Cummings J L, Ross W, Absher J, Gornbein J, Hadjiaghai L
Department of Neurology, University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine 90024, USA.
Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 1995 Summer;9(2):87-93. doi: 10.1097/00002093-199509020-00005.
Depression is difficult to assess in Alzheimer disease (AD) and controversy surrounds the prevalence, etiology, and characteristics of mood alterations in patients with this disorder. We used a variety of standardized instruments to assess mood changes in 33 patients with AD. The frequency of depression ranged from 6 to 30%, depending on the diagnostic criteria employed. No relationship was found between patient depression and dementia severity, self-awareness of cognitive deficits (as measured by a memory self-rating scale), or mood of the caregiver. Delusional patients had higher scores on mood rating scales than nondelusional patients. The results suggest that depression in AD is not severe and is unrelated to patient self-awareness of illness. We hypothesize that the cholinergic deficit of AD may ameliorate depressive symptoms.
抑郁症在阿尔茨海默病（AD）中难以评估，关于该疾病患者情绪改变的患病率、病因及特征存在争议。我们使用了多种标准化工具来评估33例AD患者的情绪变化。根据所采用的诊断标准，抑郁症的发生率在6%至30%之间。未发现患者的抑郁与痴呆严重程度、认知缺陷的自我意识（通过记忆自评量表测量）或照料者的情绪之间存在关联。有妄想的患者在情绪评定量表上的得分高于无妄想的患者。结果表明，AD中的抑郁症并不严重，且与患者对疾病的自我意识无关。我们推测，AD的胆碱能缺陷可能会改善抑郁症状。
