Most Older Adults Have Brain Disease

A study from The Rush Memory and Aging Project at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago suggests that most older adults have significant brain disease when they die even if they don't have any signs or symptoms of dementia.

Researchers in the study evaluated the brains of 141 subjects, both with and without any clinical signs of dementia.  Only 20 were free of any physical signs of brain disease.  And many of the subjects with clinically diagnosed dementia had several different types of pathology causing their cognitive impairment.  The most common combination was Alzheimer's along with signs of stroke damage; the second was Alzheimer's with Lewy Body disease, which has symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease.

The take away message from this research is that, although the prevention of Alzheimer's is important, it is also necessary to prevent other types of pathologies such as stroke by managing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, and smoking.

For more information or to participate in the Memory and Aging Project, go to

www.rush.edu.rumc/page-1099611542239.html