Page 48 - Healthy Brain Initiative, State and Local Public Health Partnerships to Address Dementia: The 2018-2023 Road Map

SPOTLIGHT

Rapid Development of Science:
FINGER to U.S. POINTER

Findings from the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study
to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability study
(the FINGER study), which were released in 2015,
indicated that it is possible to delay cognitive decline
by using a multi-component lifestyle intervention
among older at-risk individuals.* Building on these
findings, the Alzheimer’s Association is funding U.S.
POINTER, a two-year clinical trial to evaluate whether
lifestyle interventions that simultaneously target many
risk factors protect cognitive function in older adults
who are at increased risk for cognitive decline. U.S.
POINTER is part of a larger, international effort known
as World Wide FINGERS and includes research in
Europe, Australia, Singapore, and China to similarly
test multi-component lifestyle interventions.

The U.S. POINTER is the first study to examine this
combined multi-dimensional intervention in a large-
scale U.S.-based population. Alzheimer’s Association
offices nationwide will participate in intervention
delivery to set the stage for an accessible and
sustainable community-based model for prevention.
More detail can be found at: alz.org/us-pointer/. •

* Ngandu T, Lehtisalo J, Solomon A, Levälahti E, Ahtiluoto S,
Antikainen R, et al. A 2-year multidomain intervention of diet,
exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk monitoring versus
control to prevent cognitive decline in at-risk elderly people
(FINGER): A randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2015;385
(9984):2255-63.

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