Background: The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is widely used to assess depressive symptoms in clinical and research settings. This study utilized a 4 factor solution for the 30-item GDS to explore differences in th...Background: The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is widely used to assess depressive symptoms in clinical and research settings. This study utilized a 4 factor solution for the 30-item GDS to explore differences in the presentation of depressive symptoms in various types of cognitive impairment. Method: Retrospective chart review was conducted on 254 consecutive cases of community dwelling elderly newly diagnosed with mild Alzheimer’s Dementia (AD) n = 122, mild Vascular Dementia (VaD) n = 71 or Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) n = 32 and Non-Amnestic MCI (nMCI) n = 29. Results: Analysis revealed no significant differences (p 05). No statistically significant differences were found between VaD and nMCI or between the MCI groups. Conclusions: Support is provided for the use of GDS subscales in a wide range of cognitively impaired elderly. This study suggests in mild dementia the number and type of depressive symptoms vary significantly between AD and VaD. There are indications that aMCI patients are similar in their symptom endorsement to AD and nMCI are similar to VaD which is consistent with some of the notions regarding likely trajectories of the respective MCI groups.展开更多
Background: Exposure to elements in groundwater (toxic or beneficial) is commonplace yet, outside of lead and mercury, little research has examined the impact of many commonly occurring exposures on mental abilities d...Background: Exposure to elements in groundwater (toxic or beneficial) is commonplace yet, outside of lead and mercury, little research has examined the impact of many commonly occurring exposures on mental abilities during the aging process. Selenium has antioxidant properties as part of the glutathione peroxidase system and may have protective effects on memory abilities. Objectives: To investigate the relationship of groundwater selenium exposure to neuropsychological status. Method: Analysis of data from 484 participants (148 men and 336 women) of Project FRONTIER, a community-based participatory research study of the epidemiology of health issues of rural-dwelling adults and elders. Results: Estimated selenium exposure (current and long-term) was specifically related to memory functioning without relation to other neurocognitive domains. The significant, positive link between selenium and memory (Immediate and Delayed) scores held regardless of APOE4 status as well as when the sample was restricted to only those without cognitive dysfunction. Current selenium was also associated with significantly reduced risk of cognitive decline prospectively. Conclusions: Higher selenium levels were associated with better memory functioning as well as reduced risk of cognitive decline among this community-based sample. Given the antioxidant properties of selenium, and the well-documented link between oxidative stress and the development of cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer’s disease, additional research is necessary to determine the utility of groundwater selenium monitoring as a potential population-wide prevention effort against Alzheimer’s disease.展开更多
Background: Depression is often viewed as a risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD), however little is known regarding the underlying biological mechanisms linking these two diseases. Brain-der...Background: Depression is often viewed as a risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD), however little is known regarding the underlying biological mechanisms linking these two diseases. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been linked to both cognitive impairment and depression in past research;however few studies have ex-amined this relation in a sample of Alzheimer's patients. The present study sought to address this gap in the literature by examining the relation between serum BDNF levels and depression assessed by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) in a group of patients diagnosed with probable Alzheimer's disease. Methods: Participants included 169 individuals diagnosed with Probable AD enrolled in the TARC Longitudinal Research Cohort with available BDNF levels and GDS scores. The participants were divided into Depressed (N = 20) and Not Depressed (N = 149) based on GDS scores. Re-sults: BDNF levels significantly predicted level (High vs. Low) of depression (β = 0.066, SE = 0.031, p = 0.034). BDNF levels for the Depressed group were significantly higher than those observed in the Not Depressed group (p. > 0.036). Conclusions: These findings suggest that an upregulation of BDNF possibly exists among depressed AD patients as a response to the chronic inflammatory processes that occur in depression. This upregulation of BDNF appears to persist at least into early stages of Alzheimer's.展开更多
文摘Background: The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is widely used to assess depressive symptoms in clinical and research settings. This study utilized a 4 factor solution for the 30-item GDS to explore differences in the presentation of depressive symptoms in various types of cognitive impairment. Method: Retrospective chart review was conducted on 254 consecutive cases of community dwelling elderly newly diagnosed with mild Alzheimer’s Dementia (AD) n = 122, mild Vascular Dementia (VaD) n = 71 or Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) n = 32 and Non-Amnestic MCI (nMCI) n = 29. Results: Analysis revealed no significant differences (p 05). No statistically significant differences were found between VaD and nMCI or between the MCI groups. Conclusions: Support is provided for the use of GDS subscales in a wide range of cognitively impaired elderly. This study suggests in mild dementia the number and type of depressive symptoms vary significantly between AD and VaD. There are indications that aMCI patients are similar in their symptom endorsement to AD and nMCI are similar to VaD which is consistent with some of the notions regarding likely trajectories of the respective MCI groups.
文摘Background: Exposure to elements in groundwater (toxic or beneficial) is commonplace yet, outside of lead and mercury, little research has examined the impact of many commonly occurring exposures on mental abilities during the aging process. Selenium has antioxidant properties as part of the glutathione peroxidase system and may have protective effects on memory abilities. Objectives: To investigate the relationship of groundwater selenium exposure to neuropsychological status. Method: Analysis of data from 484 participants (148 men and 336 women) of Project FRONTIER, a community-based participatory research study of the epidemiology of health issues of rural-dwelling adults and elders. Results: Estimated selenium exposure (current and long-term) was specifically related to memory functioning without relation to other neurocognitive domains. The significant, positive link between selenium and memory (Immediate and Delayed) scores held regardless of APOE4 status as well as when the sample was restricted to only those without cognitive dysfunction. Current selenium was also associated with significantly reduced risk of cognitive decline prospectively. Conclusions: Higher selenium levels were associated with better memory functioning as well as reduced risk of cognitive decline among this community-based sample. Given the antioxidant properties of selenium, and the well-documented link between oxidative stress and the development of cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer’s disease, additional research is necessary to determine the utility of groundwater selenium monitoring as a potential population-wide prevention effort against Alzheimer’s disease.
文摘Background: Depression is often viewed as a risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD), however little is known regarding the underlying biological mechanisms linking these two diseases. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been linked to both cognitive impairment and depression in past research;however few studies have ex-amined this relation in a sample of Alzheimer's patients. The present study sought to address this gap in the literature by examining the relation between serum BDNF levels and depression assessed by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) in a group of patients diagnosed with probable Alzheimer's disease. Methods: Participants included 169 individuals diagnosed with Probable AD enrolled in the TARC Longitudinal Research Cohort with available BDNF levels and GDS scores. The participants were divided into Depressed (N = 20) and Not Depressed (N = 149) based on GDS scores. Re-sults: BDNF levels significantly predicted level (High vs. Low) of depression (β = 0.066, SE = 0.031, p = 0.034). BDNF levels for the Depressed group were significantly higher than those observed in the Not Depressed group (p. > 0.036). Conclusions: These findings suggest that an upregulation of BDNF possibly exists among depressed AD patients as a response to the chronic inflammatory processes that occur in depression. This upregulation of BDNF appears to persist at least into early stages of Alzheimer's.
