Hospital Stays May Significantly Increase the Development of Alzheimer’s

Medical News Today on March 24th, 2012 announced the results of a recent study that was publish in Neurology, a medical journal, involving Alzheimer’s patients and the effect of a hospital stay on their and cognitive degeneration. The study involved 1,870 Alzheimer’s individuals over the age of 65 in the Chicago area, with white and black patients in approximately the same proportion. The study revealed the following information:

1. Overall cognitive function for Alzheimer’s patients declined by more than twice as fast after the first hospitalization

2. On cognitive tests after the first hospitalization, long-term memory declined three times as fast while complex attention declined 1.5 times as fast

3. The effects of hospitalization of Alzheimer’s patients was virtually the same for both white and black patients

Lesson of the article: hospital stays may significantly increase the development of Alzheimer’s in an individual.