A US study analysing data from nearly 700,000 people concluded that those with a history of herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) infections were at greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The study, published in BMJ Open, also showed that patients with this virus who used anti-herpes treatments were less likely to develop the disease.
Consumption of ultra-processed food is associated with an increased likelihood of having prodromal signs of Parkinson's disease - symptoms that precede the disease - says a study published in Neurology. The analysis is based on data from more than 42,000 healthcare professionals in the US, followed for up to 26 years.
A phase III clinical trial involving nearly 34,000 people shows that lowering high blood pressure reduces the risk of dementia and cognitive decline. Participants were aged 40 or older, lived in rural areas of China, and had untreated hypertension. The study results are published in Nature Medicine.
Two independent clinical trials demonstrate the safety of stem cell therapies for Parkinson's disease. The papers, published in Nature, investigate the use of cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells and human embryonic stem cells, respectively. Parkinson's disease is characterised by the progressive loss of dopamine-producing neurons. Cell therapy, which replenishes dopamine-producing neurons in the brain, could provide a treatment with fewer adverse effects than current treatments. However, further research is needed to test the efficacy and benefits of these new therapies.
According to a meta-analysis published in Nature Human Behaviour, the widespread use of digital technology may be associated with lower rates of cognitive decline in people over the age of 50. The results of the study — which analysed 57 studies involving more than 400,000 people with an average age of 69 — seem to contradict the hypothesis that the daily use of technology weakens cognitive ability.
While some studies have suggested that having a mother with Alzheimer's may increase the risk of developing the disease, a new study reveals that having a father with the disease may be related to a greater spread of tau protein in the brain, which is a sign of the disease. The study, published in Neurology, does not prove that having a father with Alzheimer's causes these brain changes; it only shows an association.
An international team with Spanish participation has analysed the usefulness of a blood biomarker - the p-tau217 protein - for detecting Alzheimer's disease in 1,767 patients. According to the authors, who publish the results in the journal Nature Medicine, the test has detected the disease with high reliability in four hospital cohorts, as well as in a primary care cohort. They add that it is an assay that can be easily implemented in clinical laboratories and is already routinely used in some centres in Spain.
An American team has developed a ‘smart’ computer keyboard that could be used for the early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. The prototype is a flexible device, linked to a mobile application, whose keys detect slight variations in the pressure applied by the user, allowing for the quantitative analysis of motor symptoms. The study, published in Science Advances, presents the validation of the keyboard with three people with Parkinson's.
A study published in Nature magazine analysed the medical records of elderly Welsh men and women and discovered that those who had been vaccinated against shingles were 20% less likely to develop dementia in the following seven years. This effect was greater in women. The findings support the theory that viruses that affect the nervous system can increase the risk of dementia.
EMA’s human medicines committee has recommended not authorising the marketing of Kisunla (donanemab), a drug intended for the treatment of early-stage Alzheimer's disease. The committee considered that the benefits of this drug were not great enough to outweigh the risk of potentially fatal events. In recent years, several patients have died due to microbleeds in the brain.