World Alzheimer's Day, observed every year on September 21st, is an international campaign to raise awareness and challenge the stigma surrounding Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. With over 50 million people worldwide living with dementia and millions more being diagnosed every year, it is crucial to improve public understanding and provide support for those affected. In this article, we will discuss the significance of World Alzheimer's Day and share ways you can get involved to make a difference.
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This content aligns with Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing and Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure by examining novel medications and drug delivery systems to advance the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease.
This content aligns with Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing and Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure by discussing the multifactorial influences that contribute to Alzheimer's Disease progression.
This content aligns with Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing and Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure by discussing the understudied impacts of the gut microbiome and chronic inflammation that may contribute to neurodegeneration.
This content aligns with Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing and Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure by providing an overview of the cholinergic hypothesis of Alzheimer's Disease and potential innovations in cholinergic therapies.
This content aligns with Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing and Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure by identifying potential nutraceutical applications of bioactive compounds for prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's Disease.
This content aligns with Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing and Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure by considering the neuroprotective properties of nutraceuticals such as soy, peanuts, and ginsenoside Rg1.
This content aligns with Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing and Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure by discussing the roles of Tau, glial, and amyloid (A) in Alzheimer's Disease development.
This content aligns with Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing and Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure by discussing the role of genetic variants found to affect cholinergic and noncholinergic neurotransmission.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) are two of the most used non-pharmacological interventions for Alzheimer's Disease (AD). However, most of the clinical trials have focused on evaluating the effects on global cognition and not on specific cognitive functions. Therefore, considering that memory loss is one of the hallmark symptoms of AD, we aim to assess the efficacy and safety of tDCS and rTMS in memory deficits.
Purpose: Sarcopenia or age-associated muscle loss is common in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). We have previously demonstrated the contribution of a leaky gut to sarcopenia in AD. Here, we asked whether resistant exercise (RE) reduces the sarcopenia phenotype by repairing intestinal leakage in patients with AD.
Neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), have a global prevalence and profoundly impact both motor and cognitive functions. Although adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapy has shown promise, its application for treating central nervous system (CNS) diseases faces several challenges, including effective delivery of AAV vectors across the blood-brain barrier, determining optimal dosages, and achieving targeted distribution.
The impact of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its related dementias is rapidly expanding, and its mitigation remains an urgent social and technical challenge. To date there are no effective treatments or interventions for AD, but recent studies suggest that alcohol consumption is correlated with the risk of developing dementia. In this review, we synthesize data from preclinical, clinical, and epidemiological models to evaluate the combined role of alcohol consumption and serotonergic dysfunction in AD, underscoring the need for further research on this topic.
The article discusses the critical role of the mitochondrial contact site and cristae organizing system (MICOS) complex in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It highlights how MICOS abnormalities, including subunit dysfunction and interactions with disease-associated proteins, to hallmark AD pathologies such as amyloid-β accumulation, neurofibrillary tangle formation, and neuronal apoptosis. The article suggests that targeting MICOS subunits with pharmacological interventions may provide novel therapeutic insights for AD treatment.
Real-world evidence can supplement clinical trial data to optimize Alzheimer’s disease care by aiding early patient identification and assessing drug effectiveness and safety in everyday use in diverse clinical settings/populations. This information helps inform clinical practice guidelines and supports the development of tools for timely diagnosis and personalized treatment strategies.
The article provides a comprehensive review of the role of semaphorin 3A (Sema3A) in the pathogenesis and progression of Alzheimer's disease and other aging-related diseases. It discusses the expression patterns and mechanisms of action of Sema3A in various age-related disorders, including its involvement in oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, apoptosis, and synaptic plasticity.
The article discusses the role of gut dysbiosis, bacterial amyloids, and metabolic diseases in the development and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It highlights the bidirectional relationship between the gut microbiome, inflammation, and metabolic disorders, and how these interconnected pathways contribute to neurodegeneration. The review explores potential therapeutic strategies targeting the gut-brain-metabolic axis to mitigate AD progression.
The article describes the discovery and development of compound 8e, a selective and reversible butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibitor, as a potential therapeutic agent for treating Alzheimer's disease (AD). Compound 8e exhibited favorable blood-brain barrier permeability, good drug-likeness properties, and pronounced neuroprotective efficacy in various AD models, including zebrafish, scopolamine-induced mice, and APP/PS1 transgenic mice.
This study provides evidence of distinct alterations in resting-state functional connectivity in individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and late-life depression (LLD), underscoring region-specific vulnerabilities that may contribute to cognitive decline and depressive symptomatology in older adults.
This study demonstrates that aerobic exercise, specifically swimming training, improves learning and memory in Alzheimer's disease model mice by enhancing glymphatic system function and promoting AQP4 polarization, which facilitates clearance of β-amyloid in the hippocampus. These findings suggest that exercise-induced upregulation of Lama1 and Dp71 supports glymphatic clearance mechanisms, thereby reducing Aβ deposition and cognitive impairment.
This article systematically summarizes the neuroprotective effects and mechanisms of ginsenosides Rg1, Rb1, and rare ginsenosides against Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The key findings indicate that ginsenosides exert their beneficial effects by modulating various signaling pathways related to inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and autophagy.
This review highlights how nurse practitioners can strengthen Alzheimer’s disease care by supporting earlier diagnosis and access to treatment, which is essential for maintaining quality of life. Expanding their role helps reduce barriers in the healthcare system, ensuring people with Alzheimer’s receive timely care that promotes better health and well-being.
The article explores the role of microglia and neuronal subpopulations in Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression. It reveals that the microglia subpopulation Mic_PTPRG communicates with specific excitatory (ExNeu_PRKN_VIRMA) and inhibitory (InNeu_PRKN_VIRMA) neuronal subpopulations, leading to the upregulation of VIRMA, which inhibits mitophagy and causes neuronal death.
This review emphasizes that integrating amyloid and tau PET imaging with genomics and proteomics significantly advances our understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease, fostering greater awareness of dementia’s complexity and paving the way for improved diagnosis, prognosis, and personalized care.
This cross-sectional population-based study examined the relationship between statin use and anti-Alzheimer's disease (AD) drug prescription in patients over 70 years old with cardiovascular risk factors. The key findings were: 1) Patients using low-potency or hydrophilic statins had lower odds of anti-AD medication usage compared to high-potency or lipophilic statins, respectively; 2) Patients taking rosuvastatin or pitavastatin had lower odds of anti-AD medication usage than those consuming atorvastatin.
In this review, Hu et al. summarize fluid biomarker findings across 12 anti-amyloid-β clinical trials. The emerging biomarker data provide evidence of impact of the new therapies on the underlying pathophysiological processes of the AD, supporting the presence of a disease-modifying effect.
This study shows that the Cognitive Stimulation Therapy program can significantly improve general cognition, communication, and reduce depression in people living with dementia, regardless of the underlying pathology. However, the effects vary by dementia subtype, with some gains maintained long-term in vascular dementia (VaD) but not in Alzheimer, especially regarding narrative abilities and depressive symptoms, highlighting the importance of personalized approaches.
This study aims to assess depression and perception of vocal handicap in individuals with and without early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) using a self-report method. Depression is commonly observed in elderly individuals and can significantly impact their quality of life, management of chronic diseases, and daily and instrumental activities. In elderly individuals with AD, the risk of depression is twice as high compared to those without Alzheimer's.
Report on a new smart delivery system designed to target and treat Alzheimer's disease more effectively, aiming to overcome the challenges of current treatments and offering a promising way to fight Alzheimer's more accurately and safely.
This study presents AlzFormer, a novel deep learning framework utilizing spatiotemporal self-attention to classify Alzheimer’s disease (AD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and cognitively normal (CN) individuals from structural MRI scans. By modeling MRI volumes as sequential slice-based inputs and fine-tuning a pre-trained TimeSformer model, AlzFormer achieved 94% accuracy and high class-wise F1-scores, while attention map analyses highlighted clinically relevant brain regions, demonstrating both robust performance and interpretability in multiclass AD diagnosis.
This article provides a comprehensive review of the use of graphene-based biosensing platforms for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease. It is found that graphene-based biosensors can detect Alzheimer's disease biomarkers at femtomolar concentrations, enabling early diagnosis before symptom onset. These sensors can also identify multiple biomarkers simultaneously in accessible biofluids like blood, saliva, and urine, enabling less invasive testing.
This study introduces a new, safe, affordable, and non-invasive device designed to detect and monitor early signs of Alzheimer's disease. Unlike traditional tests like MRI or CT scans, this device uses microwaves to examine the brain.
The article suggest that beta-amyloid protein (Aβ) has a significant indirect effect on neurogranin (Ng) through key synaptic mediators such as SYT1 and GAP43 during the preclinical stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). These findings highlight the crucial role of SYT1 and GAP43 in mediating beta-amyloid-induced synaptic dysfunction, offering potential early biomarkers and therapeutic targets for AD progression.
The article discusses the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in revolutionizing drug discovery for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and delirium. It explores how AI can facilitate target identification, small molecule and protein-based drug design, and optimization of pharmacokinetic properties to address the challenges in developing effective treatments for these two brain diseases.
The article presents PI4AD, a computational medicine framework that integrates multi-omics data, systems biology, and artificial neural networks to prioritize therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's disease (AD). PI4AD recovers clinically validated targets like APP and ESR1, confirming its prioritization efficacy. The framework identifies Ras signaling as a central therapeutic hub, complementing traditional amyloid/tau-focused approaches. Crosstalk analysis reveals critical nodal genes (e.g., HRAS and MAPK1) and drug repurposing opportunities, bridging genetic insights with pathway-level biology.
The article describes the development of a self-regulated multi-functional nano-modulator (siR/PIO@RP) that can intelligently navigate to the damaged blood-brain barrier and release therapeutic cargoes for synergetic Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapy. The nano-modulator is capable of reducing cerebral amyloid-β load, relieving neuroinflammation, and alleviating the dysfunction of the neurovascular unit, providing proof of concept that normalizing the neurovascular unit holds promise as a means of alleviating AD symptoms.
This article provides a narrative review of the relationships between modifiable lifestyle factors and plasma biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The key findings are that better nutrition, more physical activity, and good sleep quality are associated with more favorable plasma AD biomarker profiles, potentially reflecting less cerebral AD pathology.
The article discusses the need for and challenges of developing combination therapies for Alzheimer's disease, given the complex and multifactorial nature of the disease. As of 2024, there were 21 combination trials in the pipeline, primarily involving repurposed agents targeting processes like inflammation, senescence, and amyloid-tau interactions. Key challenges include distinguishing individual drug effects and managing the operational complexity of combination trials.f
This study investigated the prevalence and impact of auditory agnosia for environmental sounds in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), finding that over half exhibited signs of this central auditory dysfunction along with a high rate of unrecognized peripheral hearing loss. Although these factors appeared independent and showed limited direct effect on measured quality of life, possibly due to sheltered living environments and lack of patient awareness, they jointly contribute to daily functional decline, highlighting the importance of early hearing assessment and intervention in AD management.
This study investigated how repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with cognitive training affects functional connectivity in both gray matter and white matter in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Results showed that rTMS modulated activity in key brain regions, particularly within the limbic system, with changes in white matter connectivity correlating with cognitive improvements.
This article describes the discovery and characterization of FJMU1887, a novel brain-penetrant small-molecule inhibitor of Galectin-3 (Gal-3) identified through an AI-driven drug discovery platform. FJMU1887 demonstrated potent anti-inflammatory effects, reduced Aβ pathology, and improved cognitive function in Alzheimer's disease mouse models, highlighting its therapeutic potential for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
This review discusses the dual role of amyloid-beta (Aβ) in Alzheimer's disease (AD). While Aβ accumulation is a hallmark of AD pathology, soluble Aβ also plays a neuroprotective role in regulating synaptic plasticity and memory. The review explores the potential of anti-Aβ immunotherapy as a treatment strategy, highlighting the need to balance targeting toxic Aβ species while preserving the physiological functions of Aβ.`
The article estimates the value-based price of a blood test for Alzheimer's disease pathology, finding it would be $290-$1150 in primary care and $450-$1950 in specialty care, projecting substantial cost savings.
The study found that long-duration and high-intensity walking were associated with reduced amyloid-beta accumulation over 4 years, with the greatest benefits seen in those who started walking earlier in life. However, walking activity was not linked to changes in tau deposition, neurodegeneration, or white matter hyperintensities.
This study seeks to identify what matters to older adults (60 years and older) presenting to the emergency department (ED) and the challenges or concerns they identify related to medication, mobility, and mentation to inform how the 4Ms framework could improve care of older adults in the ED setting.
The TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 6 study found that a modified donanemab titration regimen significantly reduced ARIA-E frequency and severity compared to standard dosing, while maintaining similar amyloid reduction. Safety profiles were comparable between the two arms. The modified titration approach may help mitigate risks associated with amyloid-targeting therapies in early Alzheimer's disease.
The 30-day Society of Thoracic Surgeons Predicted Risk of Mortality (STS-PROM) has been used to risk-stratify patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Whether surgical mortality risk predicts stroke and neurocognitive outcomes following TAVR is unknown. We evaluated the association between STS-PROM and clinical outcomes, including stroke, acute brain injury on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI), and cognitive decline in patients undergoing TAVR.
Article discusses the relationship between hypertension and dementia, and the potential utility of antihypertensive medications in reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. It concludes that mid-life hypertension is a risk factor for both vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and that further research is needed to clarify the neuroprotective properties of different antihypertensive drug classes.
The emergency department (ED) poses unique challenges and risks to persons living with dementia. A longer ED length of stay is associated with the risk of death, delirium, and medication errors. This article seeks to determine whether ED length of stay differed by dementia status and trends in ED length of stay for persons living with dementia and whether persons living with dementia were at a higher risk for prolonged ED length of stay.
The review summarizes and discusses the potential role of psilocybin, a psychedelic compound, in altering mechanisms associated with major depression and neurodegenerative diseases. It examines the relationship between adult hippocampal neurogenesis, microglial activity, and their implications for the development of dementia, particularly in the context of major depression as a risk factor.
This study shows how nurse-led health education improves dementia care by reducing behavioral problems and strengthening caregiver skills. By providing caregivers with lifelong learning and practical knowledge, it also advances quality education.
In the Han Chinese populations on the Mongolian Plateau, the MTHFR G677A mutation is associated with increased homocysteine levels, which are linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease. This genetic variant highlights the potential impact of folate metabolism on neurodegenerative conditions in this specific population.
This article provides an overview of the Age‐Friendly Emergency Department (AFED) model, a crucial component of a holistic age‐friendly health system with the potential to improve patient‐centered outcomes, reduce adverse events and hospitalizations, and enhance functional recovery. Age‐friendly healthcare is a comprehensive approach using the 4Ms framework—what matters, medications, mentation, and mobility—to ensure that healthcare settings are responsive to the needs of older patients.
The article provides a comprehensive overview of the role of the endogenous detoxification system in the pathogenesis of age-related neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). It highlights epidemiological evidence linking environmental toxicant exposure to the onset and progression of these diseases, and discusses how dysfunction of detoxification pathways, including enzymes and transporters, can exacerbate neurodegenerative processes. The article also explores the potential of targeting nuclear receptor signaling pathways, such as the pregnane X receptor (PXR), as a promising therapeutic strategy to restore detoxification capacity and modify disease trajectories.
This study investigates the association between polluting cooking technology use, and domain-wise cognitive functions in an rural aging cohort in South India, which includes insights from structural brain MRI. These findings substantiate the results of previous studies, noting diminished global cognition and visuospatial function among polluting cooking technology users.
The article provides a comprehensive overview of the Keystone Symposia conference on Myeloid Cell Diversity, highlighting key presentations on topics such as phagocytosis of dead cells, neutrophil behavior, myeloid cell states, and the impact of lifestyle factors on myeloid cells in disease states. It also discusses the role of myeloid cells in Alzheimer's disease, specifically how their dissociation may mediate vascular dysfunction.
This study examined perceptions and awareness of brain health among Cuban youth through an online survey of 1,049 participants using the Global Brain Health Survey. Results showed that participants viewed the social environment as the most influential factor on brain health and were generally aware of conditions like Alzheimer’s and depression, but had limited understanding of the cognitive effects of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, underscoring the need for targeted public health education and awareness campaigns.
This study demonstrated that physical exercise pretreatment improves recognition memory and enhances structural synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) rats, primarily through the activation of hippocampal TREM2. Blocking TREM2 diminished these neuroprotective effects, indicating that exercise mitigates synaptic injury and cognitive decline in AD via a TREM2-dependent mechanism.
Microglia are immune cells of the central nervous system, playing a vital role in brain development, homeostasis, and disease. When these cells become dysfunctional, they can contribute to various psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. To enhance our understanding of microglial function, researchers are increasingly employing human cell-based models. This approach significantly improves our investigations into these complex conditions and aids in ongoing drug development efforts.
Neurocognitive dysfunction is common in heart failure (HF), and is independently associated with worse outcomes including mortality, rehospitalization, and reduced quality of life. It is paramount to raise awareness of the neurocognitive consequences in ischemic HF and devise strategies for recognition and prevention as an important target of patient management and personalized decision making that contributes to patient outcomes. This review outlines the current evidence and gaps in our understanding of neurocognitive dysfunction in HF and their implications on selection of revascularization strategies in patients with ischemic HFrEF.
Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from young donors can delay aging and improve health outcomes by restoring gut microbiota balance, with potential therapeutic benefits for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's through the gut–brain axis. However, challenges remain in donor selection and establishing effective transplantation protocols.
This study demonstrates that the Psychological Telephone Triage System (PTT) is an effective and cost-efficient method for early identification of patients with urgent cognitive impairment, particularly in the context of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), helping to reduce unnecessary on-site visits and healthcare burden. The findings suggest that implementing this interdisciplinary pre-screening and triage process can improve management of the rising demand for dementia assessments, especially with new therapeutic options and increasing prevalence of dementia globally.
The article discusses the connection between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and neurodegenerative disorders, with a focus on the role of mitochondrial dysfunction as a potential link between these conditions. It reviews the epidemiological and molecular evidence that suggests T2DM as a risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, and highlights the importance of understanding the mitochondrial mechanisms underlying this relationship to identify new therapeutic targets.
This systematic review examined the relationship between cognition and motor speech production in healthy older adults and those with mild cognitive impairment, analyzing 22 studies with 747 participants. Findings suggest that cognitive functions, particularly attention and executive abilities, are linked to motor speech performance, though evidence quality varies and gaps remain.
This study indicates neurofibrillary tangles(NFT) level detection in patients with extracranial carotid atherosclerotic disease (ECAD) could enable earlier identification of those at high risk for developing Alzheimer's and other dementias, sometimes decades before symptoms. As blood-based assays to quantify NFT's are more clinically available, this could guide more targeted prevention and early treatment strategies for patients.
The article discusses the potential of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists (GRA) as novel therapeutic agents for neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) like Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). GRA have shown promising effects in modulating neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial and autophagic functions, and protein misfolding in preclinical studies. Clinical trials have demonstrated that GRA like exenatide, liraglutide, and lixisenatide can improve motor deficits in PD and cognitive function in AD patients.
The article discusses the role of microglial activation in Alzheimer's disease (AD), highlighting its impact on neuroinflammation and cognitive dysfunction. It explores the molecular mechanisms underlying microglial activation, potential therapeutic targets, and updates on clinical trials for drugs aimed at mitigating neuroinflammation and cognitive decline in AD.
Changes in β-amyloid (Aβ) and hyperphosphorylated tau (T) in brain and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) precede Alzheimer's disease (AD) symptoms, making the CSF proteome a potential avenue to understand disease pathophysiology and facilitate reliable diagnostics and therapies. Using the AT framework and a three-stage study design (discovery, replication, and meta-analysis), we identified 2,173 analytes (2,029 unique proteins) dysregulated in AD. Of these, 865 (43%) were previously reported, and 1,164 (57%) are novel.