Medical Bulletin 19/December/2022

Dementia is a growing global public health concern currently affecting 50 million people and is expected to rise dramatically to more than 150 million cases worldwide by 2050. Obesity, commonly measured by body mass index (BMI), continues to be a global epidemic and earlier studies suggested that obesity at midlife may lead to increased risk for dementia. But the association between BMI and the risk of dementia remains unclear.

Reference :

Rhoda Au et al, BMI decline patterns and relation to dementia risk across four decades of follow-up in the Framingham Study, BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE,10.1002/alz.12839

Alzheimer's disease could be treated by Brain stimulation

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a form of therapy that is already approved in Germany for treating neurological movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease and dystonia, and neuropsychiatric diseases such as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Very thin electrodes are implanted in the patient's brain and constantly deliver mild electrical pulses to a specific region. The electrodes remain in the brain permanently and are connected via wires that run under the skin to a pacemaker-like device implanted in the chest area. The device is used to adjust the strength and frequency of the electrical stimulation.

Reference:

*Ríos AS et al. Optimal Stimulation Sites and Networks for Deep Brain Stimulation of the Fornix in Alzheimer's Disease. Nat Comm 2022 Dec 14. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-34510-3