The pharmaceutical industry has beat a concerted retreat from developing drugs for diseases that affect the brain, stymied by the lengthy development times for these agents and a string of failures. Despite the evident risks,  a new study shows how industry leaders should perhaps be taking the long view. The report online last week in [...]

As we age, all sorts of things may start to break down. Joints ache, or vision fails, and or maybe cognitive abilities falter. The leading known risk for getting Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia is simply getting older, followed, some studies suggest, by major illnesses, such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure [...]

Obesity and dementia have a well-established connection in the medical literature. But a new study shows that just being overweight—with a BMI of 25 or above—in middle age might also significantly increase the odds that a person develops dementia later in life. In a study of 8,534 both identical and fraternal twins aged 65 and [...]

Many studies have linked exercise with improved brain health later in life. Now a new controlled trial reveals more about how aerobic activity might be helping to bolster the brain by beefing up the hippocampus. As we age, parts of the brain tend to shrink—even in the absence of neurocognitive diseases, such as dementia or [...]

Like people, mice sometimes show signs of general confusion and memory loss after surgery. Common major (noncardiac) procedures, such as orthopedic operations, can lead to postsurgical cognitive decline in some seven to 26 percent of patients. And though it’s usually temporary, this mental fogginess has been linked to worse overall recovery and long-term cognitive problems. [...]

The spare tire many U.S. adults carry around their middles has been linked to a host of health risks, including, some research has found, decreased cognitive ability in men. The relationship between weight and dementia has been controversial, however, and some researchers have had difficulty finding a consistent association between these two health issues—especially in [...]

Veterans of war have been known to suffer from high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and traumatic brain injury in addition to any physical wounds. And a new study of thousands of U.S. Army soldiers returning from combat duty in Iraq found up to 31 percent reported symptoms of PTSD or depression as [...]

Elderly people with untreated poor vision are significantly more likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia than their clear-sighted counterparts, according to a study published online February 18 by the American Journal of Epidemiology. What’s more, the study suggests that vision problems may be a contributing factor in the development of [...]

The more information about cholesterol’s complex health role that comes to light, the more curious are the ways it seems to be important. A growing body of research has noted the substance’s importance in the brain (which holds about a quarter of the body’s total cholesterol). Now, a new study adds another layer of understanding [...]

Advanced dementia has often been treated as an amalgamation of symptoms in the aging, rather than a deadly illness in itself. A new study, published online today in The New England Journal of Medicine, proposes that it may be beneficial—for patients and caretakers alike—to take the latter approach. "As the end of life approaches, the [...]