By Alan Moses
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, April 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Is there an easy way to assess dementia risk in older people years before there are signs of memory loss or impaired thinking?
Yes, the researchers report.
It’s a test called SOMI, short for Stages of Objective Memory Impairment.
The process is simple. After being shown a series of pictures, patients who do not have symptoms of dementia are asked to recall what they have seen, sometimes with the help of clues if necessary.
After rating memory skills, participants are classified according to five risk stages. Stage 0 represents no current memory problems and a low risk of dementia in the future. Stage 4 represents the least reliable memory and the highest degree of future dementia risk.
The new study indicates that those classified as stage 3 or 4 appear to face a three times greater risk of dementia than those classified as stage 0.
Study author Ellen Grober, a professor in the department of neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, said she has “reasonable confidence in SOMI’s ability to identify cognitively normal people who are at high risk of clinical progression” to dementia.
And he explained that tests of this type could be useful in a number of ways.
For one thing, Grober said, “studies of healthy brain aging over the past 10 years provide things that can be done to mitigate risk” when dementia risk is identified sooner rather than later.
At the same time, he added, an accurate tool to predict long-term dementia risk could serve as “an aid” to ongoing research efforts seeking to develop new treatments that could slow or prevent mental decline.
This latest research involved 969 men and women, ranging in age from 40 to 100, with an average age of 69. About 6 in 10 were women, while nearly 84% were white.
They all took the SOMI test, which Grober said “is different from other memory tests because it starts with a study phase.”
During this study phase, he noted, “people are shown four illustrated items and asked to identify the item: [such as grapes] – that goes with a category sign [like] fruit. This type of study enhances the meaning of the item, making it easier to remember.
In turn, memory recall was tested by asking the participants to recall what they had seen. In situations where people had difficulty doing so, category cues were offered to trigger recall.
Memory ability was then rated from 0 to 4.
Just under half (47%) of the patients were considered to be in stage 0, meaning they had no memory problems. But about a third (35%) were classified as stage 1, while 13% were classified as stage 2. About 5% were characterized as stage 3 or 4.
Over the next decade, 234 of the participants developed some degree of intellectual disability.
After accounting for a number of factors that may play a role in dementia risk, including gender, age and genetic predisposition, the researchers concluded that those who had been classified as stage 1 or 2 had twice the risk of dementia than those classified as stage 0, while those characterized as stage 3 or 4 faced triple the risk.
The study team said that, by that estimate, about 7 out of 10 of those in stage 3 or 4, and nearly 6 out of 10 of those in stage 2, will ultimately have difficulty thinking about the future. future.
The study findings were published online April 19 in the journal Neurology.
Christopher Weber is director of global science initiatives for the Alzheimer’s Association, one of the co-funders of the study.
Weber suggested that the SOMI approach differs from other tests “by its ability to detect subtle memory deficits that often accompany the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.”
He emphasized that “early detection can help individuals and their health care providers take steps to manage symptoms, plan for the future, and potentially slow the progression of the cause of cognitive decline through interventions with medications and/or or lifestyle”.
Still, Weber cautioned that the study focused primarily on white, well-educated people, making it difficult to generalize the findings to a more diverse group of patients.
At the same time, he emphasized that “there is no single test that can definitively predict the onset of dementia.” Getting an accurate diagnosis requires a “comprehensive evaluation,” Weber said, which includes not only memory tests, but also neurological and imaging tests.
More information
For more on dementia, visit the US National Institute on Aging.
SOURCES: Ellen Grober, PhD, professor, department of neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City; Christopher Weber, PhD, director, global science initiatives, Alzheimer’s Association, New York City; Neurology, April 19, 2023, online
—————————————————-
Source link