A Personality Change May Reveal Dementia Years Before Diagnosis

We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how everything from https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/dementia-sign-age-45_uk_6a437edde4b0d6c25f536faf">blood markers to https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/dementia-diagnosis-signs-driving-habits_uk_69fb45b9e4b01c0d1112cf05">struggles with spatial awareness could flag a higher dementia risk years before diagnosis. 

And according to a study conducted by University of Cambridge scientists, some forms of dementia might manifest as a personality change “decades” before it’s spotted in a clinical setting. 

“It is not depression, or laziness, but it can be mistaken for them,” the University https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/apathy-could-predict-onset-of-dementia-years-before-other-symptoms" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">of Cambridge’s site reads.

Apathy may be a very early sign of frontotemporal dementia 

This research, published in the journal https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.12252" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alzheimer’s & Dementia, involved 304 healthy people who carried a gene that made them more likely to develop frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

Unlike other forms of dementia, like Alzheimer’s, https://altoida.com/blog/frontotemporal-dementia-different-from-alzheimers/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FTD happens in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, which are linked to language, behaviour, and personality.

FTD is also much https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/types-dementia/frontotemporal-dementia-causes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">more hereditary and typically begins at a younger age (45-65).

The study also included 206 of their relatives who didn’t have the genes linked to FTD development.

None of the participants had dementia at the start of the study. 

Throughout the study, which lasted for two years, researchers conducted brain scans and apathy and memory tests on the people involved.

They found that people who carried the FTD gene tended to have more apathy than their family members without it.

This worsened over the course of the study, seemed to predict cognitive decline, and got worse as the average age of FTD diagnosis approached. 

“By studying people over time, rather than just taking a snapshot, we revealed how even subtle changes in apathy predicted a change in cognition, but not the other way around,” the study’s lead author, Maura Malpetti, said.

“We also saw local brain shrinkage in areas that support motivation and initiative, many years before the expected onset of symptoms.” 

Wait – what is apathy exactly?

Apathy isn’t https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Apathy-and-Why-Does-it-Occur.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">necessarily sadness.

It’s a lack of interest, purpose, and motivation – a kind of “meh” state that can sometimes leave sufferers feeling emotionless.

It’s important to note that dementia is definitely not the only cause of apathy.

The Cambridge study’s joint senior author,  Professor James Rowe, said: “There are many reasons why someone feels apathetic.

It may well be an easy to treat medical condition, such as low levels of thyroid hormone, or a psychiatric illness such as depression.” 

Still, Professor Rogier Kievit, who was also involved in the study, said: “Apathy progresses much faster for those individuals who we know are at greater risk of developing frontotemporal dementia, and this is linked to greater atrophy in the brain.

“At the start, even though the participants with a genetic mutation felt well and had no symptoms, they were showing greater levels of apathy.

The amount of apathy predicted cognitive problems in the years ahead.”

Malpetti added, “Apathy is one of the most common symptoms in patients with frontotemporal dementia.

It is linked to functional decline, decreased quality of life, loss of independence and poorer survival. 

“The more we discover about the earliest effects of frontotemporal dementia, when people still feel well in themselves, the better we can treat symptoms and delay or even prevent the dementia.”