Speaking Second Language Could Delay Alzheimer's, Memory Loss

Speaking 2nd Language Could Delay Alzheimer's, Memory Loss
VOA - Carol Pearson | Washington, D.C. March 15, 2011

Photo: VOA
VOA journalists Sandra LeMaire (left) and Zulima Palacio might be better equipped to fight off the memory loss associated with aging because they speak more than one language.

If you speak more than one language, you have a better chance of staving off memory loss and, possibly, the mental and physical decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease. New research shows that even learning a new language later in life can delay the onset of dementia.

At the Voice of America, there are many people who speak one, two, three or more languages. Sandra LeMaire, on VOA's Web Desk, speaks four languages fluently.

"My first language is French," says LeMaire. "I was born in Haiti, so I grew up speaking French, and then at the age of five, we moved to New York City."

In addition to French, LeMaire's family also speaks Creole, English and Spanish - and she learned those languages as well.

Producer Zulima Palacio's native language is Spanish. She started speaking English in her early twenties. Her reporter's notebook reflects both languages.

"When I go, for example to a press conference, you will have to be bilingual to be able to read my notes. My brain instinctively takes notes in both languages," she says. "If it's shorter in English, I take it in Engilsh. If it is shorter in Spanish, I take it in Spanish."

A new study indicates that as they get older, Palacio and LeMaire will have advantages over their colleagues who speak only one language. People who speak more than one language are better able to stave off the normal cognitive decline that comes with aging. And if they develop Alzheimer's or another form of dementia, their brains will continue to function better than those of their monolingual friends. Those conclusions come from a recent study of 450 Alzheimer's patients.

Psychologist Ellen Bialystok, of York University in Toronto, was the lead researcher. "We've been able to show that people who spend most of their lives actively using two languages are able to postpone the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease by four or five years beyond what we see in comparable monolingual patients."

According to Bialystok, the physical changes that Alzheimer's causes in the brain could be the same for both a monolingual patient and a bilingual patient. But the bilingual patient does not show the outward symptoms of the disease until much later on. Her research is now focusing on the structural differences in bilingual brains.

"It's possible that the bilingual mind is just better connected and better able to cope when there's a disease like Alzheimer's because it has a more robust set of mental activities, mental components."

Another study shows even more advantage for someone who speaks multiple languages - such as VOA correspondent Ravi Khana, who learned five languages as a child.

"In India, your neighbor is a Bangla, your next door neighbor maybe is a Punjabi and your other neighbor may be somebody else," says Khana. "Kids play together and they talk in their languages, and so you are exposed right away when you come out of your house to other languages."

In a study from Luxembourg, people who spoke three or more languages were less likely to have memory problems as they aged, compared to those who were bilingual. And even if you only speak one language now, Bialystok says learning a new language can help stave off the effects of dementia, even if you never speak it like a native.


Speaking 2nd Language Could Delay Alzheimer's, Memory Loss
Article and video from VOA

New Test - Alzheimer's Early Detection

New Tests Provide Hope for Alzheimer's Early Detection
Carol Pearson - Washington  - 22 January 2011 - VOA 


 Photo: VOA Photo C. Pearson
Dr. Madhav Thambisetty of the National Institute of Aging spearheaded a study that uses a blood test to detect levels of a protein in the brain that is thought to be a hallmark of Alzheimer's


For the past 10 years, researchers have been looking for ways to slow down the progression of Alzheimer's disease, a degenerative neurological illness that ultimately wipes away a person's ability to recognize family members and perform simple functions such as getting dressed or even swallowing. But now, there's hope that doctors will be able to catch the disease earlier and even stop its progression.


Doctors know that people's brains start changing 10 to 15 years before they show symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Since there is no cure, at least not yet, researchers have been looking for inexpensive ways to test people early on so they can eventually delay - or even someday stop - the progression of the disease.


Dr. Madhav Thambisetty is with the National Institute of Aging which is part of the National Institutes of Health.


"We're looking for blood proteins that might be indicative of the extent of brain damage that we know occurs very early on in patients with Alzheimer's disease," said Thambisetty.


Dr. Thambisetty spearheaded a study that uses a blood test to detect the levels of a particular protein in the brain, beta-amyloid, that is thought to be a hallmark of the disease. Beta-amyloid is also present in spinal fluid of people with Alzheimer's.


The common ways to detect Alzheimer's disease are through brain scans using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or PET (positron emission tomography) scanning devices. These tests are expensive. Another method, taking a sample of a patient's spinal fluid, is invasive. A blood test would be cheap and could be given widely to seemingly healthy people before the symptoms of Alzheimer's set in.


In this particular study, researchers analyzed blood samples from 57 older volunteers who were symptom-free. They also measured the amyloid protein using PET scans. They found that those with high blood levels of the protein had significantly greater amounts of it in the part of the brain that controls memory.


"Recent studies suggest that the deposition of amyloid might happen several years before symptoms of memory impairment begin in somebody with Alzheimer's disease," added Thambisetty.

Another test involves a new type of brain scan that could detect protein in the brain. The FDA recently held hearings on a dye that attaches to the protein and can be seen on PET scans. While PET scans are nothing new, the special radioactive dye is.


People who were near the end of their lives agreed to have both the brain scan, and after they died, an autopsy. The researchers reported that in almost all of the people who died during the study, the scan results matched those of the autopsies.


Dr. Thambisetty was part of an independent advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration. The panel recommended that the FDA give conditional approval for the drug.


Dr. Neil Buckholtz is chief of the dementias of aging branch of the National Institute on Aging. He says early intervention is key, as is learning how the brain changes before dementia sets in.


"Our hope is we will be able to identify the earliest changes that occur in the brain, how these changes progress over time, so that we'll be able to target those for drug intervention, and again, eventually we'll be able to slow the progression and, hopefully, stop the disease in its tracks," said Buckholtz.


There's a sense of urgency in the research to control the progression of Alzheimer's disease because people the world over are living longer. That means more people, more caregivers, more families and more health care money will be impacted by this disease which already affects 20 million people worldwide.









New Tests Provide Hope for Alzheimer's Early Detection - article and video clip came from VOA