Two studies looked at changes in sense of smell and compared it to two established characteristics of dementia – the amount of amyloid protein in the brain and the size of a brain area that is important for memory.
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“This demonstrates the potential utility of the eye as a non-invasive measure of neuronal loss which is linked to cognitive performance and provides a possible new biomarker for studies of neuro-degeneration”.
That’s the premise of some tantalizing new findings from a broad, 10-year study of some 2,800 originally healthy seniors that were first publicized over the weekend at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto.
Other Alzheimer’s experts support the proposal as a helpful tool to diagnose Alzheimer’s in the early stages, although it still needs to be tested and studied further. Even as more and more research has gone towards not only determining the cause of the disease, but also how to prevent it, the results have been less than satisfactory.
“For the majority of brain fitness products sold today the marketing hype has exceeded the science”, says Murali Doraiswamy, director of the neurocognitive disorders program at Duke University Health System in Durham, N.C.
The computerized brain training exercise is commercially available as the “Double Decision” game, one of a suite of cognitive exercises marketed online by the San Francisco-based Posit Science Corp. The participants who had undergone over 10 of the brain training sessions were 48% less probable to experience dementia or cognitive decline over 10 years.
Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia will cost the US US$236 billion in 2016, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
He said: “Most people experience some sensory loss as they age, so anyone with an impaired sense of smell shouldn’t be immediately anxious about dementia, but if you have noticed changes to your sense of smell at any age, it’s advisable to speak to your GP”. These also include the so-called “brain games”. One got training for memory improvement, one for reasoning and one with computerized training in speed-of-processing.
With such training, he said, “it means you have substantially higher levels of stimulation, and you’re going to be more engaged”. Although forgetfulness is a common sign of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study shows changes in behavior may be the first red flag signaling the onset of mental deterioration. The researchers followed the participants for at least six months.
People who work in jobs that task the intellect are better able to withstand the effects of brain lesions commonly associated with Alzheimer’s disease, report researchers from the University of Wisconsin’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. After five years of the ACTIVE study, participants in the group performed better on what are known as instrumental activities of daily living, such as managing a checkbook and maintaining a neat household.
“Increasingly, research is showing us that there are things we can do throughout our lives to reduce the likelihood of developing dementia”.
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“From a research perspective”, he adds, “the scale may prove to be usable in biomarker and neuroimaging studies in pre‐dementia clinical states, in epidemiological studies of community samples, and in clinical sample observational studies to help assess the impact of NPS in older adults”. “I’m generally a skeptic, but it’s making me more of a believer than I would normally be”.
