A few months ago, I couldn’t find my cell phone. I called again and again from our landline. I never heard it ring. Hours later, I found where I’d left it: in the refrigerator. My husband and daughter thought this was hysterical. I found it scary. Was I having early cognitive decline?
Nothing like that happened again, so I chalked it up - a one-off brain blip. But it got me wondering: how close are we to stopping, even preventing, our brains from declining - mild memory problems, dementia to Alzheimer’s?
Scientists have been working on this for years. And now- maybe - we’re entering a hopeful era.
To get the most bang from their research dollars, drugmakers love to target large markets. With Americans 65 and older soon making up nearly a quarter of the population, they have their huge demographic swath to go after. And they've poured tens of billions of dollars into finding medicines to treat or slow Alzheimer’s.
That hunt has focused on clearing away amyloid - one of the key proteins that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. A recent review of current data made headlines however for concluding that this approach barely helps patients.
But critics of that conclusion aren’t so sure. They note that for some reason the review lumped together drugs that had failed to get FDA approval with those that did. When you only look at the two approved drugs, they do appear to modestly slow cognitive decline in people with early Alzheimer’s.
And now, hope is shifting to a next wave of treatments. One targets a different brain protein called tau. Another focuses on protecting synapses - the connections between brain cells. Key results from ongoing studies are expected over the next several years. Meantime, diagnosis is becoming easier.
Scientists have developed new blood tests that detect Alzheimer’s-related proteins years before symptoms appear. The tests aren't ready for prime time, but experts think that within the next few years, they could become part of routine care.
Truth is, your risk for Alzheimer’s comes from factors you can’t control -genetics, the environment, some that aren't fully understood. And from some you can control - one of which we’ve known for decades. Physical activity.
Exercise may be one of the most reliable ways to delay or reduce the risk of cognitive decline. Brisk walking, dancing, yard work all count. The more you move, the better for your brain.
What’s the exercise-cognition link? It’s thought that activity may improve blood flow to the brain, reduce inflammation, or possibly help clear those toxic proteins.
Learning something new may also help. It pushes the brain to form new neural connections - building up what’s called cognitive reserve. The more reserve, the better the brain seems to adapt as it ages. Social connections may help. They ward off loneliness - a known Alzheimer’s risk.
And something else intriguing: some studies suggest that the flu and shingles vaccines are linked to a lower risk of dementia. Science may finally be catching up to hope.
But, me? I’ve started keeping my phone on the counter. Just in case.
Janice M. Horowitz covered health for Times magazine for more than two decades; she created and hosted the public radio segment, Dueling Docs: The Cure to Contradictory Medicine. And is the author of Health Your Self: What's Really Driving Your Care and How to Take Charge.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
