Category: Dementia

How this feeling could protect you against depression and even Alzheimer’s disease.

Positive emotions, especially the feeling of awe, have been linked to lower levels of inflammatory cytokines by a new study.

The research suggests that the positive feeling from enjoying the beauty of nature or getting lost in a painting or symphony can actually help protect the body against heart disease, arthritis, depression, and even Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr Dacher Keltner, one of the study’s authors, said:

“That awe, wonder and beauty promote healthier levels of cytokines suggests that the things we do to experience these emotions — a walk in nature, losing oneself in music, beholding art — have a direct influence upon health and life expectancy.”

Across two different experiments, 200 people reported their emotions during the day, including the extent to which they felt:

• amusement,
• awe,
• compassion,
• contentment,
• joy,
• love
• and pride.

Their cheeks were also swabbed to get a measure of the cytokine, Interleukin 6, which is a marker of inflammation.

The results, published in the journal Emotion, showed that experiencing positive emotions was linked to lower levels of the inflammation marker (Stellar et al., 2015).

Awe, in particular, had a strong association with lower cytokine levels.

Dr Jennifer Stellar, the study’s lead author, said:

“Awe is associated with curiosity and a desire to explore, suggesting antithetical behavioral responses to those found during inflammation, where individuals typically withdraw from others in their environment.”

In depression, for example, the pro-inflammatory cytokines are thought to be important as they tend to block key hormones and neurotransmitters, like dopamine and serotonin, which affect memory, sleep, appetite and mood.

People who are depressed have been found to have higher levels of certain inflammatory cytokines.

The study can’t yet tell us what causes what, though, as Dr Stellar explained:

“It is possible that having lower cytokines makes people feel more positive emotions, or that the relationship is bidirectional.”

Nevertheless, this is one of the first studies to link positive emotions to a boost in the body’s defences against both mental and physical illness.

Woman and sunset image from Shutterstock

Study finds compound in this alcoholic drink may have protective effect against neurodegenerative diseases.

A compound found in beer could help protect the brain from diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, a new study suggests.

Xanthohumol is a compound found in hops which has already been linked to anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects.

The study’s authors explain:

“Hops from dried female clusters of the hop plant are widely used in beers and a few types of soft drinks.

In traditional Chinese medicine, hops have been used to treat a variety of ailments for centuries.

The presence of a high concentration of Xn [Xanthohumol] in beers might be linked to the epidemiological observation of the beneficial effect of regular beer drinking.

Xn has attracted considerable interest because of its multiple pharmacological functions, including anti-oxidation, cardiovascular protection, anticancer and cancer chemoprevention, antivirus, anti-obesity, and anti-inflammation.”  (Yao et al., 2015).

The new study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, tested Xanthohumol on the brain cells of lab rats.

Researchers found that Xanthohumol helped to reduce oxidative stress on the brain cells.

Oxidative stress refers to the stress on cells caused by highly reactive ‘free radicals’ which are byproducts of the body’s normal process of producing energy.

The study’s authors write:

“As neuronal cells are particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress and have limited replenishment during the entire lifespan, increasing evidence has supported oxidative stress as one of the pathogenic causes in the neuropathology of adult neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.”

Naturally this is only an early study, and it is far from showing that drinking a pint of beer a day will stave off Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

But it may well help lead the way to producing new drugs to help the fight against neurodegenerative diseases.

Image credit: Alzheimer’s photo from Shutterstock

The non-prescription drugs which new study links to dementia risk.

Commonly used antidepressants and hayfever drugs, among others, have been linked to an increased risk of developing dementia, a new study finds.

The drugs are often taken by older people, as Professor Shelly Gray, the study’s first author, explained:

 “Older adults should be aware that many medications — including some available without a prescription, such as over-the-counter sleep aids — have strong anticholinergic effects.

And they should tell their health care providers about all their over-the-counter use.

But of course, no one should stop taking any therapy without consulting their health care provider.

Health care providers should regularly review their older patients’ drug regimens — including over-the-counter medications — to look for chances to use fewer anticholinergic medications at lower doses.”

Four commonly used drugs which have strong anticholinergic effects are:

1. Doxepin (Sinequan) – an older antidepressant.
2. Chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton) – an antihistamine used to treat hayfever.
3. Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) – another antihistamine often used to treat hayfever and sometimes used to aid sleep.
4. Oxybutynin (Ditropan) – for bladder control.

The study, which is published in JAMA Internal Medicine, tracked 3,434 people over the age of 65 who had no signs of dementia (Gray et al., 2015).

They were followed up over 7 years, during which time 797 developed dementia.

The results showed that the more of these drugs people took, the greater their risk of developing dementia.

One-fifth of the drugs had been bought over-the-counter without prescription.

The authors suggest that taking any of these drugs would put people at greater risk if taken for three years or more at these doses:

• 10 mg/day of doxepin,
• 4 mg/day of chlorpheniramine,
• or 5 mg/day of oxybutynin.

The first three can be substituted for other drugs which do not carry the dementia risk, the third cannot.

Unfortunately, the study also suggests that the damage caused by taking these medications may be irreversible.

Professor Gray said:

“If providers need to prescribe a medication with anticholinergic effects because it is the best therapy for their patient, they should use the lowest effective dose, monitor the therapy regularly to ensure it’s working, and stop the therapy if it’s ineffective.”

Image credit: JLA

Breakthrough in detecting brain toxins linked to common brain disease.

A new type of brain scan which can detect the toxins which cause Alzheimer’s disease has been developed by scientists at Northwestern University.

The test, which uses nanotechnology, identifies the early signs of dementia and could be used to both monitor and combat the disease.

The areas of the brain which contain the amyloid beta toxins are seen on the brain scan as large dark patches.

The new test is a breakthrough because previously it was only possible to detect the amyloid plaques — once these have developed it is probably too late for any effective therapy.

The researchers ran the test on both live animals and on brain tissue from people who had Alzheimer’s and those who did not.

Professor William L. Klein, who led the study, said:

“We have a new brain imaging method that can detect the toxin that leads to Alzheimer’s disease.

Using MRI, we can see the toxins attached to neurons in the brain.

We expect to use this tool to detect this disease early and to help identify drugs that can effectively eliminate the toxin and improve health.”

The research, which is published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, uses a magnetic nanostructure which can be seen by an MRI machine (Viola et al., 2014).

This magnetic nanostructure is attached to an antibody that seeks out the amyloid beta brain toxins.

Together the two parts of the tracer are able to track down and make the toxins detectable by the MRI (below).

In the research the tracer was administered to mice through their noses, since this is one of the shortest routes into the brain.

Kirsten L. Viola, the study’s first author, said:

“While preliminary, the data suggests the probe could be used not only as a diagnostic tool but also as a therapeutic.”

Professor Vinayak P. Dravid, another of the study’s authors and a materials scientist, said:

“Non-invasive imaging by MRI of amyloid beta oligomers is a giant step forward towards diagnosis of this debilitating disease in its earliest form.

This MRI method could be used to determine how well a new drug is working.

If a drug is effective, you would expect the amyloid beta signal to go down.”

Image credit: Viola et al., Nature Nanotechnology, 2014.

Quick test that predicts poor brain health and cognitive decline.

Having difficulty balancing on one leg for over 20 seconds has been linked to poor brain health and problems with memory, language and attention in a large new study.

Researchers asked people to try and keep their balance while simply raising one leg in front of them, with their eyes open.

Dr. Yasuharu Tabara, who led the Japanese study, said:

“Our study found that the ability to balance on one leg is an important test for brain health.

Individuals showing poor balance on one leg should receive increased attention, as this may indicate an increased risk for brain disease and cognitive decline.”

The study, published in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke, assessed 841 women and 546 men with an average age of 67, all of whom where healthy (Tabara et al., 2014).

Each person tried the test twice and their best time was recorded.

The longest amount of time anyone managed to stand on one leg was 60 seconds.

Brain imaging from an MRI scan revealed that people who had trouble balancing on one leg for longer than 20 seconds were more likely to have small bleeds in their brain.

The brain imaging also revealed that:

• 34.5% of people who had more than two areas of damage in the brain had problems balancing.
• 30% of those with more than two micro-bleeds in the brain had trouble balancing.

These areas of damage in the brain and micro-bleeds were present despite the participants having no symptoms of mental decline.

Researchers took into account people’s age, their blood pressure and the presence of thickened arteries.

Cognitively, as well, the balancing test predicted people’s thinking skills: the longer they could balance on one leg the better their cognitive function.

Image credit: Allan Ajifo

Missing out on this kind of sleep can lead to poor memory and dementia.

Spending less time in slow-wave or deep sleep is linked to the loss of brain cells that can lead to dementia, a new study finds.

Slow-wave sleep, which occurs mostly in the first three hours of the night, is when the brain processes thoughts and memories.

The study also found that people with lower levels of oxygen in their blood — typical those with sleep apnea or emphysema — were more likely to have brain abnormalities that lead to dementia.

To reach these conclusions, published in the journal Neurology, the researchers carried out sleep tests on 167 men with an average age of 84 (Gelber et al., 2014).

All the men in the study were followed up until death, when brain cell loss and any abnormalities associated with Alzheimer’s disease were assessed.

Men who spent the shortest time in slow-wave sleep were more than twice as likely to have brain cell loss as those who had the most slow-wave sleep.

Similarly, men whose blood-oxygen levels were the lowest were seven times more likely to have abnormalities in their brain that are associated with dementia.

The results also showed that those who got the most slow-wave or deep sleep performed better on tests of both thinking and memory.

Dr. Rebecca P. Gelber, who led the study, said:

“These findings suggest that low blood oxygen levels and reduced slow wave sleep may contribute to the processes that lead to cognitive decline and dementia.

More research is needed to determine how slow wave sleep may play a restorative role in brain function and whether preventing low blood oxygen levels may reduce the risk of dementia.”

Image credit: Alex