Improving cognition to improve gait in Alzheimer's disease: A complementary approach to reduce fall risk in the cognitively impaired

Abstract

paired t test. Results: Participants randomized to NF improved statistically within 3 months in cognitive performance as ascertained by Clox-1 and the Dementia Rating Scale, and their caregivers reported improvement in Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Participants receiving NF either continued to improve or maintained their baseline performance during open-label extensions.Participants randomized to placebo did not improve, but during open-label extensions displayed similar improvement within 3 months to that of participants initially randomized to NF. Caregivers reported no change in Activities of Daily Living for either cohort. Conclusions: These findings confirm and extend prior phase I studies in which NF improved or maintained cognitive performance and behavioral symptoms for individuals with AD, and improved cognitive performance for community-dwelling individuals without dementia.Studies with transgenic mice demonstrated that supplementation with NF reduced PS-1 expression, beta and gamma secretase activity, intracellular Abeta, extracellular Abeta deposits, phospho-tau, homocysteine and oxidative damage, and increased levels of acetylcholine and glutathione. While these biochemical and histological parameters have not been investigated in clinical studies, the comprehensive impact of NF on AD-related neuropathology in preclinical findings, (in particular diminishing Abeta burden), support the possibility that consumption of NF prior to cognitive decline may delay the onset as well as progression of dementia.