Dementia News and Research

Latest Dementia News and Research

Insecticide exposure could impair mental function in older adults

The study investigates the link between pesticide exposure and cognitive impairment in older adults, suggesting a need for improved prevention strategies.

11 Jul 2025

Frequent gabapentin use linked to higher dementia and cognitive impairment risk

Receiving six or more prescriptions of the drug gabapentin for low back pain is associated with significantly increased risks of developing dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI)--29% and 85%, respectively-finds a large medical records study published online in the journal Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine.

10 Jul 2025

How a simple blood test can forecast future health risks

Plasma proteomics reveals that the biological ages of key organs, especially the brain and immune system, strongly predict the risk of future disease and early death. These organ-specific “clocks” provide a new tool for identifying those at highest risk and personalizing preventive care.

10 Jul 2025

Mapping vulnerability or resilience in Alzheimer's through imaging and genetics

It's been recognized for some time that Alzheimer's disease affects brain regions differently and that tau - a protein known to misbehave - plays an important role in the disease.

9 Jul 2025

Redefining Alzheimer’s development by mapping disease sequences

UCLA's study identifies distinct Alzheimer's disease trajectories, emphasizing the role of shared risk factors in early detection and targeted interventions.

9 Jul 2025

Researchers develop blood test panel for early Alzheimer’s detection

Researchers at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, are developing a panel of biomarkers for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease and for distinguishing it from other types of dementia using blood tests.

9 Jul 2025

Can dietary copper help protect against dementia and memory loss?

Higher dietary copper intake was linked to better cognitive performance in older US adults, with benefits plateauing above a certain threshold. The effect was especially notable in stroke survivors, but further research is needed to confirm causality.

8 Jul 2025

Research reveals alarming rates of abuse in home-based dementia care

In a recent doctoral thesis from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), more than 500 caregivers describe the extent to which they have subjected elderly people with dementia living at home to violence, abuse and neglect.

8 Jul 2025

Dementia survival rates improve across multiple countries, study shows

A person diagnosed with dementia has improved survival outcomes in recent years amid significant progress in dementia diagnosis and care, according to a recent multinational study led by a University of Waterloo researcher.

8 Jul 2025

Cysteine plays key role in weight loss and fat metabolism

Consuming fewer calories is largely accepted as a way to improve health and lose weight, but a recently published study in Nature Metabolism points to a specific sulfur-containing amino acid cysteine as a key component in weight loss.

7 Jul 2025

Unlocking the brain’s language to fight Alzheimer’s

June is Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month. With an estimated 55 million people living with Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia worldwide, advancing understanding of these complex diseases is critical to finding new treatments, and potentially, cures.

7 Jul 2025

Growing popularity of contact sports raises concern over brain injuries in Africa

Contact sports are becoming increasingly popular in Africa, raising concern about the risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

7 Jul 2025

Side of onset influences non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson's disease often begins asymmetrically, affecting either the right or left side of the body first. Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) have demonstrated that this initial side of onset influences the progression of non-motor symptoms.

7 Jul 2025

UCLA Health researchers discover four pathways leading to Alzheimer’s disease

UCLA Health researchers have identified four distinct pathways that lead to Alzheimer's disease by analyzing electronic health records, offering new insights into how the condition develops over time rather than from isolated risk factors.

7 Jul 2025

Hearing aids and cochlear implants improve social lives of adults with hearing loss

Hearing loss doesn't just affect how people hear the world - it can also change how they connect with it.

4 Jul 2025

First large-scale stem cell bank created to investigate Alzheimer’s genetic risk factors

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common, debilitating neurodegenerative disease affecting about 10 percent of people over the age of 65 and one third of people aged 85 and above. Besides environmental factors, the genes have a strong influence on whether or not a person develops AD during their lifetime.

4 Jul 2025

Short walks after meals deliver big benefits for blood glucose

A randomized crossover trial in healthy young adults found that a 10-minute walk immediately after glucose intake significantly blunted post-meal blood glucose spikes. Both short and longer walks improved overall glycemic control, but only the immediate walk reduced peak glucose levels.

3 Jul 2025

Long-term study confirms lasting benefits of lifestyle changes in preventing diabetes

In the early 2000s the U.S. Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), a large randomized clinical trial, showed that intensive lifestyle modification was better than a medication called metformin at preventing at-risk patients from developing Type 2 diabetes.

3 Jul 2025

Alzheimer’s protein found to drive lung cancer spread to the brain

Researchers at McMaster University, Cleveland Clinic and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered how a protein long associated with Alzheimer's disease helps lung cancer spread to the brain – a discovery that offers hope that existing Alzheimer's drugs could be repurposed in preventing cancer's spread.

3 Jul 2025

New AI tool helps clinicians identify brain activity patterns linked to nine types of dementia

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that helps clinicians identify brain activity patterns linked to nine types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, using a single, widely available scan - a transformative advance in early, accurate diagnosis.

3 Jul 2025