Injectable Biomaterial Promotes Brain Repair After a Stroke

 Do you really think anyone in stroke is competent enough to get human testing going? I don't, everything in stroke IS A COMPLETE FUCKING FAILURE! Prove me wrong; failure is defined as not getting to 100% recovery! Don't try your tyranny of low expectations on me. Here; oc1dean@gmail.com, I'll print it verbatim with my reply. Have at it, or are you afraid to engage with a stroke-addled survivor?

Of course your competent? doctor can inform these researchers of earlier work.

Self-Assembling Peptide Nanofiber Scaffold (SAPNS) and Regeneration October 2011

Researchers find a copolymer scaffold potentially useful in brain repair after brain injury June 2015

Oriented Graphene Oxide Scaffold Promotes Nerve Regeneration in vitro and in vivo March 2024 

Nanotech Treatment Shows Promise against Spinal Cord Injury in Mice September 2011

Directing Axonal Growth: A Review on the Fabrication of Fibrous Scaffolds That Promotes the Orientation of Axons January 2022

The migration and differentiation of hUC-MSCsCXCR4/GFP encapsulated in BDNF/chitosan scaffolds for brain tissue engineering May 2016

The latest here:

Injectable Biomaterial Promotes Brain Repair After a Stroke 

When someone has a stroke caused by a blood clot, doctors can quickly restore blood flow. However, they can’t easily replace the brain tissue that gets lost. Recovering this tissue usually means relying on rehab to help the remaining brain circuits adapt.

A team of biomedical engineers at Duke University has built an injectable biomaterial that could change stroke recovery.

Rebuilding the Brain’s Neighborhood

The research team isn’t attempting to rebuild the brain directly. Instead, they are setting up a scaffolding system to let the body do the work for them. They achieve this system using tiny hydrogel microparticles called MAPS. When the material is injected into the cavity caused by a stroke, it creates a porous structure for cells to grow on.

“Once brain tissue has been lost, restoring blood flow is no longer enough,” said Tatiana Segura, the Robert Plonsey Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke. “Our goal is to engineer the injured space so that immune, vascular, and neural repair processes can begin to work together.”

The team attached specific signals to these particles so that the body’s immune cells could help. These signals come from astrocytes, which are star-shaped cells in the brain.

“We are not simply placing a material into the brain,” Segura added. “We are engineering a local environment that can coordinate several parts of the repair response.”

Surprising Helpers

The team found that certain signaling molecules attracted helpful immune cells, including the most common type of white blood cell: neutrophils. Usually, neutrophils cause inflammation right after a stroke. However, that wasn’t the case in this scenario.

“This result changes how we think about neutrophils after stroke,” said Shangjing Xin, lead scientist of the study and a postdoctoral fellow in the Segura Laboratory. “Their role appears to depend on when they arrive, where they are located, and the signals they receive from their surroundings. Our study demonstrates a potential engineering strategy to recruit and retain these cells at the right time.”

In mouse tests, this treated scaffold helped grow new blood vessels and improved movement. By eight weeks, the mice performed like healthy controls on a coordination test.

Right now, the work is still preclinical. The team is looking at using human cells next to make it scalable.

“You do not restore an ecosystem simply by containing the initial damage. You have to create the conditions that allow life to return. That is how we think about the stroke cavity,” Segura said. “The material is not intended to reproduce the brain itself, but to create an environment where the body’s own cells can enter, communicate and participate in rebuilding vascularized tissue.”

Perspectives of stroke survivors, caregivers and healthcare providers on improving access to stroke care services in Tanzania: A qualitative study

 Access to services that don't provide 100% recovery is still failure by ANY MEASUREMENT! Referring to 'care' that many times is complete failure of understanding the needs of stroke survivors! This is true across the world. Failure is endemic in stroke, so you better plan on not having one. 

Perspectives of stroke survivors, caregivers and healthcare providers on improving access to stroke care services in Tanzania: A qualitative study

• Nyagwaswa Athanas Michael ,
• Lilian Teddy Mselle,
• Costansia Anselim Bureta,

Yingjuan Cao

• 
  

 Published: August 3, 202 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0328334

Abstract

Background

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, with the greatest burden occurring in in low- and middle-income countries. In Tanzania, delayed hospital presentation, weak referral systems, high out-of-pocket costs, shortages of stroke-ready facilities, and limited rehabilitation services contribute to preventable deaths and long-term disability. Although previous qualitative studies have described barriers to accessing stroke care(NOT RECOVERY!) services, there remains limited evidence on strategies for improving access across the continuum of stroke care(NOT RECOVERY!). Therefore, this study explored strategies to ensure equitable access to stroke care(NOT RECOVERY!) services in Tanzania, focusing on the perspectives of healthcare providers, stroke survivors, and family caregivers.

Materials and methods

A descriptive qualitative study was conducted at Muhimbili National Hospital– Mloganzila, a national tertiary referral hospital and designated stroke center in Tanzania. A purposive sample of 45 participants was recruited, including 15 healthcare providers, 15 stroke survivors, and 15 caregivers. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted between June and September 2024. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis guided by the WHO health system building blocks framework.

Results

Thematic analysis identified six themes aligned with the WHO health system building blocks. These include: (1) raise public awareness on stroke risks, prevention and treatment; (2) strengthen stroke care(NOT RECOVERY!) resources and infrastructures at primary care(NOT RECOVERY!) facilities; (3) increase healthcare financing and stroke services insurance coverage; (4) integrate health information systems in stroke care(NOT RECOVERY!); (5) train multidisciplinary teams in stroke care(NOT RECOVERY!) and effective communication; and (6) improve stroke care(NOT RECOVERY!) services delivery across care(NOT RECOVERY!) continuum.

Conclusion

Improving access to stroke care(NOT RECOVERY!) requires both patient-centered and health system–level interventions across the continuum of care(NOT RECOVERY!). Strengthening public awareness, healthcare infrastructures, referral pathways, service delivery, rehabilitation access, workforce capacity, and health insurance coverage may reduce inequities in accessing stroke care(NOT RECOVERY!) services in Tanzania.

Neuronavigated rTMS after stroke: RCTs suggest modest motor gains

 Or more accurately called a failure! Modest is nowhere near 100% recovery!

Yet, your competent? doctor has known all about rTMS for years and can accurately describe its' workings and failings, right?

rTMS (76 posts to January 2013)

Neuronavigated rTMS after stroke: RCTs suggest modest motor gains

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a subcategory of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS), used to modulate brain plasticity and improve post-stroke recovery. Neuronavigation is used to improve the accuracy of stimulation with the aim of achieving a superior clinical outcome than with conventional targeting. The objective of this review is to evaluate the efficacy of navigated rTMS in subacute and chronic stroke patients in comparison to sham stimulation. We conducted a systematic-review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) identified from Pubmed, Scopus and Cochrane CENTRAL. Trials employing neuronavigated rTMS were included of these five types; high and low frequency rTMS, intermittent and continuous theta-burst stimulation (TBS) and Hebbian-type stimulation. 13 RCTs were included after a screening of 1900 studies. 606 patients receiving either active (n = 360) or sham stimulation (n = 246) were assessed. The pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) favored rTMS over sham SMD = 0.4 (95 %CI: 0.11-0.69), with moderate heterogeneity I² = 55 %. Among stimulation modalities, continuous TBS showed the largest pooled effect. rTMS was also associated with significant improvements(NOT RECOVERY!) in disability-related outcomes, SMD = 0.61 (95 % CI 0.14-1.08). Navigated rTMS is associated with modest but significant improvements in motor and disability outcomes in subacute and chronic stroke. Large comparative trials are required to clarify the potential added value over conventional targeting approaches.

REFERENCES

1. Navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for post-stroke recovery: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

   Beris E, Tsitsopoulos PP, Katsanos AH, Bellos S, Simos YV, Lakkas L, Markopoulos GS, Konitsiotis S.

   J Clin Neurosci. 2026 Jul 27; 153 112215 [Epub ahead of print]

Research Shows There Is a Specific Age When Your Strength and Fitness Start to Decline

 Don't let your competent? doctor use this to justify failure to get you recovered!

Research Shows There Is a Specific Age When Your Strength and Fitness Start to Decline

Key Takeaways

• Physical fitness, strength, and muscle endurance begin to decline gradually around age 35, according to a study.
• Even starting physical activity later in life can improve strength and fitness and help reduce the rate of decline.
• A sedentary lifestyle can accelerate the decline in physical capacity, while regular activity can help maintain mobility, balance, and independence.

Physical fitness naturally fades with age, and a new long-term study narrows down exactly when the decline tends to start: age 35. While fitness, strength, and muscle endurance all begin to diminish around that time, staying active, or becoming active later in life, can still improve your physical capacity.

What the Research Shows

The long-term study, conducted at the Karolinska Institutet as part of the Swedish Physical Activity and Fitness study (SPAF), tracked 427 people over the course of almost 50 years. Researchers repeatedly assessed their physical capacity from age 16 to 63 and found that their fitness and strength levels declined by 30%-48%. 1

"The study shows that fitness and muscle strength begin to decline relatively early, around the age of 35, and this decline follows a gradual pattern throughout adulthood," said Maria Westerståhl, lecturer at the Karolinska Institutet and lead author of the study. "Rather than dropping suddenly, physical capacity decreases slowly over time and accelerates as people age, making losses more noticeable later in life."

Several factors influence how quickly strength and fitness decline with age, but physical activity appears to be one of the most important. Researchers found that people who remain active throughout life—or even start exercising later—tend to experience a slower decline and may even improve their capacity to some extent. In contrast, a sedentary lifestyle can accelerate these losses.

"This decline is linked to biological changes associated with aging, including gradual loss of muscle mass, changes in muscle fiber composition, and reduced efficiency in how the nervous system activates muscles," Westerståhl said. "Broader processes such as altered metabolism, hormonal changes, and increased inflammation also contribute, and these changes typically begin many years before the decline becomes clearly noticeable."

Women May See Changes Earlier Than Men

The study found that women may experience declines in muscle power slightly earlier than men, but both sexes show similar declines in endurance over time.

Certain sex differences may be attributed to varying hormonal changes, which can include menopause as a leading accelerator of muscle and bone loss in women, said Leada Malek, PT, DPT, an adjunct professor at Samuel Merritt University and a spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Association.

"In my own experience as a physical therapist, I see many women seek physical therapy for improving capacity around perimenopause and menopause, whereas men may seek assistance later due to a more gradual decline," Malek said.

Why Exercise Is So Important for Healthy Aging

Despite these age-related processes, some of which are unavoidable, Westerståhl said staying active remains highly beneficial. Even starting physical activity later in life can improve strength and fitness and help slow the rate of decline, even if it cannot completely stop it, she said.

Muscular strength and power, endurance, and aerobic fitness naturally diminish over time unless the body is provided with the appropriate stimulus to continue to adapt and combat these changes, Malek said.

"When I work with patients experiencing this shift, it typically looks like a loss in mobility, balance, flexibility, and overall functional ability," she explained. "I work with patients who aren’t able to participate in or who experience more difficulty completing routine tasks, like mowing the lawn, cleaning, or gardening."

Regular activity can slow these declines, if not somewhat reverse them, as well as their associated risk for falls, chronic disease, and loss of independence, she said.

"Just as the study found that adults who became active later in life improved their physical capacity (by 5–10%), I see similar outcomes regularly with my long-term patients," she said. "We’re able to recover lost strength in mobility by implementing the best movements for their needs, at the appropriate dose and intensity to drive positive change."

Loneliness Directly Causes Poor Mental Health

 Don't let your incompetent? doctor fail you by not having 100% recovery protocols, thus causing loss of most of your friends and acquaintances

Loneliness Directly Causes Poor Mental Health

Summary: By combining standard observational tracking with rigorous sibling comparisons and genetics-based Mendelian randomization, an international team of researchers proved that loneliness carries a direct, independent causal grip on decaying mental health and diminished subjective wellbeing.

Establishing loneliness as an authentic, high-priority public health emergency, the study provides a robust blueprint for policy integration.

Key Facts

• The Causal Triangulation Framework: To bypass the historical trap of reverse causality (where poor health simply causes loneliness), the researchers blended three distinct methodologies: observational epidemiology, sibling-pair comparisons (which control for shared childhood environments), and Mendelian randomization, using genetic variants as natural proxies to isolate the direct effects of loneliness on the body.
• Defining the Two Disconnects: The study established a strict, vital analytical distinction between two distinct social metrics:
  • Loneliness: The subjective quality of an individual’s interpersonal relationships (feeling misunderstood or emotionally isolated).
  • Social Isolation: The objective quantity of an individual’s social connections (the literal number of human interactions or network size).
  • Direct Causal Mental Health Decay: The synchronized telemetry proved that subjective loneliness behaves as a primary driver of mental health degradation and diminished life satisfaction, acting independently of external socioeconomic or environmental factors.
• The General Health Multi-Condition Trap: Higher baseline loneliness was significantly associated with a decline in general self-reported physical health and a heightened vulnerability to experiencing multimorbidity (the simultaneous manifestation of multiple chronic health conditions).
• The Physical Specificity Gap: While the study confirmed that loneliness causes a systemic drop in overall general health, the current mathematical models found no definitive evidence linking it to individual, specific physical diseases (such as a single type of cardiovascular or metabolic disorder). However, the authors emphasize that these long-term specific impacts cannot be ruled out.
• A Critical Timeline Callout: Because the UK Biobank dataset captured loneliness metrics at a single point in time, the research team highlights the urgent clinical need to study the cumulative toll of persistent, long-term loneliness over several decades.
• Future Youth Integration Needed: As the present data focused heavily on middle-aged and older adult demographics, future replication pipelines are actively being built to verify if identical genetic and environmental social strain patterns govern younger populations and adolescents.

Source: University of Bristol

People who feel lonely are much more likely to experience poorer mental health and lower wellbeing, a new collaborative study led by the University of Bristol, Nesta and Amsterdam UMC has found. Loneliness was also found to be linked with worse general health, including experiencing multiple health conditions. Social isolation is associated with lower wellbeing, too.

Loneliness is increasingly recognised as a major public health issue, with growing evidence connecting it to poorer health. However, it is unclear whether loneliness itself contributes to poor health or whether these links are driven by other factors.

Subjective loneliness holds a direct, independent causal grip on long-term mental health decay and systemic physical multi-condition frailty. Credit: Neuroscience News

The study, in association with the universities of Oxford and Manchester, combined evidence from three different research methods, including observational analysis, sibling comparisons, and Mendelian randomisation, a genetics-based approach, to build a clearer understanding of these relationships.

Using data from the UK Biobank and large-scale genome-wide association studies, the researchers investigated how both loneliness – the quality of a person’s social relationships; and social isolation – the number of social connections, relate to health and wellbeing.

The study is published in Nature Communications today.

The research team found that loneliness and social isolation are linked to poorer mental health and reduced wellbeing, with loneliness also associated with worse general health. While the study found no clear evidence of effects on specific physical health conditions, these potential impacts cannot be ruled out.

The findings suggest that loneliness, and potentially social isolation, remain important public health issues, particularly because of their links with mental health, wellbeing and overall health.

As loneliness becomes an increasingly important public health challenge, tackling it could bring benefits for both individuals and society.

Dr Zoe Reed, Research Fellow in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Bristol, and corresponding author, said: “Our findings suggest that loneliness, and possibly social isolation, are still important public health concerns, especially for mental health and general health. Supporting people who feel lonely or socially isolated could help improve mental health, wellbeing and overall health.”

Lauren Bowes Byatt, Director of Nesta’s healthy life mission, added: “This research underlines that loneliness is likely to have a detrimental impact on our mental health and wellbeing. While this link may seem obvious, the topic has long been understudied. Studies like this can help to bridge this research gap and by understanding how loneliness or social isolation may be contributing to ill-health, we can get closer to new and more effective solutions.”

The researchers suggest more research is needed to understand exactly how loneliness and social isolation affect health and to develop the most effective ways to reduce their impact.

As the study focused on middle-aged and older adults, future studies should explore whether these patterns are similar in younger people. It will also be important to investigate the effects of persistent or long-term loneliness, as the study measured loneliness at a single point in time.

The paper’s findings add to growing evidence that loneliness and social isolation are not just social issues, they are important public health concerns with wide-ranging implications for wellbeing and mental and physical health. The research reinforces the importance of addressing these issues as part of public health policy and practice.

Key Questions Answered:

Q: What is “Mendelian randomization,” and how does it prove that loneliness actually causes bad health?

A: Mendelian randomization is a cutting-edge research method that uses human genetics to unmask cause-and-effect relationships. In standard studies, it’s impossible to tell if loneliness causes bad health or if sick people just become lonely. By looking at specific genetic variants that naturally make some people more prone to feeling lonely from birth, scientists can track these individuals over their lifetimes. Since our DNA is set at conception and doesn’t change based on lifestyle or illness, discovering that people with these “loneliness genes” suffer from significantly worse mental and general health proves that loneliness itself is the active, driving cause of the decline.

Q: What is the difference between being “lonely” and being “socially isolated”?

A: This is a vital distinction that modern medicine often gets wrong. Social isolation is entirely objective—it is a literal count of your social circle, looking at whether you live alone or how many times you talk to friends in a week. Loneliness, however, is entirely subjective, it is a painful emotional response to the quality of your connections. You can be surrounded by a massive crowd of people in a busy city or a large family and still feel profoundly lonely if you don’t feel seen, heard, or understood. The study proved that this subjective feeling of loneliness actually carries a much harsher, more destructive punch against your mental and general physical health than simply having a low headcount of friends.

Q: How should public health officials change their strategies based on this breakthrough?

A: For decades, public health policy treated loneliness as a minor, secondary social issue, something to be fixed with simple social clubs, senior centers, or volunteer check-ins. This study shifts the paradigm by proving that loneliness is a genuine public health threat on par with major metabolic or environmental risks. Officials must stop focusing exclusively on the quantity of social contact and start investing heavily in the quality of human interaction. This means integrating deep psychological support, emotional resilience training, and loneliness screening directly into standard primary medical care, treating emotional disconnection as a core vital sign of human health.

Editorial Notes:

• This article was edited by a Neuroscience News editor.
• Journal paper reviewed in full.
• Additional context added by our staff.

About this loneliness and mental health research news

Author: Joanne Fryer
Source: University of Bristol
Contact: Joanne Fryer – University of Bristol
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access.

“Investigating relationships between loneliness, social isolation and health” by Darren D. Hilliard, Robyn E. Wootton, Hannah M. Sallis, Margot P. Van De Weijer, Jorien L. Treur, Pamela Qualter, Padraig Dixon, Eleanor C. M. Sanderson, David J. Carslake, Rebecca C. Richmond, Patricia Beloe, Lucy Turner-Harris, Lauren Bowes Byatt, Marcus R. Munafò & Zoe E. Reed. Nature Communications
DOI:10.1038/s41467-026-74758-7

Queen’s North Hawaii launches stroke support group

 Complete admission THAT YOU ARE A MASSIVE FUCKING FAILURE AT 100% RECOVERY FOR SURVIVORS! Will your incompetent board of directors at least reconstitute the hospital with the correct objective? 100% recovery for all is the only goal in stroke!

Queen’s North Hawaii launches stroke support group

HAWAII ISLAND (HawaiiNewsNow) - Queen’s North Hawaii Community Hospital is launching a new support group for stroke survivors and their caregivers.

The free group will meet every other month and offer education, open discussions, practical recovery tools and guest speakers to help participants navigate life after a stroke.

Hospital officials said the first meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 21, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Mauna Kea-Mauna Loa conference room at Queen’s North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital.

The sessions will be led by speech-language pathologist Amy Shipley of the hospital’s Rehabilitation Services Department.

“The stroke support group is all about supporting the families and people who are in recovery from stroke,” Shipley said. “Having an informal meeting where people can discuss the triumphs and hardships and nuances of recovery is really important.”

The support group is free and open to the public, and no registration is required.

For questions, contact ashipley@queens.org or call 808-881-4814.

High-dose DHA reaches the brain but fails to protect memory

 

What further research will your competent? doctor initiate to figure out how to successfully prevent cognitive decline? Oh sorry; YOUR DOCTOR PLANS ON DOING NOTHING, RIGHT!

You are finding out now that you don't have a functioning stroke doctor/hospital even after unsuccessfully getting you 100% recovered! THAT IS DOCTOR FAILURE!

High-dose DHA reaches the brain but fails to protect memory

High-dose DHA successfully reached the brains of older adults at increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, but the two-year clinical trial found no improvements in memory or brain structure, challenging assumptions that greater omega-3 delivery alone can slow cognitive decline.

A clinical trial published in eBioMedicine found that high-dose docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation successfully increased brain DHA levels in older adults at risk of dementia, including those carrying the APOE ε4 Alzheimer's risk variant. However, despite reaching the brain, the supplement did not improve cognitive performance or brain structure over two years, raising new questions about how DHA is used within the brain.

Why APOE ε4 alters brain DHA metabolism

DHA is a fatty acid that is part of the nerve cell membrane, playing a key role in synaptic function and modulating neuroinflammation. Its levels tend to be lower in the presence of dementia-linked changes like amyloid deposition and cognitive decline, and in patients with late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD).

The APOE ε4 gene variant is the strongest genetic risk factor for AD. Previous research suggests it is associated with accelerated DHA catabolism and lower plasma and cerebrospinal fluid DHA levels in people with AD dementia compared with non-carriers.

Observational studies have suggested modest associations between higher omega-3 intake and lower risk of cognitive decline, but randomized trials have produced inconsistent results. Of 24 randomized trials in people without dementia, only five reported positive cognitive effects following DHA supplementation. Conversely, no improvement was seen in patients with AD.

Thus, two important questions remain unanswered: is early intervention necessary in patients with low omega-3 levels before dementia sets in, and are higher doses required to ensure adequate brain uptake? Previous imaging studies suggest that younger cognitively healthy carriers have increased brain DHA incorporation, which may reflect greater DHA demand, compared to non-carriers. This has not been studied in older adults prior to the onset of dementia.

In the current study, researchers investigated whether high-dose DHA supplementation could effectively raise brain DHA levels and potentially support cognitive and structural brain health in older adults with low dietary omega-3 intake before dementia develops.

Testing high-dose DHA before dementia develops 

The investigators conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that enrolled 365 adults without dementia, aged 55–80 years, with low DHA intake and at least one dementia risk factor at baseline. Participants received either 2 g/day of DHA or a placebo for 24 months.

Pittcon Highlights: Pharmaceutical & Biologic eBook Check out the highlights from Pittcon in the Pharmaceutical & Biologic industries Download the latest edition

The mean participant age was 66 years, with 58% being female. Approximately 47% of the participants were APOE ε4 carriers, and 39% were Hispanic.

The participants were first classified by willingness to undergo a lumbar puncture (LP) to obtain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for analysis. The two groups were assessed for the CSF DHA: arachidonic acid (AA) ratio after six months, which reflects the extent to which DHA is delivered to the brain. Various brain volumes were also assessed.

Increased DHA delivery

The 365 participants were divided into two arms: 181 in the LP arm and 184 in the non-LP arm. In both arms, DHA supplementation significantly increased the CSF DHA/AA ratio at six months compared with placebo, indicating successful delivery of DHA to the brain. There was also a 17% increase in CSF DHA. The red cell omega-3 index also increased from 4.9% to 11%.

The increases in DHA delivery to the brain and in the red cells were independent of APOE ε4 status. This suggests that the gene variant did not influence this process.

However, APOE ε4 non-carriers showed greater improvement in cognitive scores than carriers, with a mean improvement of 3.8 and 1.6 in the two groups, respectively, regardless of treatment group. Importantly, the study demonstrates that inadequate brain delivery is unlikely to explain the disappointing results of previous DHA supplementation trials, because high-dose supplementation successfully increased CNS DHA levels.

The authors hypothesize that simply improving DHA delivery to the brain may not be sufficient to enhance cognitive function, given the enzymatic catabolism of DHA within synaptic membranes, which are crucial for cognitive processing.

There was no difference in brain volumes or in cognitive performance over the whole study period between the intervention and control groups. Adverse events were comparable between groups, and the treatment was generally safe and well-tolerated.

Strengths and limitations

The sample included White and Hispanic participants with a high proportion of APOE ε4 carriers. The low baseline omega-3 intake, CSF DHA measurement, and multiple outcome assessments, coupled with a stringent trial design, were among the study’s strengths.

However, it had several limitations. The participants were relatively young, well-educated, and at an early stage of disease, which might have limited their ability to detect treatment effects over just 24 months.

The study showed a relatively high dropout rate at 38%. Most of this was related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The consequent reduction in sample size might have affected its ability to detect smaller effects on cognitive function or brain structure. Those who dropped out of the study were more likely to be Hispanic, to have lower education levels and baseline cognitive scores, and to have lower plasma DHA concentrations than those who completed the study, which might have affected the generalizability of the findings.

The study used a single supplement, but the authors point out that this could be insufficient in the face of multiple disease processes affecting neuronal health and DHA metabolism in the brain. This is even more true when the participants have vascular risk factors like hypertension and physical inactivity, all of which need to be addressed simultaneously.

The current study included only cognitively healthy individuals, but future studies may benefit from testing supplementation in individuals who already have biochemical signs of early neurodegeneration, such as elevated biomarkers (phosphorylated tau in blood, advanced imaging markers) or more granular neuropsychological testing to detect small changes in executive function. This would improve the detection of treatment changes. A longer follow-up may also be necessary.

Conclusion

The findings show that high-dose DHA supplementation can substantially increase brain DHA levels within six months in older adults at risk of dementia, regardless of APOE ε4 status. Conversely, this did not translate into observable improvements in cognition or brain structure over 24 months.

These results suggest that high DHA intake alone may not be sufficient to improve cognitive outcomes or preserve brain structure in relatively healthy older adults over a 2-year period, despite adequate brain delivery. They also imply that APOE ε4 carriers experience normal DHA delivery to the brain before dementia, despite the dysregulation in established dementia reported in prior research.

Future research should focus on examining DHA metabolism in the brain rather than on additional supplementation trials. Because brain DHA delivery was successfully achieved without improving cognition, future work should focus on how DHA is processed and used within brain cells rather than simply increasing DHA intake.

Download your PDF copy by clicking here.

Journal reference:

• Yassine, H. N., Pour, S. G., Juarez, M., et al. (2026). CNS target engagement of high-dose DHA supplementation in older adults at risk for dementia: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. eBioMedicine. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2026.106316. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/EBIOM/article/PIIS2352-3964(26)00198-2/fulltext

Stroke Recovery: How Patients and Caregivers Can Improve Quality of Life

 First of all you SCREAM at all your stroke providers FOR NOT HAVING  100% RECOVERY PROTOCOLS!  And don't stop screaming until the president AND board of directors gets called in! Then ask how fucking long they will continue incompetence in not having 100% recovery protocols! Suggest a lawsuit for $1000 a dead neuron past the clot buster treatment or stopping of the hemorrhage! Their complacency in accepting recovery failure as a matter of course is PURE INCOMPETENCE!

Notice the word 'care' NOT RECOVERY! That is accepting failure in recovery as a normal matter! Which is why screaming is required if you want change and have your children and grandchildren recover completely from their strokes!

Stroke Recovery: How Patients and Caregivers Can Improve Quality of Life

Recovering from a stroke can be a long and challenging journey. Many survivors work hard to rebuild strength, mobility, speech, and independence. But physical recovery is only one part of the process.

“There’s a whole other side of stroke recovery that people don’t see,” says Alexandra Terrill, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist and co‑director of the Center for Quality of Life After Stroke at University of Utah Health. “Cognitive changes, communication challenges, and especially mental health concerns are incredibly common, yet often misunderstood.”

The Mental Health Challenges of Stroke Recovery

Many people focus on physical recovery after a stroke, but emotional recovery plays a major role in long‑term well‑being.

Post‑stroke depression affects about one‑third of survivors. Symptoms can appear months after the stroke and may include:

• Withdrawal
• Low motivation
• A sense of “blah”
• Difficulty engaging in therapy

Terrill notes that many survivors downplay their symptoms while speaking with doctors, so family members often become the ones who speak up.

“The best thing you can do is say something,” Terrill says. “Use language that’s caring, not stigmatizing—like, ‘I’m worried about you,’ or ‘It seems like you’re having a hard time.’ It’s also a good idea to join them at their medical appointments to help their doctors see the full picture.”

Caregivers Need Support Too

Every year, more than 795,000 Americans experience a stroke. Behind many of those survivors is a caregiver helping them navigate the recovery process. 

Research led by Terrill highlights often-overlooked realties, including:

• Caregivers are at equal or higher risk of depression and anxiety compared to survivors
• Relationships often change as partners take on caregiving responsibilities, sometimes resulting in strain
• Small, shared moments can help couples reconnect, such as holding hands while taking a short walk

“Sometimes couples tell us, ‘These aren’t new ideas, we just forgot to do them,” Terrill says. “They were so lost in the medical side of stroke recovery that they forgot how to be a couple. These simple moments help rebuild closeness and improve depression and anxiety for both partners.”

Quality of Life Isn’t One‑Size‑Fits‑All

Measuring quality of life after stroke is complex because it’s deeply personal. What feels like progress or comfort is, as the saying goes, in the eye of the beholder.

“You can have two people with the exact same stroke, and one might feel like their life is over, while the other finds new meaning and purpose,” Terrill says. mental health is vital. Terrill urges partners to prioritize their own well‑being, too, because recovery is a shared journey.

“There’s so much resilience in these couples,” Terrill says. “Sometimes they just need a reminder of how to reconnect, and permission to take care of themselves as well.”

A Whole-Person Approach to Stroke Recovery

At University of Utah Health, care(NOT RECOVERY!) teams focus on long‑term, whole‑person care(NOT RECOVERY!). 

Their approach includes:

• Supporting survivors beyond the crisis moment
• Addressing emotional, cognitive, and relational needs
• Helping families navigate the months and years after a stroke
• Providing tools to rebuild confidence, connection, and independence

Recovery doesn’t happen alone. Lean on your health care(NOT RECOVERY!) team, connect with support groups, and ask for help when you need it. Taking care of both physical and emotional health can make a meaningful difference for stroke survivors and the people who care for them.