Am J Psychiatry 1996; 153:1340-1342
Copyright © 1996 by American Psychiatric Association
Confirmation of an association between family history of affective disorder and the depressive syndrome in Alzheimer's disease
ME Strauss and PK Ogrocki
Alzheimer Center, University Hospitals of Cleveland, OH USA. mes.3@po.cwru.edu
OBJECTIVE: The authors' goal was to replicate an earlier finding of a
familial liability for depression in Alzheimer's disease. METHOD: The
family histories of depression and dementia were compared in 28 patients
experiencing a first episode of major depression after onset of Alzheimer's
disease and 74 nondepressed patients with Alzheimer's disease. RESULTS:
Significantly more families of depressed dementia patients included
depressed first-degree relatives. There was no difference between
Alzheimer's disease patients with and without depression in the proportion
of families with a history of dementia. CONCLUSIONS: Major depression in
Alzheimer's disease is associated with a familial liability for depression
that is independent of any familial liability for dementia.
