Health: December 2007 Archives

Alzheimer's does not necessarily reduce mental function

By Kee Hinckley on December 11, 2007 6:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

But when these sharp old folks die, autopsy studies often reveal extensive brain abnormalities like those in patients with Alzheimer’s. Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas and Yaakov Stern at Columbia University Medical Center recall that in 1988, a study of “cognitively normal elderly women” showed that they had “advanced Alzheimer’s disease pathology in their brains at death.” Later studies indicated that up to two-thirds of people with autopsy findings of Alzheimer’s disease were cognitively intact when they died.

Interesting. In summary, this study shows that Alzheimer's isn't in itself a reason for decreased mental functions. Some people who remained mentally active by doing lots of things requiring mental skills, had normal cognitive skills even though autopsies showed that they had Alzheimer's.

Of course, just to put a mild damper on it, I'll point out that we don't *know* that the mental activity actually prevented harm. For all we know there's some other genetic difference which makes it possible for some people to work around the damage. But in the meantime. Keep mental exercising! (Mentaling?).