A 'Feeling' for Dementia? New Findings on Subjectively Perceived Memory Problems

A study in Neurology concluded that personal perception can be a valuable indicator for early detection of Alzheimer's disease, reports ScienceDaily . Researchers looked at 449 women and men, average age about 70, who went to a memory clinic, of whom 240 were assessed as having subjective cognitive decline (SCD). "We were able to show that those people who turned to a memory clinic because of SCD had measurable, albeit only mild cognitive deficits," said Steffen Wolfsgruber at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). He explained that "participants considered to be healthy generally scored better in mental performance than memory clinic patients with SCD. These differences are hardly detectable with standard methods of analysis and in small groups of people." On average, individuals with subjectively perceived memory problems also had measurable cognitive deficits associated with abnormalities in their cerebrospinal fluid, specifically proteins indicative of early Alzheimer's disease. "Current therapies against Alzheimer's start too late. Then the brain is already severely damaged," said DZNE's Michael Wagner. "A better understanding of SCD could create the basis for an earlier treatment."