The Aging Brain: New Canadian Study Focuses on Preventing Dementia and Helping Caregivers

If you could help protect Canadians against dementia with no risk but possibly big benefits for your own brain’s well-being, you’d probably want to.

Well, now you can. (I already did.)

Canadians over the age of 40 are invited to register for the CAN-PROTECT research study of the aging brain, one of the largest projects of its kind ever undertaken in this country. It’s an ambitious initiative by the University of Calgary, which hopes to enroll 10,000 Canadians, with no limit to the number. More than 1,400 have already signed up.

One of the problems with dementia research in Canada is that it’s been culturally homogenous and not representative of the population at large, says Dr. Zahinoor Ismail, clinician scientist and professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, Epidemiology and Pathology at the University of Calgary and chair of the Canadian Conference on Dementia.

His recent vitamin D study, for example, which showed an association between vitamin D supplementation and lower risk of dementia, wasn’t able to take into account the differences in the rich ethnocultural make-up of Canada and the country’s extreme geographical differences, he explains.

“We need more information on how those factors play into the healthy brain as well as pathological aging,” says Ismail.

CAN-PROTECT questionnaires sent to volunteer participants will gather and assess information about cognition, behaviour, function, stress, diet and concussion and brain injury, among many other factors. There will also be brain games to complete from time to time.

“We want to separate out the subtle changes in midlife and track them over time to understand which changes matter,” explains Ismail.

The database will be invaluable for research, allowing scientists to dive in and retrieve focused information and identify participants and populations for targeted investigations. “We can find people and work with them where they are,” he says.

For example, people from the northernmost areas of Canada may be contacted to obtain vitamin D levels. Or, participants can provide a cheek swab to determine genetic risk.

 

Caregiving for Dementia

 

Another aspect of CAN-PROTECT research is the accompanying study of caregivers for people with dementia. “We want to learn more about caregiving for dementia: what confers risk and resilience,” says Ismail.

He’s proud of the fact that his project will include not only family caregivers but also professionals such as nurses, recreational therapists and speech pathologists — “all those folks who can provide valuable insights and perspective but who researchers never get to interact with.”

They’ll be provided with questionnaires asking about what aspects of their work with dementia patients are particularly challenging, how staff deals with challenges in long-term care homes  or in the community, how to make their workplaces safe, how to make the system better and how to improve quality of life for carers, staff and people with dementia.

“There’s a dearth of information about all these details,” says Ismail, “and a large online platform can provide answers.”

As well, he says, “One of the biggest issues is that we have a hard time diagnosing people [with dementia] early enough.”

Part of the problem is “that when we think of dementia, we immediately default to cognition, memory and thinking.

“But the brain is also involved in gait, hearing, vision, sleep, behavior and personality. We want to know how brain changes relate to all these areas over time.”

The wide-ranging study will also capture “super-agers” who don’t change at all. “What is it about them that we can identify and learn from to provide guidance to others, to be able to say, ‘This is what they do that is unique.’ Also, are they musically fluent, physically active in a specific way, or did they learn a second language as a kid?”

 

A Check-up for Your Brain

 

Not only will CAN-PROTECT provide researchers with insights and information about how Canadians experience and cope with brain aging, the study will also provide individuals who participate a way to keep track of their own experience.

“We appreciate and respect everyone’s altruism in taking part in this research,” says Ismail, “but [completing the questionnaires], spending a few hours every year on a brain check is also a benefit to the individual, a reminder to consider what stress am I under, what’s going on in my life, a reminder to look inwards and self-reflect.”

As well, he says, people will be challenged by the brain-training games and brain exercises. 

“We want to measure how much that helps.”

Most importantly, for the individual, “by being in the study over time, people will be eligible for interventional studies, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological.”

This could mean brain health interventions delivered through an online portal, including types of therapy or even invitations for in-office appointments for brain scans, for example. “The initial registration is a foot in the door for so many things down the road,” says Ismail.

He admits to being excited about the potential of the Canada-wide project. “I’ve spent two-and-a-half years to build this, to bring us Canadians together as participants in brain-aging research and as a dementia research community.”

The clinician-researcher, age 54, says he’s already signed up as a participant. You can too, at www.can-protect.ca.

 

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