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The hypotesis that a low educational level increases the risk for Alzhelmer's disease remains controversial. The authors studied the asociation of years of schooling with the risk for incident Dementla cases were identifled in a two-stage procedure that included a detailed diagnostic assessment of screen-postive subjects. Dementia and Alzheimer's disease were diagnosed by international research criteris. Educational level was categorized by years of schooling as low (≤7), middle (8–11), or high (>12). Relative risks (95% confidence intervals)were estimatted by using Poission regression, Adjusting for age, sex, study canter, smoking status, and self-reported myocadial infraction and storke. There were 493 (328) incident cases of dementia (Alzheimer's disease) and 28, 061 (27, 839) person-years of follow-up. Compared with women with a high level of education, those with low and middle levels of education had 4.3 (95%confidence Interval: 1.5, 11.9) and 2.6 (95% confidence interval: 1.0, 7.1) times increased risks, respectively, for Alzheimer's disease for women only raises the possibllity that unmeasured conlounding explains the previously reported increased risk for Alzhemer's disease for persons with low levels of education, Am J Epidemiol 2000; 151: 1064-71 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Prevalence rates for psychiatric disorders in the elderly are presented from the initial cross-sectional stage of a longitudinal community study of the incidence of dementia in the city of Liverpool. Together with five other centres in the UK the MRC-ALPHA project forms part of the MRC multicentre incidence study of dementia and cognitive decline. An age- and sex-stratified random sample of 5222 subjects aged > or = 65 was interviewed at home using the Geriatric Mental State-AGECAT package to provide computer diagnoses. The overall age-standardized prevalence rates for organic disorder (4.7%) depressive illness (10.0%) and the neuroses (2.5%) are consistent with levels found in previous smaller studies that have used GMS-AGECAT. Each of these diagnoses is more common in females than males. A rise in organic disorder with age is confirmed as continuing into the oldest age groups for both sexes. An apparent decline with age observed for depression and neurosis diagnoses disappears when organic cases are excluded from the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To obtain age- and gender-specific estimates of the prevalence of dementia in Europe and to study differences in prevalence across countries, we pooled and re-analysed original data of prevalence studies of dementia carried out in some European countries between 1980 and 1990. The study followed these steps: census of existing datasets, collection of data in a standardized format, selection of datasets suitable for comparison, comparison of age and gender patterns. From the 23 datasets of European surveys considered, 12 were selected for comparison. Only population-based studies in which dementia was defined by DSM-III or equivalent criteria and in which all subjects were examined personally were included. Studies in which institutionalized subjects were not investigated were excluded. Age- and gender-specific prevalences were compared within and across studies and overall prevalences were computed. Although prevalence estimates differed across studies, the general age- and gender-distribution was similar for all studies. The overall European prevalences for the five-year age groups from 60 to 94 years, were 1.0, 1.4, 4.1, 5.7, 13.0, 21.6 and 32.2%, respectively. In subjects under 75 years the prevalence of dementia was slightly higher in men than in women; in those aged 75 years or over the prevalence was higher in women. The prevalence figures nearly doubled with every five years of increase in age. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

HLA A and B antigens were determined in 50 patients with senile dementia, in 50 patients with multiple infarct dementia and in 550 healthy controls. No significant associations with any HLA antigen were found in either group of patients and previous claims for an association are not supported. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A reference range for erythrocyte acetyl cholinesterase (EAChE) in 46 mentally normal subjects aged 65 years or over has been established. Previous reports of a relationship between changes in (EAChE) levels and mental illness (dementia and depression) in the elderly suggested that this determination may be useful in screening elderly subjects for these illnesses or as an aid to diagnostic classification. A study of normal and mentally ill elderly subjects in the community in Liverpool does not confirm a relationship with either senile dementia or depression and many of the changes in EAChE levels noted previously can be accounted for either by variations in the haematocrit or by a hitherto unreported lowering of EAChE levels in normal women over 80 years of age. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]