4 December 2018
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
Recently, Zuckerman et al. [1] presented an interesting history of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), previously referred to as dementia pugilistica [2], beginning from Hippocrates up to recent publications, with emphasis on contact sports and American football. With regard to CTE in boxers, except for the first report of "punch drunk" [3] and a few others [4], they unfortunately did not refer to a number of other important contributions about brain damage in boxers, many of them having been mentioned previously [5].
16 August 2018
Effective discrimination with the recency ratio between Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies
Despite neuropsychological differences between individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), overlap in performance has been observed, including analogous scores in memory tests (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning, AVLT; e.g., [1]). All the while, differential diagnosis remains a costly exercise.
23 April 2018
Response to McGeer et al.: Alzheimer’s Disease Can Be Spared by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs
In their recent publication, McGeer and colleagues [1] recommend a simple diagnostic test at age 55 to identify people who, as they elsewhere describe, are “fated to develop Alzheimer’s” [2], further suggesting that they could benefit from a daily dose of a generic anti-inflammatory drug for prevention. However, their paper presents no real data (positive and negative predictive values) on how the test would perform if used clinically.
19 March 2018
Is LMTM the Norwegian Blue of Alzheimer's Therapy?
Treatment and interpretation of LMTM trial data by Wilcock and colleagues [1] is reminiscent of the Monty Python sketch in which the demise of an obviously dead parrot is disputed by a desperate shop owner who describes it as merely resting, stunned or pining for the fjords. This phase 3 trial of 18 months' treatment in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) followed a 15-month study in mild to moderate patients that showed no treatment benefits for LMTM [2]. The latest trial was also apparently negative.
12 March 2018
Homocysteine and Dementia
In their excellent consensus statement regarding homocysteine and dementia, Smith et al. [1] made no mention of several important issues.
21 February 2018
The Semmelweis Reflex, Medical Bilingualism, and treatment of MCI and Early Alzheimer’s Dementia
I recently attended the Annual Mild Cognitive Impairment Symposium in Miami, where a presentation on the future treatment of dementia focused solely on pharmaceuticals. As a psychopharmacologist, I was familiar with the data. I questioned why the presenter did not include Functional Medicine (FM, a translational medicine approach which converts preclinical research into clinical treatments for chronic diseases) in the future of MCI and AD treatment, since efficacy has been documented in early studies [1,2].
13 February 2018
Treatment of Age-Related Hearing Loss in Persons with Alzheimer's Disease
Companion papers detailing a multicenter double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial investigating the effects of hearing aids (HA) on cognitive and functional outcomes for persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) were recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease [1,2].
2 January 2018
Atrial Fibrillation and Dementia: What is the Link?
Regarding atrial fibrillation (AF), post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI), and post-stroke dementia (PSD), a recently published article in October 2017 by Chander and colleagues [1] reported that AF is a significant and independent risk factor for PSCI even after correction of other risk factors and that we should do follow up for patients with AF regardless of infarction type. This agrees with a meta-analysis done in 2012 [2]. Also in a systemic review done in 2017 [3], stroke patients with AF have a risk of dementia which is 1.68 times compared with patients without AF.
17 November 2017
Response to Vos et al: Modifiable Risk Factors for Prevention of Dementia in Midlife, Late Life and the Oldest-Old: Validation of the LIBRA Index
To the Editor:
We would like to thank Vos and colleagues for valuable research on the topic of modifiable risk factors for dementia [1]. However, we feel three topics need to be addressed in order to interpret the results with due nuance.
22 September 2017
Dietary factors for prevention of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia: what is optimal?
Solfrizzi et al. [1] recently published a systematic review of observational studies published between 2014 to 2016 on dietary factors and late-life cognitive disorders. While the authors relayed the growing promise and potential of diet to change the course of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, their conclusion—that certain foods that have been thought to increase health risk are not as damaging as previously described—is not consistent with the emerging unifying concepts on protective dietary factors for Alzheimer’s disease [2-4].
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