Andréa Abdala Frank

Nutritional status in Alzheimer's disease

OBJECTIVE To describe the nutritional status of elderly subjects with mild to moderate Alzheimers disease. METHODS Subjects of both genders (n=40) diagnosed with mild to moderate Alzheimers disease according to NINCDS-ADRDA criteria, participated in the study. Socioeconomic status, activities of daily life, anthropometric, clinical and dietary profiles were surveyed. RESULTS Of the total, 65% were female. More than 70% were capable of accomplishing daily activities by themselves. Subjects were eutrophic with a statistically significant difference of the arm circumference between the mild and moderate groups. As for illnesses secondary to Alzheimers, 52% of the elderly presented hypertension, followed by arthrosis type alterations (17%). The mean consumption of energy and macronutrients in the elderly classified as mild dementia was of 1645 kcal, distributed in 53.7% of carbohydrate, 17.5% of proteins or 0.9 g/kg and 28.8% of lipids. For those classified as moderate dementia it was of 1482 kcal, distributed in 59.3% of carbohydrate, 16.1% of proteins and 24.6% of lipids. CONCLUSION In this descriptive study of elderly outpatients with mild and moderate Alzheimers disease, most presented a nutritional status of eutrophy, with adequate dietary intake of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and vitamin C, but with low dietary intake of vitamin E.