Dementia - PsyBlog

This Probiotic Reduces Mild Cognitive Impairment Symptoms

The probiotic has been investigated in over 250 clinical trials.

Probiotics help prevent mild declines in memory and thinking skills that typically occur with age.

Older adults with mild cognitive impairment who took Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) for three months displayed improved cognition scores.

LGG has been investigated in over 250 clinical trials and there is some evidence it can be useful for treating irritable bowel syndrome and some other gastrointestinal issues.

Ms Mashael Aljumaah, the study’s first author, said:

“The implication of this finding is quite exciting, as it means that modifying the gut microbiome through probiotics could potentially be a strategy to improve cognitive performance, particularly in individuals with mild cognitive impairment.

This adds a new layer to our understanding of the microbiome brain-gut connection and opens up new avenues for combating cognitive decline associated with aging.”

Fighting memory problems

The experiment involved 169 people aged 52 to 75, some of whom had Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).

MCI is diagnosed when people have age-related problems with memory and thinking, but can still live independently.

People with MCI may go on to develop dementia, but some people never get worse and many improve.

Ms Aljumaah said:

“Many studies focus on severe forms of cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, but these conditions are more advanced, making them significantly harder to reverse or treat.

In contrast, we focused on mild cognitive impairment, which can include problems with memory, language, or judgment. Interventions at this stage of cognitive impairment could slow down or prevent the progression to more severe forms of dementia.”

Not only did the thinking skills of participants who took probiotics improve, the results showed, but changes were measured in the gut microbiome.

Microbes in the genus Prevotella decreased as people’s thinking skills increased.

Ms Aljumaah said:

“By identifying specific shifts in the gut microbiome associated with mild cognitive impairment, we’re exploring a new frontier in preventive strategies in cognitive health.

If these findings are replicated in future studies, it suggests the feasibility of using gut microbiome-targeted strategies as a novel approach to support cognitive health.”

It is not yet known how or why Prevotella interacts with brain health — that is what the researchers are working on next.

12 Brain-Boosting Strategies That Protect Against Mild Cognitive Impairment (P)

The study was presented at Nutrition ’23 in Boston, MA (Aljumaah et al., 2023).

8 Everyday Eating Habits That Reduce Dementia Risk (P)

These studies reveal some of the diets, foods and nutrients that protect the brain from dementia — and those that damage it.

The risk of dementia and memory loss can be significantly reduced through lifestyle and dietary changes.

From certain fruits to particular diets and vitamins, scientists have found that the brain can be kept healthy for longer with the correct eating patterns.

The eight studies below explore some of the diets, foods and nutrients that protect the brain from dementia -- and those that damage it.

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The Common Drugs That Could Lower Dementia Risk 80% (M)

The secret to memory health might lie in how your body manages a single molecule.

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The Diet That Cuts The Risk Of Memory Loss

The supplement that may slow brain aging.

A diet sufficient in omega-3 fatty acids helps reduce the risk of memory loss.

People with low levels of fatty acids score worse on tests of memory, attention and problem solving.

People’s brain volume is also affected, said Dr Zaldy S. Tan, the study’s first author:

“People with lower blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids had lower brain volumes that were equivalent to about two years of structural brain aging.”

The most important omega-3 fatty acids are eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, known as EPA and DHA.

Even healthy young people can improve their memory by increasing their omega-3 intake, other research finds.

This study, though, included 1,575 older adults who were all free of dementia.

They were given tests of their memory, attention and problem-solving, as well as levels of DHA and EPA in their bloodstream.

The results showed that those in the bottom 25% for fatty acid levels had lower brain volumes and had poorer scores on cognitive tests.

12 Brain-Boosting Strategies That Protect Against Mild Cognitive Impairment (P)

The study was published in the journal Neurology (Tan et al., 2012).

This Beverage Reversed Normal Age-Related Memory Loss In Three Months

Drinking this could reduce your brain age twenty years in just three months.

Cocoa flavanoids — like those contained in a cup of cocoa — can reverse age-related memory loss in older adults.

This is the first direct evidence that an important component of memory decline that comes with age can be improved with a simple dietary change.

Typically, normal age-related memory declines are noticeable to people in their fifties and sixties: things like forgetting where the keys are or having trouble recalling a name or word.

These changes are much less severe than those which typically occur as a result of devastating dementias like Alzheimer’s disease.

The study, published in Nature Neuroscience, found a high-flavanol diet could restore aspects of older people’s memory back to that of a typical 30- or 40-year-old (Brickman et al., 2014).

The changes were clearly visible in brain scans, as Dr Adam M. Brickman, the study’s lead author explained:

“When we imaged our research subjects’ brains, we found noticeable improvements in the function of the dentate gyrus in those who consumed the high-cocoa-flavanol drink.”

The image below shows the dentate gyrus in green (this is part of the hippocampus).

Previous research has shown that it is changes in this area of the brain that are associated with normal age-related memory loss.

Image credit: Lab of Scott A. Small, M.D.

Participants in the study were 37 healthy people aged between 50 and 69.

They were randomised into two groups, one of which was given a high-flavanol diet (900mg of flavanols per day) and the other given a low-flavanol diet (10mg per day).

At the end of the three-month period of the study, participants on the high-flavanoid diet showed improvements on memory tests.

Professor Scott A. Small, one of the study’s authors, explained the results:

“If a participant had the memory of a typical 60-year-old at the beginning of the study, after three months that person on average had the memory of a typical 30- or 40-year-old.”

Flavanols are also found in tea leaves, and certain fruits and vegetables, although the exact amounts and forms vary widely.

The researchers cautioned that people should not eat more chocolate as the critical flavanoids are not present at the required levels — the dietary supplement used in the study was specially formulated.

12 Brain-Boosting Strategies That Protect Against Mild Cognitive Impairment (P)

The Familiar Pill That Reduces Dementia Risk By 13%

Treating this condition in mid- or later life can halt dementia.

Medication to lower blood pressure reduces the risk of dementia by around 13 percent, the strongest evidence yet finds.

Currently, there are very few dementia treatments on the market, therefore finding that lowering blood pressure can significantly reduce the disease or stop its progression is of practical benefit.

Dr Ruth Peters, the study’s first author, said:

“Given population ageing and the substantial costs of caring for people with dementia, even a small reduction could have considerable global impact.

Our study suggests that using readily available treatments to lower blood pressure is currently one of our ‘best bets’ to tackle this insidious disease.”

About 60 million people live with dementia and the condition is rapidly increasing amongst older population at such a rate that it will have tripled by 2050.

According to Dr Peters, while numerous clinical trials have shown the beneficial effects of lowering blood pressure on heart disease and stroke risk, its effect on dementia has not been identified.

Dr Peters said:

“Most trials were stopped early because of the significant impact of blood pressure lowering on cardiovascular events, which tend to occur earlier than signs of dementia.”

The team analysed five trials, each using a different treatment to lower blood pressure of 28,000 older adults across 20 countries.

The participants were followed over four years.

Dr Peters said:

“We found there was a significant effect of treatment in lowering the odds of dementia associated with a sustained reduction in blood pressure in this older population.

Our results imply a broadly linear relationship between blood pressure reduction and lower risk of dementia, regardless of which type of treatment was used.”

The authors believe this finding can help improve public health strategies in decreasing the risk of dementia and its progression.

Dr Peters said:

“Our study provides the highest grade of available evidence to show that blood pressure lowering treatment over several years reduces the risk of dementia, and we did not see any evidence of harm.

But what we still don’t know is whether additional blood pressure lowering in people who already have it well-controlled or starting treatment earlier in life would reduce the long-term risk of dementia.”

The study was published in the European Heart Journal (Peters et al., 2022).

The Vitamin Deficiency In The Brain Linked To Dementia

The study looked directly at levels of this vitamin in the brain, about which little is known.

Higher levels of vitamin D in the brain are linked to better cognitive function and less decline with age.

Indeed, adequate vitamin D levels have repeatedly been linked to lower dementia risk (1, 2, 3) by research.

One study has even suggested that adequate levels of vitamin D could prevent almost one-in-five cases of dementia (Navale et al., 2022).

However, the link remains somewhat controversial, with other studies finding no connection (also: Owusu et al., 2018).

This research, though, looked directly at vitamin D levels in the brain, about which little is known.

Professor Sarah Booth, study co-author, said:

“This research reinforces the importance of studying how food and nutrients create resilience to protect the aging brain against diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias.”

Vitamin D markers

The study, which tracked the cognitive health of 290 seniors, analysed their brain tissue for vitamin D after they died.

Dr Kyla Shea, the study’s first author, said:

“Many studies have implicated dietary or nutritional factors in cognitive performance or function in older adults, including many studies of vitamin D, but all of them are based on either dietary intakes or blood measures of vitamin D.

We wanted to know if vitamin D is even present in the brain, and if it is, how those concentrations are linked to cognitive decline.”

The researchers found that people with higher levels of vitamin D in their brains had better cognitive function.

However, they found no link between vitamin D markers and other physiological signs of Alzheimer’s.

This means it is difficult to pinpoint the mechanism by which vitamin D might be beneficial.

Dr Shea said:

“Dementia is multifactorial, and lots of the pathological mechanisms underlying it have not been well characterized.

Vitamin D could be related to outcomes that we didn’t look at yet, but plan to study in the future.”

How much vitamin D?

Despite these findings, it is not recommended to take high levels of vitamin D as a preventative measure.

Recommended doses are 600 IU per day for people under 70 and 800 IU for those over 70.

Dr Shea said:

“We now know that vitamin D is present in reasonable amounts in human brains, and it seems to be correlated with less decline in cognitive function.

But we need to do more research to identify the neuropathology that vitamin D is linked to in the brain before we start designing future interventions.”

The study was published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia (Shea et al., 2022).