Frequent Mental Lapses May Precede Alzheimer's

Jan. 19 -- MONDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Mental lapses among older adults occur more often among those developing Alzheimer's disease than healthy elders, new research finds.

Excessive daytime sleepiness, staring into space and disorganized or illogical thinking are other mental fluctuations that often precede Alzheimer's, say researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

"For many years, people have jokingly attributed mental lapses, or incidents when the train of thought temporarily seems to jump its tracks, as 'senior moments,'" said lead researcher Dr. James Galvin, an associate professor of neurology. "It has never been clear as to whether these lapses could lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease.

"We demonstrate clearly, for the first time, that such episodes are more likely to occur in persons who are developing Alzheimer's disease," he said.

But this doesn't mean that everyone who has a "senior moment" is on the verge of dementia, Galvin stressed.

"While these lapses or fluctuations don't by themselves mean that you have Alzheimer's disease, our results suggest that they are something your doctor needs to consider if he or she is evaluating you for problems with thinking and memory," he said.

The study is published in the Jan. 19 issue of Neurology.

For the study, Galvin's team collected data on 511 seniors, average age 78, with memory problems. The researchers tested these adults with standard thinking and memory tests and also interviewed family members about their relative's daytime sleepiness, disorganized or illogical thinking, or episodes of staring into space for long periods. Three or four symptoms were seen in 12 percent of participants, indicating cognitive fluctuations.

People with those symptoms were 4.6 times more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's and to have more severe Alzheimer's symptoms, Galvin's group found. They also performed worse on thinking and memory tests than people without these lapses.