This is the broad view progression from preclinical to severe Alzheimer’s disease, a degenerative brain disease that becomes worse with time and age, and is the most common cause of dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

In Colorado, an estimated 76,000 people are living with Alzheimer’s dementia, and that number is expected to increase 21% to 92,000 by 2025, a 2020 Alzheimer’s Association report states.

As of July 2019, 14.6% of Coloradans, or about 840,000 people, were 65 or older, U.S.

While it’s been shown that living in higher elevation communities can lead to a more active, healthier lifestyle and even prolonged life, it’s less clear how living at high elevation correlates with degenerative brain diseases. .

“As far as I know, there isn’t a lot of evidence one way or another about high altitudes versus low altitudes for Alzheimer’s disease risk,” said Dr.

Huntington Potter, director of the Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

“… We can’t say one way or another whether high altitude is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s.” .

At the Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center, which is part of the CU Anschutz Medical Campus and School of Medicine, clinicians and researchers are dedicated to discovering effective early diagnostics, preventions, treatments and ultimately cures for Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders, according to its website. .

For Potter, that means looking at biomarkers or diagnostic proteins in the blood that can help clinicians predict the disease earlier, conducting projects that look at the lifespan of people with Alzheimer’s disease, and other research that can quickly be translated to better care, treatment and hopefully a cure. .

Right now, the center is studying a drug called Leukine, which preliminary data shows might improve Alzheimer’s disease in the short term, Potter explained.

When it comes to looking at the potential correlation between living at high elevation and the risk for dementia-inducing diseases, Potter and Dr.

Peter Pressman of the Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center said it would take great effort, time and funding to research. .

Pressman, who is a behavioral neurologist and researcher with the center, said on top of securing and carefully selecting a large group of people living at elevation to participate in a study, researchers also would have to follow that group for about a decade to get meaningful results.

“People give you money to do something for two to three years, but two to three years is not enough time for a process as slow as Alzheimer’s and dementia to really even pick up.

As a part of any mild cognitive impairment or dementia evaluation, Allen said her team checks the oxygen level a patient has and considers the elevation at which that person spends most of their time.

Lower oxygen levels can contribute to people experiencing confusion, dizziness and mild short-term memory issues.

But outside of looking at oxygen levels and how they could be contributing to symptoms, Allen said she doesn’t consider elevation a higher risk situation. .

Allen said she feels High Country residents 65 and older tend to be much younger than their age in terms of their lifestyle, which is a positive in terms of dementia prevention. .

Allen said more than 250 people came in to participate in the study and all generally led healthy, active lifestyles. .

“I think in our valley, I’ve experienced meeting those kinds of people and not thinking of altitude as a risk factor but as a lifestyle opportunity in a rural area like ours,” Allen said about the people who participated in the study. .

Looking at the potential correlation between living at high elevation and risk of degenerative brain diseases is not just a difficult feat for Colorado researchers.

Stephen Thielke in JAMA Psychiatry looked at deaths attributed to Alzheimer’s dementia reported in 58 counties in California to try to determine whether rates of dementia were associated with average elevation of residence.

The study found that the counties at higher elevation generally had lower rates of dementia mortality. .

Kious has studied the link between living at high elevations and major depressive disorder, anxiety and suicide, and he said he and his research team have been interested in the impact of elevation on the incidence and median age of onset of Parkinson’s disease.

However, Kious said decrements in cognitive performance due to chronic exposure to moderately high elevation might not necessarily translate into an increased risk of dementia.

He went on to note that relative and prolonged hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen, has been associated with dementia risk.

Eck, who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, attends programs three to four times a week at the center.

Photo by Jason Connolly / Jason Connolly Photography.

Eck, who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, attends programs three to four times a week at the center.

Photo by Jason Connolly / Jason Connolly Photography.

Eck, who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, attends programs three to four times a week at the center.

Photo by Jason Connolly / Jason Connolly Photography.

Eck has early onset Alzheimer’s.

Photo by Jason Connolly / Jason Connolly Photography.

Jason ConnollyPhoto by Jason Connolly / Jason Connolly Photography.

While there’s not good data for or against high elevation as a risk factor for degenerative brain diseases, there is evidence that people living in more rural communities do not have the same access to dementia care and treatment as those living in urban areas. .

According to the 2020 Snapshot of Rural Health in Colorado, produced by the Colorado Rural Health Center, 721,500 people are living in rural Colorado and 19% of the rural population is age 65 or older?

Chad Federwitz — a gerontologist, or specialist in the study of aging, and manager of Pitkin County senior services — said he hasn’t seen any correlation between living at high elevation and dementia risk.

Anecdotally, he does know that people move to Grand Junction or the Front Range if they have dementia because of a lack of care resources in the High Country.

While there are some dementia care resources in more rural Colorado communities, the Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center is working to do more to develop meaningful relationships with health care providers and dementia patients in the state’s mountain communities as part of its mission. 

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease that becomes worse with time and age and is the most common cause of dementia

Dementia is not a single disease, but the general term for cognitive changes that limit independence, like loss of memory, language, problem solving and other thinking abilities

Other diseases that cause dementia are cerebrovascular disease, Lewy Body disease and Parkinson’s disease

An estimated 5.8 million Americans ages 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s dementia, the third and most developed phase of the disease

The Summit High School class of 2020 has faced a year of new challenges, including not experiencing traditional rites of passage like prom and commencement ceremonies because of COVID-19