New Dementia and Alzheimers Research Could Lead To Earlier Diagnosis

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Statistics from the Alzheimers Research Trust state that there is a new case of dementia in England and Wales every three minutes. The charity also revealed that only two per cent of government funding through the Medical Research Council was spent on Alzheimers research in 2003/4, despite the fact that there are currently over half a million people in the UK with Alzheimers a number predicted to double within 20 years.

Alzheimer's Disease: Early diagnosis

A new study by the University of Washington, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, suggests that those who are better at performing certain physical tasks are at lower risk of dementia.

Over 2000 patients aged 65 or older were enrolled in the study between 1994 and 1996, and followed up every two years through to 2003. In the initial stage they were given a range of physical tests, such as a timed walk or a gripping task. After six years, over 300 of the patients had developed dementia (over 200 had Alzheimers). Those who scored the lowest in the physical tasks were found to be at the highest risk of dementia.

Study leader, Dr Eric Larson said: "We were surprised to find that physical changes can precede declines in thinking."

If confirmed, this study might also help explain the association of physical exercise with a reduced risk of dementia, suggesting that

He added: "Physical and mental performance may go hand in hand, and anything you can do to improve one is likely to improve the other."

Harriet Millward, Deputy Chief Executive of the Alzheimers Research Trust, commented: There have been several large studies, including one by this group of research scientists, which have shown that regular physical exercise provides some protection against dementia. This is the first study relating dementia to physical function rather than intensity or regularity of exercise. It suggests that people who cant do some physical tasks as well may be at higher risk of developing dementia.

Alzheimer's Disease: The eyes have it

In a study published earlier this year, scientists from the Medical Research Councils Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit found striking evidence for a link between visual perception and potential cognitive decline.

People suffering with Alzheimers and with semantic dementia (a disorder in which patients lose their store of factual knowledge only) were asked to select the odd one out from a series of faces and scenes. Those suffering with Alzheimers scored poorly on the scene tests, while those suffering with semantic dementia (SD) scored poorly on the facial tests.

So, what does this tell us? The differences between these forms of dementia give scientists vital clues about function in different areas of the brain. The hippocampus and perirhinal cortex the areas of the brain affected by AD and SD, respectively are now shown to deal with processes beyond long-term memory. The study suggests that, the hippocampus and perirhinal cortex may be critical for the processing of scenes and objects, respectively, in the domain of perception or very short-term memory.

Alzheimer's Disease: Importance of diagnosis

Rarely, dementia can be reversed, for example if it is due to thyroid hormone deficiency or deficiency of vitamin B-12 or folic acid. It is therefore important that all patients with dementia are screened for these treatable causes.

I have discussed the importance of these supplements for cognitive health in previous e-alerts. Suffice to say here that you remember to keep up your intake of folic acid with dark green vegetables, brewers yeast, lima beans, cantaloupe melon, watermelon, wheatgerm and liver. It is possible for a high intake of folate to mask a vitamin B-12 deficiency in older people, so keep up your B-12 levels by eating plenty of meat, fish and eggs, or by taking B-12 supplements.

Performance-based physical function and future dementia in older people Archives of Internal Medicine (2006;166:1115-1120)
New visual tests help diagnose different forms of dementia Alzheimers Research Trust, 2006
Physical performance linked to dementia risk Alzheimers Research Trust, 05/23/06
Balance problems predict Alzheimers British Nursing News Online. 05/23/06
Read the small print The RAC Foundation, 12 May 2006