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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Prevalence: It is estimated that each year 38.2% of the EU population suffers from a mental disorder.
Why it matters
This study estimated how common mental and neurological disorders are in Europe and found that most cases receive no treatment. It highlights unmet needs for care but does not test any specific treatment or prevention for Alzheimer's.
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This statement serves as an overall guide for practitioners to gain a better understanding of VCI and dementia, prevention, and treatment.
Why it matters
This 2011 American Heart Association/American Stroke Association statement for healthcare professionals defines "vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia" (VCI) as the whole spectrum of cognitive problems "associated with all forms of cerebral vascular brain injury-not solely stroke," from mild cognitive impairment through to dementia. It is a definition and practitioner guide, not a study with participants or measured results, so it does not by itself show that any treatment or risk-factor control prevents dementia.
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There is evidence that major depression increases the risk for dementia, but there is conflicting evidence as to whether depression may accelerate cognitive decline in dementia.
Why it matters
This cohort study of 313 elderly nursing home residents tested whether cognitive decline is faster in people with dementia who also have depression. It looks at how depression relates to the course of decline, not at any treatment, cure or prevention.
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The incidence of CIND is greater than the incidence of dementia, and those with CIND are at high risk of progressing to dementia, making CIND a potentially valuable target for treatments aimed at slowing cognitive decline.
Why it matters
This study reports US national incidence rates for dementia, Alzheimer disease, vascular dementia and cognitive impairment not dementia, and estimates progression from cognitive impairment not dementia to dementia. These are population estimates of how often these conditions occur, not findings about treatment or prevention.
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Depression was the most common psychiatric diagnosis in all groups.
Why it matters
This study found that many patients with neurodegenerative disease had received a psychiatric diagnosis before their neurological diagnosis, most often depression. It concerns misdiagnosis and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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135 subjects enrolled in a longitudinal clinicopathologic study were administered the MoCA by a single physician and the MMSE by a trained research assistant.
Why it matters
This study compared two cognitive screening tests, the MoCA and the MMSE, in 135 people and found the MoCA was better at correctly identifying who did and did not have cognitive impairment. It is about improving how memory problems are detected, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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This prognostic index provides an accurate and transportable method of stratifying 1-year death risk in PP.
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A minority of NH residents with advanced dementia received hospice care.
Why it matters
In this study of nursing home residents with advanced dementia, 22% were referred to hospice, and those in hospice were more likely to receive treatment for pain and dyspnea and their caregivers reported fewer unmet needs. It concerns end-of-life care and does not test a treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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The ADRQL is a valid indicator of QOL in NH residents with advanced dementia.
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Recently, it has become clear that head trauma can lead to a progressive neurodegeneration known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Why it matters
This paper discusses head trauma as a possible risk factor for neurodegeneration, but notes that findings linking it to Alzheimer's disease are mostly based on clinical criteria that lack specificity. It calls for prospective studies with brain tissue verification and reports no treatment or cure.
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Donepezil was relatively well tolerated; adverse events were consistent with current labeling.
Why it matters
In this 24-week trial of 974 patients with vascular dementia, donepezil 5 mg daily significantly improved cognitive but not global function compared with placebo, and was relatively well tolerated. The finding that response differed by hippocampal size suggests hippocampal imaging deserves further study, but this trial was about vascular dementia symptoms, not curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Semantic dementia is distinguishable from other presentations of frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer disease, not only by fluent speech and impaired comprehension without loss of episodic memory, syntax, and phonology but also by empty, garrulous speech with thematic perseverations, semantic paraphasias, and poor category fluency.
Why it matters
This study describes the features of 48 patients with semantic dementia and compares them with patients who have other types of dementia, finding differences in speech, naming, comprehension, and behavior. It is about diagnosing and distinguishing types of dementia, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Because of the heterogeneity of populations and interventions, meta-analyses were not possible and results are presented in narrative form.
Why it matters
This review found no randomized controlled trials that met its inclusion criteria, so it could not establish whether cognitive leisure activities prevent dementia. The authors note that some activities might be more beneficial than others, but say results should be interpreted with caution.
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During follow-up, 203 cases of hospitalisation with dementia were identified.
Why it matters
In 11,151 participants followed prospectively, smoking, hypertension, and diabetes were strongly associated with later dementia hospitalization, with stronger links when risk factors were measured at younger ages. This observational study identifies risk factors but does not show that treating them prevents dementia.
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Attention to the role of n-3 long-chain fatty acids in human health and disease has been continuously increased during recent decades.
Why it matters
This review says n-3 fatty acids have been studied for several conditions including dementia, but that more controlled trials are needed to show whether long-term consumption or supplements improve quality of life. It provides no evidence that these fatty acids treat or prevent Alzheimer's disease.
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Olfactory impairment at baseline was strongly associated with 5-year incidence of cognitive impairment as measured using the MMSE.
Why it matters
In this population study, impaired odor identification at baseline was significantly associated with developing cognitive impairment five years later, even after adjusting for possible confounders. However, the test's positive predictive value was low (15.9%), so most people with olfactory impairment did not develop cognitive impairment.
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The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is the most widely used instrument for the screening of cognitive impairment worldwide, but its ability to produce valid estimates of dementia in populations of low socioeconomic status and minimal literacy skills has not been adequately established.
Why it matters
This study examined how well the Mini-Mental State Examination screens for dementia in older Brazilians with low socioeconomic status and minimal literacy. It does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Our results suggest that when using semantic encoding, older normal subjects may be aided by anticholinesterase treatment.
Why it matters
In 20 healthy older adults, 6 weeks of donepezil did not significantly change recall of superficially processed words in either treatment group. This small study looked at memory in healthy people, not at treating or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Tailoring activities to the capabilities of dementia patients and training families in activity use resulted in clinically relevant benefits for patients and caregivers.
Why it matters
In this small randomized pilot study of 60 people with dementia and their caregivers, an occupational therapy program that tailored activities reduced the frequency of problem behaviors such as shadowing and repetitive questioning and improved caregiver wellbeing. This is an early, small study of managing behaviors and supporting caregivers, not a treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Dementia is one of the most important neurological disorders in the elderly.
Why it matters
This review reports that vascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome assessed at middle age are associated with dementia, and that antihypertensive therapy may have a protective effect on cognition. It calls for further long-term randomized trials to confirm these findings.
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The association between low education and dementia is probably not explained by the unhealthy lifestyles of the less educated compared with higher educated persons.
Why it matters
This study found that people with more years of formal education had lower odds of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and that this link was not explained by lifestyle or vascular factors. It does not show that education itself prevents dementia, only that the two are associated.
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The original mortality risk score predicted 6-month mortality with reasonable accuracy in 2 validation cohorts of nursing home residents with advanced dementia.
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56/100
The psychostimulant properties of caffeine appear to reduce cognitive decline in women without dementia, especially at higher ages.
Why it matters
Women who drank more than three cups of coffee a day showed less decline in verbal retrieval over four years, but no such link was found in men. Caffeine consumption did not reduce dementia risk over the four years of the study.
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MCI is a nosological entity proposed as an intermediate state between normal aging and dementia.
Why it matters
This review describes mild cognitive impairment as a condition with multiple causes and outcomes, where the amnestic subtype seems to represent an early stage of Alzheimer's disease while other subtypes have more varied outcomes. It calls for better tools and a multidisciplinary approach to predict conversion, and does not test any treatment.
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56/100
In a cross-section of older adults, vitamin D deficiency was associated with low mood and with impairment on two of four measures of cognitive performance.
Why it matters
This cross-sectional study found that 58% of participants had abnormally low vitamin D levels and that vitamin D deficiency was associated with presence of an active mood disorder after adjusting for age, race, gender and season. It reports an association between vitamin D deficiency, low mood and worse cognitive performance, but as a cross-sectional study it cannot show that vitamin D causes or treats dementia.
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.
- Lifestyle medicine: Our only hope against the ticking non-communicable diseases time bomb
- Moving beyond the prevalent exposure design for causal inference in dementia research
- The relevance of nutrition for the concept of cognitive frailty
- Varieties of semantic 'access' deficit in Wernicke's aphasia and semantic aphasia
- Association between the Mediterranean diet and cognitive decline in a biracial population
- Data-Driven Food Desert Metric to Understand Access to Grocery Stores Using Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detector Decision Tree Analysis
- Advance care planning for older people in Australia presenting to the emergency department from the community or residential aged care facilities
- Prevalence of dementia in Latin America and Caribbean countries: Systematic review and meta-analyses exploring age, sex, rurality, and education as possible determinants
- The Mediterranean diet and menopausal health: An EMAS position statement
- Prevalence of dementia in older latinos: the influence of type 2 diabetes mellitus, stroke and genetic factors