Research Discovers Apathy in Mild Cognitive Impairment Patients May Increase Risk of Alzheimer’s

A recent study carried out by UTHealth Houston investigators has revealed that the presence of apathy in patients suffering from mild cognitive impairments may be a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is a debilitating mental disorder that usually causes memory loss, poor judgment, personality changes and a general decline in cognitive faculties. While it is estimated to affect more than 6 million Americans of all ages, a majority of the people with Alzheimer’s are over the age of 75.

Memory problems are usually the first clear sign of Alzheimer’s in a patient, but for the most part, physicians cannot detect the condition before symptoms start to develop.

This new study suggests the possibility of creating an early diagnosis tool that could detect Alzheimer’s before symptoms develop by analyzing apathy in people with mild cognitive impairments. Apathy is a common symptom in people with cognitive impairment. It is usually characterized by reduced or lack of interest in day-to-day activities.

Director of the institution’s Neuropsychiatry Program and faculty member in the Louis A. Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Professor Antonio L. Teixeira, notes that most major medical centers outside of Houston rely on clinical markers to diagnose and manage Alzheimer’s disease. He stated that the group’s findings suggested a strong association between apathy and cognitive decline regardless of other behavioral problems.

After analyzing eight years’ worth of medical data from more than 1,000 patients, Teixeira and his colleagues found that roughly 17% of the patients developed the cognitive condition. They also observed that apathy in patients with mild cognitive impairment increased the risk of progression toward Alzheimer’s by almost three times.

The researchers made sure to use a diverse population of subjects in an effort to ensure the findings of their study were in line with the demographics of Texas. Teixeira, who was also the study’s senior author, explained that while previous studies had a relatively homogenous population of study subjects, this recent study was much more heterogenous and included a substantial number of Hispanics.

In their conclusion, the researchers note that based on their findings, physicians should pay keener attention to mild cognitive impairment patients with apathy and intervene before the onset of Alzheimer’s.  Teixeira also highlighted that evaluating patients for apathy was relatively cost-effective because it didn’t require the use of complex and expensive equipment. As such, apathy evaluations may provide clinicians with a highly scalable and efficient means of detecting Alzheimer’s in patients with mild cognitive impairment before the symptoms manifest.

For patients with Alzheimer’s and other cognitive degenerative conditions that have progressed, supportive devices such as the location monitoring devices made by MetAlert Inc. (OTC: MLRT) can ease the work of caregivers concerned about keeping tabs on where their loved one is at all times.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to MetAlert Inc. (OTC: MLRT) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/MLRT

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