Depression may be another risk for Alzheimer’s dementia: Your doctor can help

Depression and ADBoth depression and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are common in the elderly. Both need early diagnosis because both are best treated in early stages. AD is a disease that slowly attacks the brain. It causes problems with thinking and especially memory. Changes in personality and mood, including depression, are common in people with AD. More information about AD can be found on the next page.Depression is a medical illness that is often overlooked but is very treatable. Symptoms may include changes in eating and/or sleeping patterns, feeling tired, losing interest in doing things, feeling sad, or having difficulty concentrating. Risk factors include a family history of depression, stressful life events, and lack of social support. The elderly are particularly prone to depression due to significant losses. These may include declining health, death of family members and friends, retirement, and loss of independence.Are the symptoms of depression and AD linked? A recent study suggests that depressive symptoms may in fact be a risk factor for AD. In this issue of Neurology , Wilson and colleagues (Wilson RS, Barnes LL, Mendes de Leon CF, et al. Depressive symptoms, cognitive decline, and risk of AD in older persons. Neurology 2002;59) present results of their study. More than 650 elderly (65 years or older) Catholic clergy members without clinical signs of AD took part in the study. The number of depressive symptoms at the start of the study was tested with a 10-item questionnaire. Memory, concentration, vocabulary, and other thinking processes were also tested. Over the following 7 years, people in the study had yearly clinical examinations to see if they were developing AD. …