Сonstricted life space is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease
(variables factors)
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The extent to which we move through our environments as we carry out our daily lives from home to garden to workplace and beyond has more significance than we might imagine. Researchers at Rush University Medical Center have discovered that our "life space" is intimately linked with cognitive function.
In a study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, now posted online, researchers found that seniors who had a constricted life space were almost twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease as seniors whose life space extended well beyond the home.
"Life space may represent a new way to identify, out of a group of older persons displaying no memory or thinking problems, who is likely to go on to develop Alzheimer's disease," said Bryan James, PhD, an epidemiologist in the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and the study's lead investigator.
Participants in the study included 1,294 older adults living in the community taking part in two longitudinal studies: the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a study of chronic conditions of aging involving older persons from retirement communities and subsidized housing in Chicago, and the Minority Aging Research Study, which examines risk factors for cognitive decline in older African Americans.
Study participants were followed for an average of four years and up to eight years, receiving annual clinical assessments that included detailed tests of cognitive function. Their life space was assessed through interviews in which they reported whether their lives in the previous week extended beyond their town, outside their neighborhood, as far as their home's parking lot or yard, or just to their porch or patio, or whether their lives remained confined to their bedroom or home.
At the outset of the investigation, none of the participants showed signs of clinical dementia. Over up to eight years of followup, 180 developed Alzheimer's disease. Those who did tended to have more constricted life spaces. Specifically, those with a life space restricted to their immediate home environment at the start of the study were almost twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease as those who traveled out of town.
Confinement to the home was also associated with an increased risk of mild cognitive impairment, often a precursor of Alzheimer's, and a more rapid rate of cognitive decline, the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Read more: medilexicon.com
In a study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, now posted online, researchers found that seniors who had a constricted life space were almost twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease as seniors whose life space extended well beyond the home.
"Life space may represent a new way to identify, out of a group of older persons displaying no memory or thinking problems, who is likely to go on to develop Alzheimer's disease," said Bryan James, PhD, an epidemiologist in the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and the study's lead investigator.
Participants in the study included 1,294 older adults living in the community taking part in two longitudinal studies: the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a study of chronic conditions of aging involving older persons from retirement communities and subsidized housing in Chicago, and the Minority Aging Research Study, which examines risk factors for cognitive decline in older African Americans.
Study participants were followed for an average of four years and up to eight years, receiving annual clinical assessments that included detailed tests of cognitive function. Their life space was assessed through interviews in which they reported whether their lives in the previous week extended beyond their town, outside their neighborhood, as far as their home's parking lot or yard, or just to their porch or patio, or whether their lives remained confined to their bedroom or home.
At the outset of the investigation, none of the participants showed signs of clinical dementia. Over up to eight years of followup, 180 developed Alzheimer's disease. Those who did tended to have more constricted life spaces. Specifically, those with a life space restricted to their immediate home environment at the start of the study were almost twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease as those who traveled out of town.
Confinement to the home was also associated with an increased risk of mild cognitive impairment, often a precursor of Alzheimer's, and a more rapid rate of cognitive decline, the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Read more: medilexicon.com
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