Alzheimer’s Association Conference highlights importance of lifestyle changes
Tue, July 14, 2026 at 10:34 AM
UpdatedTue, July 14, 2026 at 10:41 AM
(SBG Graphic)
The U.S. Pointer Study, a two-year landmark clinical trial, enrolled more than 2,000 people at risk for Alzheimer’s disease, looking at lifestyle changes and its affect on brain health
That study was so successful, the announcement of a new study was announced, involving the use of GLP-1 drugs along with lifestyle changes
“Although they’re best known for weight loss, they also have anti-inflammatory effects, other metabolism effects and so there’s a lot of interest to see if they can help prevent cognitive impairment,” said Dr. Edward “Ted” Huey, director of the Memory and Aging Program at Butler Hospital
Speaking to me from the Alzheimer’s conference in London, he told me of the results of a recent landmark study done in 12 Latin American countries
“Most of the dementia in the world is in low and middle income countries,” said Huey
Sixty-six percent of dementia occurs in these countries, many of them in South and Central America, yet only 10% of our research even looks at those populations
That is now changing with new results from this latest trial
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One thousand sixty-five people took part, most of them of Latin American descent
“They were people who were cognitively normal but at risk for developing cognitive problems,” said Huey
Participants were split into two groups — self-guided versus one with structure, including one on one health coaching — much like the U.S. Pointer Study
Activities were culturally tailored
“You could do tango or salsa dancing as one of your physical activities if that was more culturally appropriate. A big one, which when I heard about this study, was the food,” said Huey
The study included a Latin equivalent of the Mediterranean diet
“The compliance was high,” said Huey
Eighty-two percent completed the study, and those more closely monitored benefited most
“They did about 55% better in terms of the improvement in their cognition so not just staying stable but improvement in cognition,” said Huey
They’re still sorting out where the study sites will be, but Huey is hoping one of them is in Rhode Island, at Butler Hospital
