On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Treating the mind could literally start with therapies for the heart. As many as 20 percent of the 6.8 million Americans with dementia actually suffer from a combination of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, which results when high cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking or other factors damage blood vessels in the brain. Kenneth Langa of the University of Michigan Health System and his colleagues reviewed all medical studies linked to this mixed dementia from the past 10 years. They found that memory-preserving anti-Alzheimer's drugs led to at best a slight improvement or slowed decline of cognitive function. On the other hand, heart-protecting therapies had significant benefits for mixed dementia. They conclude that treatments against cardiovascular risk factors, especially high blood pressure, may be more effective than expensive memory drugs in protecting brain function. The report appears in the December 15 Journal of the American Medical Association.
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber
