Highlights, American Academy of Neurology Meeting

Media representatives are invited to attend the American Academy of Neurologyís 49th Annual Meeting April 12-19, 1997, at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center in Boston, Mass. More than 6,000 neurologists and neuroscientists are expected to attend. Below are summaries of news releases on studies that will be presented during the meeting.

PLEASE NOTE INDIVIDUAL EMBARGO DATES AND TIMES FOR EACH RELEASE.
For full releases, for more information about the meeting in Boston or to request the Abstracts-on-Disk, contact
Sarah Parsons or Rona Stewart at 612-623-8115 or by e-mail .

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 2:30 PM, TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 1997 Smoking Increases the Risk of Dementia Smoking increases the risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimerís disease, according to a study released during the American Academy of Neurologyís 49th Annual Meeting, April 12-19, in Boston, MA. A community-based follow-up study of 6,870 people age 55 and older was conducted to assess the risk of dementia in relation to smoking. A two-year follow-up was done and indicated that 145 people developed dementia and among those 104 had Alzheimerís disease. ìThe risk of smokers to develop dementia was twice as high as compared to those who had never smoked,î said study author Alewijn Ott, MD, from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam located in the Netherlands. ìSmoking also doubled the risk of the most common dementia subtype, Alzheimerís disease. The risk of past smokers was increased about one and a half times.î Previous studies have suggested that smoking protects against Alzheimerís disease. ìThis new study will at least cast some doubt on former results and show the underlying importance to further clarify the relationship between smoking and dementia,î Ott said.

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3:00 PM, TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 1997 Estrogen Replacement Therapy Tied to Reduced Risk of Alzheimerís Disease The use of estrogen replacement therapy in postmenopausal women is associated with a reduced risk of developing Alzheimerís disease, according to a study released during the American Academy of Neurologyís 49th Annual Meeting April 12-19 in Boston, MA. The population-based study matched 222 postmenopausal women in Rochester, MN, who had developed Alzheimerís during a five-year period with an equal number of women of the same ages who were free of dementia. Researchers then reviewed the medical records of both sets of women for evidence of estrogen use.

The frequency of estrogen use was significantly higher among the control group than among the Alzheimerís patients, with a 60 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimerís for control group members on estrogen compared to patients with Alzheimerís. This finding remained consistent after researchers made adjustments for differences in education level and age at menopause among the two groups.

The study also identified a trend of a decreasing risk of developing Alzheimerís the longer the patient took estrogen and the larger the patientís total cumulative estrogen dosage, however, the trend was not large enough to be statistically significant, according to Stephen Waring, DVM, PhD, assistant professor of clinical epidemiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and lead author of the study.

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 5:30 PM, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 1997 Pallidotomy Improves Verbal Memory for Parkinsonís Patients Verbal memory improved for Parkinsonís disease patients three months after pallidotomy, according to a study presented at the American Academy of Neurologyís 49th Annual Meeting, April 12-19, in Boston, MA. Pallidotomy is a brain surgery that is used to treat Parkinsonís disease. During the surgery a portion of the brain called the globus pallidus is destroyed. In Parkinsonís patients, partially destroying an area of the brain will actually improve their symptoms. Eleven male and 10 female Parkinsonís patients between the ages of 53 and 77 underwent neuropsychological and mood assessments prior to pallidotomy and three months thereafter. ìRelative to presurgery performance, patients showed improvements in verbal memory tasks,î said study author Dawn Bowers, PhD, of the University of Florida College of Medicine. ìTheir memory improved when they were given cues or when they were asked to recognize words they had previously heard during the session.î Some of the patients felt their memory had improved and others felt there were no noticeable changes. The study indicated significant improvements took place in patientsí memory performance even among those who did not experience this subjectively.