A new study finds that communicating individual risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) given their amyloid beta status is safe. Importantly, this does not lead to serious psychological distress. The study was led by an interdisciplinary team from The Joseph Sagol Neuroscience Center, Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel. They looked at 199 cognitively normal adults with high risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Those results were released online on May 7 in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
TAG participants underwent amyloid PET imaging. These scans provided researchers with valuable information about participants’ amyloid beta deposition status, which is one of the first signals of Alzheimer’s disease. You can identify amyloid beta deposition using PET imaging. This occurs many years before cognitive symptoms have developed, allowing for early intervention approaches.
The longitudinal study of participants both pre- and six months post-receipt of amyloid PET results. In their randomized controlled trial, these researchers found that disclosing a high amyloid beta status had no effects on depression scores. Moreover, there were no significant impacts on memory-related concerns. It led to at least a small reduction in anxiety among those informed of their heightened risk. This change was statistically significant, P = .026.
Participants who found out they didn’t have elevated amyloid beta levels experienced a marked decrease in both anxiety and depression. Based on multivariable statistical analysis, with strong power indicated by P value <.001, the strength of this finding cannot be understated. Further, the nonelevated group demonstrated a significant improvement in self-reported memory complaints that was statistically significant at P < .001.
The elevated amyloid beta cohort consisted of 21 people. They were much older than the non-elevated cohort, with a median age of 81 years compared to 63 years. Despite these findings, the authors cautioned that the size of the elevated amyloid beta group is “too small to draw definitive conclusions.”
Sapir Golan Shekhtman, the first author of the study, now a PhD candidate at The Joseph Sagol Neuroscience Center. She emphasized the importance of preserving the motivation to undertake lifestyle changes that promote cognitive health.
“The results highlight how easily people lose motivation to make lifestyle changes aimed at maintaining cognitive health. Strategies to sustain these healthy behaviors are crucial,” – Sapir Golan Shekhtman.
The study team found that there was little risk of psychological damage once people found out their amyloid beta status. They discovered that motivation to make lifestyle changes was reduced even when the status was high. They proposed that this drop in motivation be examined in greater depth.
“Mechanisms behind decreased motivation for lifestyle changes after disclosure should be further explored and targeted,” – The study authors remarked.
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