Individuals diagnosed with the earliest possible signs of Alzheimer’s disease are more likely to suffer falls, according to research presented at a conference in Paris.
The crowd at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference listened to Dr. Susan Stark of the Washington University in St. Louis explain how she and her research team went about collecting their data.
First, the research team used a new diagnostic technique called positron emission tomography with Pittsburgh compound B to look for signs of beta-amyloid plaques in brain tissue, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s. The team followed 125 older adults, some of whom had been diagnosed with preclinical Alzheimer’s, who were already taking part in another study on memory and aging. All of the seniors had their brains examined using the new technique and also gave samples of cerebrospinal fluid. They were then asked to keep a journal in which they noted how often they fell. A fall was defined for this study as an “unintentional movement to the floor, ground or an object below knee level.”
Over the course of six months, 48 of the study participants fell at least once. When the research team compared the journals to the brain imaging results, it found the risk of falling for participants who tested positive for beta-amyloid plaques was 2.7 times greater. The results were visible even in individuals considered to have preclinical Alzheimer’s.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify a risk of increased falls related to a diagnosis of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease,” Stark said.
She went on to emphasize the need for more research to investigate the link between falls and early Alzheimer’s.
The newest weapon in the battle against obesity and portion size might be the most frequently used tool at mealtime — the fork.
A new study out of the University of Utah has found that people who use large forks to eat consume significantly less food than those who eat with smaller utensils.
The research team decided to play a bit of a game at an Italian restaurant and disguised themselves as waiters, watching customers over the course of two days as they ate lunch and dinner with forks of different sizes, which varied by tables. Some diners used large forks while others used smaller ones. Each plate of food was weighed before it was served and again when it was brought back to the kitchen to determine how much food had been eaten.
Diners who used small forks for their meals ate much more than people who used larger utensils. The perception was that those with smaller forks felt they were eating less food. Yet diners who received smaller portion sizes ate the same amount regardless of fork size.
Compared to boys, teenaged girls who binge drink have a higher risk of suffering long-term damage to their brains, according to a new study published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Using the definition of binge drinking as consuming at least four drinks in one sitting for girls and five for boys, the authors studied 95 teenagers, 40 of whom said they had taken part in sessions of binge drinking. The research team asked them how often they had consumed an alcoholic beverage in their lives and what their consumption had been like in the three months prior to the study.
All participants were then asked to carry out tasks that activated parts of the brain responsible for spatial working memory. At the same time, their brains were scanned using an MRI. While changes in brain activity were detected by the MRI in both participants of both genders, they were significantly more pronounced in girls.
The authors wrote there are many reasons why the brains of teenaged girls are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of alcohol, including earlier development, slower metabolism, higher body-fat ratio, hormonal differences and the fact that girls typically weigh less than boys.
Overall, the authors wrote that 30 per cent of all teenagers reported binge drinking in the last four weeks of their last year of school.
