An international multicenter study published in The Lancet revealed that 40% of people with Down syndrome who also have Alzheimer's develop epilepsy, which aggravates their cognitive decline and worsens the course of dementia. This research is considered the largest carried out to date in people with Down syndrome to study the relationship between Alzheimer's and epilepsy.
The study was led by the Neurobiology of Dementias group at the Sant Pau Research Institute and the Alzheimer-Down Unit at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Barcelona. The research involved multiple international centers.
The researchers warn that adults with Down syndrome who suffer from Alzheimer's show a strong predisposition to develop epilepsy, which contributes to a worse prognosis for dementia.
In addition to the implications for the Down syndrome population, the results of this study offer new perspectives on the relationship between Alzheimer's and epilepsy in general, also opening the possibility of developing preventive treatments.
