Get help now — free helplines

You can call any of these for free. You do not need a diagnosis, an appointment, or a crisis to call — questions and plain exhaustion are reasons enough.

  • Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline 800-272-3900 24 hours a day, 365 days a year Free, confidential support and information for people with dementia, caregivers, families and the public. Master's-level clinicians. Also Spanish.
  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 988 24/7 Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. For anyone in emotional distress or a mental-health crisis, including caregivers.
  • Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) Helpline 866-232-8484 9:00 am - 9:00 pm ET, seven days a week Licensed social workers providing support, info and referrals. Also text message and web chat. Text: 646-586-5283

In a medical emergency, call 911. More numbers, and what each line does, on the help page.

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.

  1. Dying comfortably in very old age with or without dementia in different care settings - a representative "older old" population study

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. BMC geriatrics 2017-10-05 End-of-life care

    These findings are consistent with reports that care homes can provide care akin to hospice for the very old and support an approach of supporting residents to stay in their care home or own home if possible.

  2. Prevalence of mild behavioral impairment in mild cognitive impairment and subjective cognitive decline, and its association with caregiver burden

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. International psychogeriatrics 2017-09-07 Caregiving

    Prevalence estimates across MBI domains were affective dysregulation (77.8%); impulse control (64.4%); decreased motivation (51.7%); social inappropriateness (27.8%); and abnormal perception or thought content (8.7%).

    Why it matters

    This study found that mild behavioral impairment was common in memory clinic patients without dementia and was linked to greater caregiver burden. It does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.

  3. Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia: Correlates and Impact on Caregiver Distress

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders extra 2017-09-01 Disparities

    BPSD are universally present, bear correlates with dementia type and severity, and cause significant caregiver distress.

    Why it matters

    Nearly all 107 dementia patients in this clinic sample had at least one behavioral or psychological symptom, and these symptoms were linked to more caregiver distress. This describes the burden of dementia symptoms and caregiving, not any treatment, cure, or prevention.

  4. A prospective 20-year longitudinal follow-up of dementia in persons with Down syndrome

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR 2017-06-29 Brain tissue and pathology

    Goal To examine dementia characteristics, age at onset and associated co-morbidities in persons with Down syndrome.

    Why it matters

    This 20-year follow-up of 77 people with Down syndrome aged 35 and older examined dementia characteristics, age at onset and associated co-morbidities. It describes dementia in this group and offers no treatment, cure or prevention.

  5. End-of-Life Care Transition Patterns of Medicare Beneficiaries

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2017-04-03 End-of-life care

    Approximately one-third of the Medicare beneficiaries who died in 2011 had four or more transitions within their last 6 months of life.

  6. Atrial Fibrillation: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Clinical Outcomes

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Circulation research 2017-04-01 Prevention and risk

    The past 3 decades have been characterized by an exponential growth in knowledge and advances in the clinical treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF).

    Why it matters

    This review discusses atrial fibrillation and its link to stroke and thromboembolism, but notes that the role of anticoagulation for preventing dementia attributed to AF is less established. It does not provide evidence that treating AF prevents dementia.

  7. Defining the Relationship Between Hypertension, Cognitive Decline, and Dementia: a Review

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Current hypertension reports 2017-03-01 Risk factors

    Hypertension is a highly prevalent condition which has been established as a risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease.

    Why it matters

    This review concludes it is still unclear whether high blood pressure is a treatable risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia, though high midlife blood pressure is consistently linked to later decline. It describes possible mechanisms such as blood vessel remodeling and reduced clearance of proteins like beta-amyloid, but reports no proven treatment or cure.

  8. Physical Frailty, Cognitive Impairment, and the Risk of Neurocognitive Disorder in the Singapore Longitudinal Ageing Studies

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences 2017-03-01 Cognitive tests and assessment

    The independent and combined effects of physical and cognitive domains of frailty in predicting the development of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia are not firmly established.

    Why it matters

    This study examined whether physical frailty and cognitive impairment together predict later neurocognitive disorder in older Chinese adults. It does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.

  9. Nursing home manager's knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about advance care planning for people with dementia in long-term care settings: a cross-sectional survey

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Journal of clinical nursing 2017-02-09 End-of-life care

    Whilst nursing home managers recognise the potential benefits of advance care planning, barriers and challenges create a reluctance to facilitate.

  10. Can mindfulness-based interventions influence cognitive functioning in older adults? A review and considerations for future research

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Aging & mental health 2016-11-09 Prevention trials

    We conclude that eight-week MBI for older adults are feasible, but results on cognitive improvement are inconclusive due a limited number of studies, small sample sizes, and a high risk of bias.

  11. Neuropsychological Criteria for Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Risk in the Framingham Heart Study

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS 2016-03-31 Mild cognitive impairment

    The Petersen/Winblad criteria classified 34% of participants as having MCI while the Jak/Bondi criteria classified 24% as MCI.

    Why it matters

    In 1,203 Framingham Heart Study participants, a stricter way of diagnosing mild cognitive impairment (Jak/Bondi: two low test scores in a thinking domain instead of one) labelled 24% of people with MCI, compared with 34% under the usual Petersen/Winblad rules. Even so, the authors found a "similar" link to later dementia (hazard ratio 3.30 vs 2.64). Over about 9.7 years only 5% of all participants developed dementia, and the authors call for more work on alternatives to conventional MCI criteria rather than declaring a new standard.

  12. Neuropathologic comorbidity and cognitive impairment in the Nun and Honolulu-Asia Aging Studies

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Neurology 2016-02-17 Caregiving

    Total burden of comorbid neuropathologic abnormalities, rather than any single lesion type, was the most relevant determinant of cognitive impairment in both cohorts, often despite clinical diagnosis of only AD.

    Why it matters

    This autopsy study found that having more than one type of brain abnormality at once was common and was strongly linked to cognitive impairment. It suggests that the total burden of these combined abnormalities, rather than any single one, matters most for thinking problems in late life.

  13. Exercise as medicine - evidence for prescribing exercise as therapy in 26 different chronic diseases

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports 2015-12-01 Risk factors

    This review provides the reader with the up-to-date evidence-based basis for prescribing exercise as medicine in the treatment of 26 different diseases: psychiatric diseases (depression, anxiety, stress, schizophrenia); neurological diseases (dementia, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis); metabolic diseases (obesity, hyperlipidemia, metabolic syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome, type 2 diabetes, type 1 diabetes); cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, coronary heart disease, heart failure, cerebral apoplexy, and claudication intermittent); pulmonary diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, cystic fibrosis); musculo-skeletal disorders (osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, back pain, rheumatoid arthritis); and cancer.

    Why it matters

    This review provides evidence-based guidance for prescribing exercise as therapy across 26 chronic diseases including dementia. It discusses exercise as a therapy, not a cure or proven prevention for Alzheimer's disease.

  14. Delirium affected a fifth of acute medical admissions and a third of those aged ≥75 years, and was associated with increased mortality, institutionalisation and dependency, but not with increased risk of re-admission on follow-up.

  15. Medications That Older Adults in Hospice Care in the United States Take, 2007

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2015-11-04 End-of-life care

    People continue to receive disease-focused therapies at the end of life rather than therapies exclusively for palliation of symptoms, suggesting that treatments may vary according to the person's primary diagnosis.

  16. Dynamic reconfiguration of frontal brain networks during executive cognition in humans

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2015-08-31 Lewy body dementia

    The brain is an inherently dynamic system, and executive cognition requires dynamically reconfiguring, highly evolving networks of brain regions that interact in complex and transient communication patterns.

    Why it matters

    This brain imaging study in healthy people found that a working-memory task causes frontal brain networks to reconfigure, and this flexibility predicted performance on memory and thinking tests. It helps understand how these networks work but does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.

  17. Summary of the evidence on modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia: A population-based perspective

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association 2015-06-01 Prevention and risk

    An estimated 47 million people worldwide are living with dementia in 2015, and this number is projected to triple by 2050.

    Why it matters

    In a 2015 summary prepared at the World Dementia Council's request, the Alzheimer's Association concluded that regular physical activity and managing diabetes, obesity, smoking and high blood pressure reduce the risk of cognitive decline and may reduce the risk of dementia. It judged that a healthy diet and lifelong learning or cognitive training may also reduce the risk of cognitive decline, but made no dementia claim for those two. These are the Association's population-level judgements with no risk estimates attached, not results of a new trial, and they do not single out Alzheimer's disease.

  18. Itch prevalence and characteristics in a Hispanic geriatric population: a comprehensive study using a standardized itch questionnaire

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Acta dermato-venereologica 2015-04-01 Disparities

    A cross-sectional study of geriatric patients was performed to provide a comprehensive description of the prevalence and clinical characteristics of chronic itch affecting Hispanic geriatric subjects in Mexico.

    Why it matters

    This study described the prevalence and characteristics of chronic itch in a Hispanic geriatric population in Mexico. It does not address Alzheimer's disease treatment, cure or prevention.

  19. Cognitive performance and neuropsychiatric symptoms in early, untreated Parkinson's disease

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society 2015-03-04 Mild cognitive impairment

    Baseline data of 423 PD patients and 196 HCs yielded no between-group differences in demographic characteristics.

    Why it matters

    In early, untreated Parkinson's disease, about 10% of patients met criteria for cognitive impairment, and some neuropsychiatric symptoms were more common than in healthy controls. This describes the frequency of these problems but does not address treating or preventing Alzheimer's disease.

  20. Risk factors of caregiver burden among patients with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders: a cross-sectional study

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD 2015-01-01 Cognitive tests and assessment

    Caregivers play a major role in the care of patients with dementia and are themselves at higher risk of disease.

    Why it matters

    This cross-sectional study looked at which factors are linked to caregiver burden among people with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders attending a memory clinic. It focuses on caregivers and functional autonomy and behavioural symptoms, not on treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease itself.

  21. Advance care planning for older people in Australia presenting to the emergency department from the community or residential aged care facilities

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Health & social care in the community 2014-12-02 End-of-life care

    The purpose of this retrospective, cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of advance care planning (ACP) among older people presenting to an Emergency Department (ED) from the community or a residential aged care facility.

  22. Statin discontinuation in nursing home residents with advanced dementia

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2014-11-04 End-of-life care

    Most NH residents who use statins at the time of progression to advanced dementia continue use in follow-up.

  23. Rationale and design of a multicenter, phase 2 clinical trial to investigate the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine SaiLuoTong in vascular dementia

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association 2014-10-05 Treatments

    The rigorous methodology of the study will hopefully move forward the scientific evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine in treatment of VaD.

    Why it matters

    This is a design paper for a trial testing a traditional Chinese medicine in vascular dementia, a different condition from Alzheimer's disease. No results are reported, so it shows nothing about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.

  24. Consumption of green tea, but not black tea or coffee, is associated with reduced risk of cognitive decline

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. PloS one 2014-05-14 Disparities

    Our objective was to determine whether the consumption of green tea, coffee, or black tea influences the incidence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in older people.

    Why it matters

    This study found that daily green tea consumption was associated with reduced risk of cognitive decline, but no association was found for coffee or black tea. It is observational and does not show that green tea prevents or treats Alzheimer's disease.

  25. Normative values of cognitive and physical function in older adults: findings from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing

    ✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2013-05-01 Cognitive tests and assessment

    Data were used from the first wave of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), a prospective cohort study that includes a comprehensive health assessment.

    Why it matters

    This study provided normative values for cognitive and physical function tests from a large representative sample of people in Ireland aged 50 and older. It establishes reference values for testing, not a treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.

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.

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