Cognito Therapeutics, a Phase 3-ready neuro-physiology company developing a new class of disease-modifying digital therapeutics to treat neurodegenerative disorders, presented key findings from clinical research involving its lead digital therapeutic candidate at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® 2021 (AAIC®), virtual and in-person in Denver, Colorado, July 26-30, 2021.
While efforts to develop Alzheimer’s medications have so far borne little fruit, new research highlights the therapeutic promise of two non-drug tools: light and sound.
Playing a flashing white light and a trilling sound reversed signs of Alzheimer’s in mice. Researchers are now trying it in humans
Researchers have previously shown that a type of light therapy could potentially reduce toxic proteins that build up in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease. Now, the same team has identified what happens at cell level to achieve this result.
Population aging – the massive demographic shift – is changing lives and institutions across the world. Globally, the number of people age 60 and over is projected to leap from about 900 million to more than 2 billion by mid-century. The future of aging will be different for individuals, families, businesses, communities, and societies. Now is the time to plan, and to act.
Kai Stinchcombe’s start-up True Link Financial is on a mission to protect seniors. After seeing his grandmother with dementia struggle to manage money, Stinchcombe knew he wanted to help seniors prevent being scammed. So the company developed a highly customizable prepaid debit card for older adults, which family members can use to block certain purchases or limit spending.
Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. In most people with Alzheimer’s, symptoms first appear later in life. Estimates vary, but experts suggest that more than 6 million Americans, most of them age 65 or older, may have dementia caused by Alzheimer’s.
Observational studies over the past few years seem to be repeating the same message: regular physical activity, a good diet, taking on new mental challenges, and maintaining strong social connections may each help you hang on to your mind. The latest and most impressive study goes a step further by suggesting that if you follow all four practices, you may even reverse lost mental capacity.
Although people ages 50 and older use smartphones, wearable technology, and smart home technology at about the same pace as younger adults, device preferences vary among people of different ages. Those under 50 are losing interest in tablets, for example, but those over 50 continue to buy them, with more than half owning one.
Acting now on dementia prevention, intervention, and care will vastly improve living and dying for individuals with dementia and their families, and in doing so, will transform the future for society.
Sleep is a hot commodity nowadays. More than 60 percent of Americans report their sleep needs aren’t being met during a typical week. Illness, psychological distress, and medication can all interfere with adequate sleep. Add to that the normal physiological changes of the aging brain, and it’s no wonder that older adults commonly complain of insomnia.
Alzheimer disease is the most common cause of dementia and the fifth leading cause of death in adults older than 65 years. The estimated total healthcare costs for the treatment of Alzheimer disease in 2020 is estimated at $305 billion, with the cost expected to increase to more than $1 trillion as the population ages.
The longstanding cholinergic hypothesis proposes that the cholinergic system — a network of neurons which passes information through a chemical messenger known as acetylcholine — becomes dysfunctional in Alzheimer’s disease.
