The Tangled Neuron

MCI Symposium: Memory Loss and Exercise

Nicola Lautenschlager, MD, FRANZCP

I recently started running again, five years after a knee injury slowed me down.  It isn't pretty, but it might be good for my brain.

At last year’s MCI Symposium, Nicola Lautenschlager, Professor of Psychiatry of Old Age at the University of Western Australia, presented the results of a clinical trial of exercise to prevent cognitive decline. Those who took part in an exercise program actually improved their scores on tests of memory and thinking.

     Yonas Geda, MD

Since then, results of several studies on exercise to prevent memory loss or improve memory and thinking have been published, including a population-based study led by Yonas Geda at Mayo Clinic and a small trial led by Laura Baker at the University of Washington.

Laura Baker, Ph.D.

The results of these studies are being published so fast I can hardly keep up.  You can read what I've found out so far in my latest report on the MCI Symposium.

Johnson & Johnson Risperdal Kickback Allegations

Last week, the New York Times published an article about a U.S. government complaint that Johnson & Johnson paid kickbacks to the biggest nursing home pharmacy in the U.S. to increase prescriptions of the antipsychotic Risperdal and other drugs.  On her blog ElderCareTalk, Laura Bramly has posted a great analysis of what this means for people whose family members are in memory care units.

From AA to AD, A Wistful Travelogue: Book Review

Does memory loss bring wisdom?  It’s really a lifetime of many losses, not just memory loss, that Mike Donohue describes in his new book, From AA to AD, A Wistful Travelogue.  And those losses seem to have brought him wisdom.

A retired lawyer, Mike walks readers through the ups and downs of his life, including his recovery from alcoholism and the Alzheimer’s diagnosis he calls his worst loss.  He has come to see his alcoholism and recovery as the key to dealing with this new diagnosis.

Alzheimer's Research: Starting Over?

This past Thursday, the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute on Aging presented “A Conversation on Breaking the Treatment Barrier: Moving from Disease Modification to Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease.”  Russell Katz, MD (Director, Division of Neurology Products, Food and Drug Administration) and Zaven Khachaturian, Ph.D. (President, Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease by 2020 Inc [PAD2020] and Senior Science Advisor, Alzheimer’s Association) gave presentations, followed by a question and answer period.

While headlines are still focused on curing Alzheimer’s, finding disease-modifying treatments and reducing amyloid in the brain, it seemed to me that the experts and the audience at this event had moved far beyond these topics.

Mobile Phones, Alzheimer's and Brain Health

University of South Florida researchers have completed a unique study of the effect of electromagnetic waves on the memory and thinking of mice.  In their study, half the mice were “normal,” and half were genetically engineered to develop the plaques associated with Alzheimer’s.  The mice were exposed to an amount of electromagnetic waves meant to simulate the exposure humans get from using mobile phones.

This exposure to radiation seemed to improve memory and thinking in the “normal” mice and prevent dementia in the “Alzheimer’s” mice, according to the scientists.  Autopsies of the mice exposed to radiation seemed to show fewer plaques in their brains.

Does this mean you should stop worrying about potentially harmful effects of mobile phone use?  Or that using your mobile phone a lot will prevent memory loss?  Not according to Dr. William Thies, Ph.D., chief medical and scientific officer for the Alzheimer’s Association.

Professional Rememberers?

Anne Tyler’s new book Noah's Compass is out today.  It reportedly has a character who is a “professional rememberer.”

Is there such a profession?  Would the person perform functions that family members of people with memory loss often do?  Or is there more involved?

I’ll have to read the book.

MCI Symposium: Vascular Dementia and MCI, Part 1

        Vladimir Hachinski, MD, FRCPC, DSc

Dr. Vladimir Hachinski, a prominent stroke researcher, thinks that treating vascular diseases such as high blood pressure and “hardening of the arteries” can reduce your risk of both stroke and Alzheimer’s.  Several months after the 7th Annual Mild Cognitive Impairment Symposium, I’ve finally managed to report on Dr. Hachinski’s keynote speech at that event, and on his advice to people concerned about developing Alzheimer’s.

Another Study Links Diabetes to Dementia

British researchers have published study results suggesting that if you have been diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment, having diabetes increases your risk of developing full-blown dementia.