A Case-Control Study: The Relationship between Alzheimer's disease and Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease advancing gradually with progressive impairment in memory and cognitive functions. It is the most widely recognized reason for dementia and its incidence and prevalence increase with the advancing age. Neurodegenerative processes of the disease can begin in middle ages before clinical manifestations do not manifest themselves, yet. In addition to neuropathological findings specific to AD, the demonstration of atherosclerotic vascular disorders has also been a trigger to investigate cardiovascular risk factors as a risk factor in AD. Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between AD and metabolic syndrome (MetS) which means a bunch of cardiovascular risk factors. Method: The study is planned as a case-control study. Patients diagnosed with possible-probable AD according to DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statitical Manual of Mental Disorders), NINCDS-ADRDA (National Institute of Neurologic Communicative Disorders and Stroke-AD and Related Disorders Association) criteria were investigated for the presence of MetS at the time of AD diagnosis. The healthy control group was formed with volunteers having not any neurological disease in their examinations and evaluated as normal cognitively. The diagnosis of MetS was determined according to the demonstrative criteria of "National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III)". Findings: Two groups were included in the study: 365 Alzheimer's patients and 158 healthy volunteers. The AD group and the healthy control group were similar in terms of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, the low level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), a history of ischemic heart disease and a history of cerebrovascular disease. The MetS ratio (38.90%) in the AD group did not show a significant difference from that (46.83%) in the healthy control group. The presence of cardiovascular risk factors in Alzheimer's patients at the time of diagnosis of AD was observed to be not as high as in vascular diseases and close to normal values seen in the society. Comment: In the etiopathogenesis researches of AD, rather than concentrating on causality studies identified with vascular risk factors during the diagnosis period, it might be increasingly practical to focus on the possibility of changing clinical severity and the course.

Keywords: Alzheimer's Disease, Metabolic Syndrome

Special Issue of Health Sciences

DOI: 10.7176/JSTR/6-03-42