Category: Dementia

The common drink contains compounds called phenylindanes that may help protect against dementia.

Drinking coffee could protect against both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, new research suggests.

The study looked at compounds in coffee called phenylindanes, which may help protect against dementia.

Higher levels of phenylindanes typically make coffee taste more bitter.

Dr Donald Weaver, study co-author, said:

“Coffee consumption does seem to have some correlation to a decreased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

But we wanted to investigate why that is — which compounds are involved and how they may impact age-related cognitive decline.”

The study examined how phenylindanes interact with two proteins that are critical to the development of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

The results showed that phenylindanes inhibit both beta amyloid and tau proteins.

The researchers also compared dark roast, light roast and decaffeinated coffees.

It found that dark roasts had the highest quantities of phenylindanes.

Caffeine, though, made no difference, explained Dr Ross Mancini, the study’s first author:

“The caffeinated and de-caffeinated dark roast both had identical potencies in our initial experimental tests.

So we observed early on that its protective effect could not be due to caffeine.”

Dr Weaver said it is a major advantage that coffee is a natural crop:

“Mother Nature is a much better chemist than we are and Mother Nature is able to make these compounds.

If you have a complicated compound, it’s nicer to grow it in a crop, harvest the crop, grind the crop out and extract it than try to make it.”

More work will be required before therapies can be developed, Dr Weaver said:

“What this study does is take the epidemiological evidence and try to refine it and to demonstrate that there are indeed components within coffee that are beneficial to warding off cognitive decline.

It’s interesting but are we suggesting that coffee is a cure?

Absolutely not.”

The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience (Mancini 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).

When the microglia stop working properly, the brain begins to degrade.

A low-fat diet and restricting calorie intake helps reduce brain aging in mice, new research finds.

Eating around 40% less food helped preserve the brain in old age even better than exercise.

Dr Bart Eggen, who led the study, said:

“Obesity and aging are both prevalent and increasing in societies worldwide, but the consequences for the central nervous system are not well understood

We determined if a high- or low-fat diet, in combination with exercise and food restriction, impacted microglia during aging in mice.”

The microglia are cells in the brain that help regulate normal functioning.

When these cells stop working properly, the brain begins to degrade.

For the study mice were either fed a high- or low-fat diet — with some receiving 40% fewer calories than normal.

Some also did plenty of exercise.

Dr Eggen explained the results:

“Aging-induced inflammatory activation of microglia could only be prevented when mice were fed a low-fat diet in combination with limited caloric intake.

A low-fat diet per se was not sufficient to prevent these changes.”

The researchers hope to look at the effects of different diets.

Dr Eggen said:

“Nevertheless, these data do show that, in mice, the fat content of a diet is an important parameter in terms of the detrimental effects of aging on the brain, as well as caloric intake.

Only when fat content and caloric intake are limited, can aging-induced changes in microglia be prevented.”

The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience (Yin et al., 2018).

There are around 5.5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s and deaths have almost doubled in two decades.

Exercise could be the lifesaving ingredient that prevents Alzheimer’s disease, new research finds.

Higher levels of fitness were linked to less deterioration of critical nerve fibers in the brain, the so-called ‘white matter’.

The brain’s white matter is the bundle of nerve fibers the neurons use to communicate with each other.

People with lower levels of fitness had weaker white matter and lower brain function.

Dr Kan Ding, the study’s first author, said:

“This research supports the hypothesis that improving people’s fitness may improve their brain health and slow down the aging process.”

The scientists measured people’s cardiorespiratory fitness along with carrying out brain scans.

Dr Rong Zhang, study co-author, said:

“Evidence suggests that what is bad for your heart is bad for your brain.

We need studies like this to find out how the two are intertwined and hopefully find the right formula to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.”

Further research at the O’Donnell Brain Institute at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is now examining how much exercise works and whether it is ever too late.

The study will also look at the effects of cholesterol levels and blood pressure on preserving brain function.

Dr Ding said:

“A lot of work remains to better understand and treat dementia.

But, eventually, the hope is that our studies will convince people to exercise more.”

The study was published in the journal Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (Ding et al., 2017).