5 stories to read for Alzheimer’s Awareness Month

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan designated November as Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, and it has been considered as such in the United States each year since.

According to data from the CDC, as many as 5 million Americans were living with Alzheimer’s disease in 2014, and this number is projected to reach 14 million people by 2060. To highlight Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, Healio Psychiatry has compiled a list of stories from the last year featuring the latest research for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals.

Head trauma, TBI important causes of memory loss beyond Alzheimer’s disease

Clinicians may be able to distinguish between memory loss caused by traumatic brain injury, or TBI, vs. Alzheimer’s disease by using tailored MRI scans, according to study results published in Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Read more.

Donepezil carries higher hospitalization risk than other Alzheimer’s drugs

Older patients prescribed donepezil had a higher risk for hospital admission for rhabdomyolysis than patients prescribed rivastigmine or galantamine, according to a population-based cohort study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Read more.

Research continues for disease-modifying therapy in Alzheimer’s disease

Following the discontinuation of a phase 3 trial of aducanumab, an anti-amyloid compound that showed potential as a disease-modifying therapy, or DMT, no DMTs exist to combat the Alzheimer disease epidemic, researchers wrote in a viewpoint published in JAMA Psychiatry. Read more.

Keto Mediterranean diet could modulate gut microbiome to reduce Alzheimer’s risk

Researchers found that a modified Mediterranean-ketogenic diet can impact the gut microbiome in a way that decreases risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Read more.

Migraine significant risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease

A history of migraine was a significant risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and for all-cause dementia, but not vascular dementia, according to a statistical analysis published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. Read more.