Posts Tagged ‘dementia’

A new study announced today by the American Academy of Neurology suggests that workers exposed to the industrial chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) were five and a half times more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease. Researchers studied 99 pairs of twins in which only one of the twins had Parkinson’s disease. Many of those who developed Parkinson’s had a history of exposure to the chemical through various jobs including dry cleaners, machinists, mechanics or electricians. TCE is a common industrial solvent that is widely used to clean grease off of metal parts. This is the first population study that has demonstrated an association between TCE and Parkinson’s. Previously, only case reports existed. These findings will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010. [via Medical News Today]

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The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill is researching the chronic affects of concussions by studying 3,000 ex-NFL players. Concussions can occur in athletes playing any contact sport, even those wearing head protection, and may leave life-long consequences including depression, memory loss and behavioral changes. By using sophisticated imaging techniques that allow them to look down to the level of neurons, researchers noted that players who have had concussions have damaged connections between brain cells. The regions of the brain that appear to be most disrupted in the 41 retired players studied thus far are the same regions which are damaged in early Alzheimer’s disease patients. This may explain why these players experience early cognitive impairment and clinical depression (both are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease). In addition, we already know from posthumous studies of athletes’ brains that concussions can pepper the brain with injuries that resemble brown tangles called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which can cause the brains of players as young as in the 30s to resemble brains of 80 year-olds with dementia. [via CNN]

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In 2003 researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York isolated a gene, called CETP, which is associated with longevity in a population of Ashkenazi Jews. Now, the same researchers have found the gene in an elderly group of racially and ethnically diverse Bronx residents who have been followed for 25 years as a part of the current study on aging. Participants who carried two copies of the favorable CETP gene variant had a 70% reduction in their risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease, compared with participants who carried no copies of this gene. It’s believed that 1 in 5 people carry the CETP gene, but only those who have two copies of it (one from each parent) will inherit its benefits, including an increased likelihood of living to 100 years old. How will this affect us? Scientists are already working on a drug to mimic the effect of the gene. [via Science Daily]

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You’ll likely be hearing (if not already) juice makers and berry growers tout the benefits of blueberry juice on memory. For the first time researchers have shown that a few daily glasses of blueberry juice can boost memory in older adults with early signs of memory loss. Blueberries, like tomatoes, grapes and tea, contain polyphenols which are known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Therefore, it’s theorized that these substances can combat oxidative stresses that can lead to cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. The recent study is published in the current issue of the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. However, it must be noted that the researchers only studied a total of 18 patients – 9 were given blueberry juice and 9 given placebo – making this an extremely small study which may not necessarily extrapolate to an entire population of people. Therefore, the jury is still out on this one. Although drinking blueberry juice will likely not worsen your memory, there are other means that have been shown to slow memory loss, including keeping mentally active, exercise, cultivating a strong social network, stopping smoking, and getting plenty of sleep. [via Medical News Today]

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Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) was widely pulicized in the 1990s as the human form of the cow disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which is contracted from eating contaminated beef. However, there are sporadic forms of CJD that can occur for unknown reasons – unrelated to eating meat. Now, researchers have found a new variant of this fatal disease that appears to advance faster, causing dementia and even the loss of ability to speak and move. It is yet unclear what the cause is, but scientists speculate that an interaction with a genetic component may be likely.

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Interesting research results were presented at the 2008 International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease this week. A European study revealed that people who lived alone their entire adult life had twice the risk of developing dementia (loss of brain function) later in life. Those who divorced in midlife and subsequently remained single had 3 times the risk, while widows and widowers had a 6-fold increase in risk of dementia. Those who lived with a spouse or partner had a 50% lower risk. The researchers attribute the decrease in risk to both social and intellectual stimulation afforded by a shared relationship. Full story.

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