Dementia is a growing burden for society, propelling patients and caregivers to increasingly use the health-care system. A year ago, local researchers, health-care professionals, and community advocates came together to form the Indianapolis Discovery Network for Dementia (IDND) to enhance dementia care in the nation’s twelfth largest city.

Tooth loss may predict the development of dementia late in life, according to research published in the October issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA).

Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville have discovered how loss of a gene can lead to accumulation of toxic proteins in the brain, resulting in a common dementia, and they say this mechanism may be important in a number of age-related neurological disorders.

A remarkable change takes place in the brains of tiny songbirds every year, and some day the mechanism controlling that change may help researchers develop treatments for age-related degenerative diseases of the brain such as Parkinson’s and dementia.

HIV patients with declining platelet counts appear to be at increased risk for HIV–associated dementia, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Researchers have found surprising evidence that an antidepressant (citalopram) may perform as well as a commonly-prescribed antipsychotic (risperidone) in the alleviation of severe agitation and psychotic symptoms of dementia.

People who smoke are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or dementia than nonsmokers or those who smoked in the past, according to a study published in the September 4, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Women who have their ovaries removed before menopause are at an increased risk of developing memory problems or dementia and movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, according to two studies published August 29, 2007, in the online edition of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

In the largest study of its kind, Mayo Clinic researchers have shown that women who had one or both ovaries removed before menopause faced an increased long-term risk of cognitive impairment or dementia, compared to women who retained their ovaries.

High stress levels may contribute to memory loss among people at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. The е4 variant of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene contributes to the risk for memory loss related to Alzheimer’s disease. Similarly, high circulating levels of cortisol, associated with high stress levels, also impairs memory.

Women who have dementia start losing weight at least 10 years before the disease is diagnosed, according to a study published in the August 21, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

New evidence reported in the August issue of Cell Stem Cell, a publication of Cell Press, offers a novel perspective on how the HIV/AIDS virus leads to learning and memory deficits, a condition known as HIV-associated dementia.