Little-known Alzheimer's sign that could appear in the way you walk
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The way in which a person moves around could potentially lead to a dementia diagnosis. Pioneering research, led by Newcastle University, sought to improve existing methods used to diagnose different variants of the cognitive health condition. This specifically involved distinguishing between Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, and Lewy body dementia (LBD). While people with Alzheimer's often experience more noticeable memory loss in its early stages, symptoms are very often confused with those of LBD, and as such, may be treated inappropriately.
But in 2019, scientists found that analysing patient movements could accurately identify '60% of all dementia subtypes' in a remarkable first. At the time, Dr Ríona McArdle, lead researcher at Newcastle University’s Faculty of Medical Sciences, explained: "The way we walk can reflect changes in thinking and memory that highlight problems in our brain, such as dementia.
"Correctly identifying what type of dementia someone has is important for clinicians and researchers as it allows patients to be given the most appropriate treatment for their needs as soon as possible. The results from this study are exciting as they suggest that walking could be a useful tool to add to the diagnostic toolbox for dementia.
"It is a key development as a more accurate diagnosis means that we know that people are getting the right treatment, care and management for the dementia they have." The project analysed the walking styles of 110 people including 36 with Alzheimer's, 45 with LBD and 29 whose cognition was intact.
