Aging / Alzheimer's Disease
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12503/21727
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Browsing Aging / Alzheimer's Disease by Author "Hall, James"
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Item Relationship between Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Decline(2015-03) Ford, Michael A.; Barber, Robert C.; Hall, JamesObjectives: Depression and cognitive decline have a complex relationship. The purpose of our study was to determine if depression, or specific symptoms of depression, influences the rate of cognitive decline. Methods: We conducted linear regression analysis to determine if baseline depression or depressive symptoms influenced the rate of age-related cognitive decline. Data analyzed were from 634 male and 934 female elderly white, non-Hispanic participants in the Texas Alzheimer’s Research and Care Consortium. Participants included cognitively normal controls (733), subjects with mild cognitive impairment (243) and subjects with Alzheimer’s disease (592). Baseline depression was estimated using Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS30) scores. Baseline depressive symptoms included apathy and agitation, as measured in the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q). Cognitive decline was measured by a change in Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores between visits 1 and 3. In these analyses we stratified based on gender and adjusted for age at first visit and education. Results: We found that baseline overall depression (GDS30) was not significantly related to cognitive decline. Specific depressive symptoms were significantly related to cognitive decline, but there were different effects in men and women. Apathy was correlated with increased cognitive decline in men only (p Conclusions: Depressive symptoms appear to increase the rate of cognitive decline and may be early signs for neurodegeneration. These symptoms may also be important targets for therapeutics designed to treat, or slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. However, the relationship is not simple, as indicated by the divergent results observed in males and females. Further research in this area is warranted; while there are currently no proven treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, depression and depressive symptoms are therapeutically modifiable.Item Worry in Mexican American Elders: The Role of Age, Gender, and Metabolic Syndrome(2015-03) Chaphekar, Anita V.; Hall, James; Johnson, Leigh; O'Bryant, Sid1. Purpose: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is defined as risk factors which increase an individual’s risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Risk factors include: abdominal obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and elevated blood glucose. Research has suggested that worry, independent of anxiety, can contribute to poor health effects such as those seen with MetS. Mexican Americans (MA) have a high prevalence of worry and MetS, however a relationship between these variables has yet to be investigated for this population. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between MetS and worry in the MA population. It is hypothesized that individuals with high levels of worry will be more likely to have MetS and show elevated risk factors. This study also examines the effect of age and gender on levels of worry in this population. 2. Methods: This cross-sectional study used data collected from the Health and Aging Brain Study among Latino Elders. Participants were grouped into a high or low worry category based on their Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) score. Odds ratio was calculated for the presence of MetS. Independent sample t-tests were used to analyze the following: differences in MetS risk factors between individuals with high and low levels of worry, and differences in levels of worry based on gender and age. 3. Results: Odds ratio calculation was not significant for the presence of MetS (95% CI 0.443-1.163, p = 0.18) between individuals of differing levels of worry. Participants with high and low worry showed a significant difference in abdominal circumference (p = 0.025) and blood glucose (p = 0.038). Males and females showed a significant difference in total PSWQ score (p = 0.000). There was a significant difference in total PSWQ score between individuals aged 61 and above and those aged 60 and below (p = 0.006). 4. Conclusion: Individuals with a high level of worry did not have an increased likelihood to have MetS compared to individuals in a low worry group. However, when analyzing each risk factor alone, participants in a high worry group had a greater abdominal circumference and higher fasting glucose levels compared to those in a low worry group. The results of this study suggest the association of waist size and blood glucose with elevated levels of worry in the MA population. Results showed that females and individuals under the age of 61 have higher levels of worry compared to males and those over the age of 61, respectively.