What percent of patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) currently have severe dementia?
Do more people have a mild disease? Or are the majority suffering from moderate dementia?
In a new study, researchers found that slightly more than half (50.4%) of cases are mild, just under one-third (30.3%) of cases are moderate and 19.3% are severe cases.
Among all participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD, the pooled percentage was 45.2% for the combined group of mild AD dementia and MCI that later progressed to AD.
The research was conducted by a team at Boston University School of Medicine.
Early intervention in MCI or the mild stage of AD dementia has been the primary focus for AD research and drug development in recent years.
In the study, the team used data from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) to see the distribution of severity of AD dementia and MCI in the population.
They found that approximately 45% of all those who are cognitively impaired or diagnosed with AD-dementia had early AD.
According to the researchers, the finding that half of the people living with AD have mild disease underscores the need for research and interventions to slow the decline or prevent the progression of this burdensome disease.
It is crucial to determine risk factors or develop therapies that could alter the disease trajectory to improve individuals’ quality of life and alleviate the socio-economic burden.
The researchers believe that most people who have AD are still at a stage when there is still some preserved quality of life.
This means any drug treatment that is effective might help prevent their AD from getting worst.
One author of the study is Rhoda Au, Ph.D., a professor of anatomy and neurobiology.
The study is published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Copyright © 2021 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
