Normal ageing in adults with Down's syndrome: A longitudinal study
D.A. Devenny
Bok Engelsk 1996
| Utgitt | 1996
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| Omfang | Side 208- 221
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| Opplysninger | The ubiquitous presence of the neuropathology of Alzheimer disease(AD) in individuals with Down's syndrome (DS) over 40 years of agesuggests that this group of people will exhibit a high prevalence ofdementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) as they age. The present studyindicates that there is a clear discrepancy between the presumedpresence of AD neuropathology and the clinical expression of DATamong older people with DS. In the first 6 years of a longitudinalstudy, the present authors compared 91 adults (31-63 years of age)with DS and mild or moderate mental retardation to 64 adults (31-76years of age) with other forms of mental retardation (MR) on yearlymeasures of mental status, short- and long-term memory, speededpsychomotor function, and visuospatial organization. The resultsindicated that, over repeated testing on the verbal long-term memorytest, younger participants with DS showed small increases in theirscores, while older participants with DS showed very slightdecreases. Overall performance scores on this test and a speededpsychomotor task were poorer for bath diagnostic groups inindividuals aged 50 years and older. The magnitude and type of theseselective changes in performance were consistent with performanceprofiles observed in older healthy adults without mental retardationon tests measuring similar cognitive functions. Only four out of the91 people with DS in the present sample showed changes in functioningthat have led to a diagnosis of possible DAT, and in theseindividuals, alternative causes of performance declines wereconcurrently present (e.g. Thyroid dysfunctional). These findingsindicate that some age-associated changes in functioning are relatedto 'normal' but probably precocious ageing among adults with DS.Furthermore, these findings suggest that adults with DS and mild ormoderate mental retardation may be at lower risk for dementia duringtheir fourth and fifth decades of life than previous studies havesuggested.
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