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July 16, 2014 at 12:42 PM
Researchers have not (as far as they know) found a cure for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other forms of dementia, or a reliable means of preventing dementia, but they have some thoughts about simple activities that correlate with reduced risk. Those activities could include exercising, doing crossword puzzles, and playing cards.
It’s possible that some of those activities might actively reduce the risk of developing dementia, the researchers say. Dementia researchers have been reporting on their work this week in Copenhagen, at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.
See also: Alzheimer’s R&D funding should double, witness says
Some researchers talked about high-tech efforts to find possible dementia treatments and detection methods. One team found that long-term use of a diabetes drug, pioglitazone, might reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s, possibly by suppressing inflammation in the brain.
Another team found that more than half of human brains affected by Alzheimer’s may contain TDP-43, an abnormal protein, and that people who have TDP-43 in their brains might be 10 times more likely than other comparable people to be cognitively impaired.
A third team said using PET scan technology to look for abnormal tau protein in the brain seemed to be a good way to identify individuals who might perform worse on memory tests three years in the future.
The researchers also gave presentations on low-tech ways to help people affected by dementia. The authors of one U.K. study found that offering just eight support sessions for family caregivers could significantly reduce the level of anxiety and depression they reported two years later.
