Could Having a Bigger Head Help Slow Alzheimers?
MONDAY, July 12 (HealthDay News) — A new study suggests that Alzheimer’s disease develops slower in people with bigger heads, perhaps because their larger brains have more cognitive power in reserve. It’s not certain that head size, brain size and the rate of worsening Alzheimer’s are linked. But if they are, the research findings could pave the way for individualized treatment for the disease, said study co-author Lindsay Farrer, chief of the genetics program at Boston University School of Medicine. The ultimate goal is to catch Alzheimer’s early and use medications more effectively, Farrer said. “The prevailing view is that most of the drugs that are out there aren’t working because they’re being given to people when what’s happening in the brain is too far along,” he said. A century ago, some scientists believed that the shape of the head held secrets to a person’s intelligence and personality — those views have been since discounted. But today, research suggests that there may be
