Helping the Other Half

There’s nothing much new in the latest edition of the Alzheimer’s Association Alzheimer’s Facts and Figures, which came out last month. Once again, the report documents that about 43% of people age 75-84 have Alzheimer’s. Since no more than 75% of all dementia cases are due to Alzheimer’s disease, that means that over half of  people in this age group have dementia of one kind or another.

The proportion varies depending on how dementia was assessed and on the ethnic, geographic, and gender composition of the people studied. But despite an enormous amount of effort and much progress in the domain of understanding the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease, the Alzheimer’s Association reminds us that there is no drug available today that slows or stops the death or neurons that causes Alzheimer’s disease.

The federal government’s National Alzheimer’s Project Act and Obama’s BRAIN (Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) initiative are redoubling the effort to find a cure. That would be terrific—though we should remember that the last concerted effort to wipe out a chronic disease, the War on Cancer, was launched in 1971 and is still being fought.

But what about the other half—those older people who don’t have dementia? Is there anything that medicine should be doing special for them?

A new report from the well-respected, non-governmental, non-profit Institute of Medicine released last week addresses this question. Entitled Cognitive Aging: Progress in Understanding and Opportunities for Action, the report makes ten recommendations for collecting data, engaging in research, developing programs, and providing resources that seek to maximize cognitive function in older people who don’t have dementia. It’s an intriguing report, principally because it focuses on what is most important to older people and is the essence of geriatric medicine—function, rather than disease. The authors cite an AARP survey of members in which fully 87% identified “remaining sharp” as one of their major concerns. Older individuals and their families are concerned with optimizing mental performance. They are alarmed by the recently described disorder, “Mild Cognitive Impairment,” a condition that does not meet the criteria for dementia but affects the ability to function in day to day life, whether or not it progresses to full-blown dementia.

The study is also of interest because of it public health angle—it draws attention to the major societal consequences of age-related cognitive decline, things like traffic accidents (as people with impaired judgment or slow reflexes continue to drive) and financial fraud (resulting from impaired decision-making on the one hand and minimal consumer protections on the other). The recommendation to develop assessment tools, educational programs, and improved regulations, as well as alternative means of transportation, have the potential to maintain quality of life for older individuals and to lower costs.

The report makes common-sense suggestions for preventing age-related cognitive decline: being physically active, remaining socially and intellectually engaged and getting enough sleep. Unfortunately, there is no more evidence that these measures will maintain cognitive function than there is that they will prevent dementia. That is, they might help and they can’t hurt. But to suggest that they are proven to be effective is, alas, to overstate the case.

Despite succumbing to the temptation to offer a little bit of hype along with a lot of wisdom, the report’s authors make a valuable contribution by reminding us to pay attention to the other half. Its broad societal focus is welcome, as is the recognition that it is function rather than disease that matters most to the majority of people as they age.