Alzheimer's Archive

A 2024 study suggested that older adults who undergo cataract surgery to improve vision may have a lower risk of developing dementia.

There's no clear-cut answer about whether taking antihistamines for allergies increases dementia risk. Antihistamines have anticholinergic effects, which might increase the risk for dementia by blocking a particular brain neurotransmitter or increasing brain inflammation. But studies on whether there's any link between antihistamines and dementia have produced conflicting findings. Doctors advise taking the lowest antihistamine dose possible or using another medication for symptom relief.

Communicating with someone with dementia can be tricky, since their ability to understand others and express themselves fluctuates and declines. Certain communication strategies can help smooth interactions between caregivers and dementia patients. They include being an active listener, avoiding confrontation, agreeing with the patient's reality, removing distractions, using shorter sentences and smaller words, asking yes-or-no questions, using written lists and schedules, and incorporating touch.

Some scientists believe that microbes might play a part in Alzheimer's disease development. They say it could be that certain viruses or bacteria that infect the brain aren't completely eradicated by the immune system, which leads to neuroinflammation and brain cell death. It could also be that microbes trigger the release of protein deposits-amyloid-beta plaques and tau tangles-which kill neurons, further increase neuroinflammation, and lead to more neuron death.

A study of more than 121,000 people without dementia (ages 40 to 70) found that those who ate the most flavonoid-rich foods-six servings per day-had a 28% lower risk of developing dementia over the following nine years, compared to those who ate the least.

A study published in JAMA in July 2024 found that a blood test was accurate in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease, which causes steep declines in cognition and other aspects of health. The blood test is able to detect elevated blood levels of brain proteins that characterize the condition. While that's progress, doctors say it's not the test needed most. It would be more beneficial, they say, to have a test that accurately spots the developing disease long before it affects thinking. No such tests are here yet, but scientists are working to develop them.