Patients Reporting Memory Problems Often Right

New research suggests that physicians should pay close attention to patients who complain of memory problems. Richard Kryscio, PhD, Chairman of the Department of of Biostatistics and Associate Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at the University of Kentucky, and colleagues asked 531 dementia-free people with an average age of 73 if they had noticed any changes in their memory in the past year. Participants were also given annual memory and thinking tests for an average of 10 years, and after they had died their brains were examined for evidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Just over half (56%) of participants reported changes in their memory, at an average age of 82. Results showed that participants who reported changes in their memory were nearly 3-times more likely to develop memory and thinking problems. Furthermore, 1-in-6 participants developed dementia during the study, and 80% of those participants had self-reported memory changes. “What’s notable about our study is the time it took for the transition from self-reported memory complaint to dementia or clinical impairment – about 12-years for dementia and 9-years for clinical impairment – after the memory complaints began,” said Kryscio. “That suggests that there may be a significant window of opportunity for intervention before a diagnosable problem shows up.”