Tag • #dementia

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Simple blood tests for dementia to be trialled in NHS

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Thursday, 9 November, 2023 - 05:00

£5m project launched with aim of having reliable tests within five years to provide quick diagnosis

Scientists are to begin piloting simple blood tests for dementia that could revolutionise detection of the disease and within five years lead to people being diagnosed in seconds by the NHS.

Currently, getting a formal diagnosis in the UK relies on mental ability tests, brain scans or invasive and painful lumbar punctures, where a sample of cerebrospinal fluid is drawn from the lower back.

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Alzheimer’s and the Paradox of Advance Directives

news.movim.eu / TheNewYorkTimes · Monday, 23 October, 2023 - 09:00

It is hard to know in advance what kind of existence you’ll be content with.

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Eat beans and scratch your own back – expert advice on how to age better, inside and out

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Saturday, 23 September, 2023 - 09:00

From exercise and eating tips to brain health and balance challenges: this is what you need to know

Forget lifespan: increasingly, healthspan – the years that we feel healthy and active – has become the holy grail among gerontologists. “You only need to watch the Veteran Games to understand the capacity of the human body to age well,” says physiotherapist Bhanu Ramaswamy.

While there’s no denying the fact of ageing, “It is important to distinguish between what is a natural part of the process, and less natural ageing, with increasing disability.” The slow change in our bodies won’t necessarily render us frail or immobile if we take care of ourselves, and there’s plenty we can do to help. Here’s where to start.

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A new start after 60: I spent 40 years hiding that I was gay. Then my husband’s dementia wiped away my fear

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Monday, 18 September, 2023 - 06:00 · 1 minute

Mike Parish hid his sexuality at work and wouldn’t even hold Tom’s hand in the street. How did he end up running an LGBTQ+ support group?

Mike Parish was 19 and on the escalator at Victoria station in London when a tiny sticker caught his eye. As he read the words “Do you think you’re gay?”, the escalator whisked him downwards. He had to go back up and then down again to copy the phone number, which was for an organisation called Icebreakers. This act proved a turning point for Parish, who had increasingly felt at odds with how he fitted into the world.

It took weeks to brave dialling the number. “I think I’m gay, but I don’t want to wear a dress and carry a handbag,” he told the man at the end of the line; it was 1974 and now, aged 68, Parish looks back and is saddened by his own lack of knowledge. The man laughed and invited him to a tea party the following Sunday. Sitting on the sofa there, he reached for his cup of tea at the same time as a young man on the other end of the couch. They smiled at each other. “I fell for Tom in that moment,” Parish says.

Tell us: has your life taken a new direction after the age of 60?

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Eli Lilly drug shown to slow Alzheimer’s progression

news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Monday, 17 July, 2023 - 17:59

Enlarge / Alzheimer’s patient brain scans, provided by Eli Lilly. The US company has reported full findings of its phase 3 clinical study of donanemab. (credit: Eli Lilly )

Dementia experts have hailed the latest landmark in the treatment of Alzheimer’s after Eli Lilly released trial results that showed its new drug significantly slowed memory loss and cognitive decline.

The US pharmaceuticals group on Monday reported full findings of its phase 3 clinical study of donanemab at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam, showing that the antibody treatment slowed progression by about 35 percent in the early stages of the disease.

The peer-reviewed results follow similar phase 3 findings released last November by US biotech Biogen and Japan’s Eisai for lecanemab, another antibody drug, which received full marketing approval from the US Food and Drug Administration this month under the brand name Leqembi.

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‘I got a brain injury and a life sentence’: the hidden legacy of male violence against women

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 2 April, 2023 - 06:00

The effects of head trauma on athletes are well documented. Finally, a UK study is examining the long-term brain health of females abused by their partner

The violence began long before Freya Doe* married at 18 – and it quickly escalated. “It was what I thought love was,” she says, speaking on Zoom from her home in the US. On one occasion, her husband punched her in the face, threw her off a porch, and repeatedly slammed her head on the ground. He threatened her with one of the several guns he owned then strangled her until she lost consciousness. When she came to, he was talking on the phone, saying: “I finally did it. I finally killed the bitch.”

Blood vessels in her eyes had burst. She was in hospital for a week. Twenty-two X-rays were taken of her head, neck, back and chest. “I was told the migraines would go away. They didn’t,” she says.

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Computers vs. TV: Which is less likely to promote dementia?

news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Monday, 22 August, 2022 - 23:14

Enlarge (credit: Dennis Fischer Photography )

Standing desks—and even biking desks —are a response to a growing body of studies showing that a sedentary lifestyle creates many health risks. Regular physical activity appears to confer a degree of protection from various problems, both physical and mental, and many results indicate that this doesn't have to be Olympic-level training. Simply walking around the apartment a few times a day appears to help.

Now, a team of researchers has looked at the opposite question: Are all forms of inactivity equal? The answer is probably not. While the details depend on the health issues involved, there's likely to be some good news for people reading this, in that computer use appears to be somewhat protective against dementia.

Get off your chair

The physical risks associated with inactivity are generally associated with lower cardiovascular health, either directly or via obesity. Even a small amount of physical activity appears capable of limiting these impacts, although increased exercise generally seems to be even better (details vary depending on the study and the exact risk being examined).

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