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 exact etiology of dementia is still unclear, but both genetic and lifestyle factors are thought to be key drivers of this complex disease.
Why it matters
In 6,352 adults aged 55 and older from the population-based Rotterdam Study, people at low or intermediate genetic risk who had a favorable profile of modifiable risk factors had a lower risk of dementia than those with an unfavorable profile. Among people at high genetic risk, the study did not find this association. Because this is an observational study, it shows a link rather than an effect of changing lifestyle, and failing to find a link in the high-risk group does not show that no link exists.
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Higher levels of VRFs were associated with poorer brain health across grey and white matter macrostructure and microstructure.
Why it matters
In this large UK Biobank sample, having more vascular risk factors was associated with greater brain atrophy, lower grey matter volume, and poorer white matter health, with small effect sizes. These are associations with brain MRI markers linked to dementia risk, not proof that controlling these factors prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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Diabetes status, poor glycemic control, and longer diabetes duration were associated with worse cognitive outcomes over a median follow-up of 5 years.
Why it matters
This study found that diabetes status, poor glycemic control, and longer diabetes duration were associated with worse cognitive outcomes, including incident mild cognitive impairment and dementia, over a median follow-up of 5 years. It also found that glycated albumin and fructosamine were associated with incident dementia independently of HbA1c.
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Nutrition is a modifiable factor potentially related to aging.
Why it matters
This review of six studies found that the relationship between dairy intake and cognitive impairment cannot be firmly established, with some studies linking midlife milk or high intake of dairy desserts and ice cream to worse cognitive measures and one study linking dairy intake to lower Alzheimer disease development. The evidence is mixed and mostly observational, so no clear dietary recommendation for preventing cognitive decline can be drawn.
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Depression and external locus of control partially mediate racial/ethnic differences in memory trajectories.
Why it matters
In this longitudinal study, perceived discrimination among black participants was linked to lower initial memory and faster memory decline, partly through depressive symptoms and external locus of control. These findings point to psychosocial pathways that could inform policies and interventions, but they do not test a treatment or cure.
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Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is regarded as a prodrome to dementia.
Why it matters
This meta-analysis evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of cognitive tests for detecting mild cognitive impairment. It is a diagnostic accuracy study and provides no information on treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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The UK Biobank project is a prospective cohort study with deep genetic and phenotypic data collected on approximately 500,000 individuals from across the United Kingdom, aged between 40 and 69 at recruitment.
Why it matters
Describes the UK Biobank, a cohort study with genetic and health data on about 500,000 people in the United Kingdom aged 40 to 69 at recruitment, including blood and urine biomarkers and body and brain imaging. The paper covers how the genetic data were checked and processed, raising the number of testable variants to around 96 million.
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Alzheimer is a disease leading to various neuropsychiatric behavioral disorders, and the most common symptom observed during the prognosis of Alzheimer's disease is dysmnesia.
Why it matters
In this randomized controlled trial of 60 elderly people with Alzheimer disease, reminiscence therapy given weekly for 8 weeks was followed by statistically significant improvements in Mini-Mental Test, depression, and quality-of-life scores in the intervention group. The authors suggest regular reminiscence therapy should be considered, but this is a small single-blind study about symptoms and well-being, not a cure or prevention.
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Scoping reviews, a type of knowledge synthesis, follow a systematic approach to map evidence on a topic and identify main concepts, theories, sources, and knowledge gaps.
Why it matters
Presents PRISMA-ScR, a checklist and explanation for reporting scoping reviews, developed by a 24-member expert panel and 2 research leads. The final checklist has 20 essential reporting items and 2 optional items. It is a reporting guideline, not about Alzheimer's specifically.
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Many older adults living with dementia have not been formally diagnosed.
Why it matters
In a 2011 sample of 585 US adults aged 65+ on fee-for-service Medicare who met survey criteria for probable dementia, 39.5% had no dementia diagnosis in their Medicare claims and another 19.2% had one but were reported as unaware of it, 58.7% in all. Being Hispanic, having less than high school education, attending medical visits alone and having fewer functional impairments were each associated with being undiagnosed, and the last three also with being unaware. These are associations from a single snapshot; the authors suggest these groups "may benefit from targeted screening", which the study did not test.
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Complexity at multiple levels needs to be understood and overcome to develop effective treatments and preventions for cognitive decline and AD dementia.
Why it matters
This is a five-year progress review of two "ongoing longitudinal clinical-pathologic cohort studies of aging and Alzheimer's disease", in which older adults "enroll without dementia and agree to detailed longitudinal clinical evaluations and organ donation". It surveys work on how brain changes relate to clinical Alzheimer's, how risk factors may connect to the disease, motor function and decision making, and a drug discovery platform, but the abstract lists these as topics and reports no specific results. The authors conclude that "complexity at multiple levels needs to be understood and overcome to develop effective treatments and preventions", so the paper offers no treatment or prevention.
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Obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m 2 ) at age 50 years (hazard ratio = 1.93; 1.35-2.75) but not at 60 or 70 years was associated with risk of dementia.
Why it matters
In this 28-year follow-up study, obesity at age 50 but not at 60 or 70 was associated with higher risk of dementia, and weight loss occurred in the preclinical phase. This suggests that midlife obesity may affect future dementia rates, but it does not show that weight loss prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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Overall, birth in an HSMS was associated with a 28% higher risk of dementia (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.28; 95% CI, 1.13-1.46) adjusted for age, sex, and race.
Why it matters
In 7,423 adults who all later lived in Northern California, those born in one of 9 US states with high stroke death rates had a 28% higher risk of developing dementia (adjusted hazard ratio 1.28), even after accounting for age, sex and race. Compared with nonblack people born elsewhere, Black people born in those states had the highest risk (aHR 1.67); the authors describe it as the first study of place of birth and incident dementia. It shows an association only — it does not explain why, and it tests no treatment or prevention.
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63/100
The ageing population is accompanied by increased rates of cognitive decline and dementia.
Why it matters
This review found mixed results in non-Mediterranean cross-sectional and cohort studies, but more consistent beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet on cognitive function in Mediterranean cohort studies and randomized controlled trials. It concludes that more standardized and in-depth studies are needed, so it does not establish that the diet prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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Overall, cumulative incidence was uniformly higher in NACC than in the population-based cohorts.
Why it matters
This analysis of four cohorts found that the risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia increased with the dose of the APOE epsilon 4 allele and with age, and was also higher with lower education, subjective memory concerns, poorer baseline cognition and family history of dementia. Cumulative incidence was consistently higher in the clinic-based NACC cohort than in the population-based cohorts.
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The expected outcome is to ensure the continuity of care from clinical practice to the patient's home, enabling also cost effectiveness and the empowerment of patient and caregiver in the care process, positively impacting on their quality of life.
Why it matters
This paper is a protocol for a single-blind randomized controlled trial that will test an individualized home-based multidimensional technology program for 30 people with mild cognitive impairment and early-stage Alzheimer disease against treatment as usual. It reports the planned design only, so no results on treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease are available from this text.
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Beneficiaries with dementia who had lower levels of continuity of care were younger, had a higher income, and had more comorbid medical conditions.
Why it matters
Among older Medicare beneficiaries with dementia, lower continuity of care was associated with higher rates of hospitalization, emergency department visits, testing, and health care spending. This is about health care delivery and utilization, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease itself.
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This paper explores the rationale for a mobile phone-led intervention and details the app's effect on behavior change and subsequent clinical outcomes.
Why it matters
This trial examined whether a mobile phone app could change behaviors related to Alzheimer's risk factors, and found links between app use and improvements in cholesterol, BMI, and stress. It did not measure whether the app prevents Alzheimer's disease, so no conclusion about prevention can be drawn.
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The use of AC medication was associated with increased brain atrophy and dysfunction and clinical decline.
Why it matters
In this study of cognitively normal older adults, those taking anticholinergic medication had lower scores on some memory and thinking tests and more brain atrophy and dysfunction than those not taking them. This links a class of medication to clinical decline, but it does not show that stopping these drugs prevents or cures Alzheimer's disease.
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(N = 382 at baseline) had a mean (SD) age of 75.5 (7.0) years; 61.8% were women; and 41.4% were white, 29.6% African American, 25.1% Hispanic, and 3.9% other race/ethnicity.
Why it matters
This study found that lower vitamin D levels were associated with cognitive decline in a multiethnic cohort of older adults. It is an observational study and does not show that vitamin D supplementation prevents or treats Alzheimer's disease.
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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with poor outcomes, perhaps due to a high burden of comorbidity.
Why it matters
In a large cohort of adults with chronic kidney disease, mental health conditions and discordant conditions such as dementia were independent drivers of adverse outcomes including hospitalization. This concerns outcomes in chronic kidney disease and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Nutrition is an important modifiable risk factor that plays a role in the strategy to prevent or delay the onset of dementia.
Why it matters
This systematic review of human studies suggests that better adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with less cognitive decline, dementia, or Alzheimer's disease. The findings come mainly from observational studies, so they indicate an association rather than proof that diet prevents dementia.
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White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) in the brain are the consequence of cerebral small vessel disease, and can easily be detected on MRI.
Why it matters
This 2015 review says the white matter hyperintensities that small vessel disease leaves on MRI track with cognitive and functional decline in a dose-dependent way, and that large studies "have demonstrated a causal link between large confluent WMHs and dementia and disability." It stresses careful diagnostic assessment, "most notably" in people with early cognitive impairment, and suggests that even in Alzheimer's disease this vascular damage "may be of greater importance than amyloid itself", especially in older people. Treating small-vessel risk factors "could be an important therapeutic goal, although evidence for effective interventions is still lacking", and the review reports no new data and no treatment that prevents or cures dementia.
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Drugs that modify the risk of dementia in the elderly are of potential interest for dementia prevention.
Why it matters
In this cohort of 3327 older primary care patients, use of proton pump inhibitors was linked to a significantly increased risk of any dementia and of Alzheimer's disease. This is an observational association and does not show that these drugs cause dementia or that stopping them prevents it.
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Digital literacy may help reduce cognitive decline among persons aged between 50 and 89 years.
Why it matters
In this longitudinal cohort, Internet/E-mail use predicted better performance in delayed recall among people aged 50 to 89. This is an association, so it does not prove that using the Internet reduces cognitive decline or prevents dementia.
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.
- Comparing clinical trial population representativeness to real-world populations: an external validity analysis encompassing 43 895 trials and 5 685 738 individuals across 989 unique drugs and 286 conditions in England
- Birth Rate as a Determinant of Dementia Incidence: A Comprehensive Global Analysis
- Diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease Risk Factors, and the Cafeteria Diet: A Comprehensive Review
- A hippocampal marker of recollection memory ability among healthy young adults: contributions of posterior and anterior segments
- The role of palliative care in patients with neurological diseases
- Is the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test better suited than the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) detection among people aged over 60? Meta-analysis
- Association of Echocardiographic Measures of Left Atrial Function and Size With Incident Dementia
- Dementia and postoperative outcomes in older adults: national estimates and mechanistic pathways from a US cohort study
- The costs of dementia care by US state: Medical spending and the cost of unpaid caregiving
- Evaluating GLP-1 receptor agonists versus metformin as first-line therapy for reducing dementia risk in type 2 diabetes