Researchers say neuropsychiatric symptoms, particularly depression, are common in Alzheimer’s disease.
Depression may be caused by the same toxic plaque buildup in the brain that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease, a new study has found. According to researchers at Bringham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, depression affects a part of the brain that is vulnerable to cognitive decline.
“Our findings further support the idea that depressive symptoms are an early feature of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease,” wrote a team led by Dr. Catherine Munro, a neuropsychologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “It is not that depression caused Alzheimer’s disease, but rather that Alzheimer’s disease pathology affecting this part of the brain caused depressive symptoms relatively early in the course of the disease.”
As the Boston researchers note, “Neuropsychiatric symptoms, particularly depression, are common in Alzheimer’s disease.” However, the exact links between depression and Alzheimer’s are unclear.
The study
The results, published in JAMA Network, looked at rates of depressive symptoms in 154 people enrolled in the ongoing Harvard Brain Aging Study. The researchers said none of them had mental health problems when they joined the study and that data was collected between 2010 and 2022. Results of PET scans of each patient’s brain were taken once every two to three years for an average of just under nine years.
The scans also included studies of the buildup of amyloid protein plaques inside brain tissue, a known hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
The results indicated that among those who had mild or no depressive symptoms at entry into the study, “increased depressive symptoms were associated with early amyloid buildup in brain regions involved in emotional control.” They noted that the link between depression and amyloid buildup occurred regardless of whether problems with memory or thinking had already begun to appear.
The link between depression and Alzheimer’s
Experts believe the study will clear up confusion surrounding the links between depression and Alzheimer’s disease, as the data could identify depression as a possible sign of Alzheimer’s in people at risk. They also noted that early detection of Alzheimer’s is becoming more important in an era when newly approved drugs can help delay the disease.
If the two are linked, the researchers say, drugs targeting amyloid might even be able to slow cognitive decline along with behavioral problems such as stress and depression.
The Boston researchers agreed that depressive symptoms may one day become part of the checklist for diagnosing Alzheimer’s. The findings “underscore the importance of monitoring for new and increasing affective symptoms.” [emotional] “Symptoms other than cognitive changes in older adults presenting at psychiatric clinics and when screened for Alzheimer’s disease,” they said.
How to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s?
To reduce your risk of developing this debilitating disease, you should be aware of the following:
- Eat a healthy diet
- Stay physically active
- Manage your health
- Protect your head
- Stay mentally and socially active
- Managing stress
- Prevent hearing loss
- Cognitive training
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