High blood pressure in middle age is a known risk for later cognitive impairment. But what about younger adults? A study in JAMA Network Open links early, gradually increasing blood pressure to poorer brain health later in life.
A-Fib and Diabetes
A new Journal of the American Heart Association study of more than 2,400 Swiss patients diagnosed with A-fib found that those who also had diabetes — a risk factor for A-fib — were less likely to notice an irregular heartbeat.
Alzheimer’s Brains but no Dementia
The central dogma that has ruled neuroscience since the early ’90s tells us toxic plaques of amyloid and tangles of tau kill neurons and cause Alzheimer’s. But what about the 30% of older adults who have brains loaded with enough amyloid or tau to meet the criteria for an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, but no outward symptoms of dementia? New research published yesterday in Science Translational Medicine points toward a key driver of such resilience: a family of proteins that act as a master regulator in the brain, preventing neurons from firing out of control.
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