The role of sleep changes with every stage of life, from infancy to old age. The latest neuroscience is discovering how crucial sleep is to an infant’s growing brain, while the latest epidemiology is discovering how irregular sleep doubles the risk of death as we grow older. To mark National Sleep Week, Thrive Global spoke with some of the top researchers in sleep science to give you a map of how sleep changes through your lifespan.
Sugary Drinks Tied to Accelerated Brain Aging
Drinking sugary beverages is associated with markers of accelerated aging and early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study reports.
Researchers used data on more than 4,000 people over 30, examining their brains with M.R.I. and measuring memory with psychological tests. All completed well-validated food frequency questionnaires.
5 Ways to Help Patients with Dementia Enjoy Life
Alzheimer’s disease has an unusual distinction: It’s the illness that Americans fear most — more than cancer, stroke or heart disease.
The rhetoric surrounding Alzheimer’s reflects this. People “fade away” and are tragically “robbed of their identities” as this incurable condition progresses, we’re told time and again.
Family caregivers help with wider range of healthcare tasks than thought
A Yale-led study finds that while many family caregivers assist older adults with serious health problems like dementia and disability, the majority aid adults without those issues. Caregivers are also helping with a much wider range of activities than previously thought, said the researchers.
The findings, published April 20 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, highlight the need for more attention and resources for family caregivers to lessen the significant financial, emotional, and physical burdens they bear, said the researchers.
Novartis Tests New Alzheimer’s Drug on People Who Don’t Have the Disease
Novartis AG NVS +1.16% thinks its best bet for testing two new Alzheimer’s drugs is on people who don’t actually have Alzheimer’s.
The Swiss drug giant is looking for people whose genes put them at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s, but who haven’t yet fallen victim to the mind-robbing disease. It hopes such early treatment proves more successful than past efforts to tackle the disease once it has taken hold.
Electrical Stimulation To Boost Memory: Maybe It's All In The Timing
People with a brain injury or dementia often struggle to remember simple things, like names or places. In research published Thursday in the journal Current Biology, scientists have shown it may be possible to improve this sort of memory using tiny pulses of electricity — if they're properly timed.
A typical person's ability to remember things tends to vary a lot, says Michael Kahana, who directs the computational memory lab at the University of Pennsylvania.
Alzheimer’s Disease – Now You See It
The exact mechanisms underlying the devastation that is Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) are not entirely understood, but researchers do know that inflammation in the brain is related to the onset of the disease. Now, through a basic eye exam, clinicians may be able to spot AD warning signs, including inflammation, long before symptoms appear
What you can do to prevent Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's doesn't have to be your brain's destiny, says neuroscientist and author of "Still Alice," Lisa Genova. She shares the latest science investigating the disease — and some promising research on what each of us can do to build an Alzheimer's-resistant brain.
Brain Health & Inequality: Reflections on the Aspen Summit on Inequality & Opportunity
The 2017 Aspen Summit on Inequality & Opportunity brought together a diverse mix of policymakers, thought leaders, social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and practitioners to address the nation’s widening opportunity gap. Tucked between to-be-expected panels on manufacturing and hunger, was a 15 minute talk by Dr. Sarah Enos Watamura, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Denver and Director of the Child Health & Development Lab, on the biology of adversity. She opened by posing the question: How could a consideration of biology inform policy and practice solutions for moving families from inequality to opportunity?
Walk, Jog or Dance: It’s All Good for the Aging Brain
More people are living longer these days, but the good news comes shadowed by the possible increase in cases of age-related mental decline. By some estimates, the global incidence of dementia will more than triple in the next 35 years. That grim prospect is what makes a study published in March in The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease so encouraging: It turns out that regular walking, cycling, swimming, dancing and even gardening may substantially reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.
Exceptional Caregivers Share Their Tips
A Place for Mom recently celebrated the stories of three exceptional caregivers: Carlen Maddux, Feylyn Lewis and Susan Hamilton. Although each of these caregivers had a very different and unique caregiving experience, they all shared similar tips about how caregivers can survive and triumph.
Andrew Tisch: An aging and Alzheimer’s tsunami is about to hit us. Here's what needs to happen right now
Despite the collapse of Republicans’ ObamaCare repeal effort, the health care issue isn’t going away.
The current health care debate in Washington is fundamentally one over who pays. However, it won’t matter whether Medicare, Medicaid, private insurers or individuals pick up the tab, if the most urgent challenge in health care is left out of the next debate in Congress.