The impact of SARS-CoV-2 in dementia across Latin America: A call for an urgent regional plan and coordinated response

The SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic will disproportionately impact countries with weak economies and vulnerable populations including people with dementia. Latin American and Caribbean countries (LACs) are burdened with unstable economic development, fragile health systems, massive economic disparities, and a high prevalence of dementia. Here, we underscore the selective impact of SARS-CoV-2 on dementia among LACs, the specific strain on health systems devoted to dementia, and the subsequent effect of increasing inequalities among those with dementia in the region. Implementation of best practices for mitigation and containment faces particularly steep challenges in LACs. Based upon our consideration of these issues, we urgently call for a coordinated action plan, including the development of inexpensive mass testing and multilevel regional coordination for dementia care and related actions. Brain health diplomacy should lead to a shared and escalated response across the region, coordinating leadership, and triangulation between governments and international multilateral networks

Dementia research in the Caribbean Hispanic islands: Present findings and future trends

During the last decade, the Caribbean Hispanic islands experienced accelerated demographic aging, representing the fastest aging region within Latin America. Age-related non-communicable diseases, including dementia, are now reported at high prevalence. The Caribbean islands share similar genetic ancestry, culture, migration patterns, and risk profiles, providing a unique setting to understand dementia in the Caribbean-Hispanics. This perspective article aimed to describe the impact of dementia in the Caribbean, at a local and regional level and reflect on research strategies to address dementia. We report on 10/66 project findings, described research projects and regional plans for the region. According to our results, the prevalence of dementia in the Caribbean is the highest in Latin America, with 11.7% in Dominican Republic, 11.6% in Puerto Rico, and 10.8% in Cuba. Preliminary data from new waves of the 10/66 study shows increasing numbers of dementia cases. Furthermore, dementia is expected to be one of the most serious medical and social issues confronted by Caribbean health systems. However, there is a scarcity of knowledge, awareness, and health services to deal with this public health crisis. In light of the new evidence, local and regional strategies are underway to better understand dementia trends for the region and develop policies aimed to decrease the impact of dementia. Implementation of our national plans is critical to deal with an aging population with high dementia rates. Current recommendations include emphasizing public health prevention campaigns to address modifiable risk factors and expand support to caregiver and family interventions

The impact of COVID-19 on the well-being and cognition of older adults living in the United States and Latin America

BACKGROUND: In the COVID-19 pandemic, older adults from vulnerable ethnoracial groups are at high risk of infection, hospitalization, and death. We aimed to explore the pandemic\u27s impact on the well-being and cognition of older adults living in the United States (US), Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru. METHODS: 1,608 (646 White, 852 Latino, 77 Black, 33 Asian; 72% female) individuals from the US and four Latin American countries aged ≥ 55 years completed an online survey regarding well-being and cognition during the pandemic between May and September 2020. Outcome variables (pandemic impact, discrimination, loneliness, purpose of life, subjective cognitive concerns) were compared across four US ethnoracial groups and older adults living in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru. FINDINGS: Mean age for all participants was 66.7 ( INTERPRETATION: The COVID-19 pandemic has differentially impacted the well-being of older ethnically diverse individuals in the US and Latin America. Future studies should examine how mediators like income and coping skills modify the pandemic\u27s impact. FUNDING: Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry

Risk factors for incident dementia among older Cubans

Introduction: Little is known about risk factors of dementia in Latin American countries. We aimed to identify socio-demographic, health and lifestyle risk factors of incident dementia in Cuban older adults. Methods: Data were from 1,846 participants in the Cuban cohort of the 10/66 Dementia Research Group. Participants completed questionnaires, health examinations, and cognitive tests at baseline (2003-2006) and 4.5 years later (2007-2010). Associations between risk factors (baseline) and incident dementia (follow-up) were examined using logistic regression. Results: Just over 9% of participants developed dementia. Overall, older age and low physical activity were associated with incident dementia. In those 65-74 years of age, depression, stroke and low physical activity were associated with incident dementia. In those ≥75 years of age, low physical activity, never eating fish, and smoking were associated with incident dementia. Conclusions: Modifiable lifestyle factors play an important role in developing dementia in Cuban older adults. This knowledge opens up opportunities for preventive strategies

The informed road map to prevention of Alzheimer disease: A call to arms

Alzheimer disease (AD) prevention trials hold the promise to delay or prevent cognitive decline and dementia onset by intervening before significant neuronal damage occurs. In recent years, the first AD prevention trials have launched and are yielding important findings on the biology of targeting asymptomatic AD pathology. However, there are limitations that impact the design of these prevention trials, including the translation of animal models that recapitulate key stages and multiple pathological aspects of the human disease, missing target validation in asymptomatic disease, uncertain causality of the association of pathophysiologic changes with cognitive and clinical symptoms, and limited biomarker validation for novel targets. The field is accelerating advancements in key areas including the development of highly specific and quantitative biomarker measures for AD pathology, increasing our understanding of the course and relationship of amyloid and tau pathology in asymptomatic through symptomatic stages, and the development of powerful interventions that can slow or reverse AD amyloid pathology. We review the current status of prevention trials and propose key areas of needed research as a call to basic and translational scientists to accelerate AD prevention. Specifically, we review (1) sporadic and dominantly inherited primary and secondary AD prevention trials, (2) proposed targets, mechanisms, and drugs including the amyloid, tau, and inflammatory pathways and combination treatments, (3) the need for more appropriate prevention animal models and experiments, and (4) biomarkers and outcome measures needed to design human asymptomatic prevention trials. We conclude with actions needed to effectively move prevention targets and trials forward

Exploring the natural history of intrinsic capacity impairments: Longitudinal patterns in the 10/66 study

BACKGROUND: intrinsic capacity (IC) is a construct encompassing people\u27s physical and mental abilities. There is an implicit link amongst IC domains: cognition, locomotion, nutrition, sensory and psychological. However, little is known about the integration of the domains. OBJECTIVES: to investigate patterns in the presentation and evolution of IC domain impairments in low-and-middle-income countries and if such patterns were associated with adverse outcomes. METHODS: secondary analyses of the first two waves of the 10/66 study (population-based surveys conducted in eight urban and four rural catchment areas in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico and China). We applied latent transition analysis on IC to find latent statuses (latent clusters) of IC domain impairments. We evaluated the longitudinal association of the latent statuses with the risk of frailty, disability and mortality, and tested concurrent and predictive validity. RESULTS: amongst 14,923 participants included, the four latent statuses were: high IC (43%), low deterioration with impaired locomotion (17%), high deterioration without cognitive impairment (22%), and high deterioration with cognitive impairment (18%). A total of 61% of the participants worsened over time, 35% were stable, and 3% improved to a healthier status.Participants with deteriorated IC had a significantly higher risk of frailty, disability and dementia than people with high IC. There was strong concurrent and predictive validity. (Mortality Hazard Ratio = 4.60, 95%CI 4.16; 5.09; Harrel\u27s C = 0.73 (95%CI 0.72;0.74)). CONCLUSIONS: half of the study population had high IC at baseline, and most participants followed a worsening trend. Four qualitatively different IC statuses or statuses were characterised by low and high levels of deterioration associated with their risk of disability and frailty. Locomotion and cognition impairments showed other trends than psychological and nutrition domains across the latent statuses

Associations between education and dementia in the Caribbean and the United States: An international comparison

Introduction: Despite high dementia prevalence in Hispanic populations globally, especially Caribbean Hispanics, no study has comparatively examined the association between education and dementia among Hispanics living in the Caribbean Islands and older adults in the United States. Methods: We used data on 6107 respondents aged 65 and older in the baseline wave of the population-based and harmonized 10/66 survey from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, collected between 2003 and 2008, and 11,032 respondents aged 65 and older from the U.S.-based Health and Retirement Study data in 2014, a total of 17,139 individuals. We estimated multivariable logistic regression models examining the association between education and dementia, adjusted for age, income, assets, and occupation. The models were estimated separately for the Caribbean population (pooled and by setting) and the U.S. population by race/ethnicity (Hispanic, Black, and White), followed by pooled models across all populations. Results: In the Caribbean population, the relative risk of dementia among low versus high educated adults was 1.45 for women (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17, 1.74) and 1.92 (95% CI 1.35, 2.49) for men, smaller compared to those in the United States, especially among non-Hispanic Whites (women: 2.78, 95% CI 1.94, 3.61; men: 5.98, 95% CI 4.02, 7.95). Discussion: The differential associations between education and dementia across the Caribbean and US settings may be explained by greater disparities in social conditions in the United States compared to the Caribbean, such as access to health care, healthy behaviors, and social stressors, which serve as potentially important mediators

Minimal change prion retinopathy: Morphometric comparison of retinal and brain prion deposits in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) is the most commonly diagnosed human prion disease caused by the abnormal misfolding of the \u27cellular\u27 prion protein (Pr