Category: Dementia

Italian researchers discover early sign of dementia related to high blood pressure.

Only somewhat elevated blood pressure in mid-life increases the risk of developing dementia by 45%, new research concludes.

Fifty-year-olds with blood pressure of more than 130/80 had the increased risk, a new study of over 9,000 people in the UK has found.

This level is only somewhat elevated (120/80mmHg is the top of the ideal range) and below the level at which hypertension is normally treated with drugs.

The damage from elevated blood pressure seems to accumulate over time, said study author Professor Archana Singh-Manoux:

“Our analysis suggests that the importance of mid-life hypertension on brain health is due to the duration of exposure.

So we see an increased risk for people with raised blood pressure at age 50, but not 60 or 70, because those with hypertension at age 50 are likely to be ‘exposed’ to this risk for longer.”

Detecting dementia early

In related findings, Italian researchers have been able to detect the earliest signals of neurological damage related to high blood pressure using a more powerful brain scanner.

It is hoped the finding will allow scientists to spot the damage when there is still a chance to treat it.

Dementia begins to damage the brain long before any symptoms emerge — at this point it is usually too late to treat it.

Professor Giuseppe Lembo, study author, said:

“The problem is that neurological alterations related to hypertension are usually diagnosed only when the cognitive deficit becomes evident, or when traditional magnetic resonance shows clear signs of brain damage.

In both cases, it is often too late to stop the pathological process”

The results come from hypertension patients given brain scans with a powerful 3-tesla MRI machine.

They found that people with high blood pressure had damage to critical parts of their brains.

They also scored lower on standard cognitive tests of processing, memory, learning and executive function.

Mr Lorenzo Carnevale, the study’s first author, said:

“We have been able to see that, in the hypertensive subjects, there was a deterioration of white matter fibers connecting brain areas typically involved in attention, emotions and memory,

An important aspect to consider is that all the patients studied did not show clinical signs of dementia and, in conventional neuroimaging, they showed no signs of cerebral damage.

Of course, further studies will be necessary, but we think that the use of tractography will lead to the early identification of people at risk of dementia, allowing timely therapeutic interventions.”

The studies were published in the European Heart Journal and the journal Cardiovascular Research (Abell et al., 2018; Carnevale et al., 2018).

The simple self-treatment that prevents Alzheimer’s disease.

A simple daily regimen of the common painkiller ibuprofen along with dietary adjustments could prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, new research concludes.

Ibuprofen is a widely available nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory that does not require a prescription.

The drug, along with adopting the Mediterranean diet and a healthy intake of antioxidants, could stop the disease in its tracks.

Until recently the problem has been identifying the disease early enough to take action.

Alzheimer’s is thought to begin around 10 years before any cognitive symptoms are noticeable.

The author of the new research, Dr Patrick McGeer (and colleagues), have developed a simple saliva test that can predict the onset of Alzheimer’s.

Dr Patrick McGeer, study co-author, explained:

“Knowing that the prevalence of clinical Alzheimer’s Disease commences at age 65, we recommend that people get tested ten years before, at age 55, when the onset of Alzheimer’s would typically begin.

If they exhibit elevated Abeta 42 levels then, that is the time to begin taking daily ibuprofen to ward off the disease.

Abeta 42 refers to a protein secreted in the saliva that is elevated in people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

It could provide the vital clue to start treatment early, Dr McGeer said:

“Unfortunately, most clinical trials to date have focused on patients whose cognitive deficits are already mild to severe, and when the therapeutic opportunities in this late stage of the disease are minimal.

Consequently, every therapeutic trial has failed to arrest the disease’s progression.

Our discovery is a game changer.

We now have a simple test that can indicate if a person is fated to develop Alzheimer’s disease long before it begins to develop. Individuals can prevent that from happening through a simple solution that requires no prescription or visit to a doctor.

This is a true breakthrough since it points in a direction where AD can eventually be eliminated.”

The study was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (McGeer & McGeer, 2018).