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• The symptom of low mood in the prodromal stage of mild cognitive impairment and dementia
  Dr Osama Hammer MBBch.,MSc.,MRCPsych
  Published on: 13 April 2016

• Published on: 13 April 2016

  The symptom of low mood in the prodromal stage of mild cognitive impairment and dementia

  • Dr Osama Hammer MBBch.,MSc.,MRCPsych, Psychiatrist

  Dementia and depression are frequently comorbid among older adult patients. Depression is related to cognitive decrement and can even represent the first signs of a neurodegenerative process. It can be difficult to distinguish depressed patients exhibiting the first signs of dementia from those whose cognition will improve with treatment. Studies from the neuropsychological reported that there is relationship between de...

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  Dementia and depression are frequently comorbid among older adult patients. Depression is related to cognitive decrement and can even represent the first signs of a neurodegenerative process. It can be difficult to distinguish depressed patients exhibiting the first signs of dementia from those whose cognition will improve with treatment. Studies from the neuropsychological reported that there is relationship between depression and dementia shown by examining potential neurobiological mechanisms that may potentiate both syndromes in the context of the ongoing debate on depression as a prodrome and/or a risk factor for dementia. Other article concluded with suggestions for clinicians when deciding who to refer for neuropsychological assessment and with ideas for further research that might promote a better understanding of the complex association between depression and dementia during old age. In series of research studies it was found that Geriatric depression has been associated with cognitive impairments, but whether suboptimal effort contributes to these deficits is unknown. One study investigated differences in cognitive functioning between depressed and nondepressed elderly veterans, before and after excluding patients who provided suboptimal effort on testing at a memory disorders clinic. Patients diagnosed with a depressive disorder performed more poorly than non depressed patients on almost all Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status indices, but these differences became nonstatistically significant after excluding patients who provided suboptimal effort. However, when patients were classified as normal, mildly, or severely depressed based on Geriatric Depression Scale scores, these groups were not significantly different on Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status indices, regardless of whether patients who provided suboptimal effort were included or excluded from analyses. The findings suggest that cognitive deficits in depression reported in previous research may be attributable to suboptimal effort and that identifying depression via clinical diagnosis or psychometric data may affect this trend. General speaking ,low mood and dementia even in early cognitive impairments remains a prominent co morbid factors among older adult patients more researchers are in need to explore more about other co morbid factors associated with early and progressive dementia process

  References (J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 2007;20:189-198)

  Conflict of Interest:

  i have read different articles and researches

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  Conflict of Interest:
  None declared.

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