Dementia

Treating high blood pressure in the very elderly may help reduce their risk of developing dementia, according to a report Monday in the journal Lancet Neurology. The findings were based on an analysis of four studies looking at the effects of blood pressure drugs in several thousand elderly patients. When data was pooled, the combined results showed that taking medication to reduce blood pressure also cut the risk of dementia by 13%. More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60% to 80% of cases.

People generally don't think of the elderly as nuisance neighbors. They rarely throw loud late-night parties, play loud music or have loud sex. Nevertheless, the issue of elderly group homes is a controversial one in single-family neighborhoods. On a stretch of leafy Sierra Bonita Avenue near Hollywood, an operator of board-and-care facilities wants to tear down a duplex and construct an 11-bed facility for elderly residents suffering from dementia. In theory, that's fine: According to state law, a city cannot prohibit licensed care facilities that meet the zoning requirements.

The "good" cholesterol that removes fatty plaque from the body may also be linked to memory, and low levels may indicate a risk for dementia, a British study found. Researchers tracking the health of 3,673 British civil servants found that, at age 55, those with low levels of good cholesterol, known as HDL, were 27% more likely to have memory loss than those with high levels. The gap grew with time, so that memory problems were 53% more common in those with the least HDL by the time they hit age 60. Still, it's too soon to try to raise HDL to ward off dementia, researchers said.

Just off the trendy Melrose strip, on the western edge of Hollywood, is a refuge of tree-lined streets where neighbors greet each other by name and young couples start families and stick around into their golden years. Lately, it has also become a battlefront in a broader clash of conflicting imperatives: how to balance a government push to keep the aging and disabled out of institutions against community desires to protect the character and value of residential neighborhoods, particularly in a shaky housing market.

Treating a sleep disorder to improve oxygen flow through the body may also help lower the risk of dementia in older-age people, according to a new study. The research, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. , must be replicated. But it's exciting nonetheless because it suggests a rare, successful measure that may prevent at least some cases of cognitive impairment. Sleep disorders such as frequent waking and hypoxia (a lack of oxygen) have been linked to other diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

My 82-year-old mother has been accusing family members of spying on her, listening in on her phone conversations and entering her home when she's not there, among other things, off and on for about 10 years. She told her doctor she won't talk with us. Is there anything we can do? Are there resources and/or free counseling services to help us work out issues with our mom so we can talk with her doctor? You can try to contact your mom's doctor to discuss her condition, particularly given that you're concerned she may be suffering from dementia and unable to properly care for herself.

A yoga meditation program could reduce depression symptoms and boost mental health, a study finds, and that's not all - it may also show benefits at the cellular level. The study, published recently in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry , involved 49 caregivers ranging in age from 45 to 91 who were taking care of family members with dementia. Caregivers are at risk for high stress levels, often with no outlet or relief, which can lead to health problems. The participants were randomly assigned to two programs: Kundalini yoga Kirtan Kriya meditation or passive relaxation with instrumental music.

Two of the most worrisome trends in healthcare - the soaring rates of Type 2 diabetes and dementia - share several key biological processes. And scientists are beginning to think that is more than just a coincidence. Many researchers now believe that proper control of blood sugar could pay dividends in the future by reducing the number of people stricken by Alzheimer's disease, other forms of dementia and even the normal cognitive decline that comes with age. The concept that brain diseases share little in common with diseases arising elsewhere in the body is rapidly crumbling, says Debra Cherry, executive vice president of the Alzheimer's Assn.

To the long list of complications that should make you want to avoid diabetes, Japanese researchers have added this: People with diabetes are more than twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and also have an increased risk of developing some kind of dementia. Diabetes, of course, is a metabolic disorder in which the body can't use insulin properly, causing a dangerous buildup of blood sugar (glucose). Nearly 11% of American adults have it, according to the National Institutes of Health . The disease can lead to complications including kidney failure, nerve damage, heart disease, stroke, bladder control problems and erectile dysfunction.

Americans are living longer. That's the good news. The bad news is that the longer people live, the more likely they are to experience cognitive decline. With the number of older Americans increasing, researchers around the country have thrown themselves into searching for ways to stave off mental decline, and the media stand ready to report every seeming breakthrough. Headlines have trumpeted such things as doing crossword puzzles, taking vitamin supplements, exercise and even drinking more red wine as possible ways of averting Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia.

You won't start many arguments by suggesting Pat Summitt will be remembered as one of the greatest coaches of any sport, of any gender, of any generation. Sadly, though, a legendary career that stretched almost four decades ended sooner than anyone anticipated. Summitt, 59, announced her resignation as Tennessee's women's basketball coach Wednesday, less than a year after she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Longtime assistant Holly Warlick will take over as head coach with Summitt remaining at the school as "head coach emeritus.

A yoga meditation program could reduce depression symptoms and boost mental health, a study finds, and that's not all - it may also show benefits at the cellular level. The study, published recently in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry , involved 49 caregivers ranging in age from 45 to 91 who were taking care of family members with dementia. Caregivers are at risk for high stress levels, often with no outlet or relief, which can lead to health problems. The participants were randomly assigned to two programs: Kundalini yoga Kirtan Kriya meditation or passive relaxation with instrumental music.

My 82-year-old mother has been accusing family members of spying on her, listening in on her phone conversations and entering her home when she's not there, among other things, off and on for about 10 years. She told her doctor she won't talk with us. Is there anything we can do? Are there resources and/or free counseling services to help us work out issues with our mom so we can talk with her doctor? You can try to contact your mom's doctor to discuss her condition, particularly given that you're concerned she may be suffering from dementia and unable to properly care for herself.

When Times staff photographer Rob Gauthier and I first visited the Bryant family last April to begin reporting a story, (“ Little-known brain disease rips apart lives of victim, loved ones ,”), about a rare type of dementia, known as frontotemporal dementia, we realized that we needed to explore the science behind the malady. FTD, as the disease is known, is similar to Alzheimer's but affects the front portions of the brain and leads to behavioral problems such as the Bryants experienced with Stu. I knew about Phineas Gage, the railroad foreman who in 1848 lost the front portion of his brain in a terrible construction accident and who survived as a radically changed man. I had read the work of Hanna and Antonio Damasio, neuroscientists who almost 20 years ago pioneered our understanding of the biology of emotions, and I was eager to see how frontotemporal dementia was being studied to further this research.  In the course of our reporting, Rob and I took a number of trips to UCLA and the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs hospital to interview Mario Mendez, the physician and neuroscientists treating Stu. In our conversations, Mendez helped us understand what Oliver Sacks meant when he wrote, “Without the great development of the frontal lobes in the human brain, civilization could never have arisen.” By studying the effects of frontotemporal dementia - and its slow diminishment of personality - Mendez is able to see more clearly the so-called...

Middle-aged men who smoke suffered more rapid cognitive decline than peers who have never smoked or who have been ex-smokers for at least 10 years, researchers reported Monday in the Archives of General Psychiatry . Smoking is known to be a risk factor for dementia in the aged, but the extent to which it is a risk factor for cognitive problems earlier in life is less-well understood, wrote the team. Led by Severine Sabia of University College London's Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, the researchers looked at data collected from 5,099 men and 2,137 women.

The sunny fact that Americans are living longer, more productive lives has a dark side: More of us than ever live with chronic illnesses that are not only a drag on sufferers' time and energy, but on the nation's pocketbook. The Institute of Medicine on Tuesday put a dollar figure on the cost of caring for chronic illness in the United States--$1.5 trillion yearly, fully three-fourths of annual healthcare spending. A panel of experts called on policymakers to do more to prevent and track the big nine chronic diseases that most drain the nation's wallet.

About to uncork that bottle of merlot? A study finds that moderate drinking may decrease the risk of dementia and cognitive decline in older people. Researchers analyzed 143 studies that looked at the association between moderate alcohol consumption and mental abilities. The meta-analysis, published this month in the journal Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment , looked at research dating back to 1977. Studies done between 1977 and 1997 mostly focused on younger people ages 18 to 54 and for the most part sought to determine whether moderate drinking had any damaging effects; Overall it didn't, said Michael Collins, the study's co-author and professor in the department of molecular pharmacology and therapeutics at Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine . Later studies from 1998 to the present focused more on mental status tests examining memory and cognitive function among mostly older people, he added, and most showed that drinking moderate levels of alcohol showed no effect or a decreased risk of dementia and cognitive impairment compared to control groups.

Scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have identified risk predictors in middle age that could help identify people more likely to suffer dementia in later life. They include education, raised blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, obesity and lack of exercise, which are similar to risk factors for heart disease and strokes. "The key point for all these factors is lifestyle changes," Miia Kivipelto, the lead researcher, said in an interview.

A study suggests that older men may be more vulnerable to developing mild cognitive impairment and memory loss compared with women. Researchers studied a group of 1,450 men and women age 70 to 89 who, at the start of the study, had no signs of cognitive problems. They underwent neurological evaluations at the beginning of the study and at 15-month intervals after that for an average 3.4 years. By the end of the study, 296 people had developed mild cognitive impairment. The condition increased with age and was seen more among men than women, except for those 85 to 89 years of age. Those with higher education levels or who were married had lower frequency of mild cognitive impairment.

The face peering from the ads and posters belongs to Meryl Streep, but the shadow that hovers over the land is definitely Margaret Thatcher's. The reaction to the film "The Iron Lady" has illuminated just how polarizing "Mrs. T. " (or "TBW" - "that bloody woman") remains a generation after her ouster from 10 Downing St. Love her or hate her - and there are plenty of people on both sides - it seems that hardly anyone here can watch the movie without their personal feelings entering into it. Put Sam Fogg in the "hate" camp.