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Study shows weight loss and Alzheimer's link

LTC Liability Monitor, September 13, 2006

A new study joins a growing list of research indicating there is some connection between Alzheimer's disease and rapid weight loss in the elderly, reported SeniorJournal.com. The latest research has pinpointed a doubling of weight loss in the year before the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Those in the late stages of the disease can lose up to two pounds per year; those who lose more weight are more likely to progress quickly and to be placed in a nursing home. Participants in the most recent study by the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, lost about 0.6 pounds per year while without dementia. However, one year before the first symptomatic detection of Alzheimer's-type dementia, the rate of weight loss in individuals doubled to 1.2 pounds per year, the study reported.

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