In a recent study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry , researchers investigated the risk of subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in cognitively normal adults for developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and all-cause dementia. Their findings indicate that SCD is significantly associated with an increased risk of future cognitive impairment and dementia, suggesting that SCD may serve as an independent risk factor for these conditions beyond genetic predispositions. Study: Subjective Cognitive Decline Plus and Longitudinal Assessment and Risk for Cognitive Impairment .
Image Credit: Lightspring / Shutterstock Detecting AD early, before symptoms fully develop, is crucial for effective treatment and prevention. One way to spot early signs is through subjective cognitive decline (SCD), which occurs when people notice their memory or thinking problems even though standard tests show they are normal. Research has shown that SCD can be an early indicator of future memory problems or AD, but most of this research has been done with people who seek medical help and may have higher risks of developing AD.
Community-based studies, which examine people who do not seek medical help, offer a more accurate picture of how SCD affects the general population. However, these studies often have limitations, such as small sample sizes, only one-time assessments, and less thorough testing. To fill gaps in the research, the current study used long-term data from the .
