Now, keep up to date
with daily feeds of newly posted stories
about America's Seniors...click on the box
to the left
Apathy common in dementia patients with
brain changes
Dementia patients with a certain type of
changes in their brain's white matter are
more likely to be apathetic than those who
do not have these changes, reveals a patient
study carried out by the Sahlgrenska Academy
and Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
Changes in the brain's white matter are
common among the elderly and dementia
patients, and often appear as blurred
patches on CT and MRI images.
"A likely explanation for the changes is
that the small blood vessels that supply the
white matter are not working as they
should," says Michael Jonsson, PhD-student
at the Sahlgrenska Academy and consultant
psychiatrist at Sahlgrenska University
Hospital's memory clinic.
"This results in that the long nerve fibres
and their fatty sheaths degenerate."
Apathy is one of the most common
psychological problems associated with
dementia. Just over half of all dementia
patents are emotionally blunted and lack
motivation and initiative.
This new study shows that this apathy is far
more common in patients who have the
characteristic changes in the brain.
This discovery suggests that there is a
common biological reason behind this apathy,
irrespective of which type of dementia a
patient has. The changes are located deep in
the brain and primarily affect the neural
pathways that run from this part of the
brain to the frontal lobes, which are
important for taking the initiative and the
ability to plan.
"Even though we think we know a bit about
which pathways are affected in cases of
apathy, we still need to find out more about
the anatomy and chemistry behind the
development of these symptoms," says Jonsson.
"This is vital if we are to develop
medication to treat apathy."
The study involved 176 patients with
Alzheimer's, vascular dementia or mixed
dementia. 82 per cent of the patients with
changes in their white matter were
apathetic, while 58 per cent of all of the
dementia patients were apathetic.
Given that apathy reduces quality of life
for patients with dementia and increases the
risk of institutionalisation, a great deal
of research is under way to find a
treatment. Treatments that do not involve
medication, such as increased physical
exercise, cognitive stimulation and massage,
do not seem to work.
"Some studies have shown that the medicines
currently used for Alzheimer's can have a
positive impact on apathy in other types of
dementia too," says Jonsson. "Other
medicines may also be of interest, but we
need to carry out more research in this
area."
DEMENTIA
The most common symptoms of dementia are
forgetfulness, impaired speech and problems
with recognition and orientation. It is a
condition that can affect all our mental
faculties and that is more common as we get
older. Around seven per cent of the Swedish
population over the age of 65 and just over
20 per cent of the over-80s have severe
dementia.
... ..
...
...