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Science Early history of depression linked to Alzheimer’s later in life
Science Early history of depression linked to Alzheimer’s later in life | Early history of depression linked to Alzheimer’s later in life |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Wednesday, 09 April 2008 | |
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Page 1 of 2 The research study was led by neuroepidemiologist Monique M.B. Breteler, at the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus University (Rotterdam, the Netherlands). The goal of the researchers was stated in their abstract as: “Depression may increase risk for Alzheimer disease (AD), but it is not clear whether this risk is mediated by structural brain changes. We determined whether history of depressive episodes and presence of depressive symptoms were associated with smaller hippocampal and amygdalar volumes and with increased risk for incident AD." The Dutch researchers used 503 men and women as their subjects who were already enrolled as part of the Rotterdam Scan Study. At the beginning of the Erasmus study all of the men and women—ages between 80 and 90 years—did not show any signs of dementia (a mental deterioration disease related to forgetfulness, which is commonly found in Alzheimer's disease). The researchers assessed depressive symptoms with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. They all were asked to report on any depression during their lives, expressly reporting depression occurring before or after the age of sixty years. They were also requested to report any signs of depression at the beginning of the study. The researchers then took three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the hippocampus and the amygdale—two areas of the brain that are thought by scientists to reduce in size when depression is present. What did the study show? What did the brain images show? Please read on. |
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