A narrative review on the effects of a ketogenic diet on patients with Alzheimer's disease

<abstract> <p>Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been very difficult to prevent and cure using the medicine available today. However, there has been some hope with using a ketogenic diet (KD) to reduce the cognitive and quality of life decline experienced by patients with AD. In this review, the authors discuss the research done on the effect of a KD on AD to provide some potential avenues for future research and to determine a KD that can be best adopted by patients. The authors also go over the effects of KD's and low-carbohydrate diets (LCDs) on the cognitive function of healthy patients and on patients without AD to determine the similar and dissimilar effects of the diets. The authors found that the KD was able to improve the cognitive abilities and quality of life of patients ranging from mild to severe AD. Several types of memory were improved as a result of the diets. Further research needs to be conducted to determine the cause behind these improvements. However, the several studies that were done were mostly in agreement that once ketosis was reached, cognitive improvements were observed in patients ranging from mild to severe AD or mild to moderate cognitive impairment. Through the use of a KD, potential mechanisms can be found to reduce the cognitive decline of patients with AD, and potentially even prevent the damaging effects of cognitive decline from AD altogether.</p> </abstract>

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Dance for People with Alzheimer’s Disease: A Systematic Review

Current Alzheimer Research ◽

10.2174/1567205016666190725151614 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (10) ◽

pp. 919-933 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alicia Ruiz-Muelle ◽

María Mar López-Rodríguez

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Clinical Trials ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Dance Therapy ◽

Randomized Clinical Trials ◽

Future Research

Background: In recent years, several reviews have addressed the effectiveness of dance therapy in dementia, healthy older adults, or the elderly in general. However, reviews regarding the effect of this therapy exclusively on patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease have not been found. Objective: The purpose of this study is to review the available literature describing clinical trials which explore the effects of dancing on psychological and physical outcomes, functionality, cognitive function, and quality of life in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, this review aims to assess the quality of studies that perform dance therapy interventions in these patients. Methods: This study is a systematic review of randomized and non-randomized clinical trials regarding the effect of intervention including a dancing activity in people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Results: In total, the evidence for this review rests on 12 studies with a total of 349 participants. The findings of this mini-review confirm the positive effect of dance therapy on physical and cognitive function, functionality, psychological outcomes, and quality of life in people with Alzheimer's disease. Conclusion: Most of the studies implementing dance as part of the therapeutic treatment has shown to improve or slow the worsening in the quality of life of patients with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers. Future research focused on these patients should use a more exhaustive methodology and make a more detailed description of these kind of interventions.

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Treatment of canine cognitive dysfunction with novel butyrylcholinesterase inhibitor

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-97404-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Maja Zakošek Pipan ◽

Sonja Prpar Mihevc ◽

Malan Štrbenc ◽

Urban Košak ◽

Ilija German Ilić ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Cognitive Dysfunction ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Cognitive Status ◽

Moderate Cognitive Impairment ◽

Interesting Candidate ◽

Butyrylcholinesterase Inhibitor

AbstractCanine cognitive dysfunction (CCD) is common in aged dogs and has many similarities with Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately, like Alzheimer’s disease, CCD cannot be cured. In the present study, we treated dogs with CCD with our newly developed and characterized butyrylcholinesterase inhibitor (BChEi). Seventeen dogs were randomized into two groups (treated with BChEi and untreated) and followed for 6 months at regular check-ups. The dogs’ cognitive status was determined by a Canine Dementia Scale (CADES) questionnaire and two cognitive tests. In dogs with moderate cognitive impairment, treatment caused significant improvement in the clinical rating of cognitive abilities and the performance-based tests of cognitive functioning when compared to the untreated group (p < 0.001). Dogs treated with BChEi showed markedly improved cognitive function with enhanced quality of life. No side effects were observed in the treated dogs with moderate cognitive impairment. According to the results of this preliminary study, there is an indication that novel BChEi may be a promising drug for the treatment of CCD in dogs and may be an interesting candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease in humans. However, further clinical studies are needed to confirm this.

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New Ways to Approach Manifestations of Alzheimer's Disease and to Reduce Caregiver Burden

International Psychogeriatrics ◽

10.1017/s1041610296003158 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 8 (S1) ◽

pp. 91-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jiska Cohen-Mansfield

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Caregiver Burden ◽

Routine Activities ◽

Affected Person ◽

And Behavior ◽

Financial Liability

Alzheimer's disease (AD) results in severe cognitive decline, deterioration in the ability to perform routine activities such as bathing or walking, and changes in affect and behavior. It severely diminishes the quality of life of the affected person and presents a colossal burden to caregivers and a tremendous financial liability to society. The impetus for research relates specifically to these burdens by testing new ways to approach the manifestations of the disease and effectively communicating these ways to caregivers.

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Treatment of Canine Cognitive Dysfunction With Novel Butyrylcholinesterase Inhibitor

10.21203/rs.3.rs-118291/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Maja Zakošek Pipan ◽

Sonja Prpar Mihevc ◽

Malan Štrbenc ◽

Urban Košak ◽

Ilija German Ilić ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Cognitive Dysfunction ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Cognitive Status ◽

Promising Candidate ◽

Moderate Cognitive Impairment ◽

Butyrylcholinesterase Inhibitor

Abstract Background: Canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD) is common in aged dogs and has many similarities with Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately, like Alzheimer’s disease, CCD cannot be cured. Methods: In the present study, we treated dogs with CCD with our newly developed and characterized butyrylcholinesterase inhibitor (BChEi). Seventeen dogs were randomized into two groups (treated with BChEi and untreated) and followed for 6 months at regular check-ups. The dogs’ cognitive status was determined by a CADES questionnaire and two cognitive tests. Results: In dogs with moderate cognitive impairment, treatment caused significant improvement in the clinical rating of cognitive abilities and the performance-based tests of cognitive functioning when compared to the untreated group (p < 0.001). Dogs treated with BChEi showed markedly improved cognitive function with enhanced quality of life. No side effects were observed in the treated dogs with moderate cognitive impairment. Conclusions: Novel BChE inhibitor is a promising candidate for treating CCD, and might be an interesting canidate drug for the treatment of Alzheimer disease in humans.

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Understanding Social Behaviour in a Health-Care Facility from Localization Data: A Case Study

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21062147 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (6) ◽

pp. 2147

Author(s):

Gloria Bellini ◽

Marco Cipriano ◽

Sara Comai ◽

Nicola De Angeli ◽

Jacopo Gargano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Social Behaviour ◽

Care Facility ◽

Health Care Facility ◽

The Social ◽

Localization Data

The most frequent form of dementia is Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), a severe progressive neurological pathology in which the main cognitive functions of an individual are compromised. Recent studies have found that loneliness and living in isolation are likely to cause an acceleration in the cognitive decline associated with AD. Therefore, understanding social behaviours of AD patients is crucial to promote sociability, thus delaying cognitive decline, preserving independence, and providing a good quality of life. In this work, we analyze the localization data of AD patients living in assisted care homes to gather insights about the social dynamics among them. We use localization data collected by a system based on iBeacon technology comprising two components: a network of antennas scattered throughout the facility and a Bluetooth bracelet worn by the patients. We redefine the Relational Index to capture wandering and casual encounters, these being common phenomena among AD patients, and use the notions of Relational and Popularity Indexes to model, visualize and understand the social behaviour of AD patients. We leverage the data analyses to build predictive tools and applications to enhance social activities scheduling and sociability monitoring and promotion, with the ultimate aim of providing patients with a better quality of life. Predictions and visualizations act as a support for caregivers in activity planning to maximize treatment effects and, hence, slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. We present the Community Behaviour Prediction Table (CBPT), a tool to visualize the estimated values of sociability among patients and popularity of places within a facility. Finally, we show the potential of the system by analyzing the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown time-frame between February and June 2020 in a specific facility. Through the use of the indexes, we evaluate the effects of the pandemic on the behaviour of the residents, observing no particular impact on sociability even though social distancing was put in place.

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