This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (10)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Alzheimer Disease  • Dementias  • Aging/ Geriatrics  • Alert me on articles by topic

David K. Johnson, PhD; Consuelo H. Wilkins, MD; John C. Morris, MD

Arch Neurol. 2006;63:1312-1317.

Objectives  To determine the association of weight loss and the onset of dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) and to characterize the rate of weight change over time in older adults (aged 65-95 years) who develop DAT vs those who remain without dementia.

Design  Rates of weight change were investigated in older adult research participants (N = 449) who were enrolled as control subjects without dementia and followed up longitudinally (6 years on average) at the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine. Some individuals (n = 125) eventually developed DAT; the others (n = 324) remained without dementia. Body weight was measured at each annual assessment. Piecewise linear regression and random effects models were used to test longitudinal rates of weight change between the groups.

Results  Participants without dementia lost about 0.6 lb per year. For those individuals who developed DAT, about 1 year before the detection of DAT, the rate of weight loss doubled (1.2 lb per year). As a group, participants who eventually developed DAT weighed less (about 8 pounds) at study enrollment (ie, when they did not have dementia) than participants who remained without dementia.

Conclusions  Aging with and without DAT is associated with weight loss; however, weight loss may accelerate before the diagnosis of DAT. Specific factors contributing to weight loss are unknown, but these data suggest they operate before the development of DAT. Hence, weight loss may be a preclinical indicator of Alzheimer disease.

Author Affiliations: Departments of Neurology (Drs Johnson and Morris), Internal Medicine (Dr Wilkins), and Pathology and Immunology (Dr Morris), the Program in Physical Therapy (Dr Morris), and the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (Drs Johnson, Wilkins, and Morris), Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Body mass index and cognitive decline in a biracial community population
Sturman et al.
Neurology 2008;70:360-367.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Body Mass Index and Risk of Parkinson's Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study
Logroscino et al.
Am J Epidemiol 2007;166:1186-1190.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Peripheral insulin and brain structure in early Alzheimer disease
Burns et al.
Neurology 2007;69:1094-1104.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The metabolic syndrome is associated with decelerated cognitive decline in the oldest old
van den Berg et al.
Neurology 2007;69:979-985.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Incident dementia in women is preceded by weight loss by at least a decade
Knopman et al.
Neurology 2007;69:739-746.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT