Medical Beat

Wednesday, February 1, 2006

(USF/Randolph Fillmore) - A study recently published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society examines the relationships between cognitive decline after diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease (AD), levels of education and type of work performed. The good news is that a higher level of education and a lifetime doing complex work may delay the onset of AD. The bad news - those same activities may accelerate the rate of impairment for those who do develop AD.

"When we examined the effects of education and complexity of occupation on the rate of decline in patients diagnosed with AD, we found that higher levels of education and work complexity were associated with faster rates of decline," said Dr. Ross Andel, the study's lead author and an assistant professor in USF's School of Aging Studies and an affiliate of the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. "Our findings provide further evidence that some type of 'cognitive reserve' associated with education and occupation is also related to an accelerated cognitive decline after AD diagnosis."

Although past studies have suggested there are benefits of higher education and the complexity of work performed in a lifetime, this study suggests those benefits may only be temporary.

The joint USF-USC study examined 171 patient volunteers at the University of Southern California Alzheimer Disease Research Center who had been diagnosed with AD. Andel and his colleagues at USC measured the rate of patient cognitive decline, documented their levels of education and coded their lifetime occupations for complexity from low to high levels. "Neither education nor occupational complexity fully accounted for individual rates of decline," concluded Andel. "However, it appears that if AD onset is postponed in those with greater cognitive decline, compensation for deficits may be more difficult after the diagnosis of AD."

The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging.