In one such study, researchers from the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute scanned the brains of 284 people in late middle age who were cognitively healthy, looking for injury to connective tissue that is a marker for Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s diagnosis is usually based on mild cognitive impairment, but researchers are now focusing on mild behavioral impairment as an early indication of the disease. The patients suffering from dementia can become confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful or anxious. Suddenly making crude comments in public?
Advertisement
Certain behavior changes may be a harbinger of Alzheimer’s disease, and researchers say they’ve developed a symptom checklist that might aid earlier diagnosis.
When it comes to behavioral problems, he said, there are ways to manage them.
According to the most recent CDC HIV Surveillance Report with data through 2013, 53,000 people in the USA living with HIV are 65 and older, the age when Alzheimer’s disease risk begins to escalate. Memory and reasoning training were done with an instructor, not on a computer, and didn’t cut the risk for developing dementia.
So Ismail and his colleagues have developed a symptom checklist that doctors could potentially use to assess older patients for mild behavioral problems. But at minimum they can help “people develop reserve or resilience in the face of whatever brain changes are happening that would lead to dementia”, he says.
Decreased ability to identify smells could be an early indicator of cognitive impairment and dementia.
Previous research has suggested commercially available video games may not improve cognitive performance, let alone prevent decline, but the longer term research presented this week suggested at least one game does have an effect, as do other cognitive interventions to a lesser effect.
The five points are: lack of interest, depression, lack of empathy, impulse control and delusions.
In a third study, researchers found that socially active people with higher education, plus mentally stimulating work, were protected from age-related brain decline, even if they ate a poor diet that increased their risk for dementia.
“It’s important for us to recognize that not everything’s forgetfulness”, said Dr. Ron Petersen, the Mayo Clinic’s Alzheimer’s research chief.
Technology specialist Mike Belleville of Douglas, Massachusetts, thought stress was to blame when he found himself getting easily frustrated and angry.
“If you see changes, don’t take it lightly and assume it’s stress”, Cheryl Belleville advised.
These studies are helping to narrow down the particular types of brain activity that can help protect the brain as it ages, added Dean Hartley, director of science initiatives for the Alzheimer’s Association.
Another study presented in Toronto examined the effect of three different kinds of “brain training” on older adults. The participants who had undergone over 10 of the brain training sessions were 48% less probable to experience dementia or cognitive decline over 10 years.
“If you can reduce the chance of getting dementia by almost 50% with this, that’s huge”, says Michael Roizen, chairman of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, who wasn’t involved in the study.
The researchers, from the University of Waterloo, the University of Rochester, the University of British Columbia, Massachusetts General Hospital, Vivocore Inc. and Intervivo Solutions, said in the release that they hope these results would aid in the development of less invasive and more low-cost Alzheimer’s testing.
Advertisement
Check out AP’s VR360 channel for more content.
