Health

Can wearables predict dementia risk?


“We tend to think of physical activity as a potential therapy to slow cognitive decline, but this study reminds us that cognitive decline can slow down physical activity—And we may one day be able to monitor and detect such changes for earlier and more effective testing to delay and possibly prevent the cognitive decline that leads to Alzheimer’s disease,” said lead author. of the study, Amal Wanigatunga, Ph.D., MPH, assistant scientist in the Department of Epidemiology at Bloomberg School.

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Activity tracker can predict dementia

The recent introduction of wearable activity trackers, now used by tens of millions of people around the world, presents an important opportunity for health researchers to measure and track changes in physical activity.

The devices can provide automated, objective measurements of daytime physical activity, sleep patterns, heart rate, and blood oxygen levels.—And they are often connected to the Internet, allowing their manufacturers to build datasets that include millions of users.

Previously, researchers had no easy way to access health-related data on such a large scale.

The aim of the new study was to determine whether activity tracking patterns recorded from a cohort of older adults were significantly different between cognitively normal and cognitively impaired individuals. are not. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, is a decades-long process. Researchers generally expect that future disease-modifying interventions will be more effective when started earlier in the disease process.

Suppose scientists could identify a particular change in activity that predicts a slide into mild cognitive impairment and eventually Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, in principle. In that case, older adults with these changes in functioning may be offered additional cognitive testing — and, if available, earlier treatment.

The study used data from a larger, ongoing health research project, called the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). The National Institute on Aging has studied thousands of people in the Baltimore area since 1958. The analysis was based on 585 BLSA participants who had enough activity tracking and cognitive assessment data since July 2015. 2015 to December 2019. Of these, 36 people participated. mild cognitive impairment or a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Adjusting for differences based on age, sex, and race, the researchers found that overall differences in all-day activity measures did not make a strong distinction between the mildly cognitively impaired group /Alzheimer and normal cognitive group. However, some differences were revealed when the researchers focused on activity patterns during certain times of the day.

In the mornings (6am to noon) and all afternoons (noon to 6pm), the mild cognitive impairment/Alzheimer’s group had significantly lower activity measurements than the normal group. The most striking finding was that activity “fragmentation” — that is, the breakdown of activity into smaller periods — was 3.4% higher for the mild cognitive impairment/Alzheimer’s participants during the period. afternoon time.

“Seeing this difference in the afternoons is exciting – one of the main symptoms of Alzheimer’s dementia is the ‘sunset’ phenomenon associated with increased confusion and onset of mood swings. in the afternoon and it’s possible these activity signs are catching some movement related to Wanigatunga said.

The findings are preliminary because of the cross-sectional, ‘snapshot’ nature of the study design. Although they do support the idea that changes in activity patterns that accompany cognitive decline to mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

He and his colleagues plan additional studies to follow participants over time to see if small measurable changes in daily activity patterns help catch symptoms early. of mild cognitive impairment and subsequent Alzheimer’s dementia.

“Daily physical activity patterns as a cognitive diagnostic window in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA)” co-authored by Amal Wanigatunga, Fangyu Liu, Hang Wang, Jacek Urbanek, Yang An, Adam Spira, Ryan Dougherty, Qu Tian, ​​Abhay Moghekar, Luigi Ferrucci, Eleanor Simonsick, Susan Resnick and Jennifer Schrack.

Source: Eurekalert



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