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The prize is awarded annually by the Swedish Society of Medicine (SLS) to a person who has made outstanding contributions to Alzheimer's research. This year the Bengt Winblad Prize is awarded to Laura Fratiglioni, Professor of Medical Epidemiology with a focus on dementia diseases at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet.

Low concentrations of air pollutants are associated with poorer health, and previous research has found a link between air pollution and dementia risk. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, among others, have now investigated this connection. The study, published in the journal Neurology, contributes to a better understanding of the biological mechanisms that might explain why air pollution seems to increase the risk of developing dementia.

Hi there Jing Wu! You are about to defend your thesis entitled “Ambient Air Pollution and Transportation Noise: How They Affect Mental Health in Older Adults”. Could you tell us a little bit more about it?

Older people with ischemic heart disease have an increased long-term risk of dementia and accelerated cognitive decline. A recent study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, suggests that the heart, the brain, and cognitive function are connected in the ageing process and that appropriate prevention and treatment of ischemic heart disease in older people might reduce the burden of dementia.

Hi Jakob Norgren, PhD student at the Division of Clinical Geriatrics. On June 12 you will defend your thesis ”The impact of macronutritional composition and ketosis on cognitive health : from normal aging to Alzheimer’s disease”, what is the main focus of the thesis?

Early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease requires reliable and cost-effective screening methods. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now discovered that a type of sugar molecule in blood is associated with the level of tau, a protein that plays a critical role in the development of severe dementia. The study, which is published in Alzheimer's & Dementia, can pave the way for a simple screening procedure able to predict onset ten years in advance.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most prominent cause of dementia affecting millions of people worldwide. As the changes in the brain function starts 10-20 years before the clinical onset of Alzheimer’s disease, there is a strong interest in the identification of early markers that can be predictive of future mental health/cognitive decline. This may be something that some KI researchers are on the lookout for. Their latest study is now published in Nature Reviews Neurology.

Men who played football (soccer) in the Swedish top division until the mid 1900s had a higher risk of dementia than men from the general population, a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in The Lancet Public Health reports.

Being affected by several cardiometabolic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke, is linked to a greatly increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. A new twin study by researchers from Karolinska Institutet suggests that the same genes may be behind the risk of both cardiometabolic diseases and dementia. The findings have been published in European Heart Journal.

Alzheimer disease begins decades before any symptoms, such as memory loss, start to show. Consequently, early diagnosis increases the chances of slowing the disease down with drugs. A new study on an inherited form of the disease shows that a protein called GFAP is a possible biomarker for very early stages of the disease. The study, conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and published in the journal Brain, could one day lead to an earlier detection of this serious and common disease.

People with at least two of the diseases type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke have double the risk of developing dementia. Prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular disease could therefore be a strategy for reducing dementia risk, a study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia suggests.

Hi Minh Tuan Hoang, PhD student at the Division of Clinical Geriatrics, NVS. On May 25 you will defend your thesis ”Health Inequalities in care for persons with dementia”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

On April 21, H.M Queen Silvia visited Karolinska Institutet to participate in a conference focusing on research on Alzheimer's disease, dementia and aging.

A large database is being built in China aiming to study brain aging and explore effective approaches for prevention of dementia. A study published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions (TRCI) provides detailed description on the database as well as characteristics and health conditions of the study population. The database is called MIND-China--multimodal interventions to delay dementia and disability in rural China.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered the preclinical stage in progressive cognitive decline leading to the clinical stage of dementia. A study published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, reports that over one fourth of rural-dwelling older adults in China are affected by MCI.

The Best Practice Guidance regarding improved use of technology in dementia care was developed a few years ago, including researchers from the CACTUS research group. In December, an updated version of the Best Practice Guidance was published.

Hi Emilia Schwertner, PhD student at the Division of Clinical Geriatrics, NVS. On January 21 you will defend your thesis ”Factors associated with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

Having an elevated resting heart rate in old age may be an independent risk factor of dementia, according to a study at Karolinska Institutet published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. Since resting heart rate is easy to measure and can be lowered through exercise or medical treatment, the researchers believe that it may help to identify people with higher dementia risk for early intervention.

It is mainly poorly controlled type 2 diabetes that carries an elevated risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, not the diabetes per se, a longitudinal study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows. The study comprises over 2,500 people and is published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have compared how well different Alzheimer’s biomarkers predict the progression of the disease and its effect on the memory. They found that early accumulation of tau proteins in the brain as measured by PET scanner was more effective at predicting memory impairment than biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid or amyloid plaque in the brain. The results are published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Postural hypotension, a drastic drop in blood pressure when standing up, is linked to an increased risk of dementia and accelerated progression from cognitive impairment to dementia, even in the absence of symptoms, for instance when feeling dizzy or faint. In a study published in the journal Hypertension, researchers from Karolinska Institutet show that postural hypotension could anticipate worse cognition in old age.

A large study at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has found a link between ADHD and dementia across generations. The study, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, shows that parents and grandparents of individuals with ADHD were at higher risk of dementia than those with children and grandchildren without ADHD.

This year, The Swedish Brain Foundation will distribute SEK 106 million in research grants. Karolinska Institutet is awarded 42% of these and includes seven researchers at the Department of Neurobiology, Health Sciences and Society (NVS) as recipients.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet describe the relationship between infectious agents and dementia in an article recently published in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience.

Center for Alzheimer Research (CAR) has started a working group on sex and gender differences in dementia. The group is led by Assistant professors Shireen Sindi and Daniel Ferreira at the Division for Clinical Geriatrics. It's their first working group and they are excited to see how this group will evolve.

Older people with kidney disease have a higher risk of dementia, and the risk increases with the rate and stage of kidney function decline. That is according to a large observational study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, published in the journal Neurology. The findings stress the significance of screening and monitoring for dementia in persons with kidney disease, the researchers say.

In Sweden, there are over 2 million legally owned firearms. At the same time, up to 150,000 people live with a diagnosis of dementia. In an aging society such as Sweden, legislators will face challenges in gun ownership. A new registry-based observational study by researchers from NVS, Karolinska Institutet, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease shows a need for strategies for this growing problem.

New biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease are a priority area for researchers seeking to learn more about the disease and find possible methods of early diagnosis. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now studied a new PET tracer that is an important diagnostic tool for the disease. The study on the tracer substance BU99008, which is published in Molecular Psychiatry, can play a key part in the early identification of signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

Hi there Ying Shang, PhD student at the Aging Research Center (ARC). You will be defending your thesis entitled “How can older adults combat diabetes to achieve a longer and healthier life?” on 16 April 2021. Could you tell us a little more about it?

How have social distancing and quarantine measures affected older individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic? Recent research lead by Professor Miia Kivipelto’s team provides some important insights – there were several negative effects but at the same time many lifestyles and behaviors did not substantially change during the first wave of the pandemic, and some even improved.

Hi Juraj Sečník, PhD student at the Division of Clinical Geriatrics! On January 29 you will defend your thesis “Diabetes mellitus in patients with dementia : clinical care and pharmacological treatment”. What’s the main focus of the thesis?

As life expectancies rise, so does the risk of dementia. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now studied how an active, non-smoking lifestyle can influence this correlation. The results, which are published in PLOS Medicine, suggest that good cardiovascular health gradually decreases the risk of dementia.

The two used methods for detecting amyloid pathology in Alzheimer's disease give ambiguous results, with the risk of incorrect or delayed care interventions. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found genetic explanations for the differences. The study is published in Molecular Psychiatry and may be important for more individual diagnostics and the development of future drugs.

The award recognises Professor Kivipelto’s more than 20 years of research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia.

Hi there Giulia Grande, PhD student at the Aging Research Center (ARC). You will be defending your thesis entitled “Development of dementia in older adults: the body-mind connection” on 11 December 2020. Could you give us a brief summary?

Hi Nicola Payton, PhD student at the Aging Research Center (NVS). On October 8 you will defend your thesis “Understanding preclinical dementia: Early detection of dementia through cognitive and biological markers”. What’s the main focus of the thesis?

Victor Bloniecki Kallio, PhD-student at the Division of Clinical Geriatrics. On May 27, 2020, you will defend your thesis "Using CSF biomarkers to understand mechanisms of behavioral changes and effects of drug treatment in dementia", what's the main focus of the thesis?

Millions of people around the world use acid suppressants called proton pump inhibitors for conditions like heartburn, gastritis and stomach ulcers. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now report how the long-term use of these drugs could increase the risk of developing dementia. Their results are published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

People continuously exposed to air pollution are at increased risk of dementia, especially if they also suffer from cardiovascular diseases, according to a study at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the journal JAMA Neurology. Therefore, patients with cardiovascular diseases who live in polluted environments may require additional support from care providers to prevent dementia, according to the researchers.

Hi Mozhu Ding, PhD-student at the Division of Aging Research Center. On December 12 you will defend your thesis ”The role of atrial fibrillation in cognitive aging: A population-based study”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

Professor Miia Kivipelto and her team - the Nordic Brain Network - provided a major contribution to the development and definition of the guidelines, given the expertise and experience in the field of risk and protective factors for dementia and AD.