Prevalence of Comorbidities in Individuals Diagnosed and Undiagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in León, Spain and a Proposal for Contingency Procedures to Follow in the Case of Emergencies Involving People with Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) which is the most common type of dementia is characterized by mental or cognitive disorders. People suffering with this condition find it inherently difficult to communicate and describe symptoms. As a consequence, both detection and treatment of comorbidities associated with Alzheimer’s disease are substantially impaired. Equally, action protocols in the case of emergencies must be clearly formulated and stated. Methods: We performed a bibliography search followed by an observational and cross-sectional study involving a thorough review of medical records. A group of AD patients was compared with a control group. Each group consisted of 100 people and were all León residents aged ≥65 years. Results: The following comorbidities were found to be associated with AD: cataracts, urinary incontinence, osteoarthritis, hearing loss, osteoporosis, and personality disorders. The most frequent comorbidities in the control group were the following: eye strain, stroke, vertigo, as well as circulatory and respiratory disorders. Comorbidities with a similar incidence in both groups included type 2 diabetes mellitus, glaucoma, depression, obesity, arthritis, and anxiety. We also reviewed emergency procedures employed in the case of an emergency involving an AD patient. Conclusions: Some comorbidities were present in both the AD and control groups, while others were found in the AD group and not in the control group, and vice versa.

Towards a Consensus on Alzheimer’s Disease Comorbidity?

“…The correlation between the predicted comorbidity (listed in Supplementary Materials Table S1) and the experimental comorbidity (listed separately in Table 1) is notable (R = 0.75). Remarkably, the correlation is even higher with each of the experimental reports separately, with Leese et al (R = 0.93) in the lead [30], followed by Wang et al [8] (R = 0.82), Tortajada et al [6] (R = 0.81), Browne et al [7] (R = 0.79), and Yen et al [9] (R = 0.79). Interestingly, our citation counts show that Alzheimer's disease is also associated with pathologies prevalent at younger age, and not only with neurodegenerative old-age disorders.…”

“…Towards a consensus of clinical AD comorbidities. Here, we refer the reader to five notable previous reports [ 6 , 7 , 9 , 30 , 59 ] reviewed in Table 1 . Table 1 summarizes these reports and provides a detailed clinical evaluation of comorbid diseases with AD.…”

“…Recently, we have provided new perspectives on AD as a brain expression of complex metabolic disorders [ 5 ]. Other risk factors include oxidative stress, head injuries, depression, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and Alzheimer’s patients often suffer from other comorbid diseases, as has been reported in recent clinical studies [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Treating the comorbid conditions often ameliorates AD symptoms.…”