Each study has a usefulness score out of 100 (rubric version 4.0). Tap a score to see what makes it up.
Highest usefulness score first. Studies without a score come last.
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Study objective Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) contributes to the development of systemic hypertension, and hypertension strongly predicts the development of white matter change (WMC).
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The results showed a 73% increased risk of ATD, 56% increase of AD and 127% increase of VaD in diabetes patients.
Why it matters
Pooling 28 prospective observational studies published up to January 2012, this meta-analysis found that people with diabetes had a higher risk of developing dementia: 73% higher for all-type dementia (RR 1.73), 56% higher for Alzheimer's disease (RR 1.56) and 127% higher for vascular dementia (RR 2.27). These are relative risks from observational studies, and the all-type dementia studies varied considerably among themselves (I² = 71.2%). The study shows an association, not that diabetes causes dementia or that treating diabetes lowers the risk.
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The study revealed a higher prevalence of treatment preference discussions and surrogate appointments in the two northern compared to the two southern European countries.
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Hearing loss is independently associated with accelerated cognitive decline and incident cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older adults.
Why it matters
This prospective study found that older adults with hearing loss had faster rates of cognitive decline and a higher risk of incident cognitive impairment than those with normal hearing. It does not show that treating hearing loss prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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Using DSM-IV criteria, 55 of 280 patients (19.6%) had delirium versus 17.6% using the CAM.
Why it matters
This point prevalence study found that 19.6% of assessed general hospital adult inpatients had delirium using DSM-IV criteria, with higher prevalence in older patients and particularly in those with prior dementia. It concerns detecting and measuring delirium in hospital patients, not treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Alternatively, lesser engagement in social activities may be a marker of impending cognitive decline in MCI.
Why it matters
In this cohort of 816 older adults with mild cognitive impairment, more frequent engagement in social activities and a slower decline in the variety of activities were linked to lower risk of progressing to severe cognitive impairment over three years. The authors say greater social engagement may potentially help prevent or delay progression, but the study cannot show that social activity causes the lower risk.
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Despite the growing interest in cognitive training programs as a potential non-pharmacological approach to slowing cognitive decline in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), there has been little research on the differential effectiveness of training among subtypes of MCI (i.e., amnestic, single non-amnestic, and multi-domain).
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Delirium (acute confusion) complicates 15% to 50% of major operations in older adults and is associated with other major postoperative complications, prolonged length of stay, poor functional recovery, institutionalization, dementia, and death.
Why it matters
Postoperative delirium is common after major surgery in older adults and is associated with dementia and other poor outcomes, but it may be preventable through proactive intervention. Strategies include targeting reversible risk factors, limiting sedating medications, managing pain, and possibly using antipsychotics judiciously.
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PIM use may be higher in dementia patients and their informal caregivers compared with the general older adult population.
Why it matters
Among people with dementia, 33% were taking at least one potentially inappropriate medication, and certain caregiver factors were linked to higher risk of this in patients. This concerns medication safety in dementia care, not treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease itself.
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A staging system based on this conceptual model of cerebrovascular pathology could enable the neuropathologic quantification of the cerebrovascular burden in dementia.
Why it matters
Because researchers lacked an agreed way to measure blood-vessel damage in the brain, this team built a rating and staging scheme using 135 brains from people who had died with dementia (vascular, Alzheimer's, Lewy body, or mixtures of these). They found vessel-wall changes such as arteriolosclerosis and amyloid angiopathy were the most common and "presumably the earliest" changes, followed by perivascular-space changes and myelin loss, with infarcts possibly coming last. It is an autopsy study of people who already had dementia, so it proposes an order of damage but does not prove one and does not test any treatment or prevention.
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57/100
Unlike professional caregivers such as physicians and nurses, informal caregivers, typically family members or friends, provide care to individuals with a variety of conditions including advanced age, dementia, and cancer.
Why it matters
This report describes one caregiver's experience and argues that caregivers under long, unrelenting stress may face negative health effects, partly through immune and autonomic changes. It says doctors and their teams should identify caregivers at risk and intervene to reduce caregiving stress, but it reports no tested treatment or cure.
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Identification of potentially modifiable risk factors for cognitive deterioration is important.
Why it matters
In 5,607 cognitively normal and 2,500 MCI patients at 30 US Alzheimer's Disease Centers, people who stayed depressed throughout follow-up were about 2.35 times as likely to move from normal cognition to MCI (95% CI 1.93–3.08). For moving from MCI to Alzheimer's, the increase was only modest (RR 1.21, 1.00–1.46). The risk was tied to recent depression (within two years), not earlier depression, and did not differ by antidepressant treatment, so this study shows an association and does not show that treating depression prevents decline.
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The study confirms the occurrence of increased incidence of chronic illnesses in long-term cancer survivors attributable to underlying lifestyle and/or cancer treatments.
Why it matters
This database study of long-term cancer survivors found an increased incidence of dementia among colorectal cancer survivors compared with matched non-cancer controls. It does not test any treatment or prevention for Alzheimer's disease and cannot show what caused the higher dementia incidence.
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CBD was associated with 4 clinical syndromes: progressive nonfluent aphasia (n = 5), behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (n = 5), executive-motor (n = 7), and posterior cortical atrophy (n = 1).
Why it matters
This study found that pathology-proven corticobasal degeneration was associated with several clinical syndromes and that frontal lobe involvement is characteristic, making antemortem prediction challenging. It is about diagnosing corticobasal degeneration, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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As ascertained by several operational definitions, MCI is a heterogeneous entity at the population level but progresses to dementia at rates higher than in normal elderly individuals.
Why it matters
In a population sample of 1,982 people aged 65 and older, only a small proportion of those classified with mild cognitive impairment by any definition progressed to dementia over one year, while some improved or returned to normal and most stayed stable. This shows that a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment does not reliably predict rapid decline.
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Progression of Alzheimer dementia (AD) is highly variable.
Why it matters
This population-based cohort study described the progression of cognitive, functional and neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer dementia. It is an observational study of disease course and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention.
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Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is the umbrella term encompassing a heterogeneous group of pathological disorders.
Why it matters
This review describes how frontotemporal lobar degeneration is classified into FTLD-tau, FTLD-TDP, and FTLD-FUS, and how these relate to clinical syndromes. It notes that the clinical diagnosis of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia does not have a strong relationship to any FTLD subtype or specific pathology, which is a diagnostic challenge rather than a treatment or cure.
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Higher adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MeDi) and n-3 PUFA may both contribute to decreased dementia risk, but the association between MeDi adherence and lipid status is unclear.
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Apathy is an important and distressing behavioural symptom in Alzheimer's disease and in various neuropsychiatric disorders.
Why it matters
This cross-sectional study of 306 patients examined the prevalence and validity of proposed diagnostic criteria for apathy in various neuropsychiatric diseases. It is about diagnosing apathy and does not test any treatment, so it says nothing about curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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There are significant barriers to help seeking for dementia in ME groups.
Why it matters
This review found significant barriers to seeking help for dementia among minority ethnic groups, including not seeing dementia as an illness and stigma. It is about access to care, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Declines in heart disease and stroke mortality rates are conventionally attributed to reductions in cigarette smoking, recognition and treatment of hypertension and diabetes, effective medications to improve serum lipid levels and to reduce clot formation, and general lifestyle improvements.
Why it matters
This analysis found no statistically significant trends in dementia incidence or prevalence in most community studies, though a national survey showed a significant reduction in cognitive impairment measured by neuropsychological testing. It describes trends over time and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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Although previous research has shown that initiation of postmenopausal estrogen hormone therapy (HT) in late life increases risk of dementia, animal studies and some observational studies have suggested that midlife use of HT may be beneficial; however, this has not been rigorously investigated in large population-based studies.
Why it matters
In 5,504 postmenopausal women from one integrated healthcare system, researchers compared hormone therapy use in midlife (average age 48.7, from a 1964 survey) with use in late life (average age 76, from 1994–1998 pharmacy records) against dementia diagnoses made from 1999 to 2008. It is an observational study that tests the "critical window" idea that timing matters. It can show associations, not cause and effect, and it does not establish a way to treat, cure or prevent Alzheimer's disease.
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The evidence of a preventive treatment effect aimed at vascular risk factors on cognitive decline and dementia in later life is scarce and mostly based on secondary outcome parameters.
Why it matters
This systematic review found that dementia was never the primary outcome in the identified trials, statins and intensified diabetes control appeared to have no effect on preventing cognitive decline, obesity treatment studies were lacking, homocysteine-lowering results were inconclusive, and antihypertensive evidence was inconsistent. Overall, evidence that treating vascular risk factors prevents cognitive decline or dementia is scarce and mostly based on secondary outcomes.
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Cognitive impairment is an independent predictor of mortality in dialysis patients.
Why it matters
In this small cohort of 145 dialysis patients, cognitive impairment was linked to higher mortality, but the study did not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease. The authors note that the implications of early recognition and treatment of cognitive impairment for clinical outcomes are unclear.
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Diabetes and pre-diabetes substantially accelerate the progression from MCI to dementia, and anticipate dementia occurrence by more than 3 years in people with MCI.
Why it matters
In a 9-year Kungsholmen Project study of people aged 75 and over, those with MCI who had diabetes or pre-diabetes (defined by random blood glucose 7.8-11.0 mmol/l) were more likely to progress to dementia: adjusted hazard ratios were 2.87 for diabetes and 4.96 for pre-diabetes, and progression came about 3.18 years sooner. In people without cognitive problems at the start, diabetes and pre-diabetes were not associated with developing MCI. This is an observational link, not proof of cause, and the study did not test whether treating diabetes changes the outcome.
From across this topic
10 of the 7,967 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.
- Nursing home admissions for persons with dementia: Role of home‐ and community‐based services
- Does the Clock Drawing Test predict cognitive decline in older persons independent of the Mini-Mental State Examination? The FINE Study Group. Finland, Italy, The Netherlands Elderly
- Barriers to the provision of high-quality palliative care for people with dementia in England: a qualitative study of professionals' experiences
- Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Risk of Cardiovascular Events and All-Cause Mortality: The Framingham Heart Study
- Compassion in healthcare - lessons from a qualitative study of the end of life care of people with dementia
- Association of visit-to-visit variability in blood pressure with cognitive function in old age: prospective cohort study
- Survival rates in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
- Comparison of Feature Selection Techniques in Machine Learning for Anatomical Brain MRI in Dementia
- Prevalence, risk factors, and management of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in adults aged 60 years or older in China: a cross-sectional study
- Comparison of an Energy-Reduced Mediterranean Diet and Physical Activity Versus an Ad Libitum Mediterranean Diet in the Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes