What we learned about Alzheimer's disease in 2024

SALT LAKE CITY — After years of stagnation in the search for a cure for Alzheimer's — or at least breakthroughs — 2024 brought several exciting findings and confirmed others regarding the devastating dementing disease.

The Alzheimer's Association reports that the disease begins as many as two decades before symptoms develop. Physically, the disease includes accumulation of the protein beta-amyloid as well as twisted strands of the protein tau. The two factors are key indicators of Alzheimer's, which impacts an estimated 6.9 million people in the U.S.

"The neurons die and other damage includes inflammation and atrophy of brain tissue," the association reported in its Alzheimer's facts and figures release.

Here are a few things studies have shown us about Alzheimer's disease:

• Blood tests could speed recruiting for research, reduce wait times and help the search for treatments. According to findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a blood test is about 90% accurate in identifying Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, in people who have cognitive symptoms and visited a specialized clinic or primary care doctor. The research found primary care physicians were about 63% accurate and the specialists were 73% accurate in making the diagnosis without a blood test. The Alzheimer's Association noted in a news release that "highly accurate" blood tests are moving closer to availability in doctors' offices.
• Taking care of hearing loss slows the risk of Alzheimer's. The association reports that about 65% of adults over 60 have hearing loss. And that greatly increases risk of neurocognitive decline. Those who use hearing aids and hearing counseling for three years cut risk of cognitive decline by nearly half, the group reported.
• You can reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment by 19% just by managing your blood pressure, based on research at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
• Constipation may increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease, the association reported. An Alzheimer's Association release reported that "bowel movement frequency of every three days or more was associated with 73% higher odds of subjective cognitive decline and long-term health issues like inflammation, hormonal imbalances and anxiety/depression."
• Older adults who volunteer have better cognitive function, per a study by University of California-Davis that said volunteering was linked to better baseline score on tests of executive function and verbal episodic memory. The study showed 16% lower odds of developing dementia. Volunteering was called "mentally and emotionally rewarding."
• Wildfire smoke is worse for the brain than you think. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, who studied those 60 and older for 10 years, found that smoke is "significantly more hazardous for our cognitive health than other forms of fine particulate matter air pollution," per an association release. It may be so because it is produced at higher temperatures, contains more toxic chemicals and produces super-small particulate matter, which is considered very bad for brain health, the release said.

Related topics