Alzheimer’s disease may be preceded by personality changes or behavior. Being able to detect them very early could help prevent this disease. This is shown by a study carried out by researchers at the Mayo Clinic, in the United States. The results are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
What characterizes Alzheimer’s disease is the loss of memory and the ability to think and make decisions. These changes may begin slowly during a phase called “mild cognitive impairment” or MCI for Mild Cognitive impairment. You should know that a person with MCI will not necessarily develop Alzheimer’s disease, but if memory loss is the main symptom and there are general predispositions © netics, then the risk can reach 90%, explains the study.
Depression, irritability, anxiety…
Between 1994 and 2016, researchers recruited 277 participants in their 20s who were genetically more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. People without genetic predisposition formed the control group. Each participant passed physical and cognitive tests as well as medical examinations. During the study, 25 of them developed MCI. In testing, they received higher scores on measures of depression, somatization, irritability, anxiety and aggressive attitude.
After analyzing the results, the researchers concluded that personality and behavioral changes occur early in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. They may, however, be barely noticeable and simply include mood swings, depression or anxiety. According to them, further research is needed to find out if the diagnosis of these early personality changes could help the development of preventive treatments.
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