Self-reported sleep disturbances linked to higher risk for Alzheimer's disease in men

October 28, 2014
Science Daily/Uppsala Universitet
Elderly men with self-reported sleep disturbances run a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than men without self-reported sleep disturbances, studies show. The researchers followed more than 1,000 men, who were initially 50 year old, between the years 1970 and 2010. The results of the study show that self-reported sleep disturbances were linked to an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease during the 40-year follow-up period, particularly if they occurred late in life.

'We demonstrate that men with self-reported sleep disturbances run a 1.5-fold higher risk to develop Alzheimer's disease than those without reports of sleep disturbances during a 40-year follow-up period. The later the self-reported sleep disturbance was found the higher the risk was for developing Alzheimer's disease. These findings suggest that strategies aimed at improving sleep quality in late life may help reduce the risk to develop Alzheimer's disease', says Christian Benedict, sleep researcher at Uppsala University, who led the study.

"Importantly, there are several lifestyle factors, such as exercise, that can influence your brain's health. Thus, it must be borne in mind that a multifaceted lifestyle approach comprising good sleep habits is essential for maintaining brain health as you age," says Christian Benedict.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141028082508.htm

Possible cause of common dementia found, opening avenues for treatment

October 30, 2014
Science Daily/University Health Network (UHN)
A major cause of dementia has been potentially discovered, scientists report. In the type of dementia studied, there is damage to the white matter (nerve fibres) of the brain apparent on computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of older individuals.

Approximately 50 per cent of older individuals have evident white matter damage on their medical imaging scans. For most patients, these changes are harmless but when this damage is severe, it can cause impairment.

Previous studies have already established that the more white matter disease there is in the brain, the more likely patients are to have symptoms of dementia such as cognitive impairment or changes in behaviour. What was not understood is why this white matter disease develops -- the traditional assumption was that it might be the result of the natural aging process.

Krembil researchers hypothesized that the white matter disease (also called leukoaraiosis) may actually be the result of many tiny unnoticed strokes accumulating over time -- a finding that points to a potentially treatable form of dementia. The research was published today in the journal Annals of Neurology.

"We were surprised by the study findings" said Dr. Daniel Mandell, Neuroradiologist, Joint Department of Medical Imaging, Toronto Western Hospital and the principal investigator of the study. "The findings suggest that the tiny, silent strokes are likely much more common than physicians previously appreciated, and these strokes are likely a cause of the age-related white matter disease that can lead to dementia."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141030100521.htm

Sense of meaning and purpose in life linked to longer lifespan

November 6, 2014
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Science Daily/University College London
A study of 9,050 English people with an average age of 65 found that the people with the greatest well-being were 30 percent less likely to die during the average eight and a half year follow-up period than those with the least well-being.

The study, published in The Lancet as part of a special series on ageing, was conducted by researchers from UCL, Princeton University and Stony Brook University. It used questionnaire answers to measure a type of wellbeing called 'eudemonic wellbeing', which relates to your sense of control, feeling that what you do is worthwhile, and your sense of purpose in life. People were divided into four categories based on their answers, ranked from highest wellbeing to lowest wellbeing.

The results were adjusted for age, sex, socio-economic status, physical health, depression, smoking, physical activity and alcohol intake, to rule out as many factors as possible that could influence both health and wellbeing. For example, terminal illnesses could reduce both wellbeing and life expectancy.

Over the next eight and a half years, 9% of people in the highest wellbeing category had died, compared with 29% in the lowest category. Once all the other factors had been taken into account, people with the highest wellbeing were 30% less likely to die over the study period, living on average two years longer than those in the lowest wellbeing group.

"We have previously found that happiness is associated with a lower risk of death," says Professor Andrew Steptoe, Director of the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, who led the study. "These analyses show that the meaningfulness and sense of purpose that older people have in their lives are also related to survival. 

We cannot be sure that higher wellbeing necessarily causes lower risk of death, since the relationship may not be causal. But the findings raise the intriguing possibility that increasing wellbeing could help to improve physical health. There are several biological mechanisms that may link wellbeing to improved health, for example through hormonal changes or reduced blood pressure. Further research is now needed to see if such changes might contribute to the links between wellbeing and life expectancy in older people."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141106211618.htm

Bilingualism delays Alzheimer's manifestation by more than four years

December 1, 2014
Science Daily/Ghent University
The symptoms of Alzheimer disease (AD) manifest themselves about four to five years later in bilinguals as opposed to monolinguals. In bilinguals, the disease onset was estimated at the age of 77, while in monolinguals, this was at the age of 73.

Results showed that the age of AD manifestation was 71.5 in monolinguals and 76.1 in bilinguals. A similar difference was found for the age of AD diagnosis; for monolinguals this was 72.5 and for bilinguals it was 77.3. Analyses controlled for other confounding factors, such as education, profession, and socioeconomic status, which actually had a negative effect.
The protective effect of bilingualism

These findings confirm previous research suggesting that bilingualism can slow down cognitive aging and contribute to cognitive reserve. It seems that constantly and actively controlling two languages is like a workout for the brain. It challenges our grey cells and keeps them from degenerating.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141201090428.htm

Does sleep really shorten when we get older?

December 1, 2014
Science Daily/Waseda University
As we age, the quality of our sleep gets gradually worse. People who were able to sleep deeply all night in their twenties become increasingly likely to wake up in the night in their forties. This is a common change to sleeping patterns that can happen to anyone as a result of aging, and is not abnormal. As we enter old age, our sleep becomes even lighter and we wake up frequently during our sleep. In a new article, an author reviews sleeping and aging, and gives some advice.

Another change that occurs to us in old age is that we tend to go to bed early and wake up early. This has been explained by the fact that lower energy levels in old age mean we tire more easily, causing more people to go to bed early and wake up early as a result. For the same reason, another change that occurs in old age is increased frequency of daytime naps. 
One characteristic of old age is increased variation between individuals' levels of health and energy. For this reason it goes without saying that there will also be people who claim that the above does not apply to them, that they tend to stay up late and lie in late, and do not nap.

However, according to the NHK Japanese Time Use Survey carried out from 1960 onwards, the amount of time dedicated to sleep every 24 hours increases as we enter old age. So does sleeping time actually increase as we age?

As described above, elderly people often sleep several times during the day, including daytime naps, and the NHK survey includes daytime naps as part of time dedicated to sleep.

The debate has been carried out without making a distinction between these sleeping times. In other words, time spent in bed is measured over a 24-hour period including daytime naps, whereas sleeping time is measured only by looking at nighttime sleep. From this perspective, robust data on how much time is actually spent sleeping by elderly people in a 24-hour period has not been submitted.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141201090014.htm

Can poor sleep lead to dementia?

December 10, 2014
Science Daily/American Academy of Neurology (AAN)
People who have sleep apnea or spend less time in deep sleep may be more likely to have changes in the brain that are associated with dementia, according to a new study. The study found that people who don’t have as much oxygen in their blood during sleep, which occurs with sleep apnea and conditions such as emphysema, are more likely to have tiny abnormalities in brain tissue, called micro infarcts, than people with higher levels of oxygen in the blood.

The study found that people who don’t have as much oxygen in their blood during sleep, which occurs with sleep apnea and conditions such as emphysema, are more likely to have tiny abnormalities in brain tissue, called micro infarcts, than people with higher levels of oxygen in the blood. These abnormalities are associated with the development of dementia.

In addition, people who spent less time in deep sleep, called slow wave sleep, were more likely to have loss of brain cells than people who spent more time in slow wave sleep. Slow wave sleep is important in processing new memories and remembering facts. People tend to spend less time in slow wave sleep as they age. Loss of brain cells is also associated with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Previous studies have also shown a link between sleep stages and dementia. For this study, the participants were again divided into four groups based on the percentage of the night spent in slow wave sleep. Of the 37 men who spent the least time in slow wave sleep, 17 had brain cell loss, compared to seven of the 38 men who spent the most time in slow wave sleep.

The results remained the same after adjusting for factors such as smoking and body mass index and after excluding participants who had died early in the follow-up period and those who had low scores on cognitive tests at the beginning of the study.

“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,” said study author Rebecca P. Gelber, MD, DrPH, of the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System and the Pacific Health Research and Education Institute in Honolulu, Hawaii. “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.”
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141210162103.htm

Memory lapses among highly educated may signal higher stroke risk

December 11, 2014
Science Daily/American Heart Association
People with a high level of education who complain about memory lapses have a higher risk of stroke. Researchers suggest such people should be considered for screening for stroke risk.

"Studies have shown how stroke causes memory complaints," said Arfan Ikram, M.D., associate professor of neuroepidemiology at Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands. "Given the shared underlying vascular pathology, we posed the reverse question: 'Do memory complaints indicate an increased risk of strokes?'"

"Given the role of education in revealing subjective memory complaints, we investigated the same association but in three separate groups: low education, medium education and high education," Ikram said. "We found that the association of memory complaints with stroke was strongest among people with the highest education. If in future research we can confirm this, then I would like to assess whether people who complain about changes in their memory should be considered primary targets for further risk assessment and prevention of stroke."

Researchers categorized level of education into three groups: low education -- primary education only; intermediate education -- primary education plus some higher education, lower vocational education, intermediate vocational education, or general secondary education; and high education -- higher vocational education or university training.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141211162455.htm

Mild memory, thinking issues: What works, what doesn't?

December 16, 2014
Science Daily/University of Michigan Health System
For up to one in five Americans over age 65, getting older brings memory and thinking problems. It may seem like part of getting older - but officially, it’s called mild cognitive impairment or MCI. A new definitive look at the evidence about what works and what doesn’t in MCI should help doctors and the seniors they treat.

They might just call it "getting older." But officially, when memory or cognitive problems don't interfere significantly with daily living, doctors call them mild cognitive impairment, or MCI.

What can be done to prevent or slow MCI? And how much should seniors fear that their thinking or memory problems will get much worse? A pair of doctors from the University of Michigan Medical School and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System have put together a definitive look at the evidence, based on a thorough review of recent studies about MCI.
Among the key findings of their review, and what they mean for seniors:

• Speak up to your doctor about memory and thinking problems: The new paper offers doctors a step-by-step guide for what to do when a patient or his or her caregiver mentions concerns about memory and thinking problems. Specific lab tests for things like vitamin deficiencies, standard cognitive tests and a full physical and neurological exam can reveal important clues to factors that might be causing their symptoms.

• Keep body and brain active: A number of studies have indicated that aerobic exercise and mental activities can have a small beneficial effect on thinking ability in older adults with MCI.

• Keeping a stroke at bay helps the brain too: Since strokes are brain injuries caused by clots or holes in the blood vessels that keep brain tissue healthy, it makes sense that preventing a stroke can preserve memory and thinking ability. People who have had mini-strokes or survived a full-blown stroke should especially focus on preventing new strokes to keep their brain function as intact as possible as they age, Langa and Levine advise based on the evidence they reviewed. So should people diagnosed with MCI. Having a stroke can worsen cognition and raises the risk of progressing on to dementia.

Stroke prevention strategies include controlling high blood pressure, stopping smoking, lowering cholesterol with drugs called statins and taking aspirin or other medicines to prevent blood clots.

• Multiple medicines can fog the brain: Many seniors have prescriptions for a number of medications, and take over-the-counter drugs and supplements, to address their various health risks and conditions. These may have been prescribed or recommended by different doctors -- who don't always know or ask what else a patient is taking. But, say Langa and Levine, studies show that multiple drugs can interact with one another and affect memory and thinking. Doctors and seniors should review all drugs and supplements and see if any interactions can be prevented by reducing the number of medications the patient takes, or stopping drugs that aren't needed after a hospital stay.

• Avoid over-treatment of high blood pressure and diabetes: While it is important to control blood pressure and diabetes to prevent harmful consequences, doctors need to be careful not to overdo it. "It is important to avoid overtreatment of high blood pressure and diabetes because low blood pressure and low blood sugar may increase the risk of cognitive decline and other patient harms," says Langa.

• What are the odds?: That's the key question in the mind of anyone with suspected or diagnosed MCI -- how likely are they to get worse and progress to dementia and not be able to function independently. Reassuringly, Levine says, the evidence available shows that progression from MCI is far from a sure thing. "The numbers are less scary than many people believe," she notes. "The majority of people with MCI will not progress to dementia and loss of independence, even after 10 years. Some patients with MCI will actually have improved cognition after a year or two, if their cognitive test scores were brought down by an acute illness that gets addressed." Older adults with MCI are 12 times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than to die of dementia. So, preventing stroke and heart attack by controlling vascular risk factors is crucial for people diagnosed with MCI.

• More evidence needed for a number of new detection/treatment options: The review of the literature showed that a number of new blood tests and brain imaging options have been proposed and preliminarily tested for diagnosing MCI, and tracking or predicting its progression to dementia. But many of these tests haven't yet been proven to offer significant benefit to patients, says Langa. And in fact, there can be some risk of "over-diagnosis" when a test identifies a problem that would not go on to cause significant problems for a patient.

In the end, he says, MCI can be a complicated issue, and that can make it even scarier for patients and their families. More research is needed on the factors that put someone at increased risk of MCI, new options for treating it, and better research on what the risk of progression to dementia is. But until new findings are available, this new review should help doctors and patients alike.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141216161449.htm

Ibuprofen use leads to extended lifespan in several species

December 18, 2014
Science Daily/Texas A&M AgriLife Communications
A common over-the-counter drug that tackles pain and fever may also hold keys to a longer, healthier life, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist. Regular doses of ibuprofen extended the lifespan of multiple species.

Regular doses of ibuprofen extended the lifespan of multiple species, according to research published in the journal Public Library of Science, Genetics.

"We first used baker's yeast, which is an established aging model, and noticed that the yeast treated with ibuprofen lived longer," said Dr. Michael Polymenis, an AgriLife Research biochemist in College Station. "Then we tried the same process with worms and flies and saw the same extended lifespan. Plus, these organisms not only lived longer, but also appeared healthy."

He said the treatment, given at doses comparable to the recommended human dose, added about 15 percent more to the species lives. In humans, that would be equivalent to another dozen or so years of healthy living.

Polymenis, who also is a professor in the biochemistry and biophysics department at Texas A&M University, collaborated with Dr. Brian Kennedy, the president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, California, along with several researchers from Russia and the University of Washington.

Ibuprofen is a relatively safe drug that was created in the early 1960s in England. It was first made available by prescription and then, after widespread use, became available over-the-counter throughout the world in the 1980s. The World Health Organization includes ibuprofen on their "List of Essential Medications" needed in a basic health system. Ibuprofen is described as a"nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug used for relieving pain, helping with fever and reducing inflammation."

Polymenis said the three-year project showed that ibuprofen interferes with the ability of yeast cells to pick up tryptophan, an amino acid found in every cell of every organism. Tryptophan is essential for humans, who get it from protein sources in the diet.

"We are not sure why this works, but it's worth exploring further. This study was a proof of principle to show that common, relatively safe drugs in humans can extend the lifespan of very diverse organisms. Therefore, it should be possible to find others like ibuprofen with even better ability to extend lifespan, with the aim of adding healthy years of life in people."

"Dr. Polymenis approached me with this idea of seeing how his cell cycle analysis corresponded with our aging studies," said Dr. Brian Kennedy, CEO at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, California. "He had identified some drugs that had some really unique properties, and we wanted to know if they might affect aging, so we did those studies in our lab. We're beginning to find not just ibuprofen, but other drugs that affect aging, so we're really excited about it.

"Our institute is interested in finding out why people get sick when they get old. We think that by understanding those processes, we can intervene and find ways to extend human health span, keeping people healthier longer and slowing down aging. That's our ultimate goal."
Chong He, a postdoctoral fellow at Buck Institute and lead author on the paper, said looking deeper into the common drugs that target individual diseases might shed light on understanding the aging process.

"We have some preliminary data on worms that showed that this drug also extended the health span in worms," she said. "It made them live not just longer but also more healthy. You can measure the thrashing of the worms. If they're healthy, they do have a tendency to thrash a lot, and also we can measure the pumping as they swallow, because if they're healthy, the pumping is faster.

"Ibuprofen is something that people have been taking for years, and no one actually knew that it can have some benefits for longevity and health span."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141218141004.htm

New non-invasive method can detect Alzheimer's disease early

December 22, 2014
Science Daily/Northwestern University
A noninvasive MRI approach that can detect the Alzheimer's disease in a living animal, well before typical Alzheimer's symptoms appear, has been developed by researchers. The research team created an MRI probe that pairs a magnetic nanostructure with an antibody that seeks out the amyloid beta brain toxins responsible for onset of the disease. The accumulated toxins, because of the associated magnetic nanostructures, show up as dark areas in MRI scans of the brain.

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No methods currently exist for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease, which affects one out of nine people over the age of 65. Now, an interdisciplinary team of Northwestern University scientists and engineers has developed a noninvasive MRI approach that can detect the disease in a living animal. And it can do so at the earliest stages of the disease, well before typical Alzheimer's symptoms appear

"We have a new brain imaging method that can detect the toxin that leads to Alzheimer's disease," said Klein, who first identified the amyloid beta oligomer in 1998. He is a professor of neurobiology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.

The ability to detect amyloid beta oligomers, Klein said, is important for two reasons: amyloid beta oligomers are the toxins that damage neurons, and the oligomers are the first sign of trouble in the disease process, appearing before any other pathology.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141222143019.htm