U.S. Latinos may develop
Alzheimer’s Disease symptoms at earlier age
Newswise — U.S. Latinos develop symptoms
of Alzheimer’s disease earlier, on average, than white non-Latino
people, according to a study in the May issue of Archives of
Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Although Latino people are a
geographic and genetically diverse group, some reports suggest that
they may differ from Anglo (white non-Latino) individuals in several
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) characteristics, according to background
information in the article. Differences shown in previous studies
include a higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s in both Caribbean and
Mexican-American Latino people and an increased incidence of
Alzheimer’s in the Latino populations of New York City and Houston,
compared with Anglos. This study compares the age at which
Alzheimer’s symptoms first appear between Latino and Anglo subjects
evaluated through the National Institute on Aging-sponsored
Alzheimer’s Disease Centers (ADC) program.
Christopher M. Clark, M.D., of the
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and colleagues at five
Alzheimer’s Disease Centers (three east coast and two west coast
centers) conducted a two phase study to compare the age of onset of
Alzheimer’s disease symptoms of U.S. mainland Latino individuals
with age of symptom onset in Anglo individuals. The first phase of
the study, a retrospective database analysis, found that the mean
(average) age at symptom onset for 366 Latino patients with a
clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s was 68.8 years compared with 73.5
years for 2,823 Anglo patients and was consistent for the east coast
centers (individuals of predominately Caribbean origin) and the west
coast centers (individuals of predominately Mexican origin).
In the second phase of the study,
119 Latinos and 55 Anglo patients with probable or possible
Alzheimer’s disease were evaluated using a number of standardized
assessment tests for severity of dementia and psychiatric symptoms.
In addition, information on each patient, including birthplace,
migration history, years of education and the age of the onset of
Alzheimer’s symptoms was obtained from a knowledgeable informant,
usually a spouse or adult child. In this phase of the study, the
researchers found that Latinos had a mean age of symptom onset that
was 6.8 years earlier than Anglo individuals evaluated at the same
clinic. There was no difference in the age of symptom onset between
the Latinos evaluated at the east and west coast centers, although
there were differences in the countries of origin.
“…the findings in this study
indicate that Latino individuals, the largest and fastest growing
minority group in the mainland United States, appear to have an
earlier age of AD symptom onset compared with Anglo individuals with
a similar educational level,” the authors conclude. “The factors
responsible for this remain to be identified, but the observation
has a potential impact on both the burden of dementia care carried
by this population group and the dementia-related diagnostic and
educational efforts directed toward the Latino population. From the
individual patient and family standpoint as well as a public health
perspective, it is important to identify modifiable factors that
contribute to the symptomatic expression of AD in this significant
minority group.”