Depressive symptoms and risk of Alzheimer's disease in more highly educated older people

Correlation between symptoms of depression and risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been investigated in older people with more than 8 years of education to see whether specific symptoms of depression that predict AD can be identified. In the Amsterdam Study of the Elderly, a community-based study, a sample of 3,147 nondemented persons with normal cognition were studied. Depressed mood and subjective bradyphrenia seem to be indicative of subclinical AD in this group and AD may become apparent in a relatively short period of time vs other groups. Memory complaints are associated with depression and with dementia. Confounding effects of memory complaints were of interest.