Is Anxiety an Early Indicator of Alzheimer's Disease?

A new study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry suggests a link between elevated amyloid beta levels and the exacerbation of anxiety symptoms, which supports the theory that neuropsychiatric symptoms could be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease in older adults, reports EurekAlert . "Rather than just looking at depression as a total score, we looked at specific symptoms such as anxiety," says Nancy Donovan at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "When compared to other symptoms of depression such as sadness or loss of interest, anxiety symptoms increased over time in those with higher amyloid beta levels in the brain. This suggests that anxiety symptoms could be a manifestation of Alzheimer's disease prior to the onset of cognitive impairment. If further research substantiates anxiety as an early indicator, it would be important for not only identifying people early on with the disease, but also, treating it and potentially slowing or preventing the disease process early on." Study participants included 270 community living, cognitively normal men and women, between 62 and 90, with no active psychiatric disorders. Individuals also received baseline imaging scans and yearly assessments with the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale. The researchers determined higher brain amyloid beta burden was associated with heightened anxiety symptoms over time in cognitively normal older adults, implying that worsening anxious-depressive symptoms may be an early predictor of elevated amyloid beta levels, and preclinical Alzheimer's disease.