Waterfalls can show signs of Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms appear

According to one study, when older people without cognitive impairment experience falls, they may not detect neurodegeneration in the brain and may be at increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers have found that in elderly people with no cognitive problems who experience falls, the process of neurodegeneration that leads to Alzheimer’s disease may have already begun.

Survey results Journal of Alzheimer’s disease Elderly people who have experienced falls should be screened for Alzheimer’s disease, suggesting that new strategies may be needed to reduce the risk of falls in people in the early stages of the disease.

Waterfalls are a major cause of fatal injuries in the elderly, with more than 800,000 hospitalizations and about 30,000 deaths each year in the United States.

Alzheimer’s disease remains unrecognized Fall risk, Older age, visual and balance problems, muscle weakness, and other more well-known factors.

“In the world of autumn research, we generally say that if you lose strength and balance, you risk falling,” said Susan Stark, an associate professor of occupational therapy, neurology, and social work in Washington. The University of St. Louis states.

“If you lose strength and balance, the recommended treatment is to work on strength and balance. But if someone falls for another reason, perhaps his or her brain accumulates damage associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The person may need a completely different treatment, perhaps because he or she has begun to do so, although it is not yet known what the treatment is, this information is used to reduce the risk of inversion in this population. I hope we can propose a new treatment method. “

“Silent phase” of Alzheimer’s disease

In 1987, John C. Morris, then a trainee at the University of Washington, said that older people with Alzheimer’s disease are more than twice as likely to be traumatized as people of the same age without dementia. I found that. Morris is currently a professor of neurology and head of the University’s Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

Since the discovery of Morris more than 30 years ago, scientists have learned that the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease have begun to change decades before memory loss and confusion became apparent.

First, amyloid protein plaques are formed, then your protein. Some brain regions begin to shrink, and communication networks between distant parts of the brain begin to weaken.

Stark and colleagues have shown that the relationship between Alzheimer’s disease and falls applies even during the silence phase of the illness. People with so-called preclinical Alzheimer’s disease are at increased risk of falls, even though there are no obvious cognitive problems.

Better understand why people without cognitive symptoms are at risk FallAudrey Kelemen, a graduate student in Stark’s lab, the first author, and colleagues followed 83 people over the age of 65 for a year. Qualified neurologists evaluated all participants as cognitively normal at the beginning of the study. Each participant completed a monthly calendar recording falls and performed brain scans for signs of amyloid and atrophy and signs of poor connectivity.

Researchers have found that the presence of amyloid in the brain alone increases neurodegeneration rather than increasing the risk of people falling. The fallen participant, the hippocampus, devoted himself to memory and had a small brain area that shrank due to Alzheimer’s disease. There were also signs of weakness in their somatomotor network, the network of connections involved in receiving sensory inputs and controlling movement.

Researchers have concluded that falls are most likely to occur during the neurodegenerative stage of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. This is the last five years before memory loss and confusion.

You can prevent falls with simple changes

“Since I started working on this project, I started asking patients about falls. I don’t know how often it helped me to start understanding what was happening to the individual.” Neurology. Ances, a professor of radiology and biomedical engineering.

“If a person’s mobility is reduced, that person looks very normal, but it can be a sign that something needs to be evaluated further,” says Ances. “It really is,” Wait a minute. Let’s take a closer look at this. Is there anything else associated with it? “

Researchers have begun further experiments to better understand why changes in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease put people at risk of falling. On the other hand, simple changes could go a long way in protecting the old man from catastrophic waterfalls, Stark said.

“Just making the environment safer can prevent many falls,” says Stark. “Simple changes are effective and harmless. Make sure the tub is not slippery. Make sure you can easily get up from the toilet. Balance and strength training; Review your prescription and certain medications Or see if the drug combination increases your risk of falling.

“There is still much we can do to make people safer until we have a specific fall prevention treatment for people with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.”

The National Institute on Aging, National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Paula C. and Roger O. Linny Foundation, and Daniel J. Brennan MD Foundation supported this work.

Source: University of Washington, St. Louis