Six common drugs and vaccines that may reduce your dementia risk

MindSite News honored by two shared Lisagor Awards 

Today we’re celebrating two Peter Lisagor Awards for exemplary journalism given to a team led by MindSite News Chicago bureau chief Josh McGhee and including the Invisible Institute, South Side Weekly and Professor Kari Lydersen and student journalists at Northwestern University’s Medill Investigative Lab-Chicago, for the co-published series “Policing the Vulnerable.”

We were honored by the judges’ comments. About the team’s award for the best political and government reporting, the judge wrote: “This is one of the most intelligent uses of records requests and police body camera footage I have ever seen. A great, comprehensive and vital report.”

Of the award for best health report, the judges had this to say: “These stories examine an alarming problem probably little known to readers — that of forced hospitalizations. The writers use powerful anecdotes — some culminating in tragedy or trauma — expert interviews and statistics where available. They also examine what happens when skilled crisis response teams are called infrequently, too late or never. An excellent job of reporting and writing.”

The series also recently won an award for best reporting on disability issues. Kudos to one and all!

Six common drugs and vaccines that may reduce your dementia risk

Last year, new research looking at health data from more than 130 million people found that antibiotics, antivirals, vaccinations and anti-inflammatory medications are all associated with a reduced risk of dementia. 

The systematic review study, led by researchers from the University of Cambridge and NIH PenARC at the University of Exeter, identified several drugs already on the market that could potentially be repurposed as treatments for dementia.

You may be wondering at this point, as I did, where the researchers got their large data pool. The team looked at 14 studies that used large administrative and medical records, which gave them data from more than 130 million individuals and 1 million dementia cases.

Although they weren’t able to drill down to individual drugs due to inconsistencies in the datasets, they pinpointed several classes of drugs that looked promising, and also identified several that were associated with greater risk.

Among other things, antibiotics, antivirals and vaccines were all associated with reduced risk of dementia. This, in turn, appears to support the hypothesis that some dementia cases may be triggered by infections, whether viral or bacterial. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen were also associated with a lower risk of dementia.

This spring, a New York Times story by science reporter Dana G. Smith looked at six common medications in these categories that showed promise in lowering dementia. Many studies have shown that older adults who get flu shots have a lower risk of developing dementia than those who don’t – according to one study, a 40% lower risk. 

Scientists are also excited about the shingles vaccine, an older version of which is associated with a 20% lower risk of developing dementia. (The recombinant shingles vaccine, known as Shingrix, appears to offer still more protection.)

“I think at this stage, it’s a really compelling body of evidence of a cause and effect relationship,” said Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer, an epidemiologist at the Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience at Stanford University. 

Researchers have also found, through systematic reviews and meta-analyses, that statins, used for treating high cholesterol, and blood pressure medications were linked to a roughly 10% to 15% lower risk of dementia (the latter only in people with high blood pressure). Findings from randomized clinical trials evaluating the drugs have been mixed, however.

Researchers are also looking at the relationship between anti-inflammatory drugs and dementia risk, especially since inflammation has a known link to dementia.

However, these studies have also been mixed, and heavy use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen has been linked to higher risk among the elderly. 

Some traditional diabetes drugs, such as metformin, appear to slightly lower dementia (although diabetes itself is associated with higher risk).

A few observational studies found that people with diabetes taking the newer GLP-1 medications had a significantly lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s, even up to 45%. However, a clinical trial of Ozempic, one such drug, found it didn’t stop cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer’s, and scientists say more research is needed.

In other news…

Dance and its health benefits. The dance community may have been ahead of scientists in seeing the virtues of dance, but more studies are underscoring its physical, psychological and cognitive benefits. Not only does dance activate multiple brain regions, researchers have found, it improves memory, focus and spatial awareness and improves emotional wellbeing by releasing endorphins and reducing stress. 

Michaela Haas writes about the power of dance in Reasons to Be Cheerful, visiting the dance studio of David Leventhal, who danced for 15 years with the Mark Morris troupe in New York City and has spent the last 25 years leading Dance for PD, a program for people with Parkinson’s disease supported by the Brooklyn Parkinson Group. 

Not only do participants “routinely report better balance, more confidence waking and a renewed sense of self,” they find joy in the process. “I sometimes cannot walk, but I can dance,” participant Cyndy Gilbertson said in the documentary Capturing Grace. “The music leads, in other words; it’s not my brain telling me to take a step.”

At long last, Alligator Alcatraz is shutting down. The horrifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention camp in the Florida Everglades is scheduled to shut down in June according to the New York Times, reportedly after the Department of Homeland Security determined it was too expensive.

This is a place where immigrant detainees have been subjected to what Amnesty International and other investigators described as “cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment,” including overflowing toilets with fecal matter seeping into sleeping areas, limited or no access to showers, exposure to insects without any protective measures and lights turned on 24 hours a day. 

The closing has followed a barrage of lawsuits on the ill treatment of detainees, impact on the environment and lack of due process. Democratic Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida’s 10th district, who described the facility as “inhumane” and an “internment camp,” was pleased: “Now, after wasting millions in taxpayer dollars and facing ongoing environmental lawsuits, this failed experiment in human suffering is finally closing.”