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 The subjective sense that one has more memory lapses than peers
could be an early sign of a long term process leading to dementia,
researchers say.
“We do not know why some older adults develop concerns about their
memory even though they are not showing memory problems on tests of
thinking skills,” said Allison R. Kaup of the San Francisco VA
Medical Center and the University of California San Francisco. “One
possibility is that an individual may be noticing changes in their
memory that are so subtle that clinical tests do not detect it.”
The study began with 1,107 dementia-free women age 65. Over 18
years, they periodically answered the question, “do you feel you
have more problems with memory than most?” At the start, 89 women,
or less than 10 percent of the group, answered “yes.”
“It remains unclear whether there are particular kinds of memory
concerns that might be most telling to estimate whether or not an
individual may experience future cognitive decline,” Kaup told
Reuters Health by email. “This basic question likely did not capture
all the complexity that may be important to understanding an older
individual’s concerns about their thinking skills.”
After 18 years, the women were tested for thinking ability and
memory impairment. Those who had answered “yes” initially were 70
percent more likely than the others to be diagnosed with memory or
thinking impairment.
About half of those with initial memory complaints were diagnosed
with mild cognitive impairment or dementia, compared to 38 percent
of those with no complaints.
At 10 and four years before the study ended, memory complaints were
even stronger predictors of an eventual diagnosis, according to the
results in Neurology.
“Other studies suggest that evidence of recent change (rather than
remote change) in memory, worse memory relative to age-matched
peers, and concern about memory changes may be more likely to
predict decline than other concerns such as momentary lapses in
attention or difficulty retrieving names, which may be more likely
to reflect normal aging,” said Rebecca E. Amariglio of the Center
for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
in Boston.
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Studies including men and women have found similar results, said
Kaup.
The new study covered a long time frame, but only a small group of
women had memory complaints, said Dr. Frank Jessen of the University
Hospital of Cologne in Germany, who also was not part of the study.
“Whether or not women should be afraid that they could develop
dementia based on memory complaints is difficult to say from this
paper,” as not all women with the complaints did end up with a
diagnosis, and not all of the diagnoses were of dementia, Jessen
told Reuters Health.
Mild cognitive impairment involves thinking changes that are
noticeable to the individual, but do not interfere with daily life.
“Most people who have subjective memory decline will not get
dementia,” Jessen said.
Subjective memory problems may stimulate people to live a healthier
lifestyle, which can help preserve brain function, he said.
“There are a number of health and lifestyle factors that help
promote cognitive health in aging, things like staying physically
active, maintaining cardiovascular health, getting good sleep, and
having a socially active and mentally-stimulating lifestyle,” said
Dr. Kristine Yaffe, also of the San Francisco VA Medical Center and
the University of California, San Francisco, senior author of the
new study.
If friends or family notice a change in your memory, you should
consult a doctor, Jessen said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/NwhhyY Neurology, online October 28, 2015.
(This version of the story has been corrected to remove claim in
paragraph 10 that Allison Kaup was not involved with the new
research.)
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