The Tangled Neuron

Anticholinergic Medicines and Memory Loss

Summary:  commonly-used prescription and over-the-counter drugs may contribute to memory loss in older people, particularly if taken for long periods of time.

Results of a recent study by scientists at Yale University suggest that long term use of some prescription and over-the-counter medicines contributes to memory loss in older people.  Previous studies, including one by French researchers, had also shown a connection between these medicines and memory loss.  The Yale study, which quantified the effects of using multiple anticholinergic medicines over time, confirmed this connection.  For study participants (544 men 65 and older), cumulative exposure to these medicines over a year’s time was associated with lower scores on tests of short term memory and executive function.  The study authors believe that the medicines have a similar effect on women.

The Mediterranean Diet, Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's

Summary:  Following the Mediterranean diet may reduce your risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s, and may increase the lifespan of people already diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Nikos Scarmeas, MD

Dr. Nikos Scarmeas, Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology at the Taub Institute for Alzheimer’s and the Aging Brain at Columbia University, studies the connection between diet and Alzheimer’s.  Now he’s extended his research to include the connection between diet and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and has co-authored an article in this month’s Archives of Neurology about that research.

The new article and much of his recent research centers around the Mediterranean diet, and the results are encouraging.  In several large population studies, he and his colleagues have found:

People who closely follow the Mediterranean diet have a lower risk of developing MCI (28% lower than those who don’t follow the diet very closely over a 4.5 year study period)

Frontline Program On Parkinson's

Dave Iverson has Parkinson’s, and so does his brother.  His father had Parkinson’s too.  Iverson’s new Frontline program, “My father, my brother and me,” aired this week on PBS, and can be viewed online.  Dave’s personal story makes the science engaging and easy to understand.