Tag: Dementia

Prions and snakes

Prions. Why did it have to be prions? (Again.)

Prions. Why did it have to be prions? (Again.) The antivax trope that vaccines cause prion disease is an old one, and antivaxxers are trying desperately to resurrect it to apply to COVID-19 vaccines.

/ March 11, 2024

Adios Aduhelm

The controversial and never-proven-effective drug to treat Alzheimer's disease, aducanumab (Aduhelm) has been discontinued.

/ February 15, 2024

Study of Multivitamin Use and Memory

Routine multivitamins are likely not the best strategy for cognitive effects.

/ September 21, 2022

Declining Dementia

Dementia is a significant health burden of increasing significance as our population ages. Worldwide the prevalence of dementia is 5-7% in people 60 years and older, with risk doubling every 5 years after age 60. About 5.4 million Americans are living with dementia. Dementia is a general category referring to a chronic decline in overall cognitive function. The most common cause of...

/ November 23, 2016

Exercise and Memory

There is no escaping the evidence that regular moderate exercise is associated with a host of medical benefits. Among those benefits are perhaps improved memory and cognition, and questionably a decreased risk of developing dementia. The latest study to show this correlation involved younger and older adults who wore a step-monitor. The number of steps they took during the study interval was...

/ November 25, 2015

Don’t Believe The Hype: Cholinesterase Inhibitors As A Treatment For Dementia

I distinctly remember the day I attended a “drug lunch” (as a PM&R resident in New York City) to learn about the value of donepezil (Aricept) for the treatment of dementia. I was astonished by the drug’s lack of efficacy – the graph displayed in the PowerPoint show demonstrated a 2-point improvement on the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE), an effect that...

/ January 21, 2010