and Verbal Intelligence (Nelson, 1982; American Version of the Nelson Adult Reading Test [AMNART]) before the diagnosis of dementia in 92 subjects with incident Alzheimer's disease (AD) followed for up to 15 years before diagnosis.
Why it matters
Looking back over up to 15 years of test results from 92 people in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging who went on to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, researchers found that memory-test decline sped up about 7 years before diagnosis, decline on executive-function tests sped up 2–3 years before, and verbal intelligence (estimated by a reading test) declined only close to diagnosis. The authors say this order fits with memory-related brain regions being affected before frontal ones. Because people were lined up by a diagnosis they had already received, this describes group patterns before diagnosis. It does not predict who will develop Alzheimer's and does not test any treatment.
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Epidemiological and animal studies have suggested that dietary fish or fish oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids (omega3), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), may have effects in psychiatric and behavioral symptoms in Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Why it matters
This trial gave omega-3 supplements to 204 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease to see effects on psychiatric and behavioral symptoms. It does not report that omega-3 cures or prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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Treatment also increased REM sleep duration and reduced ADAS-cog scores.
Why it matters
In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 23 patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer disease and sleep apnea, donepezil treatment significantly improved the apnea-hypopnea index and oxygen saturation compared with baseline and placebo, and also increased REM sleep duration and reduced ADAS-cog scores. This addresses sleep-disordered breathing in Alzheimer disease rather than curing or preventing the disease itself.
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65/100
Early intervention to reduce caregiving behavioral burden and enhance family support and promote healthier behaviors of bereaved AD caregivers may decrease the risk of syndromal or syndromal-becoming-threshold level depression after loss.
Why it matters
This study described patterns of depressive symptoms among caregivers after the death of a person with Alzheimer's disease. It does not test any treatment for Alzheimer's disease itself.
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Cardiovascular risk factors and a history of vascular disease can increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Why it matters
This randomised trial assessed whether aspirin slows progression in people with Alzheimer's disease, based on the observation that Alzheimer's disease is less common in aspirin users. It tested aspirin as a possible treatment, not a cure or prevention.
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The GuidAge study is the largest study carried out in Europe on the prevention of AD.
Why it matters
This paper reports the design of a 5-year trial testing whether Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761) prevents Alzheimer's disease in people over 70 with memory complaints. No results on prevention are available here, so no conclusion about its effectiveness can be drawn.
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This study is an extension of a 28-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of memantine in 252 patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer disease.
Why it matters
In this 24-week open-label extension, patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer disease who switched from placebo to memantine showed significant benefit on functional, global, and cognitive measures compared with their earlier decline on placebo. The study was open-label and had no placebo comparison during the extension, so it supports memantine for symptom treatment but does not show it cures or prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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Psychotic symptoms are common and persistent in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Why it matters
This review found that psychosis occurs in many people with Alzheimer's disease and is linked to more rapid cognitive decline. It describes the frequency and risk factors of psychosis and reports no treatment, cure or prevention.
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The mean (SD) age in the CA group was 72.2(7.5) years (range, 60-80 years), and in the placebo group it was 71.7 (7.4) years(range, 60-80 years).
Why it matters
In this 180-day trial of 261 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease, choline alfoscerate reduced ADAS-Cog scores compared with placebo, suggesting some cognitive improvement. The authors note that earlier well-controlled trials of cholinergic precursors such as choline and lecithin did not confirm clinical utility, so this is a symptom-treatment finding rather than evidence of a cure or prevention.
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65/100
It has been more than 10 years since it was first proposed that the neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be caused by deposition of amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) in plaques in brain tissue.
Why it matters
This paper describes the amyloid hypothesis, which proposes that accumulation of amyloid beta-peptide in the brain is the primary influence driving Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. According to the hypothesis, the rest of the disease process, including formation of neurofibrillary tangles containing tau protein, is proposed to result from an imbalance between amyloid beta production and clearance.
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Serum tHcy levels were significantly higher and serum folate and vitamin B12 levels were lower in patients with DAT and patients with histologically confirmed AD than in controls.
Why it matters
This 1998 hospital-clinic study compared 164 people with a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's (76 of them confirmed by brain tissue) with 108 people without dementia. Patients had "significantly higher" blood homocysteine and lower folate and vitamin B12 levels than controls. The authors argued that homocysteine levels being stable over time and unrelated to how long symptoms had lasted made it unlikely the levels were simply a result of the disease. Because blood was measured after diagnosis and no one was given vitamins, the study shows an association only; it does not show that these levels cause Alzheimer's or that taking B vitamins prevents or treats it.
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The long-term efficacy and safety of donepezil (up to 10 mg/day) was evaluated in a multicentre, non-randomised, open-label extension study of 133 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) who had completed a previous 14-week double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of donepezil.
Why it matters
This open-label extension study followed 133 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease taking donepezil for up to 192 weeks, comparing results with published data on untreated patients. It reports on an existing drug's long-term use, not on curing or preventing the disease.
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These results suggest that the inheritance of APOE epsilon 4 is associated with reduced cerebral parietal metabolism and increased asymmetry in non-demented relatives at risk for probable AD.
Why it matters
In 1995, researchers used brain PET scans to compare 31 middle-aged relatives of people with Alzheimer's (all had at least two affected relatives, mild memory complaints and normal test scores). The 12 who carried the APOE ε4 gene variant had lower glucose use in the parietal lobes and more left-right imbalance than the 19 who did not. This was a single comparison with no follow-up, so it shows an association in a selected family-history group; it does not show that these brain changes lead to dementia.
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65/100
Apolipoprotein E, type epsilon 4 allele (APOE epsilon 4), is associated with late-onset familial Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Why it matters
This study found that the APOE epsilon 4 allele is significantly associated with probable sporadic Alzheimer's disease patients compared to controls, and a large combined series of autopsy-documented sporadic cases also showed highly significant association. The authors conclude that APOE epsilon 4 may operate as a susceptibility gene or risk factor for the clinical expression of Alzheimer's disease.
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No benefits were demonstrated for secondary clinical end points.
Why it matters
In this phase 2 trial, the drug ceperognastat showed no benefits on secondary clinical endpoints in people with early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease. A statistically significantly smaller increase in a PET tau measure was seen only in the 3 mg group in one brain region, which does not by itself show clinical benefit.
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Prion diseases can mimic Alzheimer disease (AD) at presentation.
Why it matters
This cohort study examined how Alzheimer's disease plasma biomarkers, including p-tau217, performed in distinguishing Alzheimer's disease from prion diseases, which can mimic Alzheimer's disease at presentation. It concerns diagnostic accuracy and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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A total of 3363 adults were enrolled in SNAC-K (73.3% participation rate).
Why it matters
In 2282 dementia-free older adults followed for about 9 years, anemia was linked to higher levels of Alzheimer's blood biomarkers and a higher risk of developing dementia. The highest dementia risk was seen in people who had both anemia and elevated Alzheimer's biomarkers.
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64/100
A brief DMA combined with plasma pTau217 identifies a subset of cognitively unimpaired, amyloid-positive older adults at highest risk for cognitive and biomarker progression.
Why it matters
This analysis of data from the A4 Study found that cognitively unimpaired, amyloid-positive older adults with both elevated plasma pTau217 and low digital memory scores declined faster and could be identified earlier. This enrichment approach could make preclinical Alzheimer's trials more efficient, but it is about trial design, not a treatment for patients.
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The sample included 4340 adults (mean [SD; range] age, 58.1 [1.1; 56-63] years; 2400 [55.3%] women); 630 (14.4%) were Black, 900 (20.7%) were Latinx, and 2610 (60.1%) were White.
Why it matters
In 4340 middle-aged adults, Alzheimer's blood biomarker levels were generally similar across Black, Latinx, and White participants, and differences found were largely explained by population representation. Type 2 diabetes, high body mass index, and high cholesterol were linked to some biomarker levels.
From across this topic
10 of the 5,172 studies in this topic, picked by a fixed rule (a hash of each study's address), not by score or date; each page of this list shows a different 10. The same 10 appear here every time.
- Comparative lipidomic analysis of mouse and human brain with Alzheimer disease
- APOE genotype and early β-amyloid accumulation in older adults without dementia
- Quantitative analysis of senile plaques in Alzheimer disease: observation of log-normal size distribution and molecular epidemiology of differences associated with apolipoprotein E genotype and trisomy 21 (Down syndrome)
- Crosstalk between Gut and Brain in Alzheimer's Disease: The Role of Gut Microbiota Modulation Strategies
- Characterizing Clinical Progression in Cognitively Unimpaired Older Individuals with Brain Amyloid: Results from the A4 Study
- Pathological substrates of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease
- Brain imaging and cognitive predictors of stroke and Alzheimer disease in the Framingham Heart Study
- Biomarkers as predictors for conversion from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer-type dementia: implications for trial design
- Resting state EEG biomarkers of cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment
- Drug treatments in Alzheimer's disease