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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We examined the association of social activity with cognitive decline in 1138 persons without dementia at baseline with a mean age of 79.6 (SD = 7.5) who were followed for up to 12 years (mean = 5.2; SD = 2.8).
Why it matters
This study examined the association of social activity with cognitive decline in 1,138 persons without dementia followed for up to 12 years. It found that more social activity was associated with less cognitive decline, with a one point increase in social activity score associated with a 47% decrease in the rate of decline in global cognitive function.
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54/100
Heart failure is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and cerebrovascular disease.
Why it matters
In this cross-sectional study, left ventricular ejection fraction was not associated with any brain aging variable in multivariable-adjusted linear regressions. Quintile analyses showed some U-shaped associations, with both the lowest and highest quintiles linked to lower mean cognitive performance.
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Despite advances towards understanding the molecular pathophysiology of the neurodegenerative dementias, the mechanisms linking molecular changes to neuropathology and neuropathological changes to clinical symptoms remain largely obscure.
Why it matters
This paper reviews patterns of disrupted brain networks seen in degenerative dementias, including Alzheimer's disease. It suggests these patterns might allow earlier detection and tracking of disease progression, but does not report any treatment, cure or prevention.
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Depression is highly common throughout the life course and dementia is common in late life.
Why it matters
This 2011 review reports that depression earlier in life has consistently been associated with a more than twofold increase in dementia risk, while studies of late-life depression conflict. It says it is still unclear whether late-life depression is a risk factor for dementia, an early sign of it, or a consequence of it, so the link should not be read as cause and effect. The authors list possible biological pathways and say that whether treating depression improves cognition is of critical importance but still unknown.
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These data suggest that among aged subjects with cognitive impairment and/or parkinsonism, the MSQ has adequate SN and SP for the diagnosis of RBD.
Why it matters
This study validated the Mayo Sleep Questionnaire against polysomnography for diagnosing REM sleep behaviour disorder in an aging and dementia cohort, finding the core question had 98% sensitivity and 74% specificity. It concerns a screening tool for diagnosis and reports nothing about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Retinal vessels provide a unique opportunity to study both systemic and cerebrovascular disease.
Why it matters
This study investigated whether retinal arteriolar and venular calibers are associated with risk of dementia and its subtypes in a prospective population-based cohort. It is an observational study of a possible risk marker and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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In 1999, 17.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 17.2-18.1) of patients with dementia were using atypical or conventional antipsychotics.
Why it matters
This study found that antipsychotic use in dementia declined after warnings about increased mortality risk. It does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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However, many did not adjust for important confounders or did not include women and non-whites.
Why it matters
This study looked at whether impaired lung function is associated with cognitive decline and dementia in a large cohort. It examines a possible risk factor but does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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54/100
We investigated the prevalence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and the factors associate with risk of dementia from a representative nationwide sample of Korean elders. 8,199 randomly-sampled Koreans aged 65 years or older were invited to participate in the Phase I screening assessment using Mini-Mental State Examination by door-to-door home visit, and 6,141 subjects (response rate = 74.9%) responded.
Why it matters
In a nationwide door-to-door survey of Korean adults aged 65 and over (1,673 people completed full diagnostic testing), about 8.1% had dementia and 24.1% had mild cognitive impairment. Alzheimer's disease was the most common type (5.7%), followed by vascular dementia (2.0%). Older age, being male, less education, illiteracy, smoking, head injury and depression were linked to higher risk, while alcohol use and moderate exercise were linked to lower risk. These are associations from a survey, so they do not show that drinking or exercise prevents dementia.
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The number of people with dementia has increased dramatically with global ageing.
Why it matters
This study analysed whether psychological stress in midlife is related to developing dementia in later life in a sample of 1,462 women. It examines a possible risk relationship and offers no treatment, cure or prevention.
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54/100
Commonly used organophosphate and organochlorine pesticides inhibit acetylcholinesterase at synapses in the somatic, autonomic, and central nervous systems and may therefore have lasting effects on the nervous system.
Why it matters
This study found that people who reported occupational pesticide exposure may have a higher risk of later dementia and Alzheimer disease. It identifies a possible risk factor but does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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Frailty is a risk for postoperative complications and an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality, institutional discharge, and reduced midterm survival.
Why it matters
This study found that frail cardiac surgery patients, including those with a documented history of dementia, had higher risks of in-hospital death, institutional discharge, and reduced midterm survival. It is about surgical outcomes in frail patients and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Changes in CSF biomarker levels may identify early neurodegenerative processes of Alzheimer disease.
Why it matters
In 37 healthy older adults, low cerebrospinal fluid beta-amyloid 1-42 at follow-up was associated with worse delayed word recall. The authors suggest these biomarker changes may identify early Alzheimer processes, but the study is small and shows no treatment.
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Studies of autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease (AD) have shown structural and cognitive changes in mutation carriers decades prior to clinical disease.
Why it matters
Among middle-aged APOE ε4 carriers, having a parent with dementia or Alzheimer disease was associated with poorer verbal and visuospatial memory and a higher rate of global brain atrophy. This is an observational association in middle-aged adults, not a treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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The different anatomic distribution of the pathologic lesions could explain these results: opercular and subcortical regions in tau pathologies with progressive anarthria, the left frontotemporal cortex in TDP-43-positive frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD-TDP) with agrammatic progressive aphasia, the bilateral lateral and anterior temporal cortex in FTLD-TDP or argyrophilic grain disease with semantic dementia, and the left parietotemporal cortex in Alzheimer disease with logopenic progressive aphasia or jargon aphasia.
Why it matters
In 18 patients, different clinical variants of primary progressive language and speech disorders corresponded to different underlying pathologies at postmortem, such as tau pathology in progressive anarthria and TDP-43 in agrammatic aphasia. This concerns predicting pathology for diagnosis, not treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Apparent better health in Daxing might be explained by under-diagnosis, under-reporting or selective mortality.
Why it matters
This cross-sectional survey compared chronic disease prevalence and care among older people in urban and rural Beijing, finding dementia was strongly associated with care needs but not with medical help-seeking. It describes care patterns and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention.
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The incidence and prevalence of dementia are expected to increase several-fold in the coming decades.
Why it matters
This review states that vascular risk factors including diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and obesity are fairly consistently associated with increased dementia risk in observational studies, and that cognitive, social, and physical activity are associated with reduced risk. It notes that results from randomized trials of risk factor modification have been mixed, while interventions of cognitive and physical activity improve cognitive performance and slow cognitive decline.
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The success of future neurodegenerative disease (ND) therapies depends partly on accurate antemortem diagnoses.
Why it matters
This study compared clinical diagnoses made during life with brain autopsy findings to check how accurately dementia with Lewy bodies is diagnosed. It found that clinical diagnosis of this type of dementia has low sensitivity, meaning it is often missed, which matters for research and care but does not test a treatment.
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Psychotic symptoms are frequent and disabling in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).
Why it matters
This review describes how common hallucinations and delusions are in Parkinson's disease, with visual hallucinations affecting about a quarter to a third of patients and increasing over time. It concerns Parkinson's disease psychosis and offers no treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a clinical syndrome comprising supranuclear palsy, postural instability, and mild dementia.
Why it matters
This review describes progressive supranuclear palsy, a condition defined neuropathologically by accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles, and notes that several distinct clinical syndromes are associated with it, complicating diagnosis in the absence of a reliable disease-specific biomarker. It concerns diagnosis and disease classification of progressive supranuclear palsy, not Alzheimer's disease treatment, cure or prevention.
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As the number of elderly persons in our country increases, more attention is being given to geriatric healthcare needs and successful ageing is becoming an important topic in medical literature.
Why it matters
This review reports that moderate regular physical activity is associated with reduced total mortality and other health benefits in older people, and notes that some longitudinal studies suggest physical activity is linked to a reduced risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease. These are associations from longitudinal studies, not proof that exercise prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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54/100
Caffeine stimulates central nervous system on a short term.
Why it matters
In this population-based study, people who drank coffee at midlife had a lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease later in life, with the lowest risk at 3-5 cups per day, while tea drinking was not associated with dementia. The finding is an association from an observational study and the authors say it might open possibilities for prevention, not that coffee prevents dementia.
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A thorough understanding of the broad spectrum of clinical manifestations of PD is essential to the proper diagnosis of the disease.
Why it matters
This review describes the clinical features that help distinguish Parkinson's disease from other parkinsonian disorders, noting that because there is no definitive test, the disease must be diagnosed based on clinical criteria. It covers motor and non-motor symptoms used in diagnosis, but does not address treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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54/100
After 20 years follow-up of newly diagnosed patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), 100 of 136 (74%) have died.
Why it matters
After 20 years of follow-up, 100 of 136 people with newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease in this study had died, and dementia was present in 83% of survivors. Post-mortems of people with dementia found diffuse Lewy bodies as the only cause in some and mixed pathology in others.
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54/100
Of 3424 articles on potentially modifiable risk factors for dementia, 1719 met our inclusion criteria; 60 were deemed to be of good or fair quality.
Why it matters
This review of articles on potentially modifiable dementia risk factors found few data to explain the overall risks and benefits of prevention strategies. It does not identify any proven way to prevent Alzheimer's disease.
From across this topic
9 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 9. The same 9 appear here every time.
- What are the psychiatric manifestations of vitamin B12 deficiency?
- Measuring disability across cultures--the psychometric properties of the WHODAS II in older people from seven low- and middle-income countries. The 10/66 Dementia Research Group population-based survey
- Trends in Diagnosis of Dementia Subtypes in Nationwide Medicare Claims, 2015‐2021, by Race/Ethnicity, Sex, and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status
- Early intervention for cognitive decline: can cognitive training be used as a selective prevention technique?
- A comparison of caregivers for elderly stroke and dementia victims
- Prevalence, deaths and disability-adjusted life years due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in Middle East and North Africa, 1990–2021
- Cognitive Training and Noninvasive Brain Stimulation for Cognition in Parkinson's Disease: A Meta-analysis
- A National Survey Exploring Dementia Diagnostics and Care Provisions in Primary Care in England
- Cognitive training in Parkinson disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis