Most
people who notice their memory slipping may actually go on to develop
Alzheimer's, say a study.
Self-reported
memory complaints are strong predictors of clinical memory impairment later in
life, the findings showed.
Alzheimer's
is the most common type of dementia.
"What's
notable about our study is the time it took for the transition from
self-reported memory complaint to dementia or clinical impairment - about 12
years for dementia and nine years for clinical impairment - after the memory
complaints began," said Richard Kryscio from University of Kentucky in the
US.
"That
suggests that there may be a significant window of opportunity for intervention
before a diagnosable problem shows up," Kryscio added.
For
the study, the researchers asked 531 people with an average age of 73 years and
free of dementia whether they had noticed any changes in their memory in the
prior year.
During
the study, 56 percent of the participants reported changes in their memory, at
an average age of 82.
The
study found that participants who reported changes in their memory were nearly
three times more likely to develop memory and thinking problems.
About
one in six participants developed dementia during the study, and 80 percent of
those first reported memory changes.
The
study appeared in the journal Neurology.
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