New Service for
TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com readers...roll mouse over, click on
highlighted links in stories to review items from Amazon
Educated
people who develop Dementia lose memory at
faster rate
Newswise — People with
more years of education lose their memory
faster than those with less education in the
years prior to a diagnosis of dementia,
according to a study published in the
October 23, 2007, issue of Neurology®,
the medical journal of the American Academy
of Neurology.
The study included 117
people who developed dementia out of an
original cohort of 488 people. Researchers
followed the participants for an average of
six years using annual cognitive tests.
Study participants
ranged in formal education levels of less
than three years of elementary school to
people with postgraduate education.
The study found for
each additional year of formal education,
the rapid accelerated memory decline
associated with oncoming dementia was
delayed by about two-and-a-half months.
However, once that accelerated decline
stopped, the people with more education saw
their rate of cognitive decline accelerate
four percent faster for each additional year
of education. Past research had shown that
people with more education had more rapid
memory loss after diagnosis of dementia.
“Higher levels of
education delay the onset of dementia, but
once it begins, the accelerated memory loss
is more rapid in people with more
education,” said study author Charles B.
Hall, PhD, with Albert Einstein College of
Medicine in Bronx, New York. “Our study
showed that a person with 16 years of formal
education would experience a rate of memory
decline that is 50 percent faster than
someone with just four years of education.”
For example, a college
graduate with 16 years of education whose
dementia is diagnosed at age 85 would have
started to experience accelerated memory
decline nearly four years earlier at age 81.
While a person with just four years of
education who was also diagnosed at age 85
would have begun to experience a less rapid
rate of decline around age 79, six years
before diagnosis.
“This rapid decline may
be explained by how people with more
education have a greater cognitive reserve,
or the brain’s ability to maintain function
in spite of damage,” said Hall. “So while
they’re often diagnosed with dementia at a
later date, once the cognitive reserve is no
longer able to compensate for the damage
that’s occurred, then the symptoms emerge.”
Hall says this is the
first study to confirm important predictions
of the effects of cognitive reserve in
people with preclinical dementia. He also
notes the study is limited since the
participants were born between 1894 and 1908
and their life experiences and education may
not represent that of people entering the
study age range today.
This study was
supported by the National Institute on
Aging. Other researchers from the Einstein
Aging Study involved in the research
included Carol Derby, PhD; Aaron LeValley,
MA; Mindy J. Katz, MPH; Joe Verghese, MD;
and Richard B. Lipton, MD.
As part of a worldwide
initiative led by the Council of Science
Editors, the October 23, 2007 issue of
Neurology® is a global theme issue.
Neurology® is one of 231 journals from
around the world participating in this
significant event. The Council of Science
Editors is organizing this collaboration to
bring attention to issues affecting patients
and practitioners in other nations with the
goal of cultivating interest and advancing
research.
To view the list of
participating journals and other information
on the National Institutes of Health event,
visit www.councilscienceeditors.org/globalthemeissue.cfm.
A list of citations to all articles
published on this topic by the participating
journals will be available on this site on
October 22, 2007.
The American Academy of
Neurology, an association of more than
20,000 neurologists and neuroscience
professionals, is dedicated to improving
patient care through education and research.
A neurologist is a doctor with specialized
training in diagnosing, treating and
managing disorders of the brain and nervous
system such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease,
epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and multiple
sclerosis.
For more information
about the American Academy of Neurology,
visit
http://www.aan.com.
...
...
...