Researchers identify promising Alzheimer’s disease drug target

Indiana University School of Medicine scientists have identified a promising drug target for Alzheimer’s disease. The team found that removing an enzyme from neurons in the brain substantially reduces amyloid plaques—a hallmark characteristic of the disease—and may provide further resilience against disease progression.

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Reading and writing can lower dementia risk by almost 40%, study suggests

Reading, writing and learning a language or two can lower your risk of dementia by almost 40%, according to a study that suggests millions of people could prevent or delay the condition.

Dementia is one of the world’s biggest health threats. The number of people living with the condition is forecast to triple to more than 150 million globally by 2050, and experts say it presents a big and rapidly growing threat to future health and social care systems in every community, country and continent.

US researchers found that engaging in intellectually stimulating activities throughout life, such as reading, writing or learning a new language, was associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, and slower cognitive decline.

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Specific cognitive training has ‘astonishing’ effect on dementia risk

Cognitive “speed training” can reduce the risk of a dementia diagnosis by 25 per cent – that’s according to results from the world’s first randomised controlled trial of any intervention against the condition.

“There was a lot of scepticism about whether or not brain training interventions were beneficial, and to me, [our study] answers the question that they are,” says Marilyn Albert at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.

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First intervention shown to Lower Alzheimer’s and Dementia Incidence

In a world’s first, an NIH-funded randomized controlled trial of more than 2,800 older adults (the “ACTIVE Study”) has reported a modest amount of cognitive training significantly reduced Alzheimer Disease and related dementias diagnoses, as reported in Medicare data over a 20-year follow-up period. The results are published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions,

Read the article about it HERE