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Tag: dementia

Topic: wildfiresView all posts for the topic: wildfires

Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke associated with increased risk of dementia: study

Published December 2, 2024

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Published by: CBC News
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By Alexandra Mae Jones

Being exposed to wildfire smoke over a long period of time could increase the risk of developing dementia even more than exposure to other sources of air pollution, according to new research.

In the study, published last week in the journal JAMA Neurology, researchers looked at a cohort of more than 1.2 million people over the age of 60 living in Southern California between 2008 and 2019. They tracked dementia incidence among the cohort and compared it to the average concentration of fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5, in the air due to wildfires in the region.

They found that when the three-year average concentration of wildfire PM2.5 went up by just one microgram per cubic metre of air, there was an associated 18 per cent increase in the odds of a dementia diagnosis.

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Topic: climate crisisView all posts for the topic: climate crisis

Wildfire smoke may increase the risk of dementia, study finds

Published July 29, 2024

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Published by: The Guardian
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A new US study has found that wildfire smoke may be worse for brain health than other types of air pollution and even increase the risk of dementia.

The findings, reported on Monday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia, come as millions spent the weekend under air quality warnings from wildfires spewing smoke across the western US, including a huge wildfire in California that has grown to more than 360,000 acres.

At issue is fine particulate matter or PM 2.5 – tiny particles about 30 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair that can be inhaled deep into the lungs and move to the bloodstream. This pollution – from traffic, factories and fires – can cause or worsen heart and lung diseases, and the new study adds to evidence it may play some role in dementia, too.

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Topic: cause of deathView all posts for the topic: cause of death

COVID-19 ‘Radically’ Changed the Leading Causes of Death

Published April 5, 2024

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Published by: Time
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By Alex Tanzi

COVID-19 became the second leading cause of death globally in the year after it was declared a pandemic, according to a study published in the Lancet.

While heart disease remained the top killer, COVID “radically altered” the main five causes of death for the first time in 30 years, displacing stroke, the publication said. In 2021, 94 in every 100,000 people died from COVID, on an age-standardized basis.

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Topic: air pollutionView all posts for the topic: air pollution

Air Pollution Is Really Dangerous, Even More New Evidence Shows

Published November 23, 2023

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Published by: Scientific American
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By Jesse Greenspan

PM2.5 particles are tiny enough to enter the bloodstream and lodge in the lungs, where they contribute to respiratory problems such as asthma. They also can prompt heart attacks and strokes. And they have been linked to diabetes, obesity and dementia and may exacerbate COVID.

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The eighth COVID-19 wave is here. Could catching it trigger Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or autoimmune disorders?
Topic: neurodegenerative diseasesView all posts for the topic: neurodegenerative diseases

The eighth COVID-19 wave is here. Could catching it trigger Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or autoimmune disorders?

Published November 21, 2023

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Published by: ABC News
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By Catherine Taylor

From the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists have raised concerns about the potential for long-term health problems linked to SARS-CoV-2 and warned repeated infections are likely to increase the risk.

An association between COVID and cardiovascular disease emerged quickly.

And now — almost exactly four years since the first case was discovered in Wuhan — a growing body of scientific research is cautiously linking the inflammation caused by a COVID infection to diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s as well as autoimmune conditions from bowel disease to rheumatoid arthritis.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

High levels of 2 blood-clotting proteins may portend post-COVID brain fog

Published September 1, 2023

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Published by: CIDRAP
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By Mary Van Beusekom

High levels of two blood biomarkers during infection could predict cognitive dysfunction, or “brain fog,” among COVID-19 survivors 6 and 12 months after hospitalization, according to a UK study published yesterday in Nature Medicine.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Blood Clotting Proteins Might Help Predict Long COVID Brain Fog

Published September 1, 2023

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Published by: Scientific American
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By Sara Reardon

Many people who have long COVID—a condition in which health issues persist months after infection—report struggling with “brain fog,” recurring memory and concentration lapses that make it difficult­­ to function in everyday life. Now a new study has found these cognitive problems could result from blood clots triggered by infection, possibly through mechanisms like those that cause some types of dementia. These clots leave telltale protein signatures in blood, suggesting that testing for them could help predict, diagnose and possibly even treat long COVID.

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Scientists Are Just Beginning to Understand COVID-19’s Effect On the Brain

Published July 17, 2023

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Time

July 17, 2023

The list of neurocognitive issues that Meropol’s team and other researchers must track is extensive: cognitive decline, changes in brain size and structure, depression and suicidal thinking, tremors, seizures, memory loss, and new or worsened dementia have all been linked to previous SARS-CoV-2 infections. In some cases, these longer-term problems occur even in patients with relatively mild COVID-19.

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Topic: cognitive issuesView all posts for the topic: cognitive issues

Researchers discover that COVID-19 can cause brain cells to fuse

Published June 7, 2023

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Published by: Medical Xpress
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By University of Queensland

Researchers at The University of Queensland have discovered that SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses can cause brain cells to fuse, initiating malfunctions that lead to chronic neurological symptoms.

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Topic: cognitive issuesView all posts for the topic: cognitive issues

Could fused neurons explain COVID-19’s ‘brain fog’?

Published June 7, 2023

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Published by: Science
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By Claudia López Lloreda

Researchers have demonstrated that a SARS-CoV-2 infection can induce brain cells to fuse together, with severe impacts on the functioning of neurons. Neurons may fuse together with other neurons or glia, and larger multicellular syncytia may be formed. The fusion of neurons may be one of the causes of the cognitive issues associated with COVID-19.

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Topic: dementiaView all posts for the topic: dementia

Rapid Progression of Dementia Following COVID-19

Published May 3, 2023

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Published by: National Institutes of Health
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In a new study, researchers examined the cognitive impacts of COVID-19 on people with dementia. They found that having COVID-19 rapidly accelerated the structural and functional brain deterioration of patients with dementia, regardless of the type of dementia being experienced.

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Topic: dementiaView all posts for the topic: dementia

Covid infection could speed up progression of dementia, new study finds

Published April 5, 2023

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Published by: Express
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By Fiona Callingham

A new study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports, has discovered that infection with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid) has a significant impact on cognitive function in patients with pre-existing dementia.

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Topic: pandemic mythsView all posts for the topic: pandemic myths

Ten COVID Facts Health Officials Dangerously Downplay

Published December 21, 2022

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Published by: The Tyee
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By Andrew Nikiforuk

Do not listen to powers that be who pretend that getting infected with COVID multiple times is now no big deal. They’re asking you to lower your guard for a nasty virus that can invade the brain, disregulate the immune system and damage the vascular system.

This strategy has led to predictable results — more direct deaths, more excess deaths, more disease and some 1.4 million Canadians reporting some form of long COVID over the last two years.

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Topic: neurodegenerative diseasesView all posts for the topic: neurodegenerative diseases

COVID-19 positive patients at higher risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders, new study shows

Published June 25, 2022

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Published by: EurekAlert! / AAAS
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COVID-19 positive outpatients are at an increased risk of neurodegenerative disorders compared with individuals who tested negative for the virus, a new study presented today at the 8th European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress has shown.

The study, which analysed the health records of over half of the Danish population, found that those who had tested positive for COVID-19 were at an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and ischaemic stroke.

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