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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There was a significant clustering of isolates from African compared with European patients, suggesting that the patients had acquired their isolates long before the development of clinical disease.
Why it matters
This review covers HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis, noting that high organism burden at baseline and abnormal mental status are the most important predictors of death. It also describes geographic variation in cryptococcal disease and higher mortality in less selected series compared with clinical trials.
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Adjusted estimates of MTA were associated with significantly increased risk of developing dementia within 3 years, suggesting that obtaining a magnetic resonance image during the evaluation of MCI may offer additional independent information about the risk of progression to dementia.
Why it matters
Among 190 people with mild cognitive impairment, those with a mean medial temporal atrophy score above 2.0 on MRI were more than twice as likely to develop dementia within three years. This shows that an imaging measure can help estimate risk of progression, but it does not show that any treatment, cure, or prevention works.
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The neuropathologic substrate of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is not known.
Why it matters
When this study was published, the authors wrote that the brain changes underlying amnestic mild cognitive impairment — memory problems beyond normal ageing but short of dementia — were 'not known'. They examined brain tissue at autopsy from 15 people who died while diagnosed with amnestic MCI, scored it against three standard Alzheimer's pathology criteria (Khachaturian, CERAD and NIA-Reagan), and compared it with 28 clinically healthy people and 23 people with probable Alzheimer's disease. The results are not included in our record, so this page cannot say what was found; see the original paper.
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We conclude that higher education AD patients experience faster cognitive decline.
Why it matters
In this cohort of 312 people with newly diagnosed Alzheimer's disease, those with more years of education had slightly faster cognitive decline. This describes how the disease progresses in different people and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention.
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Among elderly people hospitalization of a spouse is associated with an increased risk of death, and the effect of the illness of a spouse varies among diagnoses.
Why it matters
Among elderly people, having a spouse hospitalized was linked to a higher risk of death for men, with the risk varying by the spouse's diagnosis and being higher after a spouse's hospitalization for dementia. This is about the health toll on caregivers, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease itself.
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Capturing the dynamics of gray matter (GM) atrophy in relation to the conversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to clinically probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) would be of considerable interest.
Why it matters
In this small prospective study, 18 people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment had MRI scans at entry and again 18 months later, and seven were diagnosed with probable Alzheimer's by the end. Those who converted already had less grey matter at the start in areas including the hippocampus, and over the 18 months they lost significantly more grey matter in the hippocampal area, inferior and middle temporal gyrus, posterior cingulate and precuneus than those who did not convert. This is a group-level association from a very small sample. It does not show that a scan can predict an individual's outcome, and it tested no treatment.
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We examined whether cognitive function at baseline affected cognitive and cardiovascular outcomes in the Study on COgnition and Prognosis in the Elderly (SCOPE), a blood pressure (BP)-lowering intervention trial.
Why it matters
This analysis of the SCOPE trial examined whether baseline cognitive function affected cognitive and cardiovascular outcomes in 4937 patients with hypertension treated with candesartan or placebo. It tested blood pressure-lowering treatment in people with hypertension and does not establish a treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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63/100
Employing time-dependent proportional hazards modeling, the authors found no significant association between statin use and incident dementia or probable AD.
Why it matters
In this community cohort, statin use was not significantly associated with the risk of developing dementia or probable Alzheimer's disease. The authors note that an apparent protective effect appeared only when the data were analyzed in a way they describe as inappropriate.
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White matter lesions, especially in the periventricular region, increase the risk of dementia in elderly people.
Why it matters
In 1,077 dementia-free people aged 60 to 90 from the Rotterdam Scan Study, followed for an average of 5.2 years (45 developed dementia), more severe white matter lesions around the brain's fluid spaces (periventricular) on MRI were linked to a higher risk of dementia: an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.67 per standard-deviation increase (95% CI 1.25–2.24). Lesions deeper in the white matter (subcortical) showed a "less prominent" link. The association held after accounting for other dementia risk factors and was only partly explained by other brain changes on MRI, but this observational study shows a link, not that the lesions cause dementia.
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Older age is associated with increased HAD in this HIV-1 cohort.
Why it matters
In this cross-sectional analysis, HIV-associated dementia was more common in older HIV-positive adults than in younger ones. The reasons are unclear and did not appear related to how long they had HIV, so this does not show how to prevent or cure dementia.
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The First Key Symposium was held in Stockholm, Sweden, 2-5 September 2003.
Why it matters
An international working group agreed on general criteria for mild cognitive impairment: the person is neither normal nor demented, there is evidence of cognitive deterioration, and activities of daily living are preserved with complex instrumental functions intact or minimally impaired. The group also discussed the role of neuroimaging, biomarkers, and genetics, and made recommendations for management and future research.
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We conclude that patients with mild cognitive impairment and depression are at more than twice the risk of developing dementia of Alzheimer type as those without depression.
Why it matters
This prospective cohort study found that patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and depression were at more than twice the risk of developing dementia of Alzheimer type as those without depression. It also found that patients with a poor response to antidepressants were at an especially increased risk of developing dementia.
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In this community-based sample, 3 to 4% of nondemented persons met MCI operational criteria; despite increased risk of progressing to dementia, a substantial proportion also remained stable or reverted to normal during follow-up.
Why it matters
In this community sample, 3 to 4% of people without dementia met criteria for amnestic mild cognitive impairment, and while they were at higher risk of progressing to dementia, many stayed stable or returned to normal. This describes the course of a memory problem over time and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention.
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Stroke increases a subject's risk of dementia as compared with age- and sex-matched controls.
Why it matters
In the community-based Framingham Study, stroke doubled the risk of dementia compared with age- and sex-matched controls, and dementia developed in 19.3% of cases versus 11.0% of controls. The authors conclude that primary and secondary prevention of stroke should significantly decrease the risk of all dementia, which is a prevention implication rather than a treatment or cure.
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Some CG interventions can reduce CG psychological morbidity and help people with dementia stay at home longer.
Why it matters
Pooling 30 studies of psychosocial interventions for caregivers, the analysis found benefits for caregiver distress, knowledge and patient mood, but not for caregiver burden. These are support interventions for families, not treatments that cure or prevent Alzheimer's disease.
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In the present meta-analysis, we integrated findings from 228 studies on the association of six caregiving-related stressors and caregiving uplifts with burden and depressed mood.
Why it matters
This meta-analysis of 228 studies found that care recipients' behaviour problems had the strongest links to caregiver burden and depressed mood, with relationships varying by caregiver and sample characteristics. It does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Memory problems are a defining feature of the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia.
Why it matters
This review found that none of the six studies reporting cognitive training interventions demonstrated any statistically significant effects in any domain, although there were indications of some modest, non-significant effects. The reviewers concluded the findings do not provide strong support for cognitive training for people with early-stage Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia.
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Conventionally defined MCI has reasonable predictive value and specificity for AD.
Why it matters
Mild cognitive impairment often progressed to Alzheimer's disease, but it was also unstable, with many people returning to normal within a few years. This describes how mild cognitive impairment behaves over time and does not test a treatment or cure.
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Because use of herbal remedies is increasing, a risk-benefit profile of commonly used herbs is needed.
Why it matters
This overview reports that published evidence suggests ginkgo is of questionable use for memory loss but has some effect on dementia. It notes that evidence is incomplete, so risk-benefit assessments for these herbal medicines are not completely reliable.
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We have undertaken a large unselected, community-based neuropathology study in an elderly (70-103 years) UK population in relation to prospectively evaluated dementia status.
Why it matters
This 2001 study from the MRC Cognitive Function and Ageing Study examined donated brains from an unselected community group aged 70–103 in England and Wales, to test whether the diagnostic categories then in use explain dementia 'in the community at large'. Dementia was assessed during life with the AGECAT algorithm, and brains were scored with the CERAD protocol for Alzheimer-type changes, vascular lesions and other possible causes of dementia. The text alzhub holds stops at the Methods, so this page does not include the study's results; it describes a brain-examination study, not a treatment or prevention.
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There is sufficient evidence to take seriously the possibility that depression is a risk factor for dementia and cognitive decline.
Why it matters
This review found that depression was associated with an increased risk of later dementia in both case-control and prospective studies. It concludes there is enough evidence to take seriously the possibility that depression is a risk factor for dementia and cognitive decline, but it does not show that treating depression prevents dementia.
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Delirium is common, persistent, and independently associated with poor functional recovery 1 month after hip fracture even after adjusting for prefracture frailty.
Why it matters
In this cohort of hip fracture patients, delirium was common and often persisted, and it was linked to worse functional recovery one month later even after accounting for prefracture frailty. This concerns recovery after a fracture, not the treatment, cure or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
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The last comparison of prevalence figures of dementia across European studies was 10 years ago.
Why it matters
This pooled analysis of European studies reported age- and sex-specific prevalence of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and vascular dementia. It provides prevalence figures and reports no treatment, cure, or prevention.
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Compared with men, women have an increased risk for AD.
Why it matters
Pooling four population-based cohorts of people aged 65 and older (528 new dementia cases), this study found women developed Alzheimer's disease more often than men after age 85; a 65-year-old woman's estimated cumulative risk of Alzheimer's by age 95 was 0.22, against 0.09 for a man. There was no difference between women and men for vascular dementia. The study describes who develops the disease more often, not why, and it does not test any treatment or prevention.
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We examined the neuropsychological test performance of a randomly selected community sample of English-speaking non-Hispanic African American and white elders in northern Manhattan.
Why it matters
This study found that nondemented African American elders scored lower than white elders on several cognitive tests, and some differences remained after matching for years of education. This is about how test performance differs between groups and the need for culturally appropriate norms, not about 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.
- Dementia Mortality in the United States, 2000-2017
- Assistive technology for memory support in dementia
- Impact of early onset dementia on caregivers: a review
- The Study of Mental and Resistance Training (SMART) study—resistance training and/or cognitive training in mild cognitive impairment: a randomized, double-blind, double-sham controlled trial
- Antidepressant use and cognitive decline in patients with dementia: a national cohort study
- Automatic measurement of prosody in behavioral variant FTD
- Impact of adherence to the Mediterranean diet on stroke risk
- Burden of Illness Among Patients with Psychosis due to Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Other Dementias
- Behavioural and psychological symptoms in general hospital patients with dementia, distress for nursing staff and complications in care: results of the General Hospital Study
- Brain Insulin Resistance at the Crossroads of Metabolic and Cognitive Disorders in Humans