Loss of smell, a sign to watch closely
Scientists have thus noticed that tissues from Alzheimer’s patients contain many more biomarkers indicating the presence of viral infections and inflammations in the olfactory area. This area is an ideal passage to the hippocampus.
According to neurology professor Andrew Bubak, the study’s lead author, loss of smell caused by an infection accelerates the progression of hippocampal degeneration. Hence his assertion: it is not Alzheimer’s disease that affects our sense of smell, it is the loss of our sense of smell that inflicts brain damage that may be related to the onset of dementia.
Yo-yoing with your weight increases the risk of dementia
Researchers from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, together with researchers from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, demonstrated that frequently changing body mass index (BMI) during his lifetime might be a risk factor for dementia. Their study was published on December 15 in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
“Our results are important because previous studies that looked at weight curvesdid not consider how gaining, losing and maintaining weight might help prevent dementia”, says professor of anatomy and neurobiology Rhoda Au, one of the authors of the study.
Follow the weight curve to prevent dementia
Scientists have followed volunteers for 39 years and weighed them every 2 to 4 years. They subsequently analyzed their weight curve and related it to whether or not they had developed dementia.
They found that a declining BMI was associated with a higher risk of developing dementia. They also saw that people who gained weight and then lost it around their 50s were most at risk.
“Dementia is not a fatality. Track easy-to-spot risk indicators, such as the weight curve, might help us act early enough to change the trajectory of the disease and its progression”, conclude the researchers.
Menopause, a possible risk factor
A study published on December 14 in Sciences Advances tried to understand why women were more affected by Alzheimer’s than men.Older women have a 50% greater risk than men of developing dementia.
The researchers were interested in the altered form of an inflammatory immune protein in the brains of women affected by this disease. It would indeed be 6 times more present there than in the brains of sick men.
“Estrogen specifically protects the female brain (from the modification of this protein), and this protection is lost when estrogen levels drop strongly with menopause,” the authors explain. In short : with menopause, the risk of being affected by Alzheimer’s disease would be increased.
