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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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia and is a significant public health problem that will intensify as the population ages.
Why it matters
This article describes how caring for someone with Alzheimer's or another dementia can harm the caregiver's own health and well-being. It notes that non-drug interventions can reduce caregiver burden and may delay patients being placed in institutions.
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42/100
Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) can manifest as a spectrum of clinical syndromes, ranging from behavioural impairment to language or motor dysfunction.
Why it matters
This review summarizes revised diagnostic criteria for the behavioural and progressive aphasia syndromes of frontotemporal lobar degeneration and highlights lingering classification controversies. It concerns diagnosis and classification, not treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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The aim of this study was to assess chewing ability using color-changeable chewing gum and to show the association between chewing ability and geriatric functions, as well as dietary status in the community-dwelling elderly.
Why it matters
This study assessed chewing ability in community-dwelling elderly people and its association with daily activities, depression, cognitive status and food intake. It is about general geriatric function, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Default mode network resting state activity in posterior cingulate cortex is abnormally reduced in Alzheimer disease (AD) patients.
Why it matters
This imaging study found that a brain network called the default mode network was not underactive in people with dementia with Lewy bodies, unlike in Alzheimer's disease. It is a comparison of brain activity patterns between two types of dementia and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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42/100
The cardinal symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD) are asymmetrical bradykinesia, rigidity, resting tremor and postural instability.
Why it matters
This review describes how nonmotor symptoms such as dementia, psychosis, depression and apathy contribute to disability in late-stage Parkinson's disease, alongside axial symptoms resistant to levodopa. It concerns Parkinson's disease and does not address treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a brief instrument developed for the screening of milder forms of cognitive impairment, having surpassed the well-known limitations of the MMSE.
Why it matters
This study validated the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and its short version for screening vascular dementia in a sample of 34 patients. It is about a screening tool for vascular dementia, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Throughout evolution, sunlight-produced vitamin D in the skin has been critically important for health.
Why it matters
This review states that vitamin D deficiency has been linked to increased risk for many conditions including dementia, and recommends sensible sun exposure and vitamin D supplementation for adults and children. It does not show that vitamin D supplementation prevents or treats Alzheimer's disease.
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After adjusting demographic and clinical covariates, muscle relaxants, long-acting benzodiazepines, and short-acting benzodiazepines were associated with a high risk of fracture injuries, with odds ratios of 1.40 (95% CI 1.15 to 1.72; p < 0.001), 1.9 (95% CI 1.49 to 2.43; p < 0.001), and 1.33 (95% CI 1.15 to 1.55; p < 0.001), respectively.
Why it matters
This study found that use of centrally acting muscle relaxants in older adults was associated with a higher risk of fracture injuries. It does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease, and it supports caution when prescribing muscle relaxants to older adults.
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The FDA advisory was associated with decreases in the use of atypical antipsychotics, especially among elderly patients with dementia.
Why it matters
This study found that the FDA advisory and black box warning regarding the risks of atypical antipsychotic use among elderly patients with dementia was associated with decreases in the use of atypical antipsychotics, especially among elderly patients with dementia. It also found that atypical drug use slowed for both FDA-approved and off-label indications.
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42/100
A possible role of vascular and lifestyle-related factors was recently proposed for age-related changes of cognitive function, predementia syndromes, and cognitive decline of degenerative (Alzheimer's disease, AD) or vascular origin (vascular dementia, VaD).
Why it matters
This review reports that metabolic syndrome has been associated with risk of cognitive decline, overall dementia and vascular dementia, but findings on its role in Alzheimer's disease are contrasting. It is about risk factors and possible mechanisms and does not establish any treatment, cure or prevention.
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Performance on cognitive tests can be affected by age, education, and also selection bias.
Why it matters
Scores on memory and thinking tests can shift with a person's age and years of schooling, so a score means more when it is compared with people of similar age and education. This study looked at how scores on several cognitive screening tests vary by age and education in a random, age-stratified sample of people aged 65 and over from an urban US community. People who scored at least 21/30 on the MMSE after age and education correction then took a fuller set of tests and were rated on the Clinical Dementia Rating scale. The study is about reading test scores correctly, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's.
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The overall 1-year recurrent stroke rate was 9.4% among 895,916 ischemic stroke patients (mean age: 78 years; 56.6% women; 86.6% White, 9.7% Black and 1.2% Latino/Hispanic).
Why it matters
This study found that one-year recurrent ischemic stroke rates in elderly Medicare beneficiaries varied by geographic region and were highest in the South and parts of the West and Midwest. It does not test a dementia treatment or prevention, so it cannot show how to cure or prevent dementia.
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Change detected by the MCI-CGIC was associated with baseline clinical severity and with change in clinical ratings over 6 and 12 months, supporting the validity of a CGIC approach in MCI.
Why it matters
A modified global impression scale did not distinguish donepezil or vitamin E from placebo in people with mild cognitive impairment over 6 and 12 months. This means the scale did not detect a treatment effect for these drugs in this trial.
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Falls are common in the elderly, and frequently result in injury and disability.
Why it matters
This review lists dementia as one of several comorbidities that predispose older adults to falls, and notes that falls frequently result in injury and disability. It does not test any treatment or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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The existing evidence suggests that both could be addressed with either antecedent behavior management strategies, such as creating verbal scripts and routines (e.g., an “escape” routine when he is losing his temper, greeting routines for customers), or consequence-oriented management such as reinforcement of either positive behaviors or low rates of negative behaviors (Ylvisaker, Turkstra, & Coelho, 2005).
Why it matters
This review discusses cognitive rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury, including using intact procedural memory skills in training and a reimbursement precedent. It does not address treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Positron emission tomography (PET) is a well-established imaging modality.
Why it matters
PET measurement of regional cerebral glucose metabolism using FDG is described as a standard technique in dementia research, with characteristic reductions in neocortical association areas in Alzheimer's disease. This is an imaging method for detection and research, not a treatment, cure, or prevention.
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The purpose of this review is to describe the state of the science of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for adults with acquired neurogenic communication disorders.
Why it matters
This review describes communication devices and strategies for adults with conditions including dementia. It covers support and technology use, not treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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42/100
This paper examined the emotional impact of diagnosis disclosure on recently diagnosed people with dementia.
Why it matters
This qualitative study of 30 patient/caregiver dyads found that people with dementia show a range of emotional responses to diagnosis disclosure, including denial, grief reactions, and positive coping. It suggests a need for supportive interventions at the point of diagnosis to help maximize adaptive coping responses.
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Cerebral white matter hyperintensities on brain MRI (leukoaraiosis) are associated with increased risk of stroke and dementia.
Why it matters
This study found that in black adults, higher ambulatory blood pressure levels were associated with greater leukoaraiosis, a brain MRI finding linked to increased risk of stroke and dementia. It is an observational study of blood pressure and brain injury, not a test of any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the second most prevalent dementia after Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Why it matters
In a comparison of 29 frontotemporal dementia (FTD) caregivers with 90 Alzheimer's caregivers, the FTD caregivers reported more burden, and passive coping strategies were "associated with increased burden and decreased" quality of life. A further comparison with 34 caregivers of FTD patients in residential care found that those whose relative was "institutionalized after shorter dementia duration were most burdened." The authors recommend extra support for FTD caregivers and suggest interventions target passive coping, but the study did not test any intervention and does not show that coping style causes burden.
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Stroke is an important risk factor for dementia, but the exact mechanisms involved in cognitive decline remain unclear.
Why it matters
In 79 stroke survivors without dementia, memory loss was related to baseline memory and medial temporal lobe atrophy but not white matter hyperintensity volume, and no baseline MRI measure differed between those who did and did not develop dementia. This suggests Alzheimer-type rather than vascular pathology may matter in delayed cognitive impairment after stroke, but it is not a treatment study.
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Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a borderline state between age-associated cognitive decline and mild dementia.
Why it matters
This study examined whether 48 patients with mild cognitive impairment had limitations in activities of daily living compared with healthy controls and which areas were affected. It describes functional changes in MCI, not a treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Familism has been pointed out as a key value in Hispanic culture that may or may not be associated with caregiver distress.
Why it matters
In Hispanic dementia caregivers, familism was linked to less burden in the Los Angeles sample but to more depressive symptoms in the Madrid sample. This shows that cultural context affects caregiver distress and has no direct implications for treating or preventing dementia.
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Our findings show a low level of disenrollment.
Why it matters
This study examined disenrollment from a managed care program and found no increase in disenrollment risk by cognitive impairment or diagnoses. It provides no information about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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The purpose of this study was to explore the phenomenon of dementia caregiving in an ethnically diverse group of Latino caregivers, with the goal of identifying cultural influences on the caregiving experience.
Why it matters
This qualitative study explored how Hispanic/Latino caregivers understand dementia symptoms and the caregiving role, finding that a lack of knowledge about dementia was the main barrier to recognizing early symptoms. It offers no information on treating, curing, or preventing 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.
- The Role of Nutrition for the Aging Population: Implications for Cognition and Alzheimer's Disease
- Mediterranean diet, cognitive function, and dementia: a systematic review
- Ecology of the aging human brain
- Understanding the family caregivers’ needs in late-stage dementia: a qualitative perspective to inform policy action
- Differentiating sporadic frontotemporal dementia from late-onset primary psychiatric disorders
- Prevalence of functional disability in activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and associated factors, as predictors of morbidity and mortality
- Early Detection of Palliative Care Needs in Critically Ill Patients Using the NECPAL Tool
- Exergaming Executive Functions: An Immersive Virtual Reality-Based Cognitive Training for Adults Aged 50 and Older
- The Relationship Between Sleep, Cognition, and Dementia Risk in People With Focal Epilepsy
- Neuroinflammation in Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: Current Evidence, Advances, and Prospects