Being Aware of Memory Loss Can Prevent Alzheimer's Disease

Individuals who are unaware of their memory loss are at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease compared to those who are aware of their problem.

Memory loss is an early symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. An individual who is aware of their memory loss is less likely to develop dementia, whereas people who are not aware are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease later, reveals a new study. //

A new study at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has found a clinically useful way to predict who won’t develop Alzheimer’s disease, based on patients’ awareness of their memory problems.

Alzheimer's Disease Can't be Cured, But Treatment May Help
No medications and strategies have surfaced strongly which can cure Alzheimer's but researchers have come up with treatment that may temporarily give relief.

‘Individuals who were aware of their memory problems are unlikely to develop dementia later in life.’

People who were unaware of their memory loss, a condition called anosognosia, were more likely to progress to Alzheimer’s disease, according to the study, published today in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Those who were aware of memory problems were unlikely to develop dementia.

"If patients complain of memory problems, but their partner or caregiver isn’t overly concerned, it’s likely that the memory loss is due to other factors, possibly depression or anxiety," says lead author Dr. Philip Gerretsen, Clinician Scientist in CAMH’s Geriatric Division and Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute.

"They can be reassured that they are unlikely to develop dementia, and the other causes of memory loss should be addressed."

Myths Make Things Worse for Families Coping With Alzheimer's
Dementia ranges in severity from mildest stage, when it is just beginning to affect a person’s functioning, to when the person must depend completely on others.

In other cases, the partner or caregiver is more likely to be distressed while patients don’t feel they have any memory problems.

In Alzheimer’s disease, lack of awareness is linked to more burden on caregivers. Both unawareness of illness (anosognosia) and memory loss (known as mild cognitive impairment) can be objectively assessed using questionnaires.

Novel Biomarker Detects Alzheimer�s Before Onset of Symptoms
Magnetoencephalography biomarker detects preclinical and clinical Alzheimer’s disease based on sensory gating mechanisms.

The study, believed to be the largest of its kind on illness awareness, had data on 1,062 people aged 55 to 90 from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). This included 191 people with Alzheimer’s disease, 499 with mild cognitive impairment and 372 as part of the healthy comparison group.

The researchers also wanted to identify which parts of the brain were affected in impaired illness awareness. They examined the brain’s uptake of glucose, a type of sugar. Brain cells need glucose to function, but glucose uptake is impaired in Alzheimer’s disease.

New Role of Apolipoprotein E4 Variant in Alzheimer�s Disease Suggests Possible Therapeutic Target
The apolipoprotein ApoE4 is a high-risk Alzheimer’s gene that increases brain damage caused by another protein called Tau in Alzheimer’s disease patients.

Using PET brain scans, they showed that those with impaired illness awareness also had reduced glucose uptake in specific brain regions, even when accounting for other factors linked to reduced glucose uptake, such as age and degree of memory loss.

As the next stage of this research, Dr. Gerretsen will be tracking older adults with mild cognitive impairment who are receiving an intervention to prevent Alzheimer’s dementia.

This ongoing study, the PACt-MD study, combines brain training exercises and brain stimulation, using a mild electrical current to stimulate brain cells and improve learning and memory.

While the main study is focused on dementia prevention, Dr. Gerretsen will be looking at whether the intervention improves illness awareness in conjunction with preventing progression to dementia.

Source-Eurekalert