Physical Frailty Is Risk Factor for Alzheimer’, Study Says

A new study, published in the American journal Neurology, revealed that there is a close link between physical frailty and weakness in older age and early onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain. It is characterized by impairment of memory and eventually by disturbances in reasoning, planning, language, and perception.

A team of American researchers looked over brains of 165 people who had participated in a larger community study of chronic diseases of aging. The subjects were measured yearly for symptoms of physical frailty such as grip strength, walking pace, body composition (a measure of obesity) and fatigue.

After their death, the autopsy was conducted to look out for the plaques and tangles that are signs of Alzheimer's disease pathology. 36% of the subjects showed signs of dementia or memory loss prior to their death.

The researchers found that the brains of people who showed high level of degenerative disease were twice as higher in levels of physical frailty as compared to brain of people suffering from low-levels of the disease.

Lead author of the study, Aron Buchman, managing director with Rush University Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago and member of the American Academy of Neurology, said, "Interestingly, Alzheimer's disease pathology was associated with physical frailty in older persons both with and without dementia."

Adding further Buchman said, "These findings raise the possibility that Alzheimer's disease may contribute to frailty or that frailty and Alzheimer's disease share a common cause."

The study author says that it may also turn out to be that ‘Alzheimer's’ and ‘frailty’ are not linked directly but derive from a ‘common origin’.

A previous study conducted on the same group when they were alive by the study authors revealed that that among those with no cognitive impairment, adults who were more frailer had increased risk of developing the fatal illness, i.e. Alzheimer's as compared to those who were less frail.

Buchman said, "Together both of these studies suggest that frailty can be an early indicator of Alzheimer''s disease pathology and may appear before memory loss."

Commenting on the findings, a Maine based geriatrician and member of the Alzheimer's Association's National Board, Dr. Laurel Coleman, said the study was "incredibly provocative" and "well-done."

" This study really ties together two very common syndromes in aging --cognitive processes and motor skills -- in ways I have not seen them connected before," Dr. Coleman said.

The findings of the study appear in the August 12 issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Nearly 5 million people living in United States alone have Alzheimer's, with that number expected to grow to 14 million by 2050. Alzheimer's is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.

AD is a disease that usually develops in older people 65 years and above. Till now, there is no cure for Alzheimer's, so eventually, the patients lose their lives. The brains of all people shrink as they age, but this process is double as fast in Alzheimer’s disease patients.

In 80 percent of cases, AD is of genetic inheritance. Certain genetic variations have been linked with Alzheimer’s and the presence of one of these genetic variations supposedly predicts the age of onset of the disease.

A previous study published in the July issue of the medical journal The Lancet suggests that Dimebon, a drug used to combat hay fever shows promising results in stopping the symptoms of Alzheimer disease.

Another study, published in the journal Neurology, found that people who exercise regularly may actually slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s diseases. The researchers found that people with Alzheimer’s disease who were less fit had 4 times more signs of brain shrinkage than those who were in shape.

Running is also said to not only reduce chances of heart attack but also slashes risk of developing neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's-- as well as cancerdefine.

In year 2007, an American study found that children whose mothers have Alzheimer’s disease may be at higher risk for getting the disease than those whose fathers are afflicted.