More stories on memory, Alzheimer’s and dementias.

We frequently see stories about advances in the research regarding Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, memory loss, etc.  One story in Medline Plus last week covered a preliminary study done by an assistant professor of neurology at  Harvard Medical School on the benefits to the brain and memory from drinking daily two cups of hot cocoa. The benefit was seen for certain individuals whose brains have lower blood flow. The findings are very preliminary and further research will be needed. The Medline Plus story quoted the author of the study, Dr. Farzaneh Sorond, “[b]efore we recommend cocoa, it’s important to go back and figure out what’s in it that’s doing this and make sure it’s sustainable.” (As for chocolate lovers, drink up, you know you will regardless!)

During the same week, other stories reported on research considering a link between Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and high blood sugar. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.  The study suggests that there may be a correlation between high blood sugar and the risk of dementia, although as the Medline Plus article on the study describes it “[t]he effect was very subtle, however, suggesting that higher blood sugar levels may be more of a nudge towards memory loss than a shove.”

Other stories at the beginning of the month reported  on another study published in the journal, Neurology, that examined whether there is a correlation between dementia and anemia.

Stay tuned–more research s being done and we will do our best to keep you informed about various studies. 

As far as elder law profs, hopefully everyone is aware of the handbook series from American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging and the American Psychological Association on assessment of older individuals with diminished capacity, one for lawyers, one for judges and one for psychologists.

Becky Morgan