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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Clinical trials with drugs aimed at treatment of Alzheimer disease to decelerate cognitive decline and translated mimetically to demented and young nondemented Down syndrome patients have been unable to demonstrate improvements in cognitive performance and functioning.
Why it matters
This review states that clinical trials of drugs for Alzheimer disease in Down syndrome patients have not shown cognitive improvement, and that folinic acid or antioxidants are not supported by evidence. It notes one green tea compound has shown preliminary promise, but this is not established treatment.
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This study was a retrospective analysis of administrative data (20% sample) of 15 996 Medicare Part D enrollees who received a DES in 2006 to 2007.
Why it matters
This study examined clopidogrel prescription filling after coronary stent placement among older Medicare patients, including those with dementia. It found patients with dementia were less likely to fill the prescription and that not filling it was linked to higher death rates, which concerns heart care after stenting rather than Alzheimer's treatment or prevention.
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Total tau (T-tau), tau phosphorylated at threonine 181, and β-amyloid 1-42 peptide (Aβ42) were immunoassayed in CSF samples obtained from patients with MCI enrolled in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.
Why it matters
In patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, this study examined how different cerebrospinal fluid profiles of total tau, phosphorylated tau and amyloid-beta 1-42 relate to cognitive decline, disease progression and risk of conversion to Alzheimer disease dementia. It is about prognosis based on biomarker profiles, not about treatment or cure.
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Using a knowledge-translation framework, information and strategies can be provided to family and professional caregivers to help them optimize residual memory and communication in people with dementia.
Why it matters
This project translated research-based knowledge into a DVD education program of practical memory and communication strategies for family and professional caregivers of people with dementia. It provides caregiver support strategies and does not test treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is arguably the best-known cognitive screen in the world.
Why it matters
This review discusses when and how the MMSE is used, lists its advantages and disadvantages, and questions whether the test has outlived its purpose. It concerns a cognitive screening test and does not address treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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39/100
Although hypertension is well known as a cause of vascular dementia (VaD), recent findings highlight the role of hypertension in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) as well as mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Why it matters
This review describes how long-standing hypertension and disrupted daily blood pressure patterns are linked to cognitive impairment and brain changes. It notes that some trials suggested blood pressure lowering may reduce dementia risk, but it does not establish that treating hypertension prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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However, recent data suggest that the risk of adverse effects may offset the benefits of atypical agents in patients with dementia.
Why it matters
This analysis of national survey data examined antipsychotic use among elderly nursing home residents with dementia and factors linked to use of atypical antipsychotics. It notes that recent data suggest the risk of adverse effects may offset the benefits of atypical agents in patients with dementia.
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A variety of clinically-defined predementia syndromes, with differing diagnostic criteria and nomenclature, have been proposed to describe nondisabling symptomatic cognitive deficits arising in elderly persons.
Why it matters
This review describes how the incidence and prevalence of predementia syndromes like mild cognitive impairment vary depending on diagnostic criteria, sampling, and assessment methods, and how conversion rates to Alzheimer's disease also vary widely. It is an epidemiological review and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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1. Ageing represents a great concern in developed countries because the number of people involved and the pathologies related with it, like atherosclerosis, morbus Parkinson, Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, cognitive decline, diabetes and cancer. 2.
Why it matters
This conference summary reports that observational studies in humans have shown that intake of monounsaturated fat may be protective against age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease, and that a Mediterranean diet rich in virgin olive oil improves major cardiovascular risk factors. These are observational associations, not proof that virgin olive oil prevents or treats Alzheimer's disease.
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Older people with cognitive impairment and dementia are at increased risk for falls and subsequent adverse events.
Why it matters
In people with cognitive impairment and dementia, the most common fall risk factors are postural instability, medication, neurocardiovascular instability (especially orthostatic hypotension), and environmental hazards. Preliminary research suggests physiotherapy may have a role in preventing falls, and targeting these risk factors may reduce falls in those with cardiovascular abnormalities and neurocardiovascular instability.
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The authors illustrate the spectrum of clinical and imaging patterns in primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a syndrome of slowly progressive speech and language impairment occurring with neurodegenerative disease.
Why it matters
This report of three cases describes how different clinical syndromes in primary progressive aphasia are associated with different patterns of brain atrophy. It concerns diagnosis and understanding of these syndromes, not treatment, cure, or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
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39/100
This article discusses the potential of three assessments of language function in the diagnosis of Alzheimer-type dementia (DAT).
Why it matters
This study compared language test results in patients with Alzheimer-type dementia, mild cognitive impairment, and no cognitive impairment. It found that patients with mild or moderate to severe dementia described significantly fewer objects, persons, actions, features and localizations, but this is about diagnosis, not treatment.
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Delirium in older hospital inpatients appears to be associated with various adverse outcomes.
Why it matters
This study examined whether delirium in older hospital inpatients predicts cognitive and functional status over 12 months. It concerns prognosis after hospitalization, not treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Serum homocysteine is increased, and correlates inversely with cognitive scores, in Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia and "age-associated memory impairment".
Why it matters
This study measured homocysteine levels and repeated cognitive tests over 5 years in 32 healthy elderly individuals to see whether prior homocysteine levels predicted cognitive changes. It found that homocysteine predicted follow-up cognitive scores and rate of decline, but it is an observational study and does not show that lowering homocysteine treats, cures, or prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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A group of clinicians with extensive experience in dealing with dementia patients developed by consensus the Quality of Life in Dementia Scale (QUALID), an 11-item scale.
Why it matters
This study developed a scale for rating quality of life in persons with late-stage Alzheimer's disease and other dementing illnesses. It is a measurement tool study and provides no information on treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Chronic traumatic brain injury (CTBI) associated with boxing occurs in approximately 20% of professional boxers.
Why it matters
This review states that chronic traumatic brain injury occurs in about 20% of professional boxers and shares characteristics with Alzheimer's disease, such as neurofibrillary tangles and diffuse amyloid plaques. It says the mainstay of treatment is prevention, and that medications used for Alzheimer's disease or parkinsonism may be utilized, without evidence of cure.
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Differences between these results and those of previous studies may reflect differences in extent of surgical resection and/or differential sensitivity of psychometric measures of naming to word-finding problems.
Why it matters
This study found that one in four patients who had left temporal lobe surgery for epilepsy had lasting word-finding problems one year later. It is about surgical side effects, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Thirty patients with dementia defined by DSM-III-R criteria (Alzheimer's disease (22), vascular dementia (3), Parkinson's disease, frontal lobe dementia, possible diffuse Lewy body dementia, normal pressure hydrocephalus and uncertain diagnosis), with scores below 24 points in the Mini-Mental Status Examination and more than 4 years of education were submitted to a neuropsychological evaluation.
Why it matters
This study compared neuropsychological test scores of 30 patients with dementia to those of 30 normal volunteers to determine the tests' accuracy in distinguishing the two groups. It is about diagnosis and does not test any treatment, so it says nothing about curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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The clinical neuropsychologic profiles of patients with Parkinson's disease and patients with SDAT show both overlap and dissociation.
Why it matters
This review compares cognitive impairments in Parkinson's disease and senile dementia of Alzheimer's type, noting both overlap and dissociation in speech, language, and memory skills. The author suggests that a prospective study of several different dementias studied in parallel, examining a wide range of cognitive skills, is required before the cortical/subcortical classification scheme can be validated.
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Normative data were collected in a study population of 150 randomly selected elderly subjects.
Why it matters
This study collected normative data in 150 elderly subjects and defined cutoff scores on the SIDAM and its MMSE for dementia and mild cognitive impairment according to DSM-III-R and ICD-10 criteria. It concerns diagnostic measurement and does not address treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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39/100
We performed clinical and neuroradiologic studies, including positron emission tomography, in five patients with vascular dementia of the Binswanger type.
Why it matters
In five patients with vascular dementia of the Binswanger type, cerebral blood flow and oxygen metabolism were markedly reduced in white matter and decreased in several cortical regions despite no occlusive lesions on angiography. The authors conclude the dementia may be caused by disconnection between cortex and subcortical structures due to ischemic white matter damage, but this small study reports no treatment, cure, or prevention.
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Patients with Huntington's Disease (HD) who were without dementia were compared to unilateral stroke patients and controls as previously reported in 1983, to discover if they had a prosodic defect.
Why it matters
Patients with Huntington's disease who did not have dementia were impaired at understanding both emotional and grammatical aspects of tone of voice compared with controls. This is about Huntington's disease and does not address treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Fewer than 25% of people diagnosed during life as being demented were found to have this diagnosis coded as the underlying cause of death.
Why it matters
This study found that fewer than 25% of people diagnosed with dementia during life had dementia coded as the underlying cause of death, and that death certificate data are unlikely to be useful for examining geographical variation or time trends in dementia rates. It does not test a dementia treatment or prevention, so it cannot show how to cure or prevent dementia.
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The mental state, demographic details, dependency level and presence of problem behaviours have been recorded for 438 (82%) of the residents of the 12 Part III homes, managed by the London Borough of Camden, using standard interview.
Why it matters
In this survey of residential homes, one third of residents had severe dementia and another third had mild to moderate dementia, and depression was common. It describes psychiatric illness in care homes, not treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Nine members of a family spanning three generations showed bilateral calcifications of the basal ganglia with autosomal dominant inheritance.
Why it matters
In one family, some members with bilateral basal ganglia calcifications developed chorea, dementia, and speech disturbance in the third or fourth decade. This is a rare inherited condition distinct from Alzheimer's disease, and the study does not address 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.
- Harnessing artificial intelligence for transforming dementia care: Innovations in early detection and treatment
- Hypothesis for the pathophysiology of delirium: role of baseline brain network connectivity and changes in inhibitory tone
- Undiagnosed dementia and mortality among older adults in the United States and Brazil: A cross-national cohort study
- Childhood trauma associated with smaller hippocampal volume in women with major depression
- Is depression a risk factor for dementia or cognitive decline? A review
- Two-year follow-up of dementia caregivers after a digital health intervention WECARE: a mixed-method study
- Assessment of cognitive insight: a qualitative review
- Deciding on genetic testing for familial dementia: Perspectives of patients and families
- Health status of UK care home residents: a cohort study
- Association of Mediterranean, high-quality, and anti-inflammatory diet with dementia in UK Biobank cohort