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P2–208: Are older brains getting younger? Changes in cerebral amyloid deposition over a 30‐year period
Author(s) -
Gold Gabriel,
Kovari Eniko,
Herrmann Francois,
Bouras Constantin
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2013.05.854
Subject(s) - dementia , medicine , cohort , cohort study , population , amyloid (mycology) , pediatrics , gerontology , demography , disease , pathology , environmental health , sociology
Background: The XXth century has seen worldwide population aging thanks to improved living conditions and medical progress. It is not known whether these improvements have had any effect on cerebral aging. Methods: We compared amyloid deposition in autopsied cases aged 65 and over, between 1972 and 2006 in one hospital. Consecutive cases were included in 1972 to 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, and 2000 to 2006. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess period effects adjusting for age and cognitive status. The amyloid/NFT stage ratio was calculated to account for possible changes in AD prevalence or severity over time. Results: Yearly mean amyloid stage was significantly related to cohort year (p1⁄40 001) in the total 1599 cases. In 1265 non-demented individuals,it decreased 24%, from 1 886 0 89 to 1 576 0 81 (p<0 0001). This was particularly marked in oldest age groups: people over 85 years in 2006 had lower average amyloid deposition than those 75 to 84 years old in 1972. The amyloid/NFT stage ratio decreased from 1 51 6 0 74 to 0 99 6 0 56 (p<0.0001) in non-demented cases and from 0 74 6 0 13 to 0 56 6 0 21 (p1⁄40 0019) in individuals with dementia. Conclusions: These results are consistent with a strong period effect suggesting that the oldest-old were ten years younger (from an amyloid point of view) in the XXIst century compared to cohorts examined 30 years earlier. If this trend is confirmed in community-based studies it may lead to new insights in our understanding of both normal and pathological brain aging.