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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An algorithm-derived diagnosis of aMCI showed few sociodemographic associations but was consistently associated with higher disability and neuropsychiatric symptoms in addition to showing substantial variation in prevalence across LAMIC populations.
Why it matters
Across surveys of 15,376 dementia-free adults aged 65+ in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, China and India, an algorithm-defined amnestic MCI was linked to more disability, anxiety, apathy and irritability (but not depression). Its prevalence ranged from 0.8% in China to 4.3% in India, and this gap barely changed (0.6%–4.6%) after accounting for age, gender and education. The surveys were taken at a single point in time, so they show associations, not causes, and the study tested no treatment.
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Among older Medicare beneficiaries, incident AF is common and has remained relatively stable for more than a decade.
Why it matters
This retrospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries found that incident atrial fibrillation was common and its incidence remained relatively stable from 1993 to 2007, while prevalence increased about 5% per year, and that among beneficiaries with incident atrial fibrillation in 2007, 8% had dementia. It concerns atrial fibrillation and its associated mortality, not Alzheimer's disease treatment, cure or prevention.
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Greater understanding of the risk factors and mechanisms of incident dementia in stroke survivors is needed for prevention and management.
Why it matters
In this cohort of 355 older stroke survivors, about 24% developed dementia during follow-up, and low baseline cognitive scores and depression were among the strongest predictors. The study is about risk after stroke and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Preoperative determination of dementia status is important for risk stratification for incident delirium after acute hip fracture repair surgery because types and magnitude of predisposing risk factors for postoperative delirium substantially differ based on preoperative dementia status.
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The Continuum: Dementia for Medical Students curriculum provided an inexpensive and readily implementable means for improving medical knowledge of dementia.
Why it matters
This randomized trial tested a modified dementia curriculum for medical students on their neurology clerkship. Students who received the added curriculum showed significantly greater increases in dementia knowledge, including on Alzheimer's disease questions, but this concerns medical education, not treating or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Low levels of vitamin D were associated with substantial cognitive decline in the elderly population studied over a 6-year period, which raises important new possibilities for treatment and prevention.
Why it matters
In this population-based study, severely vitamin D deficient participants had a higher relative risk of substantial cognitive decline on the Mini-Mental State Examination compared with those with sufficient levels. Their scores declined by an additional 0.3 MMSE points per year more than those with sufficient levels.
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The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) is a multi-center study assessing neuroimaging in diagnosis and longitudinal monitoring.
Why it matters
This study found that people with mild cognitive impairment who later converted to Alzheimer's disease already showed a pattern of brain shrinkage on MRI similar to that of people with Alzheimer's, up to a year before diagnosis. This suggests MRI measures of brain degeneration may help predict who will develop Alzheimer's, but it does not provide a treatment or cure.
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Greater purpose in life is associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality among community-dwelling older persons.
Why it matters
Among 1238 older persons without dementia, a higher level of purpose in life was associated with a reduced risk of death over about 5 years. This is an observational link to mortality, not evidence that purpose in life treats, cures, or prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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Cognitive exercise training in healthy older individuals produces strong and persistent protective effects on longitudinal neuropsychological performance.
Why it matters
This systematic review of seven randomized controlled trials found that cognitive exercise interventions improved cognitive performance in healthy older adults compared with wait-and-see controls. However, the review notes that quality of reporting was generally low, and it does not show that cognitive exercise prevents dementia onset.
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The use of benzodiazepines or opioids in the ICU is associated with longer duration of a first episode of delirium.
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Declines in various cognitive abilities, particularly executive control functions, are observed in older adults.
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Previously published community- or population-based studies of brain aging and dementia with autopsy were restricted to a single sex, a single ethnic group, Roman Catholic clergy, or focused pathological assessments.
Why it matters
In this autopsy study, Alzheimer-type brain changes and Lewy body disease were independently linked to dementia. The authors say this supports targeting cerebral microinfarcts as a way to partially prevent or delay dementia, but this was not tested as a treatment.
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Cerebral "microvascular" disease occurs in lacunar stroke, leukoaraiosis, vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Why it matters
This systematic review and meta-analysis found that the blood-brain barrier becomes more permeable with normal ageing and even more so in people with vascular or Alzheimer's dementia. It suggests that increased blood-brain barrier permeability may be an important mechanism in the beginning or worsening of cerebral microvascular disease, but further studies are needed and no treatment is tested.
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No statistical difference was found in the efficacy of citalopram and risperidone for the treatment of either agitation or psychotic symptoms in patients with dementia.
Why it matters
In 103 nondepressed people hospitalised with dementia and agitation or psychotic symptoms, this 12-week double-blind trial compared the antidepressant citalopram with the antipsychotic risperidone. Symptoms decreased in both groups with no significant difference between them, but side-effect burden rose significantly only with risperidone, and just 44% of participants completed the trial. The authors say the findings "need to be replicated" before citalopram can be recommended as an alternative to antipsychotics. There was no placebo group, and the trial does not address treating or preventing Alzheimer's itself.
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Medial temporal lobe atrophy seems to be a more important predictor of cognition than small-vessel disease in MCI.
Why it matters
In 896 people with mild cognitive impairment, shrinkage of the medial temporal lobe on MRI stayed linked to poorer thinking-test scores even after other brain changes were taken into account, while white-matter changes did not once age was accounted for. The authors conclude that medial temporal lobe atrophy "seems to be a more important predictor of cognition than small-vessel disease in MCI", and small strokes (lacunes) were still tied to an executive-function test. The data are a one-time baseline snapshot from a galantamine trial, so they show links, not causes, and say nothing about whether any treatment works.
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REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia characterized by the loss of normal skeletal muscle atonia during REM sleep with prominent motor activity accompanying dreaming.
Why it matters
This review proposes a brain framework for REM sleep behaviour disorder and notes its association with neurodegenerative diseases, particularly the synucleinopathies, suggesting many patients with 'idiopathic' RBD may be showing an early manifestation of an evolving neurological disease. It addresses disease mechanisms and early detection, not a treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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66/100
The relationship between serum total cholesterol (TC) and dementia seems to be bidirectional.
Why it matters
This 21-year follow-up study found that high cholesterol at midlife was a risk factor for worse late-life cognition, and that a moderate decrease in cholesterol from midlife to late life was linked to more impaired cognition. It describes associations over time but does not test whether changing cholesterol affects Alzheimer disease.
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Our findings indicate that quantitative gait measures predict future risk of cognitive decline and dementia in initially non-demented older adults.
Why it matters
In this cohort of older adults, certain quantitative gait patterns at baseline were associated with later cognitive decline and a higher risk of developing dementia. The study reports associations and does not show that changing gait prevents dementia.
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There is some evidence that multifaceted interventions in hospital reduce the number of falls and that use of hip protectors in care homes prevents hip fractures.
Why it matters
In hospitals, multifaceted interventions reduced falls but had no significant effect on the number of fallers or fractures, and hip protectors in care homes reduced hip fractures but not falls. This concerns fall and fracture prevention in people with cognitive impairment and does not test treatment for Alzheimer's disease.
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Collaborative care for the treatment of Alzheimer disease resulted in significant improvement in the quality of care and in behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia among primary care patients and their caregivers.
Why it matters
In this randomized trial in primary care, older adults with Alzheimer disease who received collaborative care had fewer behavioral and psychological symptoms on the NPI than the comparison group at 12 months (mean difference −5.6) and 18 months (−5.4); 89% of them triggered at least one caregiver-initiated symptom protocol. Caregivers reported less distress at 12 months and less depression at 18 months, and use of antipsychotics or sedative-hypnotics did not significantly increase. The trial measured symptoms and caregiver well-being, not memory or disease progression.
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Hippocampal volume was the primary determinant of memory decline, whereas executive function (EXEC) decline was related to multiple brain components.
Why it matters
In 103 participants followed for about five years, memory decline was related to baseline hippocampal volume and its change, while executive function decline was related to cortical gray matter and other measures. This observational study describes how brain shrinkage tracks with cognitive decline but does not test any treatment or show that preventing shrinkage would change the disease course.
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The measured benefits in clinical trials for the treatment of mixed dementia are best described as statistically significant differences in cognitive test scores and clinician and caregiver impressions of change.
Why it matters
This paper states that measured benefits in clinical trials for mixed dementia are best described as statistically significant differences in cognitive test scores and clinician and caregiver impressions of change. It does not report a cure or prevention.
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Persons dying with advanced dementia admitted to nursing homes have different characteristics compared to those admitted to home care services.
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Medical record documentation reflects physician recognition of dementia, yet physicians are aware of, but have not documented, many patients with milder cognitive impairment.
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Cognitive decline over 36 months of continuous galantamine treatment was substantially less than the predicted cognitive decline of untreated patients with mild to moderate dementia.
Why it matters
This open-label extension followed patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease on continuous galantamine for up to 36 months and compared their cognitive decline with a historical placebo group and with predicted decline in untreated patients. Because it was open-label and used historical rather than randomized controls, it suggests galantamine's cognitive benefits may be sustained but does not prove the drug changes the disease course.
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.
- Effects of a Tailored Lighting Intervention on Sleep Quality, Rest-Activity, Mood, and Behavior in Older Adults With Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias: A Randomized Clinical Trial
- Frailty syndrome and the risk of vascular dementia: the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging
- Comorbidity and polypharmacy in people with dementia: insights from a large, population-based cross-sectional analysis of primary care data
- Social exposome and brain health outcomes of dementia across Latin America
- Geographical Variation in Dementia Mortality in Italy, New Zealand, and Chile: The Impact of Latitude, Vitamin D, and Air Pollution
- Risk and predictors of dementia and parkinsonism in idiopathic REM sleep behaviour disorder: a multicentre study
- Precision neurocognition: An emerging diagnostic paradigm leveraging digital cognitive assessment technology
- Analysis of the Prevalence of Mild Cognitive Impairment and its Influencing Factors in the Elderly Population in Huzhou City
- Diet intervention and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in amnestic mild cognitive impairment
- Geographical Variation in Dementia