American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

February 2014 News Briefs
(Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias)
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: News Briefs Source Type: research

Related Genes and Potential Biomarkers for Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease: A Preliminary Study Based on DNA Microarray
Conclusion: The DEGs including CCKAR might be used as biomarkers for early diagnosis of AD. However, further experimental studies are needed to confirm our results. (Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias)
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Lin, H., Zhang, T., Wu, Y., Wang, Y., Wang, W., Wang, Q. Tags: Current Topics in Research Source Type: research

The Bedford Alzheimer Nursing-Severity Scale to Assess Dementia Severity in Advanced Dementia: A Nonparametric Item Response Analysis and a Study of Its Psychometric Characteristics
The Bedford Alzheimer Nursing-Severity Scale (BANS-S) assesses disease severity in patients with advanced Alzheimer's disease. Since Alzheimer is a progressive disease, studying the hierarchy of the items in the scale can be useful to evaluate the progression of the disease. Data from 164 Alzheimer's patients and 186 patients with other dementia were analyzed using the Mokken Scaling Methodology to determine whether respondents can be ordered in the trait dementia severity, and to study whether an ordering between the items exist. The scalability of the scale was evaluated by the H coefficient. Results showed that the BANS...
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Galindo-Garre, F., Hendriks, S. A., Volicer, L., Smalbrugge, M., Hertogh, C. M. P. M., van der Steen, J. T. Tags: Current Topics in Research Source Type: research

Serum Trace Metal Levels in Alzheimer's Disease and Normal Control Groups
Conclusions: In this study, serum Pb, Cd, Hg, and As levels were not directly related to abnormal cognition in AD. Serum Pb levels were significantly negatively correlated with verbal memory scores. (Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias)
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Park, J.-H., Lee, D.-W., Park, K. S., Joung, H. Tags: Current Topics in Research Source Type: research

Linking Family Dynamics and the Mental Health of Colombian Dementia Caregivers
This cross-sectional, quantitative, self-report study examined the relationship between family dynamics (cohesion, flexibility, pathology/ functioning, communication, family satisfaction, and empathy) and mental health (depression, burden, stress, and satisfaction with life [SWL]) in 90 dementia caregivers from Colombia. Hierarchical multiple regressions controlling for caregiver demographics found that family dynamics were significantly associated with caregiver depression, stress, and SWL and marginally associated with burden. Within these regressions, empathy was uniquely associated with stress; flexibility with depress...
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Sutter, M., Perrin, P. B., Chang, Y.-P., Hoyos, G. R., Buraye, J. A., Arango-Lasprilla, J. C. Tags: Current Topics in Research Source Type: research

Importance of Hypertension and Social Isolation in Causing Sleep Disruption in Dementia
This study aimed to determine the effects of diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HT), heart disease, social isolation, and sociodemographic factors on sleep in the elderly patients with dementia. Samples included 1210 noninstitutionalized, Malaysian elderly patients with dementia. The multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to estimate the risk of sleep disturbances among respondents. Approximately 41% of the patients experienced sleep problems. The results showed that age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.02), social isolation (OR = 1.33), and HT (OR = 1.53) significantly increased sleep disruption in respondents (P <.0...
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Eshkoor, S. A., Hamid, T. A., Nudin, S. S. H., Mun, C. Y. Tags: Current Topics in Research Source Type: research

Cerebrospinal Fluid Apolipoprotein E Concentration and Severity of Cognitive Impairment in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Alzheimer's Disease
Conclusion: The CSF apoE appears not to be suitable as a biochemical surrogate of cognitive function in AD under the given circumstances. By means of longitudinal analyses, potential associations with the velocity of decline will be investigated in the near future. (Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias)
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Schmidt, C., Becker, H., Zerr, I. Tags: Current Topics in Research Source Type: research

Global Long Interspersed Nuclear Element 1 DNA Methylation in a Colombian Sample of Patients With Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease
The objective of this work was to evaluate global DNA methylation levels for long interspersed nuclear element 1 (LINE-1) repetitive sequences in Colombian patients with LOAD and controls. The LINE-1 DNA methylation levels in peripheral blood samples from 28 Colombian patients with LOAD and 30 healthy participants were assessed using a methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting (MS-HRM) quantitative assay. We did not find differences in LINE-1 methylation levels between patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD; median 76.2%, interquartile range [IQR]: 69.8-81.9) and control participants (median 79.8%, IQR: 73.2-83.8;...
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Hernandez, H. G., Mahecha, M. F., Mejia, A., Arboleda, H., Forero, D. A. Tags: Current Topics in Research Source Type: research

Hippocampal and Mesial Temporal Sclerosis in Early-Onset Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration Versus Alzheimer's Disease
Hippocampal sclerosis (HS) and mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) may occur with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) as well as with normal aging. Prior studies suggest that HS/MTS may be more closely associated with FTLD but have not directly compared the prevalence and clinical characteristics of HS/MTS between neuropathologically confirmed early-onset (age ≤ 65) cohorts of FTLD and AD. We identified patients with early-onset FTLD (n = 136) and AD (n = 267) from National Alzheimer’s Center Consortium databases and compared neuropathological and clinical data between these 2 g...
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Joshi, A., Teng, E., Tassniyom, K., Mendez, M. F. Tags: Current Topics in Research Source Type: research

Serum Folic Acid and RFC A80G Polymorphism in Alzheimer's Disease and Vascular Dementia
Low level of vitamin B12 and folic acid has been reported to play an important role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD). Serum folic acid and vitamin B12 were assayed in 80 AD and 50 VaD cases and in 120 healthy controls. The reduced folate carrier (RFC1) gene, rs1051266, which encodes the RFC 1, protein was analyzed for polymorphism by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism. It was observed that the patients having folic acid <8.45 ng/mL had 2.4 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.4-4.5) times higher odds of having AD and 2.1 (95% CI: 1.1-4.2)...
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Mansoori, N., Tripathi, M., Alam, R., Luthra, K., Sharma, S., Lakshmy, R., Kalaivani, M., Mukhopadhyay, A. K. Tags: Current Topics in Research Source Type: research

A Pilot of an Intervention Delivered to Chinese- and Spanish-Speaking Carers of People With Dementia in Australia
There are limited language- and culture-specific support programs for carers of people with dementia living in Australia. A group intervention for use with Chinese and Spanish speakers in the United States was adapted to the Australian context, and a pilot study was undertaken with these 2 communities. The intervention is based on a cognitive behavioral therapy approach and was delivered by bilingual health professionals. The adapted material comprised 7 sessions, spanning 2 hours in duration. All 22 participants completed the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale—Short form (DASS-21) pre- and postintervention. A signi...
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Leone, D., Carragher, N., Santalucia, Y., Draper, B., Thompson, L. W., Shanley, C., Mollina, A., Chen, L., Kyriazopoulos, H., Thompson, D. G. Tags: Current Topics in Care Source Type: research

Change and Predictors of Change in Social Skills of Nursing Home Residents With Dementia
Conclusions Social skills appear to present an opportunity to maintain interaction with these residents. The findings also suggest that a focus on the present orientation before and following admission and on staff-to-resident communication may be beneficial. (Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias)
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Chappell, N. L., Kadlec, H., Reid, C. Tags: Current Topics in Care Source Type: research

Registration of Alzheimer's Disease in Taiwan: Patient and Informant
Conclusion: We have reported the updated status of AD in Taiwan through a UDS that will foster future collaboration among countries using UDS. The updated information of patients with AD and their informants will direct the future care of AD in Taiwan. (Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias)
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Wang, W.-F., Chiu, P.-Y., Lin, Y.-T., Hu, C.-J., Fuh, J.-L., Yang, Y.-H. Tags: Current Topics in Care Source Type: research

The Impact of Volunteer Mentoring Schemes on Carers of People With Dementia and Volunteer Mentors: A Systematic Review
In conclusion, the lack of need for matching and the importance of experiential similarity deserve further investigation. However, this review highlights a lack of demonstrated efficacy of volunteer mentoring for carers of people with dementia. (Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias)
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Smith, R., Greenwood, N. Tags: Review Source Type: research

Review of Issue
(Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias)
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Lippa, C. F. Tags: Review of Issue Source Type: research