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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The evidence is not conclusive as to whether some BPSD impact caregiver well-being more than others.
Why it matters
This review of 40 papers found depressive behaviors, agitation/aggression and apathy were most distressing to caregivers, but concluded the evidence is not conclusive about whether some symptoms affect caregiver well-being more than others. It offers no treatment or cure for Alzheimer's disease itself.
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Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria and reported quantitative gait (n = 11) or postural balance (n = 4) parameters to be included in the meta-analysis.
Why it matters
This systematic review and meta-analysis found that mild cognitive impairment affects specific gait parameters, with changes most pronounced when subjects are also challenged cognitively. This suggests instrumented gait assessment with an added cognitive task may help detect mild cognitive impairment, but it is not a treatment or prevention study.
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Behavioral prevention strategies can help maintain high levels of cognition and functional integrity, and can reduce the social, medical, and economic burden associated with cognitive aging and age-associated neurodegenerative diseases.
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White matter hyperintensities are associated with increased risk of dementia and cognitive decline.
Why it matters
In a large population-based sample, people with high white matter hyperintensity burden showed more brain atrophy patterns typical of aging and Alzheimer's disease, and white matter hyperintensities significantly mediated the age effect on the Alzheimer's-like pattern. The study reports associations and a possible causal role for cardiovascular risk and white matter hyperintensities, but it tests no treatment, cure or prevention.
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Alzheimer's dementia affects more than 40 million people worldwide with substantial increases in prevalence anticipated.
Why it matters
The EPAD project is set up to test different agents in people before dementia symptoms appear, through a registry, a longitudinal cohort, and an adaptive proof-of-concept trial. It describes a plan for testing treatments, not a treatment that has been shown to prevent or cure Alzheimer's dementia.
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Gatekeeping is motivated by the general assumption of vulnerability of patients, coupled with an emphasis on the duty to protect patients.
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Thirty-one studies describing 21 delirium screening tools were included in the systematic review.
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This trial found no benefit of 24-month multidomain intervention with focus on improvement in lifestyle and vascular risk factors on the incidence of poststroke cognitive decline in comparison with standard stroke care.
Why it matters
In this 24-month trial of 202 stroke patients, a multidomain lifestyle intervention did not reduce cognitive decline compared with standard stroke care. The study found no benefit of this intervention for preventing cognitive decline after stroke.
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A number of health and lifestyle factors are thought to contribute to cognitive decline associated with age but cannot be easily modified by the individual patient.
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There is need for clearer articulation of the likely mechanisms by which advance care planning can lead to reduced care costs or improved cost-effectiveness, particularly for people who retain capacity.
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We recommend development and testing of decision aids targeting the decisions carers report finding most distressing, including those around where people should live, accessing services, and end of life treatments.
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Low daytime SBP was independently associated with a greater progression of cognitive decline in older patients with dementia and MCI among those treated with AHDs.
Why it matters
In this cohort of 172 patients with dementia or MCI, those on blood pressure drugs with the lowest daytime systolic blood pressure had greater cognitive decline over about nine months. This suggests that overly low blood pressure may be harmful in treated patients, but it does not test a treatment for Alzheimer's disease itself.
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A higher adherence to the MedDiet might be associated with better cognitive function.
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Successful strategies from other disciplines could be considered by palliative care researchers.
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It has been estimated that 5.1million Americans suffer from heart failure.
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One of the best-studied diets for cardiovascular health is the Mediterranean diet.
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The 3D-CAM operationalizes the CAM algorithm using a 3-minute structured assessment with high sensitivity and specificity relative to a reference standard and could be an important tool for improving recognition of delirium.
Why it matters
In 201 hospital patients aged 75 or older (28% with dementia), a 3-minute structured interview (3D-CAM) agreed closely with an expert panel's delirium diagnosis: sensitivity 95% and specificity 94%, with a median time of 3 minutes. It also performed well in patients with dementia, though specificity was lower there (86%). It detects delirium, not Alzheimer's, and was tested only on medical inpatients at a single center.
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There is an urgent need to identify lifestyle activities that reduce functional decline and dementia associated with population aging.
Why it matters
This review of volunteering among older adults found associations with reduced depression, better self-reported health, fewer functional limitations, and lower mortality, and proposes a model by which volunteering might reduce dementia risk. The evidence is mostly from observational studies, and the proposed link to reduced dementia risk is a hypothesis for future research, not a proven prevention.
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In older adults undergoing hip fracture surgery, duration of POD is an important prognostic factor for 6-month mortality.
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At baseline, 4,463 subjects were without dementia, 836 of whom had HL.
Why it matters
In 4,463 community-dwelling adults aged 65+ without dementia, the 836 whose examiners noticed hearing difficulty went on to develop dementia more often (16.3% vs 12.1%) and declined faster on a cognitive screening test (3MS-R) over triennial follow-ups. The authors read this as hearing impairment being a possible "marker for cognitive dysfunction", not a proven cause. Hearing was judged by observation rather than a hearing test, and this study did not test whether treating hearing loss changes risk.
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Hearing impairment in older adults is independently associated in longitudinal studies with accelerated cognitive decline and incident dementia, and in cross-sectional studies, with reduced volumes in the auditory cortex.
Why it matters
Over an average of 6.4 years of repeat MRI scans, 51 older adults with hearing impairment lost whole-brain and right temporal lobe volume faster than 75 with normal hearing (Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, ages 56–86). The difference held after adjusting for demographic and cardiovascular factors. This shows an association, not a cause; the authors say the mechanism behind it still needs study, and no hearing treatment was tested.
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With a rapidly aging society it becomes increasingly important to counter normal age-related decline in cognitive functioning.
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Higher adherence to a Mediterranean-type diet was associated with decreased cognitive decline, although the Mediterranean diet (MeDi) combines several foods, micronutrients, and macronutrients already separately proposed as potential protective factors against dementia and predementia syndromes.
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Cognitive decline is a leading cause of disability and death in old age but its neurobiological bases are not well understood.
Why it matters
This cohort study tested whether TDP-43 pathology is related to late-life cognitive decline in older Catholic clergy. It is an observational study of brain tissue and cognition and does not test any treatment or prevention.
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Fornix body volume and axial diffusivity were highly significant predictors (P = .02 and .005, respectively) of cognitive decline from normal cognition.
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.
- Analysis of dementia in the US population using Medicare claims: Insights from linked survey and administrative claims data
- Pathophysiology of REM sleep behaviour disorder and relevance to neurodegenerative disease
- State of the science on mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
- A recommended scale for cognitive screening in clinical trials of Parkinson's disease
- Language disintegration in dementia: effects of etiology and severity
- Approach to Patients with Dysphagia: Clinical Insights
- Development and evaluation of home-based speed-of-processing training for older adults
- Mapping the research landscape of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson's disease: a bibliometric and visualization analysis
- The ABILHAND questionnaire as a measure of manual ability in chronic stroke patients: Rasch-based validation and relationship to upper limb impairment
- Interdisciplinary Aging Research to Address Health Disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias: A Scientific Training Program for Early-Career Scholars