Archive for the ‘Alzheimer’s disease’ Category
Cognitive changes seen in Alzheimer’s disease
Those who had more than 80 Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease may be more difficult to detect in people older than 80 years, says new study that examined the relationship between brain shrinkage and age-related memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s.
The study included 105 Alzheimer’s patients and 125 people free of dementia, which were grouped according to age in those with 60 to 75 (older youth) and those over 80 (very old). The participants underwent brain scans and received tests to evaluate the language, attention and processing speed, executive function and memory in the short and long term.
People in both groups had similar levels of cognitive problems in general, but the pattern of changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease appeared to be less noticeable in very elderly patients than in older youth. Compared to participants free of dementia at their respective age groups, executive function, immediate memory and attention and processing speed in very old patients were less abnormal in Alzheimer patients older than young.
The study also found that Alzheimer’s patients were very old less severe thinning of certain areas of the cerebral cortex and cerebellum in general younger than older patients. The thickness of these areas of the brain decreases with age, so there are fewer differences between the brains of the very healthy elderly and very elderly Alzheimer’s patients, the researchers said.
The study was published online August 10 issue of Neurology.
“People over 85 are the fastest growing population in the world,” he said in a news release from the journal study author Mark Bondi, Faculty of Medicine, University of San Diego and the Care System VA Health of San Diego. “Our study shows how age has a dramatic effect on the profile of brain atrophy and cognitive changes evident in Alzheimer’s disease.”