University of Arkansas public radio station KUAF 91.3 FM has been awarded a $15,000 grant from the American Psychiatric Foundation for the production of a year-long five-part series of in-depth reports on mental health and the elderly.
Memory training and other non-drug treatments may one day help older adults ward off declines in mental function, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in an editorial in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Waning testosterone levels in aging men may be responsible for a slew of physical symptoms, dementia among them. Recent studies indicate that men with Alzheimer”s disease (AD) have lower testosterone level than aged men without AD.
Neurobiologists have discovered why the aging brain produces progressively fewer new nerve cells in its learning and memory center. The scientists said the finding, made in rodents, refutes current ideas on how long crucial “progenitor” stem cells persist in the aging brain.
A study published in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society finds that moderate alcohol intake (1-2 drinks/day for 3-6 days/week, depending on alcoholic content) may lead to increased quality of life and survival in older women. The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health followed nearly 12,000 women in their 70’s over a six-year period. The group was comprised of non-drinkers, occasional drinkers and moderate drinkers.
Scientists collaborating at Cornell University in Ithaca and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City have identified a panel of 23 protein biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid that acts as a neurochemical “fingerprint,” which doctors might use someday to identify patients living with Alzheimer’s disease. The research will be published in the December online edition of the journal Annals of Neurology.
Tube feeding patients with advanced dementia does not prolong life or improve its quality and can actually shorten the life of some patients.
Community based occupational therapy for elderly patients with dementia improves daily function and reduces the burden on carers say Graff and colleagues.
A group of scientists at NYU School of Medicine have devised a way to reduce amyloid beta deposition by interfering with the deadly embrace of these proteins.
Researchers at Rush University Medical Center found that having complaints about memory problems is associated with changes in the brain related to Alzheimer’s disease. They reported their findings in the November 2006 issue of Neurology.