The government’s new food labels, which target how much added sugar packaged foods contain, is an “exciting” change that should help consumers make healthier choices, a top nutrition expert says.

“The exciting news in the government’s new labeling is the one involving added sugars. This is a great step forward in helping consumers make smart decisions,” Dr. Charles Platkin tells Newsmax Health. 

The newly revised “Nutrition Facts” label was unveiled last week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Most food manufacturers will have two years to comply to these final changes while those with less than $10 million in annual food sales will have three years to make the changes. Foods imported to the U.S. will also have to meet the requirements.

The new labeling incorporates other changes as well, such as putting calorie information in larger letters and revising portion size to come into line with how much people actually consume, like changing ½ cup of ice cream to 2/3 of a cup, and increasing the average serving of soda from 12 to 20 ounces.

Surveys show that the vast majority of foods Americans eat are manufactured, which is also known as processed or packaged foods. The labeling was last updated in 2014, but did not include the added sugars designation, which many industry groups, including the sugar and beverage lobbies, have been fighting.

Added sugars are sweeteners added to foods or beverages during processing, but they do not include naturally occurring sugars such as those in milk and fruits. The FDA recommends that people consume no more than 10 percent of their total daily calories from added sugar. The new labeling will include those percentage figures as well.

“The fact that it will now be easy to discern how much of a product is comprised of added sugars is fantastic. It’s not healthy and a lot of people need to stay away from it,” says Platkin, director of the New York City Food Policy at Hunter College. “If someone is trying to avoid obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other ailments, they need to know this information so they can make decisions,” he added.

Discerning the actual amount of sugar in processed foods is especially difficult because sweeteners go by so many names. Among them: corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrin, dextrose, glucose, fructose, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltodextrin, maltose, mannitol, molasses, natural sweeteners, polydextrose, sucrose, syrup, turbinado sugar and xylitol.

 “The goal of a nutritional label should be to make information clear enough so that you don’t need someone like me with a Ph.D. to interpret food choices. It’s crazy how much effort it takes to understand information just about what you’re eating,” says Platkin, who writes a syndicated column called “Diet Detective.” 

Since the labels won’t be appearing soon, here are Platkin’s suggestions on foods to stay away now from now: 

• Sugared cereals. There are a lot of cereals that are healthy, but there are lots of sugary ones as well, says Platkin, whose “cereal investigation” survey ranked products in terms of added sugar.
• Flavored yogurts. Yogurt can be a health food, but some contain a variety of flavors and add-ons and that usually means more sugar. While some will turn up on the “healthiest” labels, others have added sugar counts that will put them more in the dessert category, rather than healthy snack. 
• Granola, cereal, high-fiber, and other types of bars. Some snack bars are healthy choices, with just a sprinkling of natural ingredients for added flavor. But others are loaded with so much sugar and sweeteners they are basically candy bars masquerading as healthy choices. 
• Sweets, cakes, candy and pies. Obviously, treats like these are packed with sugar, but the new labeling will help show which choices might be wiser for those who want to indulge in moderation. 
• Soda. The fact that soda has added sugar probably won’t come as a surprise, but the new labels will underscore just how much sugar is added, especially in the larger more realistic size that most people drink. 
• Salad dressings, ketchups and sauces. Some salad dressings and sauces, like pasta or barbecue sauce, contain added sugars, while others don’t, so the new labels will make choosing healthier options easier. {eoa}

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When it comes to taking care of your heart, a lot of information is available on the internet and through social media. Some can be accurate and helpful, but a lot of false and misleading information is also out there that can be dangerous, a top doctor says.

“The problem with internet searches, Facebook and all this social media is that there’s no way to tell the difference between correct articles and information that’s false. It’s all jumbled together, and the result is dangerous,” Dr. Chauncey Crandall tells Newsmax Health.

“I’ve known of people who were having symptoms, believed these myths and ended up having a massive heart attack and dying,” says Crandall, chief of the cardiac transplant program at the world-renowned Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. “When we’ve talked to their families afterwards, they say, ‘Well, he (or she) decided to try this at home because they read it on the internet.'” 

One of the prime examples of a heart myth Crandall cites is known generally as “Cough CPR,” and has been falsely attributed to various organizations, including Health Cares, Rochester General Hospital and Mended Hearts.  

The idea is that a person who fears he or she is having a heart attack should cough “repeatedly and vigorously” to correct an abnormal heart rhythm and survive, but the notion is a dangerous falsehood.

“The only thing a person a person should do in such a situation is call 911 immediately,” says Dr. Crandall, author of the Heart Health Report newsletter. “After that, chew two full-strength aspirins while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. But don’t attempt to drive yourself to the hospital or ask someone to do it because if you need emergency procedures, they can be started in the ambulance while you are on your way.

Here are six other common heart myths:

1. Cayenne pepper can stop a heart attack. There is a myth that taking cayenne pepper dissolved in water or as capsules will stop a heart attack. While cayenne pepper can widen blood vessels and speed metabolism, it should not be used in this way. Calling 911 is the best thing to do in a cardiac emergency.

2. Heart disease is a man’s problem. This long-held falsehood still crops up and is a reason why surveys continue to show that women underestimate their risk of heart disease. Heart attack is the No. 1 killer of both men and women. 

3. Chest pain heralds a heart attack. Sudden chest pain is considered the hallmark of a heart attack, along with shortness of breath and radiating pain in the neck, back, jaw and arms. But this is not always true, particularly for women. In fact, while some women may experience chest pain, they are more typically likely to experience shortness of breath and weakness, extreme fatigue, a profuse cold sweat and dizziness when having a heart attack.

4. It’s normal to have high blood pressure when you’re older. While it’s true that many people see their blood pressure increase with age, this is not a normal symptom of aging and is usually caused by putting on extra weight. By keeping lean, you can avoid this seemingly invariable rise in such heart disease risks as blood pressure and cholesterol.

5. If you take your blood pressure meds, you’ll never have a stroke. Controlling your blood pressure reduces your risk, but it’s no guarantee you won’t suffer a stroke. If you experience stroke symptoms like face drooping, arm weakness, or difficulty speaking, call 911 immediately. This is also true if the symptoms disappear; it may mean a stroke is on the way. 

6. You can’t do anything if heart disease runs in your family. Coronary heart disease has a genetic factor, but isn’t strictly hereditary. So if you know there is a tendency for heart disease in your family, what this means is that it is even more important to be scrupulous in living a heart-healthy lifestyle, because this may enable you to avoid such a fate. In this case, heredity is not necessarily destiny.

Eat a healthy diet, exercise daily and take steps to manage stress to reduce your risk.  {eoa}

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In the past month, three famous people—Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Frank Sinatra Jr., and comedian Garry Shandling—have all died with shocking suddenness, even though they appeared to be healthy just hours before.

But the condition that caused their deaths—sudden cardiac arrest—is common and sometimes even predictable.

“The most common type of sudden death is sudden cardiac arrest, which is sometimes—but not always—brought on by a heart attack,” says top cardiologist Dr. Chauncey Crandall.

Sudden death is defined as dying of natural causes within an hour of onset of symptoms, if they are witnessed, and within 24 hours if the victim is alone or asleep when the event occurs in people who appear to be healthy.

The chief cause of sudden death is sudden cardiac arrest, or SCA, which is an abrupt stoppage of the heart. SCA is the leading cause of death in the U.S. and throughout the world. About 326,200 people a year experience it, and up to 90 percent die when it occurs outside of a hospital setting, according to the American Heart Association.

The deaths of Scalia, Sinatra Jr. and Shandling have all been attributed to heart attacks, but that isn’t the only cause of sudden cardiac death, says Crandall, chief of the cardiac transplant program at the Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Palm Beach Gardens.

“Everyone thinks that when someone dies suddenly, it’s due to a heart attack. Actually, it’s because the heart’s electrical system malfunctions, and suddenly becomes very irregular. While it’s true that a heart attack can do this, it’s not the only cause,” says Crandall.

“Another myth about sudden cardiac arrest is that there is nothing that could have been done to save the victim.  But very often, I’ve seen people who did have warning signs, although they may not have recognized them, and research backs that up,” says Crandall, author of the Heart Health Report. 

According to a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers who reviewed medical records of heart patients found that about half of people who suffered from SCA actually experienced symptoms during the preceding month, but brushed them aside. 

The most common symptoms were chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, or palpitations, a similar study of male victims of SCA found.

These are the major causes of SCA:

Heart attack: During a heart attack, a blood clot may completely block blood flow to one of the heart’s major coronary arteries. Due to a lack of blood, the heart begins to beat dangerously fast, and the bottom portion of the heart may begin to flutter or quiver in an irregular pattern (atrial fibrillation) that can stop the flow of blood to the brain. Death may quickly occur unless action is taken to restore the heartbeat.   Often, people do not realize they have underlying coronary heart disease and, in one-third of cases, their first heart attack can end their life.

Faulty electrical wiring: Although a heart attack is one of the major causes of atrial fibrillation, it is not the only one. If the heart has been damaged by a previous heart attack, this can also damage the electrical system. There are also certain types of electrical abnormalities.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy:  About one out of every 500 people has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). HCM can occur for a number of reasons, such as high blood pressure, aging, diabetes, or sometimes thyroid disease. Sometimes it occurs for an unknown cause. When young people suffer sudden cardiac arrest, it is usually due to this condition.

Pulmonary embolism: This is the sudden blockage of one of the pulmonary arteries in the lungs, usually because of a blood clot that has formed and traveled in the bloodstream from the legs. If the blood clot is large enough, it can block blood from exiting the right side of the heart and block blood from entering the lungs. This can result in a stoppage of blood throughout the rest of the body, which can result in shock and sudden death.

Aortic aneurysm: This is the ballooning in a wall of an artery. If this occurs in the aorta, which is the main artery that supplies blood from the heart to the rest of the body, it can cause massive internal bleeding, resulting in a sudden drop in blood pressure that can cause death.

Aortic dissection: This occurs when there is a tear in the inner layer of the aorta, and blood surges through it, causing the inner and middle layers to separate. If the aorta ruptures, it can be fatal. Although a less common cause of cardiac death, an aortic dissection killed actor John Ritter in 2003.

Sudden cardiac death is often portrayed as unavoidable, but this isn’t necessarily true. Here are Crandall’s recommendations to help prevent it:

• Eat a heart-healthy diet. Research finds that even the saturated fat from a heavy meal can lead to a temporary narrowing of the coronary arteries that could bring on a fatal heart attack.
• Exercise regularly. People who are sedentary are more prone to certain life-threatening cardiovascular conditions such as pulmonary embolism.
• Get an annual physical examination. This can help pick up underlying coronary heart disease and other cardiac abnormalities.
• Know your family medical history. You’re more likely to suffer one of the conditions that cause sudden cardiac arrest if it happened in your family as well.
• Avoid infections. Viral infections, including flu, can damage the heart and make sudden cardiac arrest more likely.
• Know the warning signs of SCA. Chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, or “just not feeling right,” are all signs to call your doctor. If one or more come on suddenly, call 911.

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People who have migraines may be more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, according to a new study that adds to the evidence of a link between the two ailments.

Migraine is the most common brain disorder in both men and women; it’s estimated that 18 percent of women and six percent of men experience this type of severe headache.

The new study people who with two diagnosed migraines in a single year were more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease during the next three years, Taiwanese researchers say.

Previous research finds that middle-aged people who get migraines are more likely to develop movement disorders and those who also get auras are at double the risk.

The researchers matched 41,019 people between the age of 40 and 90 that visited ambulatory care centers for migraine with a similar number of people with no migraine history. 

Over the next 32 months, 148 patients in the migraine group and 101 patients in the non-migraine group were diagnosed with Parkinson’s, suggesting statistically significant increase in the disease’s risk for the migranieurs, according to the study, which appears in Cephalalgia.

There is no known cause for the link but there is speculation that a dysfunction in the brain’s chemical messenger dopamine may be the common factor in the two diseases. 

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New evidence of a link between Alzheimer’s and heart disease may provide new ways to prevent the dreaded brain ailment, a top cardiologist says.

“The more we learn about Alzheimer’s disease, the more similarities we find to heart disease, which should give us new ways to prevent it,” Dr. Chauncey Crandall tells Newsmax Health. 

It’s estimated that 5.3 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer’s disease, including 5.1 million over the age of 65 and 200,000 over the age of 85. By 2020 that number is expected to balloon to 7.1 million, a 40 percent increase in less than a decade.

“While scientists say that they don’t know the exact cause of Alzheimer’s, there’s growing evidence that this disease is caused by the same process that results in coronary heart disease,” says Dr. Crandall, chief of the cardiac transplant program at the world-renowned Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. 

Previous research has shown that the same risk factors that result in cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, cholesterol and obesity, put people at higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease as well as other forms of dementia.

These risk factors lead to atherosclerosis, and now researchers at the Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis find this process does occur not only in the cardiovascular system—which includes the heart—but in the brain as well.

Atherosclerosis occurs when deposits of cholesterol and other substances (plaques) build up in your arteries and narrow your blood vessels. This process can cause heart-attack-causing blood clots, and may also lead to Alzheimer’s by reducing the flow of blood that nourishes your brain, they noted.

The researchers used mice, as well as tissue samples from patients, and exposed them to cells to types of fats known to lead to atherosclerosis. They found that in the absence of a certain type of cell, ability to clear waste became dysfunctional and that this protein builds up in the brain.

They hope this finding could lead to new ways to clear this protein from the brain and lead to a new way to treat Alzheimer’s disease, they said of their study, which appears in Science Signaling. 

“Atherosclerosis not only causes clots to form that interrupt the blood flow, which causes heart attack and stroke, but it also results in a toxic situation that leads to inflammation, and there’s growing evidence that inflammation may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease, notes Dr. Crandall, author of the Heart Health Report. 

“These findings give added weight to the brain-heart connection, and provide us with ammunition to show that steps to prevent heart disease also pays off in Alzheimer’s prevention as well,” he adds.

Here are Dr. Crandall’s tips to protect both your heart and your brain:

1. Control high blood pressure. One-third of people with high blood pressure do not have it under control, putting them at risk for heart attack, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. Take your blood pressure medicine as directed and if you are not at goal, talk to your doctor.

2. Get active. Numerous studies find aerobic exercise is helpful because it increases blood flow to the brain. Get in the habit of a one-hour daily walk.

3. Reduce inflammation. Toxic bodily inflammation is linked to many diseases, including heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. Here’s how to reduce inflammation:

• Take low-dose aspirin daily. You may already be on aspirin therapy, but if you’re not, ask your doctor about taking a dose of 81 mg.
• Follow a plant-based or Mediterranean diet. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables; get your protein from plant-based sources such as tofu, beans or cold-water fish such as salmon or trout; use olive oil for fat; and eat nuts and whole grains.
• Take vitamin C. Taking 2,000 grams of vitamin C daily will ease inflammation.
• Supplement with fish oil. Take 2,000 grams 
of fish oil, and make sure it comes from a high-quality source. If you are on both daily aspirin therapy and a blood-thinner, cut back on the fish oil if you notice bruising.
• Choose cherries. Fresh cherries or tart cherry juice is a natural anti-inflammatory.
• Drink fresh juice. Combining fresh vegetables in a juicer creates a healthful inflammation-reducing beverage. You can choose just about any colorful fruit or vegetable concoction that suits your taste.

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Alzheimer’s disease might be caused by a buildup of fatty deposits in the brain that occurs in a similar way to what happens to cause coronary heart disease, a new preliminary study suggests.

In atherosclerosis, plaque builds up on the inner walls of arteries that deliver blood to the body. Studying mice and tissue samples from the arteries of patients, researchers of Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest this accumulation is driven, at least in part, by processes similar to the plaque formation implicated in brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Protein buildup is widely studied in the brain—accumulation of proteins such as amyloid beta and tau are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other degenerative neurological disorders. But until now, the process that causes atherosclerosis had not been implicated, the researchers said.

The researchers used mice, as well as tissue samples from patients, and exposed them to cells to types of fats known to lead to atherosclerosis. They found that in the absence of a certain type of cell’s ability to clear waste because dysfunctional and that this protein builds up in the brain.

They hope this finding could lead to new ways to clear this protein from the brain and lead to a new way to treat Alzheimer’s disease, they said of their study, which appears in Science Signaling.

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The American Heart Association is calling for more action to prevent diabetes from taking a deadly toll on women’s hearts. 

Slightly more than nine percent of Americans have Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for about 90 percent of those with the metabolic disorders, and the rate is climbing. The disease occurs at similar rates between men and women, statistics say.

But women with diabetes are twice as likely to develop coronary heart disease compared to men, and may also need more frequent and intense physical activity to lower their risk of having a heart attack or stroke, the new AHA scientific statement says.

The statement also notes that women with Type 2 diabetes:

• have heart attacks at earlier ages than men;
• are more likely to die after a first heart attack than men;
• are less likely to undergo procedures to open clogged arteries, such as angioplasty or coronary artery bypass grafting than men;
• are less likely to be on cholesterol lowering drugs such as statins, take aspirin or use blood pressure-lowering medications than men;
• are less likely to have their blood sugar or blood pressure under control than men;
• develop Type 2 diabetes based on sex-specific differences, such as gestational diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome

In addition, African-American and Hispanic women with Type 2 diabetes also are at higher risk for coronary heart disease and stroke compared to men, the statement notes.

The AHA is also called for more research to find out the reason for these differences and learn what can be done to lessen the impact of diabetes on women and minorities, according to the statement, which is published in Circulation.

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The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers to stay away from “Sex Drive Capsules,” a product promoted for sexual enhancement.

The warning was issued after the investigators found the product contains sildenafil, the active ingredient in the prescription drug Viagra, which is used to treat erectile dysfunction.

Sildenafil may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs such as nitroglycerin and may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. Men with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease often take nitrates, the regulators say.

The undeclared ingredient was found during an investigation of international mail shipments prompted by the agency’s concern over the growing trend of dietary supplements or conventional foods manufactured with hidden drugs and chemicals.

The FDA advises that people use caution when purchasing products that are typically promoted for sexual enhancement, weight loss, and body building and are often represented as being “all natural.” 

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The number of people who have Alzheimer’s disease, along with other brain-robbing neurodegenerative diseases, is at an all-time high and these numbers are growing, a top doctor says.

“Alzheimer’s disease is a runaway train barreling down on all of us. By 2050, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s disease may nearly triple, from five million to as many as 16 million,” Dr. Kevin Passero, N.D., one of the nation’s leading naturopathic physicians, tells Newsmax Health.

“There’s no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, and there’s not likely to be one anytime soon. Once someone is stricken with this insidious disease, there’s almost no way of stopping the downward spiral that leads to disability and, eventually death,” says Passero, co-author of the new book, Save Your Brain from Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

But there is hope because such diseases—Alzheimer’s included—are not inevitable, he says. A host of lifestyle and nutritional changes you can make can help stack the odds in your favor so you can enjoy a healthy, active brain throughout your whole life, he notes.

Here are five ways to keep your brain sharp even as you age:

1. Cut out sugar. Many studies show that eating too much sugar and other carbohydrates strongly contributes to the development of insulin resistance, a condition that greatly accelerates brain aging and the onset of dementia, says Passero. “Eating a diet low in refined sugar and carbohydrates and high in fiber helps stabilize blood sugar and minimizes surges of insulin [and] could be one of the most powerful ways to keep your brain healthy,” he says.

2. Lower blood pressure. Lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease also helps keep your cognitive abilities sharp, it’s been found. “Endothelial dysfunction is the critical link between cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline,” says Passero. Endothelial dysfunction is a condition in which the inner lining of the blood vessels does not function normally, and is often the result of damage from high blood pressure. This is why controlling blood pressure plays an important role in long-term brain health, he says.

3. Choose healthy fats. “Millions of people adhere to a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet in the name of ‘heart health,’ but the problem with these diets is they can lead to shortages of essential nutrients that the brain needs to manufacture memory-related neurotransmitters and functional membrane lipids,” says Passero. Instead of cutting fat entirely out of your diet, chose healthy forms—including pasture-raised meat and eggs, and wild-caught fish. You can also use coconut or olive oil for cooking, and munch on healthy snacks like nuts and seeds.

4. Banish heavy metals. Toxic heavy metals are everywhere, including water, the food supply, and many household and personal care products. “While some heavy metals — including iron, manganese, copper, zinc, and chromium — are required by the body in small quantities, they act as toxins in larger amounts,” says Passero. Of all these potential toxins, aluminum is the one most associated with Alzheimer’s disease, so Passero advises not using aluminum foil and avoiding foods wrapped in it. Avoid dietary sources of aluminum by reading labels carefully, and avoiding ingredients with the word “aluminum” anywhere in them.

5. Reduce stress. “We place a lot of emphasis on diet, nutrition, and environmental factors when it comes to Alzheimer’s prevention, but there’s one major risk factor that is also the most overlooked; stress,” says Passero. “Recent research shows that stress upsets the hormonal balance in a manner that can actually accentuate the aging process.” He suggests engaging in such stress relievers as exercise, which can also boost brain health, as well as meditation, which studies have shown is a powerful stress reliever and can also boost mental focus.

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Robin Williams’ widow’s claim that it was a form of dementia, and not depression, that caused her husband to hang himself turns the spotlight on the link between dementia and suicide, a top doctor says. 

“Dementia can lead to depression, which increases the risk of suicide.  But even aside from that, if you have dementia, and you have the cognitive awareness to know what the future might hold, this could very well lead some people to commit suicide as well,” says Dr. Gary Small, a professor and director of the University of California-Los Angeles Longevity Center.

In interviews this week, Susan Williams broke her silence about her husband’s death in 2014, saying that the actor had not only been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a few months before his death, but also that the coroner’s report found signs of Diffuse Lewy Body Dementia.

“It was not depression that killed Robin. Depression was one of let’s call it 50 symptoms and it was a small one,” said Williams, maintaining that it was the disordered thinking stemming from Lewy body dementia that had played the major role in her husband’s decision to take his own life. 

About 1.4 million Americans have Lewy body dementia, which is the second most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s disease. The disease, which is frequently misdiagnosed, causes fluctuations in mental status, hallucinations, and impairment of motor function, as well as anxiety and depression.

Although Dr. Small said he is unaware of any link between Lewy body dementia and suicide, the connection between dementia in general and depression is well documented and “depression, of course, increases the risk of suicide,” he noted.

But beyond depression, there is the concern that people who have dementia, and still retain cognitive awareness, could become suicidal because of their fear of losing their cognitive abilities, says Dr. Small, who is author of The Mind Health Report newsletter. 

At the time of Williams’ death, his wife said he was dealing with early stage Parkinson’s disease.

Claims that Lewy Body dementia had contributed to Williams’ death were made last year, but medical experts said then it was impossible to determine whether the disease was a factor, especially in light of the actor’s history of clinical depression. 

Although the link between suicide and dementia is a controversial one, there is some evidence that receiving a diagnosis of dementia could increase the risk of a person committing suicide, especially if they are cognitively aware of what the future might hold in store for them.

Researchers who studied 294,952 men aged 60 and older who were diagnosed with depression between 2001 and 2005. Among those patients, 241 ( percent) committed suicide during the study period. 

The majority of suicides (75 percent) occurred in those patients with a new dementia diagnosis, a finding that seemed to confirm the conventional wisdom that people with dementia are most at risk of suicide during the early course of the illness.

The method used in the vast majority of suicides was a firearm (72.6 percent); self-poisoning and hanging were the next most common methods, at 9.5 percent each, according to the study, which was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

Such findings are logical because it is in the early stages of dementia that people would be cognitively aware of not only what is happening to them but might also fear an eventual downward slide, Dr. Small says.

“Apart from feeling depressed, a person in that situation still has the cognitive ability to realize what could be coming and the ability to act on those feelings, so a medical health practitioner so anyone expressing those concerns has to be taken seriously and evaluated,” Dr. Small notes.  

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