Each study has a usefulness score out of 100 (rubric version 4.0). Tap a score to see what makes it up.
Download bibliography of all 8,018 studies, highest score first: BibTeX (.bib) · RIS (.ris)
Highest usefulness score first. Studies without a score come last.
-
The most common anticholinergic classes used were tricyclic antidepressants, first-generation antihistamines, and bladder antimuscarinics.
Why it matters
In 3,434 adults aged 65+ in Seattle followed for a mean of 7.3 years, those who had filled more anticholinergic prescriptions over the previous 10 years were more likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer's, with risk rising as cumulative dose rose. The drugs most used were tricyclic antidepressants, first-generation antihistamines and bladder antimuscarinics. This is an association, not proof the drugs cause dementia or that stopping them prevents it. The authors call for more awareness among clinicians and older adults so these drugs are used less over time.
-
Exogenous low dose melatonin administered nightly to elderly patients admitted to acute care may represent a potential protective agent against delirium.
-
Six months of high-intensity aerobic exercise had sex-specific effects on cognition, glucose metabolism, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and trophic activity despite comparable gains in cardiorespiratory fitness and body fat reduction.
Why it matters
In this controlled trial, older adults with mild cognitive impairment did six months of high-intensity aerobic exercise. Men and women gained similar fitness and lost similar body fat, yet the exercise had "sex-specific effects" on thinking, blood-sugar handling, stress-hormone (HPA axis) activity and growth-factor ("trophic") activity. The authors suggest the difference in thinking between men and women "may relate to" differences in blood-sugar and stress-hormone responses. The record we hold does not say which sex improved, by how much, or what the comparison group did, and it did not measure whether anyone developed Alzheimer's disease.
-
Leisure-time physical activity at midlife at least twice a week was associated with a reduced risk of dementia and AD (odds ratio [OR] 0.48 [95% CI 0.25-0.91] and 0.38 [0.17-0.85], respectively), even after adjustments for age, sex, education, follow-up time, locomotor disorders, APOE genotype, vascular disorders, smoking, and alcohol drinking.
Why it matters
Among 1,449 people aged 65–79 who were re-examined in 1998, an average of 21 years after a midlife survey, those who had done leisure-time physical activity at least twice a week in midlife had lower odds of dementia (odds ratio 0.48, 95% CI 0.25–0.91) and Alzheimer's disease (0.38, 0.17–0.85), after adjusting for factors including age, education, APOE genotype, vascular disorders, smoking and alcohol; the association was "more pronounced" in APOE ε4 carriers. This is an observational cohort, not a trial, so it shows an association rather than proof that exercise lowers risk; the authors conclude that regular activity "may reduce the risk or delay the onset" of dementia.
-
Substantial variation in the prevalence of dementia in Parkinson's disease (PDD) has been reported.
Why it matters
This review pooled 12 studies of people with Parkinson's disease (1,767 patients) and 24 studies of dementia types (4,711 patients). It found that 24.5% of people with Parkinson's had dementia, and 31.1% in the four studies that best met its quality criteria. Parkinson's disease dementia made up 3.6% of all dementia and affected an estimated 0.2 to 0.5% of people aged 65 and over. The authors note "significant methodological variations between studies". These are point-in-time prevalence figures, not anyone's personal risk, and the review tests no treatment.
-
A total of 267 (3.8%) women had diabetes and 297 (4.2%) had IFG.
Why it matters
Among 7,027 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis followed for 4 years in a drug trial, the 267 with diabetes scored clearly lower on cognitive tests at the start (composite score −0.78 vs 0.40 for normal blood sugar), and the authors report that both diabetic and pre-diabetic women had a "greater risk of developing cognitive impairment." Women with borderline-high fasting glucose fell in between, but their estimate was too imprecise to separate them from women with normal glucose. This is an observed association, not evidence that controlling blood sugar prevents dementia — no glucose treatment was tested.
-
These data demonstrate that donepezil is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for VaD and show it may have an important place in the management of this condition.
-
During a mean follow-up of 3.9 years, dementia was documented in 193 (6.3%) of the 3051 randomized participants in the actively treated group and 217 (7.1%) of the 3054 randomized participants in the placebo group (relative risk reduction, 12% [95% confidence interval, -8% to 28%]; P =.2).
Why it matters
In a double-blind trial of 6,105 people who had already had a stroke or TIA, followed for an average of 3.9 years, dementia occurred in 6.3% of those given perindopril (with indapamide for some) and 7.1% on placebo, a difference that was not statistically significant (P = .2). A drop of 3 or more points on the MMSE memory-screening test was less common with treatment (9.1% vs 11.0%, P = .01). The authors' positive conclusion is narrower: treatment was "associated with reduced risks of dementia and cognitive decline associated with recurrent stroke", for example a 34% lower risk of dementia together with a further stroke.
-
This randomized trial followed 2,111 older adults at risk for cognitive decline across 5 US sites for two years, comparing a highly structured lifestyle program (regular exercise, MIND diet, cognitive/social engagement, health coaching) against a lower-intensity, self-guided version of the same components.
Why it matters
In this randomized trial of 2,111 older adults, a structured lifestyle program improved global cognition significantly more than a self-guided version of the same components over two years. The year-over-year difference between groups was modest in absolute terms, though the benefit was consistent across age, sex, ethnicity, heart-health status, and APOE ε4 carrier status.
-
133 systematic reviews (2,724 RCTs and 258 279 participants) were included.
Why it matters
This umbrella review found that exercise significantly improved general cognition, memory and executive function across all populations, including older adults. It provides strong evidence that exercise, even at light intensity, supports cognitive health, though memory and executive function gains were greater in children and adolescents than in adults and older adults.
-
This long-term follow-up of the SPRINT randomized trial tested whether intensively lowering systolic blood pressure (to below 120, vs. the standard target of below 140) reduces the risk of thinking problems in adults 50+ with hypertension.
Why it matters
Intensively lowering systolic blood pressure below 120 reduced the combined outcome of mild cognitive impairment or probable dementia, but the reduction in probable dementia alone was not statistically significant. This suggests tighter blood pressure control may help prevent milder thinking problems in people with hypertension, though it did not clearly prevent dementia by itself.
-
Antipsychotic use compared with non-use in adults with dementia was associated with increased risks of stroke, venous thromboembolism, myocardial infarction, heart failure, fracture, pneumonia, and acute kidney injury, but not ventricular arrhythmia.
Why it matters
This large cohort study found that antipsychotic use in people with dementia was associated with increased risks of many adverse outcomes, including pneumonia, acute kidney injury, venous thromboembolism, and stroke. These findings highlight the need for caution when prescribing antipsychotics in this population.
-
An estimated 8.8 million Indians older than 60 years have dementia.
Why it matters
Earlier Indian dementia figures came from "selected communities"; this study used the nationwide LASI survey of adults 60+ to estimate prevalence at 7.4%, about 8.8 million people, higher in women and in rural areas and varying by state. Clinicians rated 2,528 people directly and a statistical model estimated dementia status for the remaining 28,949, so the figures are modelled estimates rather than individual diagnoses. The authors say the uneven burden "may therefore require different levels of local planning and support"; the study does not test any treatment or prevention.
-
RS-tDCS is a safe and feasible rehabilitation modality for poststroke cognitive dysfunction.
-
Adherence to the MeDi diet may reduce the risk of MCI and AD.
-
Aging is characterized by cognitive decline affecting daily functioning.
-
76/100
Cohort studies suggest that the Mediterranean diet is associated with better global cognition in older adults, slower cognitive decline and lower risk of dementia.
-
A large fraction of dementia cases in the US were associated with potentially modifiable risk factors, especially for Black and Hispanic individuals.
Why it matters
This analysis estimated that 41.0% of dementia cases among all US adults were attributable to 12 risk factors, with a large fraction associated with potentially modifiable risk factors especially for Black and Hispanic individuals. This estimates how much dementia burden is linked to modifiable risk factors and does not show that modifying them prevents dementia.
-
A total of 6321 participants (mean [SE] age, 56.1 [0.18] years at visit 1; n = 4077 women [57.8%]) were included.
-
76/100
Cognitive impairment is a central non-motor symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD), and there are no established treatments.
-
Combined multi-domain interventions may contribute to preventing or delaying disease progression.
-
The Mediterranean diet (MD) has shown to reduce the occurrence of several chronic diseases.
-
Alzheimer's dementia (AD) is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., with an estimated $305 billion cost of care in 2020.
-
Of 1583 articles, data subjected from the 24 studies (including 3562 patients who experienced delirium and 6987 controls who did not) were included in a random-effects meta-analysis for pooled effect estimates and random-effects meta-regressions to identify sources of study variance.
Why it matters
This meta-analysis of 24 studies found a significant association between delirium and long-term cognitive decline. It shows delirium is linked to later cognitive decline but does not establish that treating delirium prevents dementia, and it does not test a treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
-
CCT proved effective in PD-MCI patients when compared with traditional PCT.
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.
- Behavioural changes in frontotemporal dementia and their cognitive and neuroanatomical correlates
- Occurrence and treatment of suspected pneumonia in long-term care residents dying with advanced dementia
- Mobile technologies in the early detection of cognitive decline
- Prediction of individual clinical outcome in MCI by means of genetic assessment and (18)F-FDG PET
- Survival in end-stage dementia following acute illness
- Incidence of dementia after age 90 years and association with APOE genotype, race, and sex in the USA: the LifeAfter90 prospective cohort study
- Clinical Significance of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Markers of Vascular Brain Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
- The occult aftermath of boxing
- Subjective memory complaints at age 90 + in relation to cognition and risk of incident dementia: The 90 + Study
- Obfuscation via pitch‐shifting for balancing privacy and diagnostic utility in voice‐based cognitive assessment